The phenomenon of the widespread Olympics

The 2026 Milan-Cortina Winter Olympic Games are characterized by the wide geographical distribution of competition venues. The competitions and ceremonies will take place in various locations across the Italian Alps, covering an area extending from Milan to the borders of Switzerland and Austria. Overall, they will involve more than 20,000 square kilometers of territory, spanning three different regions – Lombardy, Trentino-Alto Adige, and Veneto. This setup aims, on the one hand, to enhance the value of existing sports facilities and, on the other, to contain costs associated with new constructions, promoting the event's environmental sustainability. However, the significant distance between venues will pose logistical challenges, both for athletes and staff as well as for spectators, with considerable travel times between different locations. As noted by the Washington Post, transportation is perhaps one of the main challenges of this edition of the Olympic Games. In particular, the management of mountain roads – often narrow and subject to difficult winter weather conditions – will be one of the most delicate issues for the organizing committee, which will need to ensure efficient travel between competition sites. In this context, restrictions on private car use will be imposed on competition days, encouraging instead the use of trains and shuttles. The Olympic organizers are aware of the difficulties linked to the geographical dispersion but see this model as a possible evolution for the future of the Winter Olympics. The International Olympic Committee is actively promoting more sustainable organizational models, aiming to reduce the economic and environmental impact of each event.

The concept of "distributed" Olympics could become a reference for future editions of the Games, as demonstrated by the awarding of the 2030 edition to France, with competitions spread between the French Riviera and the Alps. For 2038, two ambitious distributed bid projects are also under study for hosting the Winter Games: the first envisions an edition hosted in various locations across Switzerland, while the second involves a joint bid with Austria, Italy, and Slovenia collaborating. The International Olympic Committee and the countries bidding for the Games are trying to avoid a repeat of problematic experiences like Sochi 2014. On that occasion, the Russian city, located on the Black Sea coast with a mild climate, had to make massive investments to build sports infrastructure from scratch for winter sports in an unsuitable geographical context. The total cost of the Sochi Games exceeded 40 billion euros, an amount vastly higher than the initially estimated less than 10 billion. A significant portion of these expenses went towards the construction of sports facilities, hotels, new roads, and other infrastructure projects. However, many of these facilities were rarely used after the event, highlighting poor planning.

Few mountainous locations are capable of hosting Winter Games events on their own. This raises a broader and more urgent issue regarding the delicate balance between the touristic appeal of the mountains and their environmental preservation. Tourism linked to winter sports is a vital economic resource for many small high-altitude towns, but excessive transformation of mountain ecosystems can compromise their long-term sustainability. Hosting the Winter Olympics often involves targeted interventions, such as constructing sports facilities, Olympic villages, roads, and accommodation structures that can permanently alter the landscape and reduce natural habitats. Additionally, there is the intensive consumption of resources, such as the water required for artificial snow production, increasingly necessary due to global warming, and the energy needed to ensure adequate competition conditions. The environmental impact also extends to emissions generated by the transportation of athletes, spectators, and materials, as well as the operation of infrastructure during the event. The challenge is to find solutions that allow the hosting of major international events like the Olympics without irreversibly damaging mountain environments, which are increasingly affected by the climate crisis.