Cortina d’Ampezzo has moved from countdown to competition, with the 2026 Winter Olympics schedule now under way in the mountain co host just days before the official curtain raiser in Milan.
Mixed doubles curling began on Wednesday night, an early start that has put the Alpine town in full operational mode while the world’s cameras turn to Friday’s opening ceremony.
The 2026 Winter Olympics are being held in Italy, with the Games scheduled to run from 6 to 22 February.
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The opening ceremony is set for Friday at San Siro Stadium in Milan, as organisers and authorities brace for the first major influx of spectators.
For Cortina, the early curling sessions are the first live test of transport and venue routines before the busiest fortnight arrives.
The town will also stage key events across the programme, including women’s alpine skiing and the sliding sports that run through the Olympic calendar once competition ramps up.
Security planning has sharpened across the dispersed footprint of Milano Cortina, with Italian authorities establishing a round the clock operations room in Rome to co ordinate policing, border checks and cyber monitoring.
Reuters reported the plan will span multiple northern locations, reflecting the scale of an Olympics split between city arenas and mountain venues, with about 3,500 athletes and an expected two million visitors.
Weather, too, has become part of the pre ceremony briefing. After heavy rain in recent days, Reuters reported forecasters were expecting a break for Milan’s opening night, while conditions across the Alps were set to remain relatively stable in the first week, with avalanche risk assessed daily.
On the ice in Cortina, the early spotlight has fallen on Italy’s mixed doubles pair Stefania Constantini and Amos Mosaner, who start their title defence in front of a home crowd that rarely gets Olympics scale attention.
Reuters reported both athletes have framed the moment as a rare chance to compete for gold on familiar ice, with Constantini a local product of Cortina’s curling scene.
