A small army keeps the Milan Cortina Games running smoothly. These three women are seasoned veterans

MILAN (AP) — A small army keeps every Olympics running around the clock. At the Milan Cortina Winter Games, some of them are seasoned veterans dating back 20 years.

About 18,000 volunteers are spread out across northern Italy, blanketing the venues in a sea of navy blue uniforms.

The Associated Press this week interviewed three Italian women who are volunteering in Milan. Two of them volunteered for the 2006 Turin Games — Italy's second time hosting the Winter Olympics — and the third worked for its local organizing committee.

Cristina Romagnoli traded her Italian heritage to be Irish for a few weeks in 2006. As a volunteer in the Alps west of Turin, she was assigned to Ireland’s athletes.

“We were supporting the team almost 24 hours a day, and to thank the work of the volunteers they even invited us to parade with them during the closing ceremony,” she said.

Romagnoli, then 25, has few photos from those Games — a time before iPhones — but treasures her pins, volunteer guide book and lunch vouchers as souvenirs.

When the Milan Cortina Olympics were announced, she was ready for round two. In Milan, where she’s from, she’s volunteering at the short track speedskatingvenue.

“We might help them with their clothes, or with the maintenance of the arena’s protection cushions,” she said. “It is about giving our availability and support for the whole competition, for any need there might be either during the game and during the training sessions as well.”

Romagnoli, now 45, is ready for her daughters, 10 and 11, to take the torch next.

“I wanted them to breathe what is really the Olympic spirit, the Olympic sports values,” she said. “I hope that when they will have the right age to participate, they will do it either in my place or together with me.”

Angela Frisina was 50 when she volunteered in Turin. She felt caught in a never-ending cycle between work and home. So when a colleague suggested she apply for the Winter Games, she was intrigued.

Born in Reggio Calabria but raised in Turin, she wanted to give back to her adopted hometown.

She spent the Games at a hotel that hosted sponsors and delegations, her duties ranging from giving them directions for the venues and gift shops to doling out restaurant tips.

And the experience changed her life.

“I didn’t go to the cinema. Just work, son, home,” she told the AP. “And for me, these Olympic Games opened the window. The door!”

She joined a Turin Olympics volunteer alumni group and has spent the next two decades giving her time across Italy, including at last year's Vatican Jubilee and the Eurovision Song Contest in 2022.

Now the 70-year-old nonna — “grandmother” in Italian — is volunteering as an usher, helping people find their seats at the women's ice hockey arena in the Milan suburbs. She video chats with her 5-year-old grandson between shifts to tell him about the people she's met.

Even though she's remained in Italy, Frisina says talking to tourists from countries near and far has broadened her horizons.

“I have visited all the world,” she said.

Olivia Azzalin found love ahead of the Turin Olympics.

She worked for the local organizing committee as a sport director assistant between 2001 and 2003.

Amid preparations for the Games, she fell for a colleague and by the time the cauldron was lit in 2006, the couple was expecting a child and planning their wedding.

“I think that Olympic Games is a very good Tinder,” she joked.

Azzalin, then 34, had left the organizing committee but took a temporary job with Visa, one of the Olympics' biggest sponsors, to work at a hotel where Visa hosted guests and staff.

“I didn't want to miss it,” she said.

She gave birth a few months after the Games and two decades later, she and her son were among the first to apply to volunteer, though he ultimately couldn't join her due to university exams.

So Azzalin goes alone to the Olympic Village in Milan, the city where her family has lived for nearly 12 years. The 53-year-old has assembled chairs, earning a pin of thanks from the Finnish delegation, and helped athletes sort their trash and recycling in the Village’s cafeteria.

“It’s funny because maybe you saw them the night before on TV,” she said.

Her husband, meanwhile, has stayed home.

“He said that the Olympic Games in Torino was already dangerous for him,” she laughed, “as he came back home with a wife and child.”

Vasilisa Stepanenko and Andrea Rosa in Milan contributed to this report.

AP Winter Olympics coverage: https://apnews.com/hub/milan-cortina-2026-winter-olympics

A 2026 Winter Olympics volunteer pushes a spectator in a wheelchair, at the venue that hosts the women’s ice hockey, in Milan, Italy, Monday, Feb. 9, 2026. (AP Photo/Vasilisa Stepanenko)

Angela Frisina, a volunteer at the 2026 Winter Olympics walks through the venue that hosts the women’s ice hockey, in Milan, Italy, Monday, Feb. 9, 2026. (AP Photo/Vasilisa Stepanenko)

2026 Winter Olympics volunteers gesture at the venue that hosts the women’s ice hockey, in Milan, Italy, Monday, Feb. 9, 2026. (AP Photo/Vasilisa Stepanenko)

Cristina Romagnoli, a volunteer poses at the venue that hosts the short track speedskating, at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Milan, Italy, Sunday, Feb. 8, 2026. (AP Photo/Vasilisa Stepanenko

Olivia Azzalin, a volunteer poses for a photo at the Olympic Village, at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Milan, Italy, Monday, Feb. 9, 2026. (AP Photo/Vasilisa Stepanenko)

Angela Frisina, a volunteer at the 2026 Winter Olympics walks through the venue that hosts the women’s ice hockey, in Milan, Italy, Monday, Feb. 9, 2026. (AP Photo/Vasilisa Stepanenko)

PHOENIX (AP) — Candace Parker, Elena Delle Donne, Chamique Holdsclaw and the 1996 U.S. Olympic women's basketball team will be enshrined in the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame later this year.

Parker, Holdsclaw and members of the 1996 Olympic team were all in attendance as well as Amar’e Stoudemire and Mike D’Antoni.

They will be joined by longtime NBA official Joey Crawford, NBA coach Doc Rivers and Gonzaga coach Mark Few.

The group was announced at halftime of the women's Final Four with many members in attendance.

Parker won three titles in the WNBA with three teams: Los Angeles, Chicago and Las Vegas. She's the only player in league history to win both the MVP and Rookie of the Year in the same season.

She also won two titles while playing in college for Tennessee under Hall of Fame coach Pat Summitt, two Olympic gold medals and two WNBA MVP awards.

Delle Donne won two league MVP awards in 2015 and 2019, the second of which came when she led the Washington Mystics to their lone WNBA championship. Delle Donne became the first player in league history to shoot over 50% from the field, 40% from behind the 3-point line and 90% from the free throw line.

Holdsclaw won three straight titles at Tennessee from 1996-98, the first team to accomplish that. The 1998 championship was Tennessee’s first undefeated season at 39–0 and the Vols also set an NCAA record for the most wins in a season. Holdsclaw went on to an 11-year WNBA career.

Stoudemire, who was the only NBA player in this year's class, was the NBA Rookie of the Year in 2003 and six-time All-Star. He spent the first eight years of his career with the Phoenix Suns, where he teamed with D'Antoni.

Rivers got nearly 1,200 victories on his resume which puts him eighth on the all-time wins list. He led the Boston Celtics to the NBA championship in 2008 and was also in charge of the Los Angeles Clippers during their Lob City era.

Few has won over 770 games at Gonzaga in his career at the school. He set the NCAA Division I men's coaching record by winning 81 games in his first three years at the school.

Crawford officiated 2,561 regular-season NBA games and 50 Finals games over his 39-year career. He retired in 2016.

The enshrinement ceremony will take place in August at the Hall of Fame in Springfield, Massachusetts.

FILE - Tennessee's Candace Parker (3) passes around North Carolina's La'Tangela Atkinson in the first half of the NCAA college basketball tournament regional final, Tuesday, March 28, 2006, in Cleveland. (AP Photo/Amy Sancetta, File)