Milan center of the world, Italy under the eyes of the world. With the great opening ceremony in San Siro, the Winter Olympics begin. Milan-Cortina 2026 becomes reality. There are already the big ones of the Earth, important representatives of the American government, Vice-President Vance, who at sports (the typhus at the hockey game) adds diplomacy and geopolitics (the meeting with the Italian premier Giorgia Meloni in prefecture), and then there is also undersecretary Rubio.
President Mattarella embraced our athletes and, beyond the agonistic wish (I hope in many medals), spoke of a peace that must be promoted. And what is an Olympiad, beyond business, organization, show, marketing, tourism, if not an invitation to meeting, to dialogue?
What is an Olimpiade, especially in the historical moment in which the world order is rewritten, if not an opportunity to overcome the borders, to break down the walls that, instead, a little in the world, real or symbolic, are erected?
The man symbol of our sports institutions, Giovanni Malagò, the man who (not alone) in 2019 brought home these Games, in an interview he said that in four years France will copy us. We basically presented and won a format: a great Italian city, Milan, with all the symbols behind, including the experience of the Expo, and our Alps, the mountains and the valleys, the slopes and the identity of the territories, symbolized by the brand of Cortina.
We have “included” and harmonized differences, offering the world the excellence and beauty of our country. Few works and only those that will remain to improve the lives of citizens, respect for sustainability, management of the controversial phenomenon of overtourism. And then our food, our Made in Italy, our welcome, our uniqueness.
And the great effort for safety, a theme that always leads behind the controversies, but that in the end is always measured on the practical plane (works or does not work). Now it’s up to athletes and races, show and fun. Then they’ll make the budgets.
Good luck in Milan-Cortina 2026.
L’articolo An Olympiad that is a format proviene da IlNewyorkese.
