Milan Cortina 2026, the mystery of the torch that disappeared from the Olympic Village

The case is closed but remains shrouded in mystery. Police in Belluno found the copy of the Olympic torch, which disappeared in recent days from the athletes’ canteen, inside the rooms of a delegation in the village of Cortina. According to the investigation, it was allegedly a gesture of goliardia. The perpetrators themselves admitted the incident both to the officers and to the Milan Cortina Foundation, offering an apology for the action taken.

Andrea Gussoni

It was the Foundation, last Monday, that reported the disappearance to law enforcement, initially speculating a possible act of disfigurement against the Olympics. Thanks in part to analysis of images from cameras in the village, police were able to quickly clarify the matter, which ended without charges. The torch was relocated to the athletes’ cafeteria, from where it had been taken. Despite the medals won at Milan Cortina 2026, there remains no small amount of tension within the Italian short track team, as evidenced by Pietro Sighel&#8217s words toward Arianna Fontana and her laconic response after the individual silver won Thursday night.

The new overall Italian record holder for Olympic medals (equaled at 13 by fencer Edoardo Mangiarotti) returned to the controversy during a press point held at Casa Italia on Friday, taking a further stance. “Yesterday I had not read yet, now I do– said the Valtellina champion -These are words that do not deserve my attention: if I had not wanted to be part of the team I would not have gone to Bormio to train, I would have stayed abroad’abroad”. Words destined to keep alive a controversy that seemed dormant before the Milan Cortina Games and that instead Sighel had rekindled in no uncertain terms, even going so far as to say, during an interview with La Repubblica: “But who knows her, Arianna Fontana”;