Beppe Grillo and the 2026 Olympics: the folly of not choosing Turin

Garantor of the M5s Beppe Grillo criticizes the decision to move the bobsleigh competition abroad as the pista in Cortina d'Ampezzo no longer exists.

Beppe Grillo attacks the decision to build the pista for bobsledding at the 2026 Winter Olympics outside Italy. A truly sustainable Olympic Games is not possible without rebuilding existing venues, otherwise the logic of "legacy" required by the IOC is an empty statement and hypocrisy.

This is stated on his M5S Guarantor blog in a post titled 'Unsustainable Olympics'. "It is yesterday's news," he emphasizes, "that bobsleigh will no longer be held in Italy but abroad because of the huge economic and financial problems identified in Cortina d'Ampezzo.

When the "race" for the Italian candidacy for the 2026 Winter Olympic Games and Paralympic Games began in 2018, which is the only case in the world where three competitive cities (Milan, Turin and Cortina) are represented in the same country, we missed a historic opportunity for Italy and above all for the IOC (International Olympic Committee) to host the Winter Olympics for the first time, reusing sports facilities already built with a huge impact on reducing CO2 emissions, saving time, money and land resources."

Grillo continues, "Torino 2026 candidacy was entirely built on the principle of urban regeneration, high energy efficiency and zero land use, focusing entirely on the rehabilitation and adaptation of all existing structures for Olympic use.

In general, Grillo adds, it is clear that neither the National Olympic Committee nor the IOC is able to adequately evaluate Olympic events in favor of the public good to create truly sustainable events on a large scale that have a significant impact on the public and the environment, rather than just empty talk, greenwashing and economic benefits with a huge land use (cf. controversy about road changes and changes to ski trails).".