Italy’s Milano-Cortina Winter Olympics Open Amid Budget Pressures And Geopolitical Tensions (Worthy News In-Depth)

by Stefan J. Bos, Worthy News Europe Bureau Chief

MILAN, ITALY (Worthy News) – Far over budget but still less costly than some recent Games, Italy’s Milano-Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics opened over the weekend, with athletes from Russia and its ally Belarus competing only under a “neutral” designation amid continuing fallout from Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine.

Even moments before Friday’s official opening ceremony, Italian organizers were still racing to complete several venues after facing mounting financial pressure.

Initially budgeting about $1.3 billion to stage the Games, organizers now say that figure has risen to more than $1.7 billion. Additional infrastructure spending — including roughly $3.5 billion in public funds — has also increased, Games CEO Andrea Varnier acknowledged.

“The financial situation of our organizing committee has been extremely difficult throughout the years,” Varnier said.

“We must acknowledge that the Games cost more than initially foreseen in the candidature budget,” he added.

COST OVERRUNS AND LAST-MINUTE PREPARATIONS

Midway through preparations, organizers opted to build a new multi-million-dollar sliding center in Cortina, despite earlier plans that relied mainly on existing or temporary venues.

The construction reportedly drew resistance from the International Olympic Committee (IOC), which had encouraged the use of existing sliding tracks in neighboring countries such as Austria, Switzerland, France, and Germany.

Organizers were also under pressure to complete the Santagiulia ice hockey arena, which was tested only weeks before the opening.

“There are moments when an organizing committee must operate under emergency conditions — and Milano-Cortina was certainly one of those cases,” Varnier said, citing tight deadlines and constant pressure.

Despite the overruns, the Games remain significantly less expensive than Russia’s Sochi 2014 Winter Olympics, which reportedly cost more than $50 billion, and China’s Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics, estimated at $8–10 billion. Experts note Olympic budgets often rise before and after the Games due to infrastructure overruns.

CEREMONY EMPHASIZES UNITY AMID GLOBAL TENSIONS

Financial concerns, however, failed to stop the Olympic torch from igniting twin cauldrons — one at Milan’s Arco della Pace and another in Cortina d’Ampezzo — officially marking the start of the Games.

The venues are spread across roughly 400 kilometers (about 250 miles) of northern Italy, stretching from Milan in Lombardy — the country’s wealthy northern economic region — to Alpine competition sites in the Dolomites, a mountain range designated a UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) World Heritage Site near Italy’s border with Austria. The wide geographic spread reflects the multi-city format of the current Winter Games.

Organizers said the ceremony’s theme focused on harmony and unity, blending Italy’s cultural heritage with modern staging designed to underscore sport’s ability to transcend divisions.

The twin cauldrons were created under the creative direction of Italian ceremony producer Marco Balich, according to organizers, and were inspired by geometric motifs associated with Italian Renaissance artist Leonardo da Vinci.

Italian President Sergio Mattarella formally declared the Games open, describing the Olympics as “a message of peace, dialogue and respect among peoples” at a time of heightened global uncertainty.

OLYMPIC FLAME ‘HOPE AND DREAMS’

IOC President Kirsty Coventry said the flame “carries not just the hopes of athletes, but the dreams of all who believe in the power of sport.”

Team Israel also made its entrance during the live televised opening ceremony in Milan. U.S. broadcaster NBC noted that Israel is seeking its first Winter Olympic gold medal and observed that the delegation often competes under heightened attention, dating back to the 1972 Munich Olympics, when Palestinian terrorists killed 11 Israeli athletes and coaches.

More than five decades later, Israeli athletes continue to participate under tight security at major international events, with added sensitivity surrounding the ongoing conflict in Gaza.

As competition began, traditional winter sports powers such as Norway, Germany, the United States, and the Netherlands were expected to contend strongly across multiple disciplines, including speed skating, alpine skiing, and biathlon.

The Netherlands — historically dominant in Olympic speed skating — has not yet matched its traditional early-Games medal pace, after Italy captured an early speed skating victory, surprising observers, though several events remain, and analysts caution against firm conclusions at this stage.

RUSSIA, BELARUS BARRED FROM GAMES

Around 20 athletes from Russia and Belarus are competing under the “Individual Neutral Athletes” designation, officially known in French as “Athlètes Individuels Neutres” (AIN). They are barred from formallyrepresenting their nations or using national flags and anthems following Russia’s February 2022 invasion of Ukraine, which Belarus backed.

While organizers have emphasized sustainability and long-term infrastructure legacy, the Milano-Cortina Games unfold against a backdrop of war in Europe, strained public finances, and growing scrutiny of global sporting governance.

The participation of neutral-designated Russian and Belarusian athletes has drawn mixed reactions. Ukraine and several allies argue that even limited participation risks normalizing aggression, while IOC officials maintain that sport should remain politically neutral and open to individuals who meet eligibility standards.

Critics have also questioned why countries such as China compete under standard IOC rules despite longstanding concerns raised by human rights groups about reported widespread abuses, including against Christians and other religious and ethnic minorities.

The Games, therefore, begin not only as a celebration of winter sport but also as a reflection of the increasingly complex intersection between geopolitics and international competition in the modern Olympic era.

Latest Worthy News