Milan [Italy], May 16 : In Milan, more than 10,000 young people gathered at the Arena-Brera for the grand final of the "Trofei di Milano 2023" - an interschool event combining education, culture and sport.
The initiative forms part of the Organising Committee's Generation 2026 commitment, which aims to engage Italian youth in sport in the build-up to the Games, with the 2023 edition reaching 41,965 students from 98 schools.
Celebrations also took place in Cortina d'Ampezzo, where the streets of the historic centre were filled with over 600 young people wearing Milano Cortina 2026 T-shirts to mark the 1,000-day countdown, while in Bormio and Livigno, 1,000 children gathered to form the number 1,000 against the backdrop of the Valtellina mountains.
Bormio, which will host Alpine skiing and ski mountaineering during the Games, also staged a "Mini Olympics" event for local youth to help them get into the Olympic spirit and experience the joy of sport; while in Val di Fiemme - where the ski jumping, Nordic combined and cross-country skiing events will be held during Milano Cortina 2026 - high school students were visited by Olympians Alessandro Pittin and Iacopo Bortolas to discuss their Olympic experiences and the countdown to the Games.
The Milano Cortina 2026 Organising Committee also marked the 1000-day countdown with a special series of posts on social media, helping to further engage fans in Italy and beyond. The posts featured 100 popular quotes from songs, books and films on the theme of 1000 days.
Marking the occasion, Milano Cortina 2026 President Giovanni Malago underlined the Organising Committee's efforts to engage the whole of Italy in the build-up to the Games, saying: "1,000 days until the 2026 Games is an exciting moment. From the beginning of the adventure, Milano Cortina 2026 wanted to embrace territories and people, to make the Games the project of the whole of Italy. The goal is to allow everyone to participate in the Olympic and Paralympic adventure and to enhance and accelerate projects around sport."
Underlining their commitment to youth engagement, Andrea Varnier, CEO of the Milano Cortina 2026 Organising Committee, added: "Staging the Olympic and Paralympic Games is a great challenge, but I am convinced that Italy has all the credentials to organise a unique edition. Let's bring the Winter Games back to their natural cradle, the Alps, directly and actively involving all territories, starting from the youngest."
He continued, "The concept of a widespread Olympics is one of the strengths of Milano Cortina 2026, and the enthusiasm of the next generation will be fundamental as we approach 2026."
The Olympic Winter Games Milano Cortina 2026 will take place between February 6 and February 22, with the Paralympic Winter Games taking place from March 6 until March 15.
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