And.... We're back!

My last blog post just a few days ago tried to look forward with the idea that there would be no trip to the Winter Olympics next February and how I was adjusting my outlook and what things looked like moving toward 2026.

As it turns out, that was all for naught. A few weeks of being bummed out and disappointed, unsure as to what was coming next and how to move forward is now in the past, as the e-mail came through on Wednesday afternoon just as I was leaving my Yum Yum Shop shift that I had been granted a credential for the Milan-Cortina Olympics.

Along with the e-mail came a form to fill out that had to be submitted to the Milan-Cortina Organizing Committee as well as a short document about what we as media can expect when it comes to covering the games in Italy next February.

As I had surmised even before I was turned down in my initial credential application, it will be very different covering these Olympics than the last three Winter Olympics that I have covered. In Sochi, PyeongChang and Beijing, I could board the bus at my hotel or at the media center and an hour to an hour and a half later, I could be at any of the venues covering an event. This allowed me to see a little bit of everything just about every single year and made the Olympics even more exciting than they already are.

However, the large distance over which the venues for Milan-Cortina are spread out will make it impossible to see much more than one venue in a day and it will not be possible to travel from Milan up to Cortina for an event and return to Milan in the same day. Once I have access to the Milan-Cortina internet portal, I should have a better idea of just how long it will take to get between mountain clusters and whether or not I can plan on seeing the things I want to see.

Obviously, with local biathlete Sean Doherty competing in his fourth Olympics (in all likelihood), biathlon will be a venue that I become very familiar with, as I was in Beijing and PyeongChang in particular. Biathlon will be in Anterselva, which is in the same cluster as Cortina, which will host women's alpine skiing, curling and the sliding sports, assuming the track is completed in time. Since they are in the same cluster, this tells me they are probably an hour or two apart, but beyond what I can find on google maps, I haven't done much more research.

This means I will probably have to find accommodations in that general vicinity, which will likely be more expensive than my last few Olympic experiences, but I have to admit, it will be cool to be surrounded by the Alps. My hope, though still not confirmed as to how to do this or if it is possible, is to spend the first few days in Milan and possibly see some of the indoor venues there before moving up into the mountains. We'll see how that plan goes.

The details will work themselves out, but the important thing is that the credentials have been issued. I feel better already.


I became pretty familiar with the biathlon course at the Beijing Olympics and something tells me that will be the case in Milan-Cortina as well. I suspect more snow cover in the Alps.

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