STORY: Italy starts one-year countdown of 2026 Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics
SHOOTING TIME: Feb. 6, 2025
DATELINE: Feb. 7, 2025
LENGTH: 00:01:27
LOCATION: MILAN, Italy
CATEGORY: SPORTS

SHOTLIST:
1. various of one-year countdown ceremony
2. SOUNDBITE (English): THOMAS BACH, IOC President

STORYLINE:

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) on Thursday officially started the one-year countdown to the opening of the Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics with the unveiling of a countdown clock and a symbolic invitation for the world's best athletes to participate.
   
"With pleasure, I invite the various athletes of the world to return to Italy to celebrate," IOC President Thomas Bach said at a press conference.

SOUNDBITE (English): THOMAS BACH, IOC President
"We will all experience the passion of Italy for sport, for winter sport and the athletes. I think we got a glimpse of this in the last couple of weeks when the World Cups have been organized in different locations and venues, and there you see these emotions which will even be bigger than when it comes to the Olympic Games. We all at the same time, will be able to experience the Italian hospitality, Italian culture and way of life. So the anticipation can only grow and I think it will be fantastic Games."
   
The Milan-Cortina Games will take place from February 6 to 22, 2026.
   
Preparation for the Games has so far suffered from delays, budgetary overruns, and worries about a lack of snow. But in his remarks Thursday, Bach said he was confident everything would be ready when the eyes of the sporting world turn to Italy.
   
The Olympic torch relay "will bring the Olympic flame to each of the Italian provinces," Bach said. "But the Games are taking shape well before the lighting of the touch."
   
In addition to Bach's remarks at the one-year pre-anniversary of the Milan-Cortina Games, organizers on Thursday unveiled a huge countdown clock in the Piazza del Duomo in the center of Milan. The clock will run in reverse, counting down the time until the opening ceremony at Milan's San Siro Stadium.
   
Matteo Salvini, Italy's Minister of Infrastructure and Transport and the country's Vice Prime Minister, was on hand for Thursday's events, where he said that hosting the Games would be "the victory and the triumph for Italy."
   
The 2026 Games will represent the third time Italy has hosted the world's largest winter sporting event, following Turin in 2006 and Cortina d'Ampezzo's hosting in 1956.
   
Milan-Cortina was awarded the Games after a vote of the IOC in 2019. 

Xinhua News Agency correspondents reporting from Milan, Italy.
(XHTV)