Milan, Turin, Cortina to launch joint bid for 2026 Olympics

MILAN (AP) — Italy will launch a three-city bid to host the 2026 Winter Olympics in Milan, Turin and Cortina.

The Italian Olympic Committee announced the move on Wednesday, having decided a joint bid was more cost effective. It was unanimously voted for by the CONI board.

Milan Mayor Giuseppe Sala, however, has criticized the decision and says that while his city would still be willing to host Olympic events, it will not be involved in the governance of the bid.

According to CONI’s ‘Olympic Masterplan’, Milan will host four events: curling, women’s ice hockey, short track speed skating and figure skating.

Cortina would have the same number of competitions, with the sliding sports (bobsleigh, skeleton and luge) and Alpine skiing, while the Nordic combined and ski jumping would be held in nearby Val di Fiemme.

Speed skating and men’s ice hockey would take place in Turin, with slalom Alpine skiing in nearby Sestriere.

Snowboarding, biathlon, freestyle and Nordic skiing would be staged in the Valtellina region, which is between Milan and Cortina.

Other possible candidates for the 2026 Olympics are: Stockholm; Erzurum, Turkey; Calgary, Canada; and Sapporo, Japan. International Olympic Committee members will pick the host in Milan in October 2019.