It’s officially game time for the Milan Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics. The opening ceremony, headlined by Andrea Bocelli and Mariah Carey, kicks off tonight at 8pm local time. Sporting events will run through February 22, and will pick up again for the Paralympic Winter Games (March 6-15).
Meshing metropolitan Milan with the alpine resort town of Cortina d’Ampezzo, this year’s Winter Olympics are the . This was a deliberate choice by the organizers; to minimize environmental impact, the games will rely primarily on existing infrastructure. With 2,900 athletes from around the world expected to compete in 116 medal events across 16 winter sports, keeping new construction to a minimum was no small feat.
Italy is one of just nine countries to have hosted both the summer (1960) and winter editions (1956, 2006) of the Olympic Games. This new edition will mark four Olympic editions on soil — and an encore round for Cortina, which first hosted the winter games in 1956.
These are some moments over the decades that defined Italy’s Olympic history as a host nation.
1956 Winter Olympic Games
Italy’s first Olympic Games were held in Cortina d’Ampezzo. Broadcast via television to millions of living rooms around the world, the Games were marked by the triumph of the USSR, who dominated the medal table with 16 in total, including seven gold.
Despite the Soviets’ commanding performances in speed skating and ice hockey, bobsledders had great success, taking home gold and silver medals in the two-man and four-man events. Alpine skier Giuliana Chenal-Minuzzo made Olympic history twice over, by becoming the first woman to take the Olympic Oath at the opening ceremony and for becoming the first woman to medal (bronze in downhill skiing) at a Winter Olympics.
Perhaps the most enduring legacy of the 1956 Games was that of the host city. Cortina and its nearby alpine sites in the Dolomites emerged from the international spotlight to become one of Europe’s premier alpine resorts — a cachet it retains today.
1960 Summer Olympic Games
On the heels of the Winter Olympics in Cortina four years earlier, the 17th edition of the modern Summer Olympics took place in Rome. Held during the height of the Cold War, the 1960 Rome Olympics are widely considered the most culturally significant in the modern history of the Games.
Competitions took place around the Eternal City at such iconic sites as the Colosseum (backdrop to the end of the marathon), the Baths of Caracalla (gymnastics) and the Basilica of Maxentius (wrestling). Modern venues were constructed especially for the sporting event, including the Stadio Olimpico, the Stadio Olimpico del Nuoto (swimming/diving), Stadio dei Marmi (field hockey) and the Velodromo Olimpico (cycling).
Every Olympics has its share of high-stakes moments and heroes, and the Rome Olympics were no exception. At the time, New York Times reporter Arthur Daley wrote, “Maybe it was the best ever. It’s impossible to visualize or recollect any Olympic Games that match the tone these noble Romans threw. The entire production was conducted with totally un- efficiency but with typical flair for drama and beauty.”
There was Ethiopian gold medalist Abebe Bikila’s memorable bare-footed marathon finish. Then there was American sprinter Wilma Rudolph, whose historic domination of Women’s Track and Field made her the first female to win three gold medals at a single edition of the Olympic Games. And who could forget the iconic photo of a young Cassius Clay (who later changed his name to Muhammad Ali) atop the Olympic podium, earning the gold in the men’s light-heavyweight boxing division, a prelude to the years when the boxer became known as simply the “Greatest.”
The 36 medals secured by athletes in 1960 included gold in the 200-meter dash, men’s track and road cycling, water polo, fencing and equestrian jumping. In all, Italy finished with 13 golds, 10 silvers, and 13 bronzes.
2006 Winter Olympic Games
In 2006, the world turned its eyes toward Turin for the 20th edition of the Winter Games. Notably, this was the first ever edition of the Games to offer live video coverage on mobile devices, live streams online and high-definition (HD) television broadcasts.
The elegant city at the foot of the Alps had a reputation mainly as an industrial hub, particularly for automobile production as the home of Fiat (now Fiat Chrysler), so organizers took the opportunity to showcase Turin’s culture, art and architecture to build up its international profile.
As the host nation, Italy finished in ninth place at the medal table. But it was one of the country’s best showings at a Winter Olympics to date, fueled by victories in speed skating and alpine and cross-country skiing. Among the most unforgettable moments was Giorgio Di Centa’s endurance performance in the men’s 50 km freestyle cross-country race. He beat the silver medalist from Russia by a mere 0.8 seconds — the closest 50 km event in modern Olympics history.
No less dramatic was the speed skating team’s stunning gold medal win in front of its hometown crowd. Reports say the cheers of joy were deafening.
We’ll be keeping our ears peeled for similar shouts out of Milan and Cortina. Game on.
