March 2026

Both the Olympic and Paralympic Games have just ended. Congratulations! As the Legacy Director for Milano Cortina 2026, what is your overall assessment? 

The Milano Cortina 2026 Games were a tremendous success that created a worldwide positive impact, positioning Italy as a best-in-class place for winter sports and to host mega events. The legacy of the Games was already present in the candidature bid, and in Milano Cortina we were able to achieve all targets in terms of what the games have created for all of Italy.  

Milano Cortina is often described as having introduced a new format for the Games, with multiple host sites and a strong focus on existing facilities. Do you think this model could become the “new norm” and how does it impact legacy? 

The model has to become the “new norm” if we want a more sustainable Games and Games that will positively impact the most people as possible. The concept of spreading the Games gives us the possibility to: save money, invest in what the country really needs, stage the competition in the most suitable location in the hosting country, and bring the Games close to a larger number of people.  
The legacy is impacted by different aspects: the culture that the Olympics and Paralympics can spread across multiple locations, the skills that the Games can bring and the multiple economic, social, and sustainability benefits that the new format of the Games brings. 

How will Milano Cortina 2026 Olympic cities and sites now “capitalise” on the Games and maintain an active and vibrant legacy? 

The major focus of our efforts will be the utilisation of the refurbished and new infrastructure created for the Games. The second aspect will be applying the skills created by the Games to host other international and national competitions at the highest level possible. The third point is the fact that, thanks to the Games, sports are now on the political and administrative agendas throughout Italy. More and more focus and investment on projects related to sport will be accomplished.  

To what extent have the Games been a catalyst for change in areas such as grassroots programmes, volunteering, fan engagement, etc.? 

Milano Cortina 2026 was an extraordinary catalyst for new investment, both public and private, in grassroots sports programmes, with different collaborations between Third Sector, Private investors, and public entities. More than 330 legacy projects have been achieved thanks to the Games, in different areas, including: infrastructure, social inclusion, education, gender equality, etc. In Milano Cortina more than 130,000 volunteers applied and 18,000 were chosen. The tremendous energy brought by the volunteers should not be lost but used for future events and to make the culture of volunteering, not only in sport, as a basis for our future. Regarding fan engagement, we have seen that sport is a tremendous opportunity to drive change in culture related to sports and physical activity in general.  

What are your expectations regarding the World Union of Olympic Cities, and what kind of collaboration between the Union and the Milano Cortina 2026 Olympic cities and Olympic legacy stakeholders could be envisaged in the future? 

The collaboration between the cities of Milano Cortina 2026 and the Union of Olympic Cities should be extensive in order to together drive the future of the Games towards a legacy: the real goal of each and every Games. My expectation is that collaboration between the different cities of the Union can create new opportunities and a new concept on how to organize events that are always linked to the legacy that the event creates.