By Emilio Parodi
MILAN, Feb 9 (Reuters) - A medal-rich start by hosts Italy at the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics is translating into booming television audiences and strong in-person demand for what is shaping into a commercially successful Games, organisers said on Monday.
Italy has won nine medals including one gold, driving a surge of interest at home and putting them third in the table behind winter powerhouses Norway and the United States.
Among highlights for Italian fans was a gold medal
for speed skater Francesca Lollobrigida, who celebrated with tears and wrapped in the tricolore national flag alongside her two-year-old son.
"These have been fantastic days for us. Enthusiasm is growing not only inside the venues. We are getting positive feedback from partners," Luca Casassa, Milano Games spokesperson, told a press conference on Monday.
Ticket sales also rose early in the Games.
In the first two days, another 127,000 tickets were sold, taking the total to 1.2 million so far, said Andrea Francisi, the Olympics' chief games operations officer.
In the first few days of the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia, approximately 925,000 tickets were sold out of a final total of just over one million.
In PyeongChang 2018, South Korea, only less than 60% of available tickets had been sold in the first few days. There can be no comparison with Beijing 2022 because tickets were not put on general sale due to the Covid emergency.
HOME MOMENTUM
Italy's strong start prompted questions from reporters about whether organisers had shaped the opening programme to favour disciplines most likely to deliver early medals for the hosts.
"No, we did not think about the programme in that way," Francisi said, smiling. "Italy has the advantage of playing at home, but it cannot have other favours. There were no specific changes to the schedule."
Italy's momentum contrasts with some previous Winter Olympics where host nations struggled early, notably Canada in 2010 where an early medal drought dampened audience buzz and sponsor engagement.
Italy's public broadcaster Rai said Friday's opening ceremony drew more than 9.27 million viewers, a 46.2% audience share, an early sign the event is cutting through a crowded prime-time schedule.
The figure represents one of the most watched European Olympic opening nights, even though Italy remains behind Canada and Russia.
Compared to the most watched events in Italy, the opening ceremony represents one of the highest Italian television ratings in recent years for a non-football event, even though it remains far from the average 13 million viewers for the 2022 World Cup final.
On the ground, organisers have pointed to robust ticket demand across venues stretching from Milan to the Dolomites, with biathlon among the best-selling sports.
The first biathlon competition at Anterselva has sold out.
The organisers have declared tickets for the men's alpine skiing downhill, some ice hockey sessions and some women's alpine skiing sessions to be "effectively sold out".
(Reporting by Emilio Parodi, Editing by Andrew Cawthorne)
