IOC president touts "fabulous" expectations for Milano Cortina 2026

With less than three months to go until the Milano Cortina Winter Olympics, President of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) Kirsty Coventry expressed great optimism for the event during an interview with China Central Television (CCTV) in Beijing on Wednesday.

The 2026 Olympics are set to take place across northeastern Italy, marking the third time the country has hosted the Winter Games.

"Milano Cortina is going be fabulous. We are going be in incredible, iconic venues. The athletes, I think, are going to be very happy, because they also know a lot of these venues. It's world-class venues that are used during world championships and outside of the games. The backdrops are going to be incredible, and it's going to be in Italy, the land of passion and great food. I'm very excited about Milano-Cortina. I really do think it's going be an incredible games. And I'm really looking forward to it," said Coventry.

She also highlighted the opportunities that the Games present in the IOC's efforts to experiment with ecologically-minded measures, particularly considering the spread-out geography of the events.

"I think that this is where we're trying some of the new ideas on a more spread-out games to be more sustainable. And what does that look like? So I'm also really excited to see the data collection that we're going to be able to have and see what works and what maybe didn't work and how we're going to be able to use that and integrate all of that feedback into setting our course for the future," the IOC president said.

Coventry led an IOC delegation to China from Nov 8 to 13, during which she attended the opening ceremony of China's 15th National Games in Guangzhou City, south China's Guangdong Province, last Sunday.

IOC president touts "fabulous" expectations for Milano Cortina 2026

No one and no force should be allowed to engage in provocations or stir up trouble on the Taiwan question, which lies at the very heart of China's core interests and represents a red line that must not be crossed, a Chinese mainland spokeswoman said on Wednesday in Beijing.

Zhang Han, spokeswoman for the State Council Taiwan Affairs Office, made the comments at a regular press conference in response to a media query concerning Japan calling China's countermeasures against Japanese lawmaker Keiji Furuya's egregious acts related to Taiwan as "regrettable".

"I want to stress once again that the Taiwan question is at the very heart of China's core interests and represents a red line that must not be crossed. Keiji Furuya's overt interference in China's internal affairs over the Taiwan question constitutes a serious infringement on China's sovereignty and territorial integrity. The countermeasures China has taken in response are entirely reasonable and lawful. Japan, for its part, should make deep reflection on its history of aggression, draw lessons from the past, earnestly correct its course, abide by the one-China principle and the spirit of the four political documents between China and Japan, and must not allow any individual or any force to engage in provocations or cause trouble on the Taiwan question," she said.

No provocation on Taiwan question to be tolerated: spokeswoman