Meet the biggest challenger of the Winter Games: The Stelvio slope
| Bormio, Italy
The Stelvio slope unspools like an icy ribbon down the mountain toward Bormio, Italy. At night, its white face, one of the most challenging and technical tracks in the world, lurks like a specter above the twinkling lights of the village. The course also lurks in the minds of skiers around the world.
鈥淭he athletes love this slope, because it鈥檚 hard,鈥� says Aldo Anzi, who lives on the side of the mountain in the village of Ciuk and helped design the course ahead of its opening in the mid-1980s. Then he clarified, 鈥淭he real athletes love this slope.鈥�
The 2026 Milan Cortina Games offers something the Winter Olympics haven鈥檛 had in a while: winter sports in places steeped in the culture of these events. The 2022 Olympians in Beijing raced on 100% artificial snow with industrial park backdrops, four years after Pyeongchang won its 2018 hosting bid on the promise of growing winter sports in South Korea. In 2014, the athletes criticized the expensive courses built from scratch in Sochi, Russia.
Why We Wrote This
The 2026 Milan Cortina Games offer something the Winter Olympics haven鈥檛 had in a while: winter sports in places steeped in the culture and history of these events.
This year, the Winter Games have come home to the Italian Alps.
From Bormio to Cortina, from Val di Fiemme to Anterselva, athletes are returning to the peaks where they have experienced both victory and heartbreak. These places, in turn, have their own intertwined history with these sports that have defined their region. Hosting the best competitors in the world at some of the most storied venues not only adds an extra sparkle to this year鈥檚 Games, say Olympians and locals alike, but also adds weight to any medals won. These mountains may be the antagonists to some athletes鈥� dreams, but they are also their motivation.
鈥淵ou have to fight to the finish鈥� of the Stelvio slope in Bormio, says Italian skier Dominik Paris, who has been called the 鈥淜ing of Stelvio鈥� for his seven World Cup victories here. 鈥淵ou will understand who is stronger. That is what鈥檚 so fascinating about this hill.鈥� Mr. Paris won a bronze medal in the downhill over the weekend, but did not finish his super-G run on Wednesday after losing a ski. Still, he says after the race that 鈥渉aving this pleasure to race on that hill, for me, it鈥檚 special enough.鈥�
The siren call of these mountains even enticed U.S. skier Lindsey Vonn to come out of retirement. She told reporters at a media summit that she might not have come to the 2026 Games if the women鈥檚 downhill race had not been set for Olympia delle Tofane in Cortina 鈥� a place, she says, that has 鈥渁lways pulled me back.鈥� Her comeback ended in heartbreak, which cuts that much deeper when 鈥測ou love this course so much,鈥� her teammate Breezy Johnson said. And Ms. Johnson should know. It was here that she had her first Top-10 finish in the World Cup tour in 2017, and it was also here that a fall forced her to withdraw from the 2022 Olympics in Beijing. Four years ago on social media, Ms. Johnson vowed a return 鈥渢o the hill that stole this Olympic dream from me.鈥�
Return she did. Ms. Johnson won gold on Sunday in the downhill and again won the downhill portion of the team combined event on Tuesday.
鈥淢ilano Cortina 2026 tells a really beautiful story 鈥� with some sports returning ,鈥� said Pierre Ducrey, the International Olympic Committee鈥檚 sports director. 鈥淎 lot of people will get the chance of winning the 鈥榃imbledon鈥� of their sport, and that鈥檚 quite rare.鈥�
A region steeped in skiing history
The Alpine skiers aren鈥檛 the only ones who relish the opportunity to compete here. Val di Fiemme, where the cross-country events are being held, is the only venue to have been part of every Tour de Ski since the competition鈥檚 inception 20 years ago.
鈥淚t was really nice to get a medal here in Val di Fiemme,鈥� said Norwegian cross-country skier Heidi Weng after winning bronze Saturday.
The Antholz-Anterselva Biathlon Arena to the north, a hop from the Austrian border, has hosted World Cups and World Championships for more than 50 years in the biathlon, the sport that鈥檚 a cross-country skiing-shooting mashup.
鈥淲e race the World Cup here every year, and my coach lives right down the road, so I have been training here ever since I started biathlon,鈥� said U.S. biathlete Deedra Irwin. She鈥檚 been 鈥渉uffing and puffing鈥� on the track from the high altitude, but that鈥檚 鈥渏ust one of the things about Antholz.鈥�
U.S. biathlon head coach Armin Auchentaller, whose daughter Hannah is competing for Italy, says having the Olympic Games come to his hometown 鈥渨as a dream hidden away in a drawer鈥� and something he will remember for another 50 years.
Across the country on the Switzerland border in Ciuk, Mr. Anzi speaks of his own dream in the lobby of his hotel, which houses the ski school overlooking the slope. He was the chief of the race from 1993 to 2007, and again for the World Championship in 2005.
His father built their family home a few hundred feet from what would soon be the Stelvio slope, perched above Bormio. After starting a ski school with his father in the early 1970s, Mr. Anzi watched as the mountain transformed in preparation for the city鈥檚 first World Cup championship in 1985.
鈥淓veryone in town did something,鈥� he says through his granddaughter Maya Perotti, who is serving as translator. Since the early 1990s, there has been a men鈥檚 World Cup race here every December, and there is an understanding among skiers that those who win the Stelvio in Bormio and the Streif in Kitzb眉hel, Austria, are the real champions, explains Ms. Perotti.
The draw of the perilous piste
From the start, skiers face a steep pitch with a gradient of over 60%. Then, over 2 miles of track, skiers race down more than half a mile of vertical drop, all while sailing over jumps like the San Pietro that carries skiers 150 feet down the mountain, not far from Mr. Anzi鈥檚 ski school and hotel. As they finished the super-G on Wednesday under a blue sky, several skiers commented on how different the conditions were from those of the December World Cup race. Canadian skier James Crawford, who placed 16th, said the 鈥渘ormal things鈥� he鈥檚 gotten used to racing here for 11 years 鈥� namely, the low light, the ice, and the bumps 鈥� were absent, so skiers had to take bigger risks on the course for speed.
鈥淭hese Olympics have shown how beautiful this slope can be,鈥� says American skier Ryan Cochran-Siegle after winning the silver medal in the super-G here on Wednesday, which is also the site of his sole World Cup win. 鈥淏ormio is a really special place.鈥�
For most Winter Games, tension between the Games and a host city is not uncommon, with locals begrudging the traffic, extra security, and general full takeover of their home. But not here. It could be that the geographical distribution of these Games across the country has taken pressure off the mountain hamlets like Bormio, which is only hosting the men鈥檚 Alpine skiing events. It could also be, as local shop owner Marianna Cresseri says, that in Bormio, 鈥渟kiing is life.鈥�
Recreational skiing is closed on the mountain during the Games, which means that Ms. Cresseri has no business in her ski rental store, even though it sits at the bottom of the Stelvio. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 difficult,鈥� she says, but it鈥檚 all worth it.
鈥淔or the future, we have more people that know us, our village, our history,鈥� says Ms. Cresseri. 鈥淎ll of the world lives the Olympic Games. It鈥檚 another kind of spirit.鈥�
The only 鈥減ity鈥� of these Games, says Mr. Anzi, is that fans can鈥檛 watch the race up close and cheer from the side of the mountain 鈥� where they could feel the pitch and hear the whoosh of a skier passing.
But Mr. Anzi, of course, isn鈥檛 just an ordinary fan. He鈥檚 found a way to watch the races hillside, where the course curves a few hundred feet behind his hotel鈥檚 back door. He built a small stand in the woods where he sits close enough to see the snow fly from athletes鈥� skis as they pass. After the downhill competition, Mr. Anzi鈥檚 daughter Chiara says she saw tears on her father鈥檚 face.
鈥淭he Olympics,鈥� he told her, 鈥渉as come to my mountain.鈥�
Associated Press
