Max SteventonMilan, Cortina d’Ampezzo and towns in northern Italy have prepared well, as they host one of the world’s biggest sporting events: the Winter Olympic Games, which officially opens today (6 February).
Cortina d’Ampezzo, a town north-west of Milan in the Italian Alps will host the mountain events while Milan will stage arena and stadium events. However, curling, a stadium event, will be staged at Cortina.
It is not just Milan and Cortina staging events, however. Several sites across northern Italy, including in Livigno and Tesero, will play host to some of the 16 sports to be competed at the Games.
It will be the first Winter Olympics, which are held every four years, in Europe since Sochi, Russia, in 2014. The two-week event will take place 6-22 February (although some events began before) with the opening ceremony scheduled for 6 February.
The opening ceremony will be staged at Milan’s San Siro stadium (cap,76,000), the home of football clubs AC Milan and Inter Milan. The creative director of the ceremony is Marco Balich of Balich Wonder Studios, who is also overseeing production.
In total 15 venues will be used for the Games. These will be a mix of existing, renovated, newly built and temporary venues. Among the newly built venues is the Unipol Dome (cap.16,000), known as Milano Santagiula Ice Hockey Arena for the Games. The arena recently made headlines due to construction delays, but operators confirmed to IQ Magazine that the venue was now “Olympic-ready.”
All venues are:
- Milano Ice Skating Arena – Figure skating and short-track speed skating
- Milano San Siro Olympic Stadium – Opening Ceremony
- Milano Santagiulia Ice Hockey Arena – Ice hockey
- Milano Speed Skating Stadium – Speed skating
- Milano Rho Ice Hockey Arena – Ice hockey preliminary games
- Cortina Curling Olympic Stadium – Curling
- Cortina Sliding Centre – Bobsleigh, skeleton, luge
- Tofane Alpine Skiing Centre – Alpine skiing ( including downhill and super-G)
- Anterselva Biathlon Arena – Biathlon
- Stelvio Ski Centre – Men’s Alpine skiing and ski mountaineering
- Livigno Snow Park – Snowboarding and freestyle skiing (ski cross, halfpipe, slopestyle, big air)
- Livigno Aerials & Moguls Park – Freestyle skiing (aerials and moguls)
- Tesero Cross-Country Skiing Stadium – Cross-country skiing and Nordic combined
- Predazzo Ski Jumping Stadium – Ski jumping and Nordic combined
- Verona Olympic Arena – Closing Ceremony
A total of 1.4 million tickets have been allocated with the International Olympic Committee (IOC) reporting in December 2025 that 70% of the allocation had been sold. An updated number has not been provided by the IOC.
However, ticket sales for the Paralympics, which will take place from 6-22 March and utilise the same venues as the Olympics, were described as “lagging” by Reuters. No figure has been given for Paralympic ticket sales.
While there is an allocation of 1.4m tickets, up to 2.5m visitors are expected to visit Italy during both the Olympics and Paralympics. A projected global audience of 3bn through broadcasts and media has also been predicted, according to a Banca Ifis study.
The Games are expected to have a significant economic impact on the host towns and cities. Further forecasts from Banca Ifis put the total predicted economic impact for the Games at €5.3bn.
The closing ceremony will take place at Verona Olympic Arena on 22 February before the Paralympics begins with its opening ceremony on 6 March.
In a recent IOC conference, IOC president Kirsty Coventry said, “We have to make sure the Games remain inspiring for young people everywhere – that they reflect their values, their sense of authenticity, and their search for something genuine.
“This means finding the right balance between tradition and innovation, between stability and flexibility. It means we have to look at our sports, disciplines and events, with fresh eyes – to make sure that we are evolving with our times. And we must recognise that any evolution will affect all of us: athletes, federations, NOCs, organisers, fans and others.”