Italian Summer Olympians Kick Off 2-Month Countdown to Milan Cortina Winter Games

In a symbolic gesture marking exactly two months before the opening ceremony, Olympic swimming champion Gregorio Paltrinieri and fellow Summer athletes launched the torch relay for the Milan Cortina Winter Games on Saturday. The relay, spanning 12,000 kilometers, will pass through all 110 Italian provinces, reaching the opening ceremony at San Siro Stadium in Milan. Paltrinieri, a gold medalist in the 1,500 meters at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Games, carried the sleek torch around the track of the statue-lined Stadio dei Marmi at the Foro Italico. The Italian athlete expressed his excitement to be part of the Olympic movement, even if the event is the Winter Olympics. The torch relay will feature 10,001 torch bearers, including notable athletes such as Gianmarco Tamberi, the 2020 Olympic high jump champion, and Matteo Berrettini, a professional tennis player. The relay will also pass by all of Italy's UNESCO World Heritage sites, a total of 61. Local organizing committee president Giovanni Malagò described the relay as a 'giant two-month advertisement' for the upcoming Games. The Milan Cortina Winter Games will take place across northern Italy, with the opening ceremony observed in four different locations. The torch relay will continue through various Italian cities, including Naples, Bari, and Turin, before reaching Cortina d'Ampezzo on January 26, marking the 70th anniversary of the opening ceremony of the 1956 Winter Olympics. The relay will also feature city celebrations, including Christmas in Naples and New Year's Eve in Bari. The torch will arrive in Verona on January 18 and pass through Cortina d'Ampezzo on January 26. The next stops on the torch relay are Viterbo on Sunday and Terni on Monday.