The Milano Santagiulia Ice Hockey Arena is one of two newly built venues for Milan-Cortina 2026
Beset by delays, concerns and last-minute building works, the Milano Santagiulia Ice Hockey Arena finally opened its doors to the Olympics on Thursday.
And while, as the International Olympic Committee admitted, it was not completely ready for its opening game, the arena was in a much better state than it had been when BBC Sport visited five days prior.
The 11,800-capacity stadium was nearly full for the Group B match between Italy and Olympic debutants France, won 4-1 by the host nation.
On the Saturday before the fixture, we found a frantic construction site, with building materials and dust inside and outside the stadium.
