Matteo’s #Olympic Blog 1: Preparing for Milano Cortina

Time flies so fast. It feels like it was not that long ago that we at ice-dance.com (IDC) found out we had been allocated a journalist quota for the Milano-Cortina Winter Olympic Games. Our editor, Daphne, asked me if I wanted to be the journalist going to Milano: needless to say, I didn’t need to think twice about my answer! For this opportunity, I will be forever grateful to Daphne, which I am lucky enough to work with and call a friend.

I realise this is a huge privilege and responsibility, but also something that cannot to be taken for granted. The accreditation process is the longest we have to follow as media, and the outcome is not guaranteed, given the high level of international media present at the event. I know other fellow journalists and photographers who didn’t make it, and I wish them the best of luck with future applications.

Being originally from Milano, I knew that I would have been at the Winter Olympics there anyway and was prepared to buy at least one event ticket if the accreditation process wasn’t successful. With our accreditation confirmed, I am now given the unique chance to experience the Games from the inside, doing what I do when I go to any other competition: engaging with athletes in the mix zone, attending press conferences, and sharing behind the scenes moments.

The Olympic Games, though, are much more than a standard skating competition: from the official Opening and Closing Ceremonies to the Olympic Village where all athletes will reside, and the ad-hoc entertainment designed to let everyone enjoy the Olympic spirit, just to name a few aspects that make them so special.

Therefore, at IDC we have decided to launch a dedicated 2026 Winter Olympics Hub, which will function as a space where we can share our usual previews and recaps, as well as my impressions and additional reporting I will be able to do while on site in Milano.

IDC is not new to attending the Winter Games: we have been there before and have enjoyed regular attendance since 2010. We also had our friend and photographer Melanie Heaney at the last Winter Olympics in Beijing, in 2022, where she took beautiful photos and wrote about her experience.

We constantly support ice dance, trying to give space to athletes of any ranking, country, age, or field. We do this in our free time and outside of our main jobs. Why do we do it? The answer is simple: we love it. Ice dance is beautiful, and we are proud to be one of the voices that celebrates and promotes it.

I am incredibly excited about going to these Winter Games in Milano. Why is that? I have two main reasons. The first is that I am originally from the Milano area (I left it 16 years ago to move to London, UK), from a place that is actually just a short drive distance from the Milano Ice Skating Arena, where figure skating competitions will take place. I used to go there as a child, skating recreationally at the rink next door to the main Arena space where the Games will be held. Additionally, the 2018 World Championships were held at that same Arena, and they were my first-ever live skating event (back then as audience). I still remember that life-changing moment as if it were yesterday.

For the second reason, we have to go back to 2006, when the Winter Olympic Games were held in Turin, Italy. At that time, I knew of figure skating but had never really watched it. That year, I started watching it on TV and was mesmerised by athletes such as Carolina Kostner and others in the field. It became clear to me that this sport was a wonderful expression of athleticism that was filled with artistic energy. It had almost the beauty of ballet, with that rare privilege in competitive sport to be able to choose music and to perform to it. It was love at first sight, a love that evolved and grew over the years, leading to this moment.

Going to the Winter Olympics in Milano, 20 years after I first discovered this beautiful sport and now as a journalist, is truly an honour and something that I feel incredibly lucky to have a chance to do.

I am super lucky to be there with our friends from Figure Skaters Online, with whom we share the This Week in Skating Podcast, now in its fourth season. I look forward to seeing the athletes I respect and love to talk about, fellow media colleagues I have met over the years, and my amazing friends within the skating community. And, of course, to join the excitement of pin trading!

I will also have my family attending the ice dance final, which fills me with pride.  I think about everything they had to endure year after year: listening to my never-ending skating stories and witnessing my enthusiasm and passion, and yet still choosing to attend the final of an event where they will recognize many of the skaters on the ice, thanks to those stories.

My heart if already full of joy, and I look forward to taking you all on this journey with me!

~ Matteo