Winter Olympics 2026 in Milano and Cortina

[Incubajerks]

Dude, you're blatantly FULL OF ****. YOU should get your facts! Never EVER heard of such temps in Italy in Feb, not even at the tip of Sicily.



Another idiotic post. Hardly any local tradition?!? Hey, do you know ski and snowboard are BIG things in Italy? Do you know that Cortina is called the Pearl of the Dolomites? Do you know that every year countless of winter world class events (ski, snowboard, cross country ski, biathlon) are held in Italy?
Some people is reacting like the Winter Olympics will be held in Nigeria, for Christ' sake. Is it ignorance or what?

leave them in their bitterness and lack of knowledge

 

[Tomas W]

leave them in their bitterness and lack of knowledge

As a Swede its certainatly not JUST a bad thing that Italy (once again) is elected for this. While a fun event to host, it also comes with risks, financial risks and security risks. Italy is good at draining EU funds so they will do just fine.

Italy is (I think), the same time zone as Sweden, so it will be easy to follow on the TV.

Italy isnt too far away to travel, who knows maybe I take my familiy there to watch some games live!

Maybe Tre Kronor can build a winning tradition in Italy, last time it was pretty good with a silver for the ladies, and gold for the men.

And apparently there is guaranteed perfect weather in Cortina too!

 

[VictorLustig]

I'm happy. If the Swedish bid and presentation wasn't cringy enough, imagine what the Olympic games would be like?

 

[Star Ocean]

I'm happy. If the Swedish bid and presentation wasn't cringy enough, imagine what the Olympic games would be like?

I was worried about the cost. So i am happy we didnt get it. Too bad about the NHLers though. Nobody cares about hockey in italy.

The 2006 tournament in torino was terribly attended.

 

[Albatros]

The 2006 tournament in torino was terribly attended.

Rarely has it been very good though, Calgary had some of the lowest attendances of the tournaments I have had the joy to witness.

 

[GX]

Rarely has it been very good though, Calgary had some of the lowest attendances of the tournaments I have had the joy to witness.

Calgary didn't have NHLers. Torino did.

 

[Albatros]

Calgary didn't have NHLers. Torino did.

Who cares? There's hockey beyond the NHL. If the Canadians aren't interested in the sport beyond one league that's their shame and doesn't really compare very well even to Italy.

 

[Zenos]

I was worried about the cost. So i am happy we didnt get it. Too bad about the NHLers though. Nobody cares about hockey in italy.

The 2006 tournament in torino was terribly attended.

Well, that's not entirely true. Particularly in the north, there are pockets where hockey is popular.
And it's certainly no less popular than in Nagano, Pyeongchang, or Beijing for example. And to be frank, Hockey isn't (wasn't) all that popular in Albertville or Innsbruck or Lillehammer either.
If Olympic Winter games are only allowed to be hosted in countries where hockey is truly popular, we'd be severely limited to a handful of countries.

 

[Tomas W]

Well, that's not entirely true. Particularly in the north, there are pockets where hockey is popular.
And it's certainly no less popular than in Nagano, Pyeongchang, or Beijing for example. And to be frank, Hockey isn't (wasn't) all that popular in Albertville or Innsbruck or Lillehammer either.
If Olympic Winter games are only allowed to be hosted in countries where hockey is truly popular, we'd be severely limited to a handful of countries.

Maybe its better to just take out hockey from the Olympics, the IOC doesnt seem to care much about it.

 

[Albatros]

Hockey has a relatively fair representation with Fasel, Terho and Wickenheiser in the IOC. And then there's Larry Probst who's executive chairman of Electronic Arts (EA Sports) with its own hockey franchise.

 

[Nino33]

Who cares? There's hockey beyond the NHL. If the Canadians aren't interested in the sport beyond one league that's their shame and doesn't really compare very well even to Italy.

I couldn't find any average attendance figures for Calgary, but Torino's was 6211 (the 2018 Olympics averaged 4611)

Canada has NHL, AHL, WHL, OHL and QMJHL teams with far greater attendance & dozens of games year-after-year-after-year - that's 5 leagues plus international play too

The 2016 WC crushed the attendance of any Olympics or Worlds (I wasn't a supporter of that tournament, refused to watch the "fake" teams" on principal). I don't recall the 2010 Olympics in Vancouver having attendance issues

Canada crushes Italy when it comes to hockey interest/attendance

 

[Tomas W]

Italy is at least a much better host for Winter games than China and South Korea. Talk about waste of time and money, its just a power demonstration, they dont give a rats ass about hockey and neither most of the other sports.

 

[Jussi]

Italy is at least a much better host for Winter games than China and South Korea. Talk about waste of time and money, its just a power demonstration, they dont give a rats ass about hockey and neither most of the other sports.

South Korean power demonstrations are the absolute worst. That damn Samsung propaganda!

 

[Jussi]

I couldn't find any average attendance figures for Calgary, but Torino's was 6211 (the 2018 Olympics averaged 4611)

Canada has NHL, AHL, WHL, OHL and QMJHL teams with far greater attendance & dozens of games year-after-year-after-year - that's 5 leagues plus international play too

The 2016 WC crushed the attendance of any Olympics or Worlds (I wasn't a supporter of that tournament, refused to watch the "fake" teams" on principal). I don't recall the 2010 Olympics in Vancouver having attendance issues

Canada crushes Italy when it comes to hockey interest/attendance

The arenas is Torino had 12500 capacity and 5400. In 2018 the arena capacities were 10 000 and 6000. So of course the world cup had larger attendances because the games were all in the same arena.

 

[Nino33]

The arenas is Torino had 12500 capacity and 5400. In 2018 the arena capacities were 10 000 and 6000. So of course the world cup had larger attendances because the games were all in the same arena.

The point (that you seemed to miss) that I was responding to was how Canada allegedly only cared about the NHL and should feel "shame" because of it - the multiple leagues + international competition I pointed to was in regards to this


Maybe Italy should feel shame that their interest in hockey is so low their arenas are so small

 

[Jussi]

The point (that you seemed to miss) that I was responding to was how Canada allegedly only cared about the NHL and should feel "shame" because of it - the multiple leagues + international competition I pointed to was in regards to this


Maybe Italy should feel shame that their interest in hockey is so low their arenas are so small

You do realize the World Cup has pretty much only NHL players...? It's a very strawman argument to claim Canadians care about international hockey outside the NHL by using the World Cup as basis.

 

[KovalchukFistPump]

You can't be serious. You're lecturing me by giving some random "site" with "random" weather forecast they "predict" it's gonna be there in 6.5 years? Really? I was in Milan in 2017 Mid-Feb,it was 30+ celsius. And it's actually very rare that there is snow in Milan in winter.It can happen,but the amount of snow is limited. Hockey will be played in Milan and yes in an arena,but still, hockey players will walk to arena in shorts,hoodie and some slippers,whereas if the games were in Sweden, they could wear their designed country winter gear. People will boil if they wear those big hot winter jackets in there.
Know your facts before you attack someone like that. Peace.

Just want to quote this post as a reason why a Dislike button may need to be added to this site. To provide such extreme factual inaccuracies so early in a thread and then be really rude when people correct you...that takes a lot of effort. As everyone has already said, the historical high for Milan is 24 degrees Celsius and average high is 9 Celsius in February. It is a popular winter destination.

Back to the topic at hand, Italy had it very recently so Sweden should've gotten this one. European time zone does make it more likely that NHL allows players to go though.

 

[Zenos]

You do realize the World Cup has pretty much only NHL players...? It's a very strawman argument to claim Canadians care about international hockey outside the NHL by using the World Cup as basis.

Fine. Take a look at IIHF U-20 WC (World Junior) attendance then - which routinely crushes other country's records. Or how about the lone time Canada held the senior WC? The 2008 IHWC was top-10 in terms of total attendance (despite hosting 12 fewer games than contemporary tournaments) and average/game.
Canada only has a couple AHL teams, but they routinely draw better than many European 1st league teams. Same with the CHL. Teams like the Remparts, Moosehead, 67s, Knights, Oil Kings, Blades, Rebels, etc. draw crowds which many pro teams would be envious of.

Yes, Canadians care a lot about the NHL. But don't pretend that's where their hockey interests end.

 

[Nino33]

You do realize the World Cup has pretty much only NHL players...? It's a very strawman argument to claim Canadians care about international hockey outside the NHL by using the World Cup as basis.

Again, I was responding to how Canada allegedly only cared about the NHL ("Canadians aren't interested in the sport beyond one league") and should feel shame in comparison to Italy & I gave 4 additional leagues plus international play in response.



Do you have the TV numbers for Italy for the hockey in the 2018 Olympics?
CBC shows 31 million Canadians watched some of the 2018 Olympics, and in hockey in Canada 2.3 million watched Canada/Germany in the semis and 2.9 million watched Canada/Czech Republic in the bronze medal game CBC touts Canadian ratings for Winter Games

Only 8% of Canadians watched Canada play the Czechs...that'd be 4.8 million people in Italy - do 4.8 million Italians ever ice watch ice hockey? less? more?

 

[Jussi]

Fine. Take a look at IIHF U-20 WC (World Junior) attendance then

Nope, we're talking about Olympics which is for adults.

 

[Jussi]

Again, I was responding to how Canada allegedly only cared about the NHL ("Canadians aren't interested in the sport beyond one league") and should feel shame in comparison to Italy & I gave 4 additional leagues plus international play in response.



Do you have the TV numbers for Italy for the hockey in the 2018 Olympics?
CBC shows 31 million Canadians watched some of the 2018 Olympics, and in hockey in Canada 2.3 million watched Canada/Germany in the semis and 2.9 million watched Canada/Czech Republic in the bronze medal game CBC touts Canadian ratings for Winter Games

Only 8% of Canadians watched Canada play the Czechs...that'd be 4.8 million people in Italy - do 4.8 million Italians ever ice watch ice hockey? less? more?

Who cares, it's not like they're playing in the Olympic final or medal rounds anyway.

 

[Nino33]

Who cares, it's not like they're playing in the Olympic final or medal rounds anyway.

That's kinda why it's surprising to hear that Italy's interest in hockey as a sport puts Canada to shame (as for "who cares" that's the conversation you put yourself in regards to me, anything less than showing reason for Canada to feel shame in comparison to Italy is irrelevant; asking for something that might indicate the statement is even remotely true, like TV ratings, seems reasonable/logical to me)

Nope, we're talking about Olympics which is for adults.

So you want to ban Olympians who are minors? Do you also advocate taking medals away from past winners who won them as minors?

 

[Jussi]

That's kinda why it's surprising to hear that Italy's interest in hockey as a sport puts Canada to shame (as for "who cares" that's the conversation you put yourself in regards to me, anything less than showing reason for Canada to feel shame in comparison to Italy is irrelevant)


So you want to ban Olympians who are minors? Do you also advocate taking medals away from past winners who won them as minors?

Well I thought it was obvious the poster was referring to overall winter sports interest, not hockey but I guess that's just me.

Yes because that's exactly the point in talking about adult teams vs junior teams...

 

[Tomas W]

South Korean power demonstrations are the absolute worst. That damn Samsung propaganda!

 

[Jussi]