If you’ve watched even a little bit of the 2026 Winter Olympics, you probably are aware how much hay has been made of the spread-out nature of these Games. Milan and Cortina d’Ampezzo, its two host cities, are about five hours apart by car. Both cities are a multiple-hours drive away from Livigno, where freestyle skiing and snowboarding are being contested.
This is indicative of the International Olympic Committee’s new, regional approach to the Winter Olympics—both a gesture in the direction of fiscal responsibility and a nod to the increasingly tricky nature of 21st-century winters. The 2030 and 2034 Olympics in the French Alps and Utah will both be regional affairs. The 2038 Games—being floated to Switzerland—may be as well.
