The Milan Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics concluded on Sunday, February 22nd, with a closing ceremony at the Verona Arena, marking a generally successful event for Italy. Despite organizational challenges stemming from the widely dispersed venues across three regions, covering 22,000 km², the Games largely avoided major issues, with most facilities being pre-existing to minimize ecological and economic impact. While the extensive travel between sites, particularly for ski events, presented difficulties, the Italian approach of managing these with flexibility and good humor reportedly made them more bearable for all involved. The long-term legacy of the €5 billion+ event remains a key question, with lessons learned from the underpreparedness of some sites and the potential for "white elephants" from previous Games, like Turin 2006, being a focus.