Diana Bianchedi: 'From Milan Cortina begins the future of the Winter Games'

The response of volunteers is legacy before the Games begin: how will you manage them?

We received 130,000 applications for 18,000 places and for weeks we received messages from all over the world asking if there was really no more room. In order not to disperse this heritage, we have created with the federations a mailbox where the excluded can register and thus make themselves available for the dozens of sporting events that take place every year in Italy.

In what way did you take inspiration from the experience of Turin 2006?

We started from those Games already with the choice of people, starting with managing director Andrea Varnier. Above all, we were inspired by the change in Turin post-Olympics: the symbiotic relationship between the sporting event and the city, beyond the event itself, is a lesson from Turin.

Is there one concern above the others with only a few days to go?

Just one? - and smiles. I am, between my experience as an athlete (Barcelona 1992, Atlanta 1996, Sydney 2000, ed.), as a sports doctor (Beijing 2008) and as a manager, in my thirteenth edition: every actor has his fears, but now the adrenaline counts. You have to think as athletes: I have done everything, we have been preparing for seven years, we could have done more, of course, we have had difficulties, true, but the passion I have seen in the territories and the total dedication of the Foundation make me say: let's get started because then sport will take over.

What lessons from the Olympic champion do you put into practice as a manager?

The athlete works under stress, has no schedule, lives on endless training, physical and moral pain for a few moments of light. He is the terminal of a team working for that medal: the physiotherapist, the doctor, the coach, the family. No detail is underestimated. The manager manages his team in a similar way. This is also why we believe in the Dual career project, which supports athletes in reconciling competitive commitments and study. It is a way of curbing school drop-out and offering young people paths to being sportsmen and women and gaining experiences that will be useful in life.

They are wartime games, will they know how to speak of peace?

The international scenario is dramatic with dozens of wars, many invisible, but the resolution for the Olympic truce unanimously adopted by the UN Assembly in November is something that goes beyond form. The weapons will not stop, but already that signature gives strength to the Games, it means that we can sit around a table, discuss, find a falling point. We all agree on the Olympic truce. From there we can start again and sport has been a powerful icebreaker for millennia.

The new president of the IOC, Kirsty Coventry, makes her debut in Milan Cortina. Will she succeed in changing sport?

Coventry studied to lead the IOC, humbly supported Bach, won the elections and is already removing dust and formalities from the Committee. He always speaks in his own words, is concise and knows how to make an impact as was the case with the resolution at the UN. Her project is to put sport back at the centre with transparency and credibility. She will succeed.

At the last CONI elections eight not-so-young candidates and no women...

This is true, but there are signs of change: the first two women elected to the council were two women (Bianchedi and Laura Lunetta, ndr) and there were no pink quotas. It is necessary to continue projects such as 21 steps for equity or #100 experts to provide women with the necessary preparation to run for managerial roles.

What does Federica Brignone's return to competition tell us?

The sixth place on the Erta slope in San Vigilio di Marebbe is a message to everyone: beyond darkness, there is always light. Only sport can be so direct and powerful, and Federica also reminds us that nobody wins alone.

A bit like organising an Olympics, after all.