The 2026 Milano Cortina Winter Olympics are in full swing. A standout feature of this competition, in which 71 members of the Korean national team are competing across 12 disciplines, is the surge in snow sports. Kim Sang-kyum won the silver medal in the men’s parallel giant slalom in snowboarding on his fourth consecutive Olympic attempt, becoming the first medalist for Korea at these Games and the winner of Korea’s 400th medal in Olympic history.
Following that, Yoo Seung-eun captured the bronze medal in women’s snowboard big air, achieving the first multi-medal performance in a single Winter Olympics for Korean ski and snowboard events in the 66 years since Korea’s first participation. In the women’s snowboard halfpipe final, Choi Ga-on won the gold medal, delivering the news of the first gold medal for the Korean delegation at these Winter Olympics, while short track men’s national team member Lim Jong-eon captured the bronze medal in the 1,000m short track final, securing the fourth medal for the Korean delegation.
[Winter Sports Ⓟ gettyimages]
The stage on which the Korean athletes are racing toward medals did not overlook ESG. The 2026 Milano Cortina Winter Olympics is the first Winter Olympics to comprehensively apply the International Olympic Committee (IOC)’s ‘Olympic Agenda 2020+5.’ The 2020+5 Agenda is a set of priority tasks designated by the IOC in 2021, containing 15 recommendations including digitalization, embracing esports, strengthening the rights and responsibilities of athletes, and promoting clean sport. Additionally, under the sustainability strategy called Now26, the IOC organized what the Olympics will pursue for sustainability into what to protect now, what to renew, what to include, what to move, and what to empower.
An Olympics That Does Not Build Disposable Venues
The most striking feature of this Winter Olympics is the eco-friendly approach epitomized by the ‘Olympics that does not build.’ At the 2026 Milano Cortina Winter Olympics, 85% of venues used existing facilities — the highest building reuse rate in Winter Olympic history. The Stelvio slope in Bormio, Italy, the Antholz biathlon venue, and the Cortina alpine ski slopes were all existing landmarks already situated at host sites. Also notable is the circular economy strategy put into action by repurchasing some 20,000 pieces of equipment used at the 2024 Paris Summer Olympics. Power used during the games is supplied from 100% certified renewable energy. Emergency generators and snow groomers are operated on biofuel, and a low-carbon transport plan is in operation to reduce automobile use by 20% compared to the 2006 Torino Winter Olympics.
The newly constructed Milano Porta Romana Olympic Village also embodies eco-friendly design. The Olympic Village was built to meet zero-energy building standards. A post-Olympics plan has also been established: after the Games conclude, the Village buildings will be converted into student dormitories and affordable housing, becoming a hub for Milan’s urban regeneration. The Cortina Village was built with reusable modular units to be dismantled and recycled after the Games. Given the characteristics of a Winter Olympics held in mountainous regions, where concerns over damage to the natural environment were unavoidable, the host sites minimized new construction by maximizing the use of existing hotels as athlete accommodations.
Not only the Olympic venues but also the symbols of the Olympics — the medals and torch — are special. The medals for this Games were cast from recycled metals using renewable energy. The torch, which would otherwise be disposable, uses 100% recycled bio-LPG from waste cooking oil, animal fats, and agricultural by-products, and is designed to be recharged up to 10 times. The complete abolition of paper tickets and the operation of digital-only tickets is also a feature of these Games.
[Cortina, Italy Ⓟ unsplash/Betty Subrizi]
The Expanding Scope of Inclusion at the Olympics
Shining another light on a different dimension of sustainability at these Games, they are also the most gender-equal Winter Olympics in history. The female athlete ratio reached a record high of 47%, and the number of women’s events reached 50, surpassing the 46 of Beijing 2022 to achieve an all-time high. Including 12 mixed-gender events, the proportion of events in which women participate reaches 53.4% of the total. Four new women’s disciplines were added for the first time: freestyle skiing dual moguls, luge women’s doubles, ski jumping large hill women’s individual, and ski mountaineering sprint. It is also a first for the Olympics that 12 of the 16 detailed disciplines achieved perfect gender parity. In cross-country skiing, men and women will compete over the same distance for the first time.
Changes are also continuing outside the competition venues. The proportion of women in the organizing committee’s senior leadership is 45%, and 55% of volunteer applicants are women. Athlete maternity leave support (€1,000 per month for up to 10 months), CONI Maternity Scholarships, and a ranking protection system during childbirth periods have also been newly introduced. The first Italian translation of the IOC’s gender portrayal guidelines has been published, promoting fair gender portrayal in Olympic communications as well. When compared to the fact that at the first Chamonix Winter Olympics in 1924, women could only participate in a single discipline — figure skating — the changes over the past 100 years hit home.
The scope of inclusion has expanded beyond gender to encompass persons with disabilities and the local economy. The Olympic facilities invested approximately €20 million in accessibility improvements, enhancing hotel, restaurant, and tourism information accessibility for persons with disabilities. Impact programs to vitalize the local economy of the host areas were also planned. More than 400 local SMEs came together to support the hosting of these Olympics, and through this, job creation for local youth was also made possible.
Persistent Problems Accompanying International Events
That said, it is not without regrets. The total carbon emissions of this Winter Olympics are estimated at approximately 930,000 tons, and considering the roughly 410,000 tons of carbon emissions unavoidably generated by spectators and officials traveling by air, this is a difficult problem to improve as long as international events are held. There is also analysis that sponsorships from carbon-intensive industries such as Italy’s fossil fuel company Eni and airline ITA Airways indirectly generate induced carbon emissions.
Meanwhile, the felling of approximately 20,000 m² of larch forest in the process of restoring the Cortina sliding track used during the 1956 Olympics drew criticism not only from Italian environmental groups but also from Greenpeace. The Italian government, which carried out the restoration work, sought to explain by presenting a plan to utilize the restored infrastructure for the local economy and to plant trees elsewhere in compensation for the felling, but could not stop the criticism of a greenwashing Olympics.
In this way, this Winter Olympics became a stage testing whether large-scale international sporting events can be sustainable even in the climate crisis era. Achievements as impressive as the athletes’ passion and remaining homework have unfolded before our eyes. As we enjoy the remaining competitions, let us also look forward to the 2028 LA Summer Olympics and the 2030 French Alps Winter Olympics, wondering whether the global festival can someday be reborn as a festival for the planet.
by Editor N