Athletes have arrived to Milano and Cortina with the Winter Olympics set to begin on Wednesday. Those who qualified for the 2026 Games in Italy will have a much better experience at the Olympic Village than those who spent the summer in Paris.
They will.
There are still a lot of things to worry about with the present state of the Olympics this winter, like the ice rink and unfinished construction. The living conditions for the athletes is not one of the concerns!
The Milano-Cortina Games has six Olympic Villages.
Because this year’s Games in Milan and Cortina d’Ampezzo will utilize 25 event venues across four main clusters in Northern Italy, there is no way to keep all of the athletes together in one location. They are all spread out based on their sport. There are six different Olympic Villages.
- Anterselva Olympic Village
- Located in Rasun-Anterselva/Rasen-Antholz
- Near the Anterselva Biathlon Arena
- Four existing hotels
- 300 beds
- Located in Rasun-Anterselva/Rasen-Antholz
- Bormio Olympic Village
- Located in Bormio
- Near the Stelvio Ski Centre
- Four existing hotels
- 400 beds
- Located in Bormio
- Cortina d’Ampezzo Olympic Village (main village)
- Located in Fiames
- Near the Cortina Curling Olympic Stadium, Cortina Sliding Centre, Tofane Alpine Skiing Centre, and Cortina Para Snowboard Park
- Temporary residential complex
- 1,400 beds
- Located in Fiames
- Livigno Olympic Village
- Located in Valtellina
- Near the Valtellina competition venues, Livigno Snow Park, and Livigno Aerials & Moguls Park
- Three existing hotels
- 800 beds
- Located in Valtellina
- Milano Olympic Village (main village)
- Located in Milano
- Near the Milano Santagiulia Ice Hockey Arena, and not far from the iconic Milano San Siro Olympic Stadium
- Future student housing complex, newly built
- 1,700 beds
- Located in Milano
- Predazzo Olympic Village
- Located in Predazzo
- Near the Predazzo Ski Jumping Stadium and the Tesero Cross-Country Skiing Stadium
- Combination of existing facilities, renovated pavilions, and new structures within the Alpine School of the Guardia di Finanza
- 750 beds
- Located in Predazzo
As far as I am aware, all of the construction on these six housing facilities is complete. Athletes started moving in at the tail end of last week into the weekend.
The 2026 Winter Olympics are much nicer than Paris.
Not only did the athletes in France have to live without air conditioning during a heatwave, their beds were made out of literal cardboard. Only the surfers seemed to enjoy their living accommodations at the 2024 Summer Olympics and they were all in Tahiti. Everybody else couldn’t wait to get home.
This year looks to be a hit so far! All of the different housing options look different based on location, obviously, but every single behind-the-scenes room tour already looks a lot better than Paris.
This is Milan:
Here is a look at one of the facilities in Livingo:
This is in Predazzo:
I cannot say with 100% certainty, but Meila Stalker is a snowboarder so I think this is also Livigno:
I have yet to see a room tour for Cortina, which is the one I am most intrigued. I would imagine it is the most like the dorm-style residences. Anterselva and Bormio are probably the most like the last video from Daisy Thomas— a bunch of ski lodge hotels in the alps. Not too shabby!
Regardless of where the athletes stay, Phebe Bekker answered the question we all wanted to know. The beds are real beds. They are not cardboard! A huge upgrade from Paris.