Italy last hosted the Olympics in 2006. These women were there, and now are volunteers in Milan

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)

Russia has attempted to fully block WhatsApp in the country, the company said, the latest move in an ongoing government effort to tighten control over the internet.

A WhatsApp spokesperson said late Wednesday that the Russian authorities' action was intended to “drive users to a state-owned surveillance app,” a reference to Russia's own state-supported MAX messaging app that's seen by critics as a surveillance tool.

“Trying to isolate over 100 million people from private and secure communication is a backwards step and can only lead to less safety for people in Russia,” the WhatsApp spokesperson said. "We continue to do everything we can to keep people connected.”

Russia's government has already blocked major social media like Twitter, Facebook and Instagram and ramped up other online restrictions since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said WhatsApp owner Meta Platforms should comply with Russian law to see it unblocked, according to the state Tass news agency.

Earlier this week, Russian communications watchdog Roskomnadzor said it will introduce new restrictions on the Telegram messaging app after accusing it of refusing to abide by the law. The move triggered widespread criticism from military bloggers, who warned that Telegram was widely used by Russian troops fighting in Ukraine and its throttling would derail military communications.

Despite the announcement, Telegram has largely been working normally. Some experts say it’s a more difficult target, compared with WhatsApp. Some Russian experts said that blocking WhatsApp would free up technological resources and allow authorities to fully focus on Telegram, their priority target.

Authorities had previously restricted access to WhatsApp before moving to finally ban it Wednesday.

Under President Vladimir Putin, authorities have engaged in deliberate and multipronged efforts to rein in the internet. They have adopted restrictive laws and banned websites and platforms that don’t comply, and focused on improving technology to monitor and manipulate online traffic.

Russian authorities have throttled YouTube and methodically ramped up restrictions against popular messaging platforms, blocking Signal and Viber and banning online calls on WhatsApp and Telegram. In December, they imposed restrictions on Apple’s video calling service FaceTime.

While it’s still possible to circumvent some of the restrictions by using virtual private network services, many of them are routinely blocked, too.

At the same time, authorities actively promoted the “national” messaging app called MAX, which critics say could be used for surveillance. The platform, touted by developers and officials as a one-stop shop for messaging, online government services, making payments and more, openly declares it will share user data with authorities upon request. Experts also say it doesn’t use end-to-end encryption.

Passengers look at their smartphones while on the subway in Moscow, Wednesday, Feb. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko)

A woman looks at her smartphone at a bus stop in St. Petersburg, Russia, Wednesday, Feb. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Dmitri Lovetsky)

A young woman looks at her smartphone while on the subway in Moscow, Wednesday, Feb. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko)

People look at their smartphones at a bus stop in St. Petersburg, Russia, Wednesday, Feb. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Dmitri Lovetsky)

FILE - A WhatsApp icon is displayed on an iPhone, Nov. 15, 2018, in Gelsenkirchen, Germany. (AP Photo/Martin Meissner, File)