I Giochi invernali celebrano le donne nello sport

The first achievement of Milano Cortina 2026? The presence of 47% female athletes and the many initiatives to promote gender equality and diversity.

The Milano Cortina 2026 Olympics and Paralympics are already making history: it will hold the record for the most gender balanced edition ever of the Games, i.e. a more balanced participation between male and female athletes. The sports and events program for the Games will have 47% female participation. Of the 2,900 places for athlete quotas, approximately 1,362 will be reserved for women and 1,538 for men. The program includes 50 women's events.

Female participation in history

Over the years there are women who, with their victories, have written pages of sporting history and contributed to changing the image of female athletes in top international competitions. How could we not mention Giuliana Minuzzo, the first Italian to win a medal at the Winter Olympic Games in Oslo 1952 in Alpine Skiing, as well as the first woman to take the male and female athletes' oath in Cortina 1956. Ondina Valla, the first Italian to win an Olympic Gold in the 80 metre hurdles at the 1936 Berlin Olympic Games. Arianna Fontana, who during her career won 11 medals at the Olympic Games, thus becoming the most medal-winning Italian athlete ever. Sofia Goggia, the first Italian skier to win a women's Olympic downhill race, who over the years has taught us what it means to get up after every fall.

Milano Cortina 2026's commitment to gender equality

There are many initiatives at Milano Cortina 2026 to promote gender equality in the organisation of the Games and to help make the world of sport increasingly inclusive. On March 6, two years from the start of the Paralympics, Milano Cortina 2026 organised an event in Rome, with the aim of promoting inclusion and equality within the Italian sporting scenario, starting a training course and illustrating strategies and actions implemented by the Foundation in view of the upcoming Games.

Milano Cortina 2026: an opportunity for change

The initiative, which represents an important opportunity for discussion with authoritative exponents of the world of university research and the Italian sports movement, saw the participation of Giovanni Malagò, President of CONI and the Fondazione Milano Cortina 2026, Diana Bianchedi, Chief Strategy Planning Legacy Officer of the Fondazione Milano Cortina, Charlotte Groppo, Head of Gender Equality, Diversity and Inclusion of the IOC, Alessia Tuselli, Center for Interdisciplinary Gender Studies of the University of Trento, Giusy Versace, Senator and Vice President of the Culture Commission as well as Paralympic athlete, Gian Paolo Montali, General Director of the Golf Ryder Cup 2022 and former Technical Commissioner of the Italian volleyball team, Federica Cappelletti, President of the FIGC Women's Professional Football Division and Daina Gudzinevičiūtė, Olympic Champion and President of the Lithuanian Olympic Committee.


Diana Bianchedi, Chief Strategy Planning & Legacy Officer of the Fondazione Milano Cortina 2026, said: “The Olympics, and especially the Paralympics, offer an important opportunity to stimulate cultural transformation through sport and to promote a commitment to a more inclusive society for everyone. It is essential to enhance the experiences and skills of women in a context such as sport, where female representation at management level is still limited. Highlighting the abilities of women is more essential than ever and, thanks to the Games, and their reformative force, today we are launching an important training path aimed at improving and increasing the number of female professionals in the sports sector".

The “Straordinarie” (Extraordinary) exhibition

As part of the Gen26 Education Program, Milano Cortina 2026 is promoting a series of workshops within the “Straordinarie” exhibition, scheduled until March 17 at the Fabbrica del Vapore, in Milan. A series of moments in which the Milano Cortina 2026 Education team will meet students from Milanese schools to convey the values ​​of the Games such as inclusion, friendship and respect.  The "Straordinarie" exhibition is promoted by Terre des Hommes and curated by Renata Ferri with photographs by Ilaria Magliocchetti Lombi, and displays 110 portraits and voices of Italian women from many areas of contemporary society. Professionals who, with their journey, demonstrate many different ways, all possible, of asserting themselves and achieving their ambitions beyond prejudice and discrimination.