The CEO of the 2026 Winter Games in Milan-Cortina, Italy, has some advice for Utah

Andrea Varnier, CEO of the 2026 Winter Games in Milan Cortina, has fond memories of the 2002 Winter Games in Salt Lake City.

Andrea Varnier, CEO of the 2026 Winter Games in Milan Cortina, has fond memories of the 2002 Winter Games in Salt Lake City. (Sabine Hannaert)


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KEY TAKEAWAYS
  • Andrea Varnier, CEO of the 2026 Winter Games, advises Utah to relax and focus.
  • Milan Cortina organizers face pressure over construction delays, considering Lake Placid as a backup venue.
  • Varnier suggests Utah involve youth in Olympic culture, cautioning against early preparations for 2034.

SALT LAKE CITY — Andrea Varnier has fond memories of the 2002 Winter Games in Salt Lake City.

After all, Varnier, the CEO of the 2026 Winter Games in Milan-Cortina, Italy, spent a lot of time in Utah more than two decades ago as one of the directors of his country's last Winter Games, in Torino in 2006.

His duties then included overseeing Torino's six-minute showcase during the 2002 closing ceremonies at the University of Utah's Rice-Eccles Stadium that featured Italian pop stars and fashion models, as well as Italy's lavish hospitality center in downtown Salt Lake City.

"It was fantastic. I had a fantastic time," Varnier told the Deseret News in a recent interview from the Milan headquarters of the 2026 Winter Games, adding that he's sure Utah "will do an incredible Games" again in 2034.

The world's next Olympics, though, is just over a year away.

"Everybody is looking at us. We're happy, but we're also getting more and more pressure," Varnier said, describing how he increasingly thinks about what he'll be doing at this time in 2026. "You feel it as much, much closer."

As Italian organizers scramble to ready venues across a wide swath of their country for the Olympics, Varnier said his advice to them is that "it's normal to feel the pressure and it's also good, because you get more and more focused."

There's a lot of work to be done before the Feb. 6, 2026, opening ceremonies.

Construction work takes place at the Cortina Sliding Center, venue for the bob, luge and skeleton disciplines at the Milan Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics, in Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy, Jan. 16.
Construction work takes place at the Cortina Sliding Center, venue for the bob, luge and skeleton disciplines at the Milan Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics, in Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy, Jan. 16. (Photo: Giovanni Auletta)

Will some 2026 Winter Games events be held in New York?

Perhaps the biggest challenge is whether the controversial new $89 million bobsled, luge and skeleton track being built in Cortina at the insistence of the Italian government will be finished before a technical review in March.

Construction didn't get underway until last fall. Initially, no company even bid on the project, an upgrade from earlier plans to "renew" the since-demolished track used in the 1956 Winter Games.

If the new facility is not completed by the deadline, Milan-Cortina has put together a Plan B at the request of the International Olympic Committee, which had long urged Italy to move sliding events to one of the existing tracks in Europe, likely in Switzerland or Austria.

Milan-Cortina Games organizers came up with an alternative that's an ocean away, the sliding track in Lake Placid, New York, site of the 1932 and 1980 Winter Games and a potential bidder for a future Olympics.

Olympic rings are seen in the snow at the Stelvio Ski Center, venue for the alpine ski and ski mountaineering disciplines at the Milan Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics, in Bormio, Italy, Jan. 16.
Olympic rings are seen in the snow at the Stelvio Ski Center, venue for the alpine ski and ski mountaineering disciplines at the Milan Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics, in Bormio, Italy, Jan. 16. (Photo: Luca Bruno)

Varnier said organizers are "very confident" after touring the venue site in early January that it won't be necessary to move some events to the United States because "the progress that they have made in this past year is amazing."

Still, they have Lake Placid. He said that's a better choice as a backup than the European tracks, even though St. Moritz-Celerina Olympic Bob Run in Switzerland is only an hour away from one of Italy's 2026 venues.

"We worked with all the existing tracks around the world and the most convenient in many ways, because of its ability, because of not needing major work, was Lake Placid," Varnier said, the most flexible and "financially, the best option."

Utah Olympic Park near Park City, home to the bobsled, luge and skeleton track from 2002 set to be used again in 2034, didn't participate in those discussions because they were held while the state was still in the bid process for another Winter Games.

It's not clear when a decision on whether New York will host Olympic events will be made.

If Italy's new track in Cortina isn't ready in March for what's known as homologation testing to ensure it meets safety and other standards, he said organizers continue discussions with Lake Placid to determine how much longer they could wait to move the events there.

Being able to negotiate a cut-off date for deciding where sliding sports will be held further into the future was a key factor in choosing Lake Placid over the two closer sites that demanded to know by the end of last year if they would be used for 2026, Varnier said.

Both the Swiss track and the Olympiaworld Innsbruck ice chute in Austria "were really strict," he said, insisting that Italian organizers "tell us now or we can't be here. For us, it was impossible."

Plus, he said, the Austrian track needed "several millions of Euros' worth of work," and the Swiss track, made of natural ice, had similar issues but wasn't willing to commit to lighting and other needed improvements.

A view of the start of an alpine ski, women's World Cup downhill training at the Tofane slope, venue for the alpine ski discipline at the Milan Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics, in Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy, Jan. 17.
A view of the start of an alpine ski, women's World Cup downhill training at the Tofane slope, venue for the alpine ski discipline at the Milan Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics, in Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy, Jan. 17. (Photo: Alessandro Trovati)

What Italians think is 'weird' about the next Olympics

The idea that Italy may end up sending some events overseas isn't playing that well at home.

"This has been a very intricate story," Varnier said. "It's very difficult to explain and a lot of people wrote and made comments, without really knowing, or having the full picture. It's complicated."

Italians, he said, "think that it is weird to go to the United States. I mean, this is obvious."

But accommodating events outside Italy's borders would be difficult no matter the distance, Varnier said. The 2026 Olympics are the first to be hosted by a pair of cities, Milan and Cortina, but the IOC has yet to award a Games to multiple countries.

"Unless you plan it from the very start, it's extremely complex because of marketing rights, because of technology issues, security issues, health management issues of the athletes and so on," he said.

Staying in Europe instead of going to the United States wouldn't "make a big difference. Not because it's close but everything is different," requiring different sets of plans as a foreign country, Varnier said. "That becomes really a nightmare for an organizing committee."

A view of the Arena of Verona where the Closing Ceremony of the Milan Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics will take place, in Verona, northern Italy, pictured on Jan. 17.
A view of the Arena of Verona where the Closing Ceremony of the Milan Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics will take place, in Verona, northern Italy, pictured on Jan. 17. (Photo: Luca Bruno)

Even without having to make that move, Italy's next Olympics will be spread across almost 8,500 square miles, encompassing nearly half of the country's GDP and making the event a key part of the country's economy.

"That helps in nationalizing the Games," Varnier said. The organizing committee has a $1.66 billion budget, although infrastructure costs are covered separately by the government. There are 800 employees, a number expected to nearly double by Games-time.

Despite questions about the sliding track, Italians are showing interest in the Olympics.

"Our volunteers campaign has been an incredible success at the national level," he said, with more than 75,000 Italians from all over the country signing up for less than 20,000 slots. "That's a huge number, so that means a lot of participation."

It's a benefit of having a far-flung Olympics, Varnier said, calling it "a model for the future" in Europe where past Winter Games like Torino's nearly 20 years ago have had a smaller footprint.

The 2030 Winter Games in the French Alps follow the same pattern, stretching from ski resorts in the north to the French Riviera in the south. But Utah's 2034 Winter Games is an outlier, with every venue located within an hour of athlete housing at the U, just like in 2002.

"We'll see what happens in the future," Varnier said, declaring that the days of a single mountain village like Cortina being the host of the Winter Games, as it was in 1956, are over. Instead, existing ski areas will have to link up with cities.

"In Europe, no village will be able to host 3,500 athletes in one mountain location. There's no way. So you need a city and a mountain in any case," he said. That can mean traveling long distances between events. Milan is a 4 1/2-hour drive from Cortina.

Advice from Italy's Winter Games boss for Utah's Olympic organizers

The 2026 Winter Games were awarded to Milan-Cortina by the IOC on the traditional timetable, giving organizers seven years to put together one of the world's largest sporting events. But that was cut short by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Varnier said two years were lost to the pandemic, which struck Italy especially hard. Both 2020 and 2021 "were useless. You could not find partners. You could not even think about building," he said. "We had other things to worry about."

The Milano Santagiulia Ice Hockey Arena for the Milan Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics is under construction, in Assago, near Milan, Italy, Jan. 15.
The Milano Santagiulia Ice Hockey Arena for the Milan Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics is under construction, in Assago, near Milan, Italy, Jan. 15. (Photo: Luca Bruno)

Utah's Olympic organizers are in a very different situation. Under the IOC's new, less formal bidding process, Utah got the 2034 Winter Games nearly 10 years in advance, at the same time the French Alps were chosen as the 2030 host.

Having so much time to prepare may not be that big of a plus, Varnier said.

"I think there is a danger of having such a long time. Especially for Salt Lake. You have almost everything that you need. You have experience," he said, citing bid leader Fraser Bullock.

Bullock served as chief operating officer in 2002 under former Utah Sen. Mitt Romney and is expected to head up the organizing committee for 2034 that's still in the process of being formed.

"That's a great advantage. You don't have to start from zero," Varnier said, adding with a laugh, "I think you should relax. Don't waste resources now doing planning and planning when there's no need so far ahead. You have them."

His advice is to wait a couple of years before digging in.

"Learn from us but then start on the normal cycle. There's no need to start so early. I think that one of the challenges of the Games is that sometimes you start too early," he said. "You're not as focused as you need to be."

When it comes to getting Utahns involved in the next Olympics, Varnier said it's too soon.

The Olympic rings adorn the Stadio Olimpico del Ghiaccio, which will be called Cortina Curling Olympic Stadium, venue for the curling discipline at the Milan Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics, in Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy, Jan. 16, 2025.
The Olympic rings adorn the Stadio Olimpico del Ghiaccio, which will be called Cortina Curling Olympic Stadium, venue for the curling discipline at the Milan Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics, in Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy, Jan. 16, 2025. (Photo: Giovanni Auletta)

"It's really difficult to keep up the attention for a long time," he said, suggesting for now that the state's Olympic organizers focus on teaching children about the value of sport so that when 2034 rolls around, they'll be ready to participate.

"I would spend most of the energy with the youngest, youngest kids, starting to get them into this Olympic culture," Varnier said. "At the time of the Games, they will be at the age to be volunteers. Some of them may even be athletes."

Utah's Olympic organizers have talked about involving Utah children in all of the state's 29 counties in the next Winter Games. Bullock called Varnier's suggestion "a pretty cool thought."

He agreed there's no need for Utah organizers to do too much too soon, advice that's come from a top IOC executive as well.

"Fortunately, we got a lot of work done during the bid phase," Bullock said, including putting in place all of the venue agreements, completing a "very thorough budget" that adds up to $4 billion, and reserving some 21,000 hotel rooms. "We've made the load much lighter."

He said he's looking forward to the 2026 Winter Games.

"Each Games has its own model. We congratulate the Italians on being very creative in how they were able to put an effective bid together," he said, adding, "We're very excited to see the next Games from Italy and the personality of those Games."

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The Key Takeaways for this article were generated with the assistance of large language models and reviewed by our editorial team. The article, itself, is solely human-written.

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