Italian bid edges Swedish rival in 2026 Olympic host study

GENEVA—The Italian bid to host the 2026 Winter Olympics in Milan and Cortina d’Ampezzo looked stronger than the Stockholm Are project in an IOC analysis of the candidates published Friday.

Polling by the International Olympic Committee, which typically looks to get a warm welcome from host nations, showed “83% support in Italy” and “55% in favor in Sweden.”

The evaluation report said the Swedish bid team “considers such figures to be high in the Swedish context.”

The 144-page document was produced for IOC members, with about 90 of them set to pick the winner on June 24 in Lausanne.

To have 55% public support was “huge” for Sweden, where the people’s mentality was to be questioning, bid chief executive Richard Brisius said.

“‘If you say yes, I’d rather say no to challenge you.’ Actually, I’d be worried if everyone was totally behind it,” Brisius said in a conference call.

Italian public authorities have provided more financial guarantees than in Sweden to underwrite billions of dollars in operating and security costs. Regional authorities in Lombardy and Veneto—“two of the wealthiest regions of Italy”—are the “driving forces behind the candidature,” the report said.

The Swedish bid lacked “binding venue funding guarantees” for the athletes village in Stockholm and the two new sports arenas planned, for speedskating and a venue to be shared by cross-country skiing and biathlon.