The Winter Olympics in Milan and Cortina will take place in February and March 2026. The UN General Assembly voted in favor of the Olympic Truce ahead of the Games in Italy Culture and education
Ahead of the 2026 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games in Milan and Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy, the UN General Assembly adopted a resolution that reiterates the importance of the Olympic Truce and reminds that even in times of conflict, sport allows humanity to find common ground.
The tradition of the “Olympic Truce” dates back to the 9th century BC, when, in accordance with the prediction of the Delphic oracle, in Ancient Greece, strife and wars were stopped, as a result of which the city of Peloponnese was destroyed, and competitions were held for athletes from warring tribes.
Years later, other Greek tribes joined the Peloponnesian treaty to host the Olympic Games. The original goal of stopping wars during the Olympics was to ensure that all athletes could travel to the competition site and take part. The UN General Assembly revived this ancient Greek tradition of ekecheiria (Olympic Truce) in 1993.
Sports and Peace
As General Assembly President Annalena Baerbock noted on Wednesday, “even in times of division, humanity can find common ground in sports and find hope.” Baerbock thought back to her years of trampolining and dreaming of the Olympics—and the sense of unity that sport can create, even influencing relationships between competitors.
The experience of past decades shows how effective this metaphor can be.
In the 1990s, the project Open Fun Football Schoolshas brought together more than 150,000 children from different ethnic groups in the Balkans, using play as a way to rebuild trust after conflict. Similar programs in Colombia and Cyprus helped people gradually regain mutual trust.
Women on Ice
Gender equality occupied a key place in the speech of the President of the General Assembly. She recalled how the Canadian women’s hockey team, which won gold at the 2014 Sochi Olympics, responded to someone saying, “You play like a girl?,” by saying, “Yes, fast and hard, like a girl.”
This message, she emphasized, helps combat stereotypes that continue to limit the rights of women and girls not only in sports. Milan-Cortina 2026 is expected to be the most gender-balanced Winter Games in history, with women making up around 47 percent of the participants.
Sportsmanship
Italy is committed to ensuring the Games promote inclusion and accessibility – both on the ice, and outside the stadiums. This will be facilitated by hundreds of projects that are planned to be implemented during the competition days.
The Italian delegation also recalled examples of sports solidarity, in particular, the act of bobsledder Eugenio Monti, who at the 1964 Games in Innsbruck lent his opponents a necessary piece of equipment. It cost him victory, but earned him the respect of his colleagues.
“Sports and the Olympic Games can become a beacon of hope, an alternative to rivalry and division,” said the Italian representatives.