MILAN (ITALPRESS) – “Beyond the limits, sport and science together to overcome every challenge”, is the claim of Lilly on the occasion of the Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games of Milan Cortina 2026 and represents a wide program of initiatives promoted from 6 February, the opening day of winter games, of which the medicine company is sponsor. A journey that starts from Milan and arrives to Cortina d’Ampezzo, to launch a message of commitment and resilience: never stop, go beyond obstacles and beyond what seems impossible, in sports as in research. Because progress is born when the limit becomes a challenge that can improve people’s lives.
The initiatives of the project were presented today, in Milan, by Elias Khalil, President and General Manager Italy Hub of Lilly, in the presence, of the Consul General USA in Milan Douglass Benning; of the Vice President of FIASO and General Director of AREU – Regional Emergency Agency Urgence of Lombardy Region Massimo Lombardo; of the Councillor for Economic Development of Lombardy Region Guido Guidesi and the President of the City Council of Milan Elena Buscemi. Also present Nevio Devidè, Chief Revenue Officer of Fondazione Milano Cortina 2026 and Marta Bassino, World Champion of Alpine Skiing in the disciplines of Slalom Parallelo and Super Giant and winner of the World Cup of Giant Slalom.
Numerous activities promoted by Lilly over the next few weeks: from the launch of the new “Never Over” campaign (which will see an on-air TV spot from February 6 and various installations in the Olympic venues), to the “live sites” in Milan and Cortina: Experiential places to follow the Olympic competitions and discover, in the installation conceived by the company, the successes of medicine and sport in recent years. A new stage of The Impossible Gym, the “impossible” gym in the winter version, arrives in Milan, in order to experience in person the invisible difficulties and obstacles that people with obesity face every day. A continuous parallelism, that between sport and science, as a guiding thread of Lilly’s activities during the Olympics: As well as in sport, training, determination and numerous attempts are needed before reaching the goals set, so also in medicine, it takes years of success and failures to achieve a result, at a cure.
“Lilly, with its intense research activity for almost 150 years, has contributed to the main challenges of public health: Milan Cortina 2026 represents a unique opportunity for us to celebrate the strength to face these challenges and to overcome the limits – says Elias Khalil, President and General Manager Italy Hub of Lilly – Thanks to all the initiatives we have made we want to promote a culture of well-being and enhance the role of science and innovation. We want to show that with determination and resilience it is possible to go further, inspiring all those who fight against a limit to never stop.”
“We are excited to have Lilly by our side on this journey to the 2026 Games. Their vision perfectly reflects the Olympic and Paralympic spirit: the constant research of excellence and the overcoming of obstacles – says Nevio Devidè, Chief Revenue Officer of Milan Cortina 2026 – Thanks to this partnership, Milan Cortina will not only be a great sporting event, but an important platform to promote the culture of health and prevention, leaving a concrete heritage on the territory and for people”.
It starts in the heart of Milan, in Corso Vittorio Emanuele II, where Lilly lit the pedestrian area up to Via Orefici with light installations inspired by the 22 pictograms of the Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games (16 Olympics and 6 Paralympics), which will be visible until Sunday 15 March.
An ideal red thread combines the centre of Milan, in Piazza del Cannone, to Cortina d’Ampezzo, in Piazza Angelo Dibona, places symbol of Milan Cortina 2026. Here the Live Sites come to life: in igloo, transformed into immersive experiential spaces, visitors can retrace, with the help of interactive installations and totem, the discoveries that have contributed to change the history of modern medicine: from the large-scale development of penicillin-G (1940), the first antibiotic widespread globally, to the first antipoliomyelitis vaccine of Salk (1955), recombinant technology. As part of the structures, suspended panels will tell the most important discoveries of Lilly’s history – made of successes, but also of past failures – alternating them with the stories of athletes (from Arianna Fontana to Sofia Goggia, from Davide Bendotti to Marta Bassino) and the testimonies of the patients. By setting the QR code, you can discover the connections between scientific, sports and human paths.
The message is clear and universal: the difficulties are part of every path, but the determination allows to go further, just as says “Never Over”, the campaign that celebrates the tenacity of athletes and scientists, united by the same push to overcome the limits, without ever stopping.
Also in Piazza Mercanti, a medieval heart of Milan, from 6 to 22 February will be hosted “The Impossible Gym – Winter Edition”, an interactive installation realized with the patronage of SIO (Società Italiana Obesità) and the Associazione Pazienti Amici Obesi Onlus, inspired by winter sports and designed to bring out the daily challenges of people who live with obesity, a chronic disease on which Lilly is always a chronic disease.
Within a completely snow-covered roof, the gymnastic tools, blocked by the ice and made unusable, represent in a tangible way the biological resistance of the body to the weight loss, highlighting how complex it is to lose weight and maintain it over time. Some of the tools, such as skiing, wands and other sports gadgets, were provided by Salomon, Premium Partner and official licensee of the Olympic Games and Winter Paralympics Milan Cortina 2026, who chose to support the cause and promote the social and health value of the initiative.
The installation program offers a rich calendar of information and comparison activities: masterclasses with clinicians and specialists, meetings with the association of Amici Obesi Onlus patients and information sessions with nutritionists, who will be available to visitors every day, to answer questions, calculate the Massa Corporea Index (BMI) through dedicated stations and provide correct information on pathology management.
With “The Impossible Gym – Winter Edition” visitors will also be able to discover how resilience, determination and courage – values that guide every Olympic athlete – are also fundamental in facing the daily challenges of life of those who live with obesity.
Milan Cortina 2026 is much more than a great sporting event: is a story of excellence, a vision that looks far, a plot of stories capable of inspiring. It is within this narrative that Lilly chose to place, supporting athletes who represent talent, resilience and innovation: Sofia Goggia, Olympic champion in the free descent to Pyeongchang 2018, winner of four World Cups and two world medals; Arianna Fontana, an international legend of the short track and the most famous Italian athlete in the Olympic Games; Marta Bassino, world champion of Alpine skiing in the disciplines of Slalom Parallelo and Super G and winner of the Giant Slalom World Cup; Davide Bendotti, World-class Paralympic Athlete, Italian multisampion that represented Italy at the Paralympic Games in Pyeongchang 2018 and Beijing 2022, specialist in technical disciplines and Super G.
“With Lilly I agreedeep praises: determination, constancy, confidence in the future and above all the will to never surrender. Both in sport and health, difficult times, obstacles and fears are faced. But it is precisely in those moments that it is important not to surrender, persevere, go beyond the limits, see the light after the dark. This is the message I want to convey with Lilly”, commented Marta Bassino, World Champion of Alpine Skiing in the disciplines of Slalom Parallelo and Super G and winner of the World Cup of Giant Slalom.
People and communities have always been at the heart of Lilly’s commitment. Volunteering, an integral part of the corporate identity, finds a natural expression in the Games: Lilly employees, in fact, will participate as volunteers within the venues of the games of Milan Cortina 2026, putting time, skills and energy at the service of an event that celebrates inclusion, resilience and team spirit.
Finally, Salomon – Group specializing in winter sports equipment that will sign the collection of “official licensed products” of the Olympic and Paralympic Games of Milan Cortina 2026 – will provide the equipment of The Impossible Gym – Winter Edition: “We are proud to collaborate with an awareness-raising project like The Impossible Gym providing the technical material of Salomon – says Ilaria Cestonaro, Marketing Manager Salomon Italy – We share with Lilly deep values such as commitment, inclusion and resilience: for Salomon sport is a universal language that unites people and represents the determination to push beyond”.
– Photo Italpress –
(ITALPRESS).
