Milan. Cortina. Antholz-Anterselva? Athletes, fans wrap their heads around wide spread of 2026 Olympic venues

Travelling between venues at the 2026 Milano-Cortina Winter Olympic Games should be listed as its own endurance sport.

Spectators, athletes and organizers will have to rely on a multi-layered transport network that connects the very widely spread venues for these Games, which range from a bustling, stylish metropolis to mountain towns with endless views.

It would take a single journey of about 850 kilometres to visit the eight Olympic hubs hosting the ceremonies and 16 disciplines featured at this year's Winter Games: Milan, Livigno, Bormio, Tesero, Antholz-Anterselva, Predazzo, Cortina d'Ampezzo and Verona (of Romeo and Juliet fame).

Together, they cover an area of about 22,000 square kilometres, with half of them in the Dolomites, northern Italy's famous mountain range of jagged limestone peaks and deep valleys, where many communities have limited vehicle access and train schedules can be difficult to untangle.

Milan is the main centre for ice sports, while Cortina will showcase many alpine and sliding disciplines. But if freestyle skiing is your thing, you'll need to head to Livigno in the Alps. Looking for biathlon? Antholz-Anterselva, a 3½-hour drive to the east, is the venue.

It's a logistical puzzle for everyone involved and one that is relatively new for the International Olympic Committee (IOC), after its 2020 agenda outlined a strategy for host cities to use existing infrastructure as much as possible and create long-term use plans for new builds.

IOC president Kirsty Coventry acknowledged at a news conference Wednesday that the model may end up putting more responsibility on national Olympic committees to spread resources across the many venues and far-flung locations.

"It's possible and I'm doing it,"