The Olympic Village of Milan Cortina 2026

The day arrived: from today Milan Olympic city has its village, ready to host about 1700 athletes with their delegations on the occasion of the winter games scheduled from 6 to 22 February 2026, followed by the Paralympic Games of 6-15 March. The keys to the vast area of ​​105,000 square meters located in the Roman Scalo district are finally in the hands of the International Olympic Committee and the Milan Cortina Foundation, which will now have the task of furnishing the spaces with their five circles and beyond. Canteen, gym, relaxation spaces, everything will have to take shape waiting to welcome the protagonists from over 90 countries in the six six buildings built with prefabricated components.

how it will be

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The occasion of a first visit, yesterday, was the presentation of the urban regeneration project by Coima, the group that together with the CMR project carried out it in 30 months finishing the work in advance, even if the hypothetical delivery of July 31 designed initially was slipped to October 1st. The impact is undoubtedly effective, with the old railway plant that stands out in front of the 7 -storey buildings powered by solar panels and designed to host the athletes and athletes in the most important career appointment. The space – whose particularly square architecture has attracted many criticisms – comes to life by imagining all the flags at the window and the teeming with athletes between the future tree -lined avenues, or in common areas. On that of the canteen, hosted precisely in the vast industrial recovery and still without the plants and furnishings, the Minister of Infrastructure and Transport Matteo Salvini, present at the inauguration, has focused: “The plaster of the Olympic village you see it … you cannot get to February 6th. It is clear that on an investment of 3 billion, which puts Italy at stake, I do not make a fool in the town with raw walls “. It is therefore probable that in the end it is the government that covers extra-costi, as already happened for the construction of the athletes’ house.

rooms

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It is up to the IOC and to the Mico Foundation, however, to bring the energy of sport inside, starting from the rooms. Those already visited are furnished with the same beds that will find the athletes (no cardboard after cases after Tokyo 2021 and Paris 2024), while chairs and desks will be repositioned at the end of the games, when the entire structure will be reconverted to studied. The rooms are not particularly large and from Olympic regulations will each host at least two athletes. On the white walls there is no lack of motivational phrases (“at least an hour a day you have to be happy”) while the bathrooms with shower, sink and bidet are totally accessible only in the slightest part, “but still adaptable” makes Coima know. “At the moment there are no parking spaces for the disabled in the area” underlines the Paralympic multiple champion Martina Caironi, in its role of Ambassador and member of the Council of athletes of Milan Cortina.

Final sprint

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Speaking of times they hold, the president of the Cio Kirsty Coventry, visiting the Village and Arena Milano Santa Giulia on 18 September, yesterday in Lausanna met the president of Coni Luciano Buonfiglio and the general secretary Carlo Mornati to confront the recent and mutual interlocutions with the Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni about the games and to speak also of the governance of the Youth Olympics of Dolomiti. Valtellina 2028, as well as Coni’s development programs up to the Olympiad of Los Angeles 2028. A new operational meeting should be there before Christmas in Rome, where Coventry was invited to visit the Olympic preparation center Giulio Onesti. Also yesterday, but in Milan, the organizing committee of Milan Cortina 2026 met the city institutions and law enforcement agencies to tackle the issue of safety again. The game challenge is not yet won, it applies to athletes as for promoters. What is defined is the future of the structure, intended to become the largest study in Italy in just four months with 1700 beds, plus 320 apartments between convenient building and public residential building that will be built on the rest of the area. It means about 10,000 more people on Milan. There will also be public spaces and green areas which, as a project, will occupy about 40,000 square meters. And then three basketball and Padel fields, in addition to the entertainment premises also open to citizenship. A different choice compared to the other Olympic headquarters in Cortina, where the village was made with 377 wooden furniture homes that after the games will have a second life in other contexts.