Latest news with #OlympicTalk
NBC Sports
4 days ago
- Sport
- NBC Sports
Andrea Varnier, 2026 Milan Cortina Winter Games CEO, talks prep plans 200 days out
Andrea Varnier, the Milan Cortina 2026 Chief Executive Officer, spoke with about preparations for the Games, which open in 200 days. This interview has been lightly edited for length and clarity. OlympicTalk: The Olympic and Paralympic medal designs have been revealed. In recent Games, we've seen some complex medal designs, including the Torino 2006 medals, which had the hollow center to represent the Italian piazza. The 2026 medals were described as minimalist on the Milan Cortina website. Why is it that you have gone with this type of design for the medals and not as complex as others? Varnier: That's part of our overall design strategy. It's also in line with our torch design. We studied a lot what was done in the past. Of course, we have the Torino heritage. So, how can you go more extreme than a medal with a hole in the middle? So at one point we said that we're looking to make a different type of statement: a statement about essentiality, about sustainability. And there's references about Italian avant-garde of the 1900s that were actually born in Milan. There's two faces, two parts of the medals, telling a lot of stories, like mountain and city, athletes and everybody that's around the athletes. With the rings in the middle and the Agitos in the middle for the Paralympics, we think it's a very strong statement. OlympicTalk: What are the biggest challenges or areas of focus that you have in getting ready for the Games between now and February? Varnier: We're entering a very interesting phase. After a lot of planning, we're actually starting to build things — overlay and temporary stuff. This is a very good feeling that you start entering the venues — that was mostly on paper until a few days ago. Of course, when you start the operations, many challenges come about. There are a couple of sport infrastructures that are still under construction. Mainly the main hockey arena and the sliding center. The sliding track is fully ready now. They're working on the surrounding areas. So we're monitoring this closely, because before the Games, we still have to perform some test events in these two venues. Nick Zaccardi, OlympicTalk: On the sliding center: over the last year, as this has been in the news and progressing, did you ever have any significant worries that it would be ready? And how satisfied are you now that everything is looking good? Varnier: We were confident that if the government agency that was in charge of works made their plans and said, 'we can do it,' we always try to be optimistic. But nonetheless, we had an alternative plan. But then, following the pre-homologation (test runs by athletes for the first time) in March, we were very happy. Not having the sliding center in Cortina would have been a great damage for the Games, for everybody. Starting from the athletes. The experience of the sliding athletes will have been different. But also for the other athletes in Cortina. They will have missed the opportunity to stay with their colleagues from the sliding sports. It would have been very difficult for the media. It will have been very strange for the spectators. So we were surely very happy when it was finally sure that we were able to do the competition in Cortina. OlympicTalk: What can you say about the plans you have for the Opening Ceremony to incorporate athletes who are at the clusters outside of Milan? Varnier: This is one of the challenges that we have since the beginning, because of the nature of our Games, so widespread. It's virtually impossible for the athletes to be in Milan if they are in the in the mountain clusters. Not only if you compete the next day, but in general, the distances are relevant. So we tried to study the possibility to involve them in different areas and incorporate them in the ceremony. So not just like has been done in the past, to have a video from a village and some people waving, but really being part of the ceremony. So we are developing a potential plan to have some cluster activators. It will be Livigno, Predazzo, and, obviously, Cortina. So in the end, we try to have the athletes staying in these clusters do an actual parade in a venue, potentially with people watching, and then it will be the magic of broadcasters to make sure it will look like a single parade. So the athletes will be all participating. In this model, there will also be some segments that will be performed in the different venues, so that makes it unity regardless of the distances. OlympicTalk: Is the plan still to have two cauldrons, one in Milan, one in Cortina? Varnier: Absolutely. This is for sure. They will be lit at the same time, and then will be going off for the same moment during the Closing Ceremony. OlympicTalk: Why was it decided to have the Olympic Closing Ceremony and Paralympic Opening Ceremony at the Verona Arena, outside of the main competition venue clusters? (Editor's note: The venue plan, including Verona, was decided before Varnier joined the Milan Cortina 2026 team.) Varnier: I think the idea behind that is, first of all, to find something very special. Having an Olympic ceremony and a Paralympic ceremony in an ancient, first century Roman amphitheater, I think, is something extraordinary. Only in Italy you could do something like that. Then Verona, yes, it's out of the competition clusters, but in fact, it is in the middle of the Olympic (venue) system. So we still think it is for some of the athletes and for some of the Olympic family a good point when the competitions are finished, to come down and meet. There's also another important statement that is to do mostly with the Paralympic Opening Ceremony. The Verona Arena has been used for shows for 100 years. And it's not accessible, according to the law. So the government made a 20 million euro investment to make the arena fully accessible. I think this is a very important achievement and a very strong message and legacy of our Games. Because if you can make it accessible in a first century Roman amphitheater, it means that you can do it everywhere. OlympicTalk: The Olympic torch relay will be starting in a few months visiting all of Italy's provinces. What do you foresee will be some of the most memorable images coming from that torch relay? Varnier: One important feature of our route is Italy is the country with the highest number of UNESCO World Heritage sites. We have over 60, and we are going through all of them. This is an important statement that we want to give to the world. Of course, some are quite remote, so it will not be the actual full relay to go there, but we will touch upon all of them. Then we have some other important highlights. For example, we will arrive in Cortina on the 26th of January, so 11 days before the Opening Ceremony. That's exactly the 70th anniversary of the Opening Ceremony of the 1956 Games in Cortina. OlympicTalk: Is there anything that we haven't addressed that's important as we look forward to the next 200 days into the start of the Games? Varnier: We're having an incredible volunteer campaign. We are using 18,000 volunteers. We were aiming to have between 40,000 and 50,000 applications. We reached more than 120,000 applications. It means that there's a lot of people passionate for the Games. We have of lot of young people that want to be a volunteer, and that's extraordinary. We saw the incredible number of tickets in the first wave in the spring. Now we're going through a second and final wave starting in the fall. It's very interesting to see that the greatest majority of the tickets have been sold to people 40 years and below. That's a good sign for the Olympic Movement to have so many younger parts of the population that are still enthusiastic about the Games.
NBC Sports
4 days ago
- Sport
- NBC Sports
IOC's Christophe Dubi discusses 2026 Milan Cortina Winter Olympic prep with 200 days to go
International Olympic Committee Executive Director Christophe Dubi spoke with about preparations for the 2026 Milan Cortina Winter Games, which open in 200 days. 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.
NBC Sports
08-05-2025
- Sport
- NBC Sports
Jimmer Fredette talks new USA Basketball role, retirement, Olympic 3x3 change he'd like to see
Jimmer Fredette announced both his retirement from basketball and his new role in the sport — USA Basketball men's 3x3 national team managing director — last month. Fredette recently discussed both moves as he ventures into the administrative side of the sport. This interview has been lightly edited for length and clarity: OlympicTalk: When did you know you were ready to retire? Fredette: My original plan was play the Paris Olympics, hopefully medal, and then be able to ride off into the sunset, right? Of course, what happened — getting injured right in the beginning of the Olympics and not being able to compete the full time — was definitely difficult. I had a long rehab ahead of me. I knew it was going to be an eight-, nine-month rehab. As I was going through it, I wasn't playing basketball, but I was just kind of preparing to kind of get back into shape. As I thought about it, I was like, man, I kind of don't love the grind anymore. I don't love being out there and trying to work out and be in the gym every single day like I had been. For me, that was a big sign, because I loved that throughout my career. That was my favorite part was the grind of it, was the practicing, was the getting better. That's what made me the player that I was. So when I had that type of feeling, I was like, I don't want to force it, it's probably a good sign. Then decided to make it official. It just felt like the right time. Now being home with the three kids, and being the dad and doing all those things has been really rewarding. OlympicTalk: If you could change one thing about Olympic 3x3 basketball, what would it be? Fredette: I would have, in our case of what happened in Paris, if someone does get injured, that you would be able to sub a guy in so that they could still have four players. That's one of the biggest things that we've talked about, just because it's such a difficult and unfair advantage to have four versus three players when you're going through the Olympic process. I get it completely (why they don't have it). There's costs involved. There's stuff that goes on, but a general FIBA 3x3 event is only two days, and you only play five games if you win it. You can play with three guys and get away with it. Whereas the Olympics, you're playing seven days and 10 games (if you get to the final). It's just a way longer period. It's a way different time frame than we normally do, so if someone does go down with a rolled ankle or whatever happens, I feel like you should be able to have at least one person that's an alternate that can sub in, and then that's it, just one time, and then it's over with. OlympicTalk: Would you like to see a U.S. Olympic Trials type event for 3x3? Fredette: It's fun to watch trials, right? People like to get familiar with the players before the Olympics. I think we can do some type of form of that, but it's a little interesting. With 3x3, you're not just going through and being like, all right, I'm going to pick this guy, this guy, this guy, and they're just going to come together, and then I pick the team, and then it's over. These guys are going to be playing a lot for the next three to four years. It'd be fun to have, maybe, a tournament or a trials or something like that, where you could see the collection of players together that we would be able to at least showcase — this is who is in the pool. These are the guys that have been playing for the last two to three years that care about the sport, that have gotten better. They're playing professionally, and now you get to see them and know who they are. It wouldn't be like the final pick or anything like that for me, because it would be a whole long process, right? From that perspective, you can have a bad tournament, but still be on the team, because you have had a whole body of work. But I think it would be fun to be able to do that in a capacity where the USA would be able to see it. OlympicTalk: For the first two Olympics in 3x3, eligibility rules made it difficult for NBA players to participate — they needed to have competed in 3x3 events outside of the Olympics. Would you like to see those rules relaxed to make it more accommodating for NBA players? Fredette: I think it would be great for the sport somewhat. But I also do love the fact that it's (currently) kind of like a true Olympic story, where these guys are going through for years, and some of them have had other jobs, or do other things or play in other leagues, and then they play 3x3 as well professionally. It's fun to see guys that have been homegrown, that have been doing 3x3 for so long, to be able to get rewarded and play in the Olympics at the end. I think it would be good from a marketing standpoint. Obviously, if you had some of the top NBA players that aren't on the 5x5 team, maybe come and play 3x3. From a branding perspective, obviously, people would watch and be aware of that. But I do like the idea of guys that are kind of homegrown and playing professionally being able to get their shine as well. OlympicTalk: The 3x3 World Cup is next month. Are you selecting that team so early in your USA Basketball tenure, and if so, how is that looking? Fredette: For sure, I'll still pick that team, but our USA Basketball player pool is pretty small right now. That was intentional, because we had myself and all of my team were kind of playing through the Olympics, and that's who they kind of put their money into, and all that stuff. There were other guys playing, obviously, but not necessarily through USA Basketball. So coming into 2025 we knew we were going to have a little bit of a smaller pool, but we still have a really good team that's out there playing in Team Miami on the FIBA World Tour, which is the team I played for. One of the guys, Dylan Travis, was on the Olympic team. He's still playing on that team. Then some other guys that were alternates and have been playing professionally for a while. So we have some really good guys to play at the World Cup and to build. My opportunity is to now try to find more guys as we move forward for the next several years. These guys that are playing now will continue to be in that mix, obviously, and be able to help us as we push forward and then integrating some new players and some new talent. So by the 2026 World Cup, and all the things that we have coming up, we'll be able to have more players in our pool. Aidan Berg,
NBC Sports
25-02-2025
- Sport
- NBC Sports
Diana Taurasi retires, ending legendary basketball career: 'I'm just full'
Diana Taurasi is retiring at age 42, ending a legendary basketball career. Taurasi chose to retire rather than suit up for a 21st season in the WNBA (all have been with the Phoenix Mercury). 'I just didn't have it in me,' Taurasi said, according to Time, noting she felt that way on New Year's Day, when she usually starts preparing for the season. 'That was pretty much when I knew it was time to walk away.' She is the league's all-time leading scorer (10,646 points, nearly 3,000 more than anybody else) and the only basketball player to win six Olympic medals (all gold). Last July, Taurasi announced that the Paris Olympics would be her final tournament with the national team. She then finished the 2024 season with the Mercury without making a definitive statement on her future until now. 'Mentally and physically, I'm just full,' she said, according to Time. 'That's probably the best way I can describe it. I'm full and I'm happy.' Taurasi went 44-0 in games at her six Olympics, plus won three titles each at UConn and with Phoenix, which drafted her No. 1 overall in 2004. 'Diana Taurasi is one of the greatest competitors to ever play the game of basketball on any stage,' WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert said in a statement. 'In a record-setting career that saw her play 20 seasons, score more points and make more three-point shots than any player in WNBA history, she has earned the unquestioned respect of players around the globe, delivered electrifying moments and captivated fans again and again.' OlympicTalk,
