Rome, Feb. 18 (LaPresse) – "The Olympic torch for Milano-Cortina will be unveiled on April 14 inside the Italian Pavilion at Expo 2025 in Osaka and simultaneously in Milan. It will then be displayed inside the pavilion. The torch relay will last 63 days, covering 60 cities and 12,000 kilometers, passing through all 110 provinces and all 60 UNESCO sites. We launched the search for torchbearers in Sanremo with Carolina Kostner, and we have already received many applications, even from abroad."
These were the words of Andrea Varnier, CEO of the Milano Cortina 2026 Foundation, during the presentation of the Milano Cortina Olympics at the Foreign Press Association headquarters in Palazzo Grazioli, Rome.
"There will be a group of about 18,000 volunteers, which we have named Team26. So far, we have received around 96,000 applications from 160 different countries, primarily from Italy, the USA, and France, but also from China and Germany, with 10,000 applications submitted within the first 48 hours of opening," he added.
"As for ticketing, we launched the general public sales program on February 6. More than 350,000 people registered on the platform to participate in three lottery waves. In the first six days, we sold nearly 300,000 tickets. Next week, there will be another lottery wave, followed by general sales in April. Our venues are relatively small, and more than 20% of tickets are priced under €100," he emphasized.