Cecilia Butini

The Olympics Transformed a Tiny Italian Village — But at a High Cost

Cortina d’Ampezzo, a mountain town of about 5,000 people, has won a bid to co-host the 2026 Winter Olympics and Paralympics together with Milan. The event will come 70 years after Cortina hosted one of the first Winter Games post-World War II, in 1956, which helped propel the town to stardom, making it a must-stop for jet-setters as a home to elite sports and the most extravagant real estate and shops. But the locals are left with another set of options.