Milano - Cortina 2026 delegation group photos after the signing ceremony: at the center CONI President Giovanni Malagò and IOC President Thomas Bach. Photo by Maria Pia Beltran/AIPS Media

LAUSANNE, June 24, 2019 – The rumors were giving the victory – though a close one - to Milano – Cortina 2026 and for once they were true: a few minutes after 6pm IOC President Thomas Bach opened the envelope containing the decision of the 134th IOC Session.

Presenting a unique candidature that combines Milano and Cortina, the Region of Lombardy and the Region of Veneto, the Italian Olympic Committee wins the bid by 47 to 34 votes against Stokholm-Aare despite the full support of the Swedish government for the Nordic European bid.

THE PROJECT Milano – Cortina 2026 fully embraces Olympic Agenda 2020 by putting at the center of the bid sustainability, athletes and legacy: with 95% existing and temporary facilities the Italian proposal has convinced the IOC that the ‘Bel Paese’ is ready to deliver a new term of the Winter Olympics.

THOMAS BACH After the signing ceremony – a special one involving four institutions such as the Mayors of Milano and Cortina and the Governors of the Regions Lombardy and Veneto - it was the turn of the IOC President to congratulate the winners. “It’s a great day for the IOC, because we will have the Olympic games in a country with a great experience in Winter Sport, a unique passion and love for their amazing athletes. I was impressed today by both the candidatures: both of them were aligned with the reforms of Olympic Agenda. I can say that the popular support of the Italians for this candidature may have made the difference. Apart from the fact that the average costs were cut down to 75% compared to the previous candidatures, the Italian population displayed 83% of consensus about hosting this Games. We will contribute to the success of this Games with 925 milion USD that will facilitate the preparation of this great partnership”.

FROM DREAMING TO WORKING As Undersecretary of State Gianfranco Giorgetti said, from tomorrow the Milano – Cortina 2026 slogan is going to change from  ‘Dreaming together’ to “Working together”. The whole presentation delivered by Milano – Cortina 2026 brought to the stage a great sense of unity: among the two different cities, among the Olympic and Paralympic Committee and among the athletes. And in the Italian Olympic Committee President Giovanni Malagò’s opinion the presentation – changed at the last minute on Friday – may have been one of the keys to the success. “We have decided to leave our young women athletes at the end of the presentation and I am pretty convinced they have moved more than one or two votes: Olympic Champions Arianna Fontana, Sofia Goggia and Michela Moioli and the young hope Elisa Confortona (17 years old)  were the secret weapon of a passionate and enthusiastic presentation that wanted to put the athletes at the center.

POLITICAL UNITY After the disappointing withdrawal of the Roma bid for the 2024 Olympic Games back in 2016 the international media asked what was the difference between Milano’s success and the Italian Capital’s past defeats (Roma also lost against Athens back in September 1997). Mayor of Milano and former CEO of Expo 2015 Beppe Sala replied: “Milano and Roma are so different, in terms of public transportation, waste collection, medicine and many more aspects, we have made progress in the last 20 years and have had the opportunity to test this progress with the Milan Expo 2015. Our collectivity is always on board in Milan and my hope is that we will see an improvement also in our capital Rome, which we deeply love.  Milano is more solid, we have been working for the city and we will keeping doing it: my mandate will end in 2021 but I can run for a second term finishing in May 2026, we’ll see, but let me say that our country needs Rome and we are fully committed to work together for this result”.

PERSONAL GRATITUDE CONI President Giovanni Malagò was really emotional when taking the floor after getting such an important result: “This win counts for much not only for me, but for the whole country. I am really proud of this fantastic team that we created all together without any differences of party or political colours. I want to personally thank these mates who really believe in this adventure at the very beginning of it in 2016: Mayor Sala and the former governor of Lombardy Roberto Maroni, the Governor of Veneto Luca Zaia that called me a few hours after the idea was born saying he wanted to stay on board with Cortina exactly as the Mayor Ghedina. The new Governor of Region Lombardy Attilio Fontana was a magnificent person as soon as he was elected confirming the faith in this project, and it wasn’t obvious and I want to spend my last word Luca Pancalli, the Paralympic President, with me on the stage for the presentation today and for Giancarlo Giorgetti, the Undersecretary of State who was really positive since the very beginning and did a great job in convincing the government team to overcome any initial skepticism”. Among others Malagò mentioned were his secretary general Carlo Mornati, all the Italian sport federations’ Presidents, and the bid Project Manager Diana Bianchedi.