And the 2026 Winter Olympic Games Go to ... Italy
This is the week that live ticket sales for Americans begin for the 2020 Olympics Games in Tokyo, but that's not today's Olympics-related headline. Jumping forward quite a few more years, the 2026 Winter Games have just been awarded to Italy, over the only remaining competitor for the 2026 Games, Sweden.
Italy had reportedly been the favored host for a while, with the public support polled by the IOC at 85%, as opposed to just 60% in Sweden. When the Olympic torch reaches Milan for the Opening Ceremonies on Feb. 6, 2026, that isn't the only Italian location that will be involved in the event. Milan is located just south of Switzerland in northern Italy and will host many of the Olympic events. However, the alpine events will be held more than 250 miles away at Cortina d'Ampezzo, which is located in the northeastern corner of the country in the Alps, just south of Austria.
The Closing Ceremonies are in yet another city, Verona, making it impossible to take in all of the Olympic action without giving yourself a bit of a tour around northern Italy -- which, honestly, sounds pretty nice. The increased geographical footprint of the Olympics is likely related to the increased desire to utilize existing structures for the games. In Italy, 13 of the 14 needed facilities are existing or will be temporary.
If you don't want to wait until 2026 to see the Olympics in Italy, here's the Olympic line-up of locations in the coming years:
- 2020 Summer Games: Tokyo
- 2022 Winter Games: Beijing
- 2024 Summer Games: Paris
- 2026 Winter Games: Italy
- 2028 Summer Games: Los Angeles
Coming back to the closer-term, be sure and bookmark our hub for Olympics 2020 travel-related coverage as this week marks some important dates for those looking to travel to the Games next summer when live ticket sales begin and select hotel chains begin to extend their booking calendars to dates that include the start of the 2020 Games.
Cortina d'Ampezzo (Photo courtesy of Giacomomo / Getty Images)