By Elvira Pollina MILAN (Reuters) -Italy began the one-year countdown to the Winter Olympics on Thursday with a series of events designed to fuel enthusiasm for the Games that will be co-hosted by Milan and the Alpine town of Cortina d'Ampezzo.

The one-year countdown to the Milan Cortina Winter Olympics is on. IOC president Thomas Bach proclaimed on Thursday, “Italy is ready.” Is it? Italy has ski resorts in abundance and spectacular mountains but one pressing concern remains rebuilding the century-old sliding center in Cortina d’Ampezzo.

Olympic curling champion Eve Muirhead believes Milan-Cortina 2026 will be a mix of the Winter Games’ past and future as it combines alpine resort settings with a wide geographic spread of existing venues to keep costs down.

Next year’s Olympics might be called the Milan Cortina Games but it will actually be staged across a large swath of northern Italy spread over five different venue clusters.

Sochi’s media village was still under construction, and showers ran yellow when journalists arrived for the 2014 Winter Games. The 2016 Rio

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.

Italy is counting down to the 2026 Winter Olympics co-hosted by Milan and Cortina d'Ampezzo, with significant investments to ensure readiness. Despite logistical challenges and climate concerns, organizers are confident in showcasing Italy's sportsmanship and sophistication on the global stage.

The sliding centre of the Milano-Cortina 2026 winter Olympics will be delivered on time, with the icing of the track to start next month, the International Olympic Committee said on Friday.