IOC's Christophe Dubi discusses 2026 Milan Cortina Winter Olympic prep with 200 days to go
This interview has been lightly edited for length and clarity.
OlympicTalk: What is the state of preparations for these Games from the IOC perspective, and do you have any concerns?
Dubi: I've got excitement more than concerns. You loved Paris (2024). You will adore Milano-Cortina, I think we start from a very strong Paris Games, and the expectations are immense, by the way. Let's be very clear, the Games back in the traditional Alpine setting with the Alps and the Dolomites, there are a lot of expectations. I'm just back from Italy. What I really like at this stage is that from all political sides and at all authority levels, but also in the general public, you have a real sense of excitement.
That sense that Italy is ready to party, and not only Milano and the regions, but more like what happened in France, where the Games will be the Games for the whole territory. You can feel that. It was pretty obvious with the volunteers campaign, which was too successful. You have too many people disappointed because they're not chosen. Ticketing, which is ongoing, we are halfway through — around 750,000 tickets. So that bodes really well.
Now, having said that, six months out, it's a lot of work ahead. It's a lot of time that has passed and a lot of work behind us. But of course, still, all the temporary installations, from temporary ice to temporary stands, mountain build, all the above. So excitement, but also extreme sense of duty with the calendar, which is managed minute by minute.
Nick Zaccardi,
OlympicTalk: Are you satisfied with how things are progressing with the Cortina sliding track?
Dubi: We love the track. Let's be clear here. What they've done in terms of construction time to get to the pre-homologation (test runs by athletes for the first time in March), it was something we had never seen, so we were doubtful.
They managed — by a very smart construction and very thoughtful engineering processes — to get to the point where they could have ice on this track, and they tested and validated the fact that it's a safe track.
Now we have final homologation, which is a very important step, because this is then opening the season for the testing of the track and availability of the track for all athletes. That is super, super important. Now, the works are not finished, right? So the ice, yes, but when it comes to the actual track itself, to make it an Olympic venue, there is still quite some work to be done. So it's pretty complicated. It requires a super precise coordination.
But again, they have demonstrated, and there is no reason to doubt that they're going to be able to do that.
OlympicTalk: What plans are there that you know of — and that you can share — for the Opening Ceremony to incorporate athletes who won't be able to be in Milan and are at the other venue clusters?
Dubi: The work that they are doing to allow all athletes to — somewhat in different ways, shapes and forms — participate is a defining moment for the next Games to come. Not LA, but for the French Alps 2030 and Brisbane 2032, which is on three clusters, plus a few venues in the region. So the work they do here to have everybody involved is really outstanding.
I cannot really reveal more, but it's really a plan that, for us, respects the principle that the Games, no matter how spread they can be, is for the athletes to feel that the Olympic experience is something really different. So that ceremony will be reflecting this principle.
Is it easy to do? Absolutely not. It requires an incredible level of coordination for the show, but, hey, Paris was already quite a step. This is somewhat different, because it's not that large of a venue, but it's several venues, and yeah, really we are incredibly thankful to the work that they have done.
OlympicTalk: What is the process to determine if Nordic combined will stay on the Olympic program beyond 2026, and if a women's event could be added?
Dubi: What can be done for Nordic combined is two things in the future, more than it is today: more universal. You cannot have 27 medals in the last three editions of the Games going to four National Olympic Committees (editor's note: Norway, Germany, Japan and Austria combined to win all of the Nordic combined medals in 2014, 2018 and 2022).
So FIS (International Ski and Snowboard Federation) needs to work on that and needs to develop the women's side. You have to have a balanced program in the future. So I prefer to look at it from a glass half-full, which is, what are the conditions that would improve the quality of the sport in the future? More universality. Women. These are the two axes on which we have to work with the federation.
OlympicTalk: I want to ask you about the authorized individual neutral athletes, if I may. How will the process for determining which AIN athletes get invited to compete at the Games be similar or different than it was for Paris 2024?
Dubi: I'd say similar. It was successful in Paris in the sense that all the frameworks we had put around the conditions for participation worked. We didn't have any problems. So we're very proud of the lineup in Paris from those coming from those territories at war, but also our refugee team. It worked really well, so that's what we build from. Now, what the process exactly will be? To be discussed in the next executive board meetings. But we start from something we know, which is reassuring.
OlympicTalk: A specific scheduling question. Ester Ledecka, the skier/snowboarder from Czechia, has said she's requested a schedule change to better accommodate her hope to compete in both Alpine skiing and Alpine snowboarding at the Games. What is the status of that?
Dubi: The line is open. So she had conversations with a number of our colleagues in the sports department, and the dialog continues. The facts are the following: she will be able to compete in the two disciplines where she won gold medals: the super-G (Alpine skiing, on Feb. 12 in Cortina, which she won in 2018) and the parallel giant slalom (snowboard, on Feb. 8 in Livigno, which she won in 2018 and 2022). The problem is with the downhill (Alpine skiing, on Feb. 8 in Cortina, the same day as snowboarding's parallel giant slalom).
(Editor's note: In the downhill, Ledecka placed 27th at the 2022 Olympics and won bronze at the World Championships this past February. On the World Cup, she had an average finish of seventh place in five downhill starts last season.)
Extremely hard to change the schedule at that point in time for all the good reasons. This is something that is built all the time and is impossible to change at that stage. However, happy to continue the conversation and see whether there are some logistics arrangements that can be made. But in any case, and I think this is an important point, I understand that the more opportunities the better. But already we can ensure super-G and snowboard, and then issue remains the downhill.
OlympicTalk: Is there anything else that we haven't addressed that's particularly exciting you for these Games 200 days out, or is particularly going to be a focus of yours over the next six months?
Dubi: I think it's back to where we started. I think there is this sense of excitement because Paris has had a profound impact on all of us, and the next ones lined up are Milano Cortina. So you have this sense of excitement, and you can feel it, as I said, in the territory, but among the athletes as well.
The fact that the Games were very appealing to youth, and we see this now in ticketing as well, where a large portion is for people under 35, is also a sign that probably Paris, more than anything else before, reconnected. Our product remains amazingly exciting, but also, I think the values we are based upon, which is the simplicity of sport, giving that breath at a time where the world is a difficult place for almost everyone.
And it's so Italian, and that's great. You go to France. It was so French. It's going to be so Italian, with their extravagance, with their warmth, with their colors.
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


NBC News
2 hours ago
- NBC News
Summer McIntosh wins first gold medal at worlds in her quest for five
SINGAPORE — For Summer McIntosh of Canada, it's one gold medal won at the swimming world championships with four to go. McIntosh is aiming to win five gold medals in individual events at the worlds in Singapore, and the first one came Sunday in the 400-meter freestyle on the first of eight days in the pool. Only legendary American Michael Phelps has ever won five individual medals in the worlds. He also did it at the Olympics. McIntosh won but did not break her own world record, winning in 3 minutes, 56.26 seconds. Li Bingjie of China took silver (3:58.21) with a late charge to leave American Katie Ledecky (3:58.49) with bronze. A year ago in the Olympics, Ledecky also took bronze in the 400. McIntosh was the silver medalist with gold for Australian Ariarne Titmus of Australia. Titmus is taking a year off and did not swim and has since lost her world record in the event to McIntosh. For Ledecky, a nine-time Olympic gold medalist, it was her 27th medal in the world championships in an astonishing career. She won her first Olympic gold in 2012 in London, and then started adding world championship medals beginning in Barcelona in 2013. About 25 minutes after winning the 400, McIntosh came back and qualified first in the 200 individual medley, clocking 2:07.39. American Alex Walsh was second in 2:08.49. That final is Monday. "I've never done a double like that," McIntosh said. "I think the 400 free, at past world championships and Olympics, I haven't been at my best. And I haven't been where I wanted to be. So, to finally stand in the center of the podium is promising for the rest of the meet." The Canadian added: I think I'm at my best. I'm in the best shape of my life. So now I just have to act on that and put it into all my races." The shock of the first day might have been Chinese 12-year-old Yu Zidi, who was the seventh fastest in qualifying and will swim in the final. Asked her reaction, she replied: "Oh, I'm in," unaware she had advanced. "I will continue to work harder," she added. "I hope to find a breakthrough at these world championships and show my potential." Asked for her reaction to the competition, she added. "You can feel it's quite intense. I try not to think so much and just give it my all." The 200 IM might not even be her best event with the Chinese likely quicker in the 400 IM and the 200 butterfly. Meanwhile, the United States is swimming with what appears to be a weakened team after officials acknowledged Sunday that some members of the team had come down with "acute gastroenteritis" at a training camp in Thailand prior to arriving in Singapore. Nikki Warner, a spokeswoman for USA Swimming, would not say how many fell ill in Thailand. She cited health confidentiality rules. She said all American swimmers had traveled to Singapore. In the other early individual final Sunday, Lukas Martens of Germany won the men's 400 free in 3:42.35, edging Sam Short of Australia who was .02 behind. Bronze went to Kim Woomin of South Korea in 3:42.60. Martens is the defending Olympic champion and also holds the world record of 3:39.96. McIntosh, who won three gold medals a year ago at the Paris Olympics, holds the world record in the 400 free — 3:54.18. She will face off again with Ledecky in the 800 free later in the meet, probably the most anticipated race in Singapore. Though she holds the 400 free world record, McIntosh had failed to win gold in the event in the Olympics or previous world championships. McIntosh will also be after gold in the 200- and 400-individual medleys, and the 200 butterfly. The other two gold medals Sunday were in the relays. The United States was the favorite in both and failed to win either. The Australian women took gold just ahead of the United States in the 4x100 freestyle relay. The Aussies clocked 3:30.60 with 3:31.04 for the US. The Netherlands took bronze in 3:33.89. On the men's side in the 4x100, Australia also took gold in 3:08.97. Italy took silver in 3:09.58 with bronze for the United States in 3:09.64. There were three other semifinal results on Sunday. Qin Haiyang of China took the 200 breaststroke in 58.24 with Paris Olympic champion Nicolo Martinenghi second in 58.62. The Italian was initially disqualified for moving on the blocks, but was later reinstated on appeal. Gretchen Walsh of the United States and Roos Vanotterdijk of Belgium tied in the 100 butterfly in 56.07, and Maxime Grousset of France took the men's 50 fly in 22.61.


San Francisco Chronicle
5 hours ago
- San Francisco Chronicle
Tour de France finale brings excitement to Montmartre with a climb to Sacré-Coeur
Hours before the Tour de France peloton was due to pass through Montmartre on Sunday, thousands of fans packed the streets, eager to claim a prime spot to watch riders climb the iconic hill during the final stage of the race. The Tour is breaking with tradition this year as organizers look to build on the popular success of the Paris Olympic road race. During last year's Olympics, massive crowds lined the streets of Montmartre — a neighborhood in northern Paris famous for its artistic heritage and sweeping city views — to cheer on riders. Inspired by the frenetic atmosphere, Tour organizers decided to include the Montmartre climb in this summer's route. Riders will ascend the hill and pass beneath the Sacré-Coeur basilica before heading to the finish on the Champs-Élysées. Spectators began arriving early Sunday on the cobbled Rue Lepic, well before race leader Tadej Pogačar and his rivals were expected to tackle the steep ascent. Fans also filled the stairs beneath the Sacré-Coeur to ensure they didn't miss a moment of the action. Riders will also pass the Moulin Rouge before climbing to the Butte Montmartre. To mark the occasion, dancers in tricolor costumes will perform a French Cancan outside the cabaret. Traditionally, the final stage is largely processional until a sprint decides the day's winner on the Champs-Elysées. On Sunday, the final climb comes less than 7km from the finish, making it unlikely that many sprinters will contend for the stage win. During the Olympics, the road races drew more than 500,000 spectators in Paris. Last year's Tour concluded outside Paris for the first time since 1905 because of a scheduling conflict with the Olympics, with the final stage held in Nice. The Champs-Élysées returned this year for the conclusion of the 3,320-kilometer (2,060-mile) race. ___


Fox Sports
5 hours ago
- Fox Sports
Tour de France finale brings excitement to Montmartre with a climb to Sacré-Coeur
Associated Press Hours before the Tour de France peloton was due to pass through Montmartre on Sunday, thousands of fans packed the streets, eager to claim a prime spot to watch riders climb the iconic hill during the final stage of the race. The Tour is breaking with tradition this year as organizers look to build on the popular success of the Paris Olympic road race. During last year's Olympics, massive crowds lined the streets of Montmartre — a neighborhood in northern Paris famous for its artistic heritage and sweeping city views — to cheer on riders. Inspired by the frenetic atmosphere, Tour organizers decided to include the Montmartre climb in this summer's route. Riders will ascend the hill and pass beneath the Sacré-Coeur basilica before heading to the finish on the Champs-Élysées. Spectators began arriving early Sunday on the cobbled Rue Lepic, well before race leader Tadej Pogačar and his rivals were expected to tackle the steep ascent. Fans also filled the stairs beneath the Sacré-Coeur to ensure they didn't miss a moment of the action. Riders will also pass the Moulin Rouge before climbing to the Butte Montmartre. To mark the occasion, dancers in tricolor costumes will perform a French Cancan outside the cabaret. Traditionally, the final stage is largely processional until a sprint decides the day's winner on the Champs-Elysées. On Sunday, the final climb comes less than 7km from the finish, making it unlikely that many sprinters will contend for the stage win. During the Olympics, the road races drew more than 500,000 spectators in Paris. Last year's Tour concluded outside Paris for the first time since 1905 because of a scheduling conflict with the Olympics, with the final stage held in Nice. The Champs-Élysées returned this year for the conclusion of the 3,320-kilometer (2,060-mile) race. ___ AP cycling: in this topic