As teh 2026 Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics approach,preparations are underway to house the influx of athletes and support staff.in Cortina d’Ampezzo, organizers have opted for an unprecedented approach: a village comprised of 377 prefabricated mobile homes-at a cost of $446 million. While offering a unique and potentially enduring solution, the accommodations are drawing attention for their compact size and basic amenities, a contrast to the expectations often associated with Olympic-level facilities.
Olympic Village in Cortina Costs Over $446 Million, But Doesn’t Offer Luxury Accommodations
“We know it’s tight and small. We’re trying to adapt and make it nice,” said Hanne Staff, Head of Performance and Development at the Norwegian Olympic Committee, to Dagbladet.
In Cortina, 377 prefabricated mobile homes have been set up to house around 1,400 athletes during next year’s Winter Olympics. The price tag for the facility: $446 million.
But athletes shouldn’t expect luxury: the rooms are compact. The first images of the Cortina Olympic Village were recently released:
According to the Associated Press, the Olympic Village is located in a sparsely populated area about a ten-minute drive from the city center. The homes are described as basic, which isn’t unusual for an Olympic Village.
This type of mobile solution – as seen in Cortina – hasn’t been done before at an Olympic Games.
“Not that I’ve seen, so it will be interesting to see how it goes. I think it will work fine,” said Staff.
Fabio Saldini, the Italian government official responsible for Olympic infrastructure, explained that the simplicity is due to the village being temporary. The facility will be dismantled after the Games.
The project has faced previous criticism following tree felling, but organizers have emphasized that everything can be reused.
“We’ve seen before that large new cities are built that just stand empty after championships. I think we’ll see more of this in the future (building mobile homes) since the Games are often spread out,” Staff noted.
Cortina’s village is one of two main villages – the other is located in Milan.
Several nations, including the USA, Germany, and host country Italy, will use the village. Norway, however, has chosen to accommodate many of its athletes in hotels, a decision costing the Norwegian Olympic Committee approximately $10 million.
All athletes and support staff in cross-country skiing, alpine skiing, and biathlon will stay in hotels. Curling, if they qualify, is among the national teams that will reside in the Olympic Village. Ski jumping and Nordic combined will be housed in the village in Predazzo.
– It’s a scattered Games, so that’s a challenge from the start. Even though it’s in another country, we’ve wanted to make it as normal as possible. There will always be a period mid-competition where it’s very tight, where we’ve almost had to fill all the rooms. Now there will be more space,” Staff explained regarding the decision to allocate more resources to accommodation.
– The biggest challenge now is the movement between the camps with traffic and everything else,” she added.
Cortina will host women’s alpine skiing, curling, bobsleigh, luge, and skeleton, and the village will also be important during the Paralympics in March. Several Norwegian national teams will be housed in the Olympic Village then.
Each mobile home is divided into two rooms, with private bathrooms and showers. Paralympians will receive larger, universally accessible rooms.
The Associated Press notes that biting winds, but also spectacular views, can greet athletes in Northern Italy.
All rooms have individual electric heating, eliminating the need for air conditioning – unlike the Olympics in Paris, where Norway brought its own air conditioning units.
– Do you have any concerns about the Olympic Villages?
– I don’t really. It looks good. It’s simple and not very big, but that’s the case with all Olympic Villages. We have to deal with that, and I think it’s fine that it’s not extravagant,” Staff pointed out.
– We’ve also visited Milan. It looks completely fine. We don’t have any special needs there either.
FINAL: Cross-country skier Lotta Udnes Weng was frustrated when this happened during the Beitosprinten. Reporter: Fredrik Schjesvold. Video: Bård Sørø Olsen.
The village has cost 38 million euros ($446 million). The mobile homes were leased and cost up to 80,000 euros per unit to purchase. After the Games, they will be reused in campsites around Italy, and some have already been allocated to a hockey club in Brunico.
The Winter Games in Italy will run from February 6 to February 22, 2026.
