Arrivederci Milan Cortina. Italian organizers contemplating Rome bid for 2040 Summer Olympics

CORTINA D’AMPEZZO: Goodbye Milan Cortina. See you in Rome in 2040?

Now that the just-concluded Winter Olympics have been hailed for setting “a new, very high standard” by IOC President Kirsty Coventry, Italian organizers are contemplating a bid for the 2040 Summer Games.

“I think our country deserves another Summer Olympics,” Italian Olympic Committee (CONI) president Luciano Buonfiglio said over the weekend. “But let’s take it step by step. A candidacy has to be agreed on and shared with the government.”

The idea of the Milan Cortina Games was born out of the rejection of Rome’s bid for the 2024 Olympics by then-Mayor Virginia Raggi a decade ago. That came four years after then-Premier Mario Monti scrapped the city’s candidacy for the 2020 Games because of financial concerns; and after a Rome bid was narrowly defeated by Athens in the final round of voting for 2004.

“Scars help you remember” the defeats, said Giovanni Malagò, the head of the Milan Cortina organizing committee and former CONI president.