The most-spreadout-games-ever bring organizational challenges not previously envisioned
By Gary Davies
The Milano-Cortina Olympics and Paralympics have come and gone, but lessons can certainly be gleaned from the 2026 Games that will benefit host cities in the future. These Games, like the ones before them and the ones to come, produced their share of amazing results and incredible stories. But they were unique in the way they were organized, mainly due to geography and location of facilities.
As mentioned, many times throughout February and March, the Milano-Cortina Games were the most spread-out Games in Olympic history. This was done for several reasons, not the least of which was the location of legacy facilities and the infrastructure complexities of the host region. This meant the Games were held in not one or two or even three locations, but seven, spread out over a vast territory in northern Italy.
This resulted in a few unique aspects to these Games. The first, is that most attendees and athletes would park themselves in one of these seven locations and not move from there until the Games ended. This was mainly due to the transportation nightmare required to get from one location to another. Those brave folks who decided to make the trek from Cortina to Milano, spoke of eightto nine-hour white-knuckle drives on single-lane snowcovered roads through the Italian alps.