Olympic ice: the future of skating between business, diplomacy and the Vison 2030 Isu

The prospects of the movement among Italian excellence and the International Skating Federation's innovation programmes

by Francesco Anesi

22 February 2026

Milano Cortina 2026 - Francesca Lollobrigida, Speed Skating. (Reuters)

4' min read

Translated by AI

Versione italiana

Key points

Sports Diplomacy
Assosport and industry companies
Federations
Isu president Jae Youl Kim

4' min read

Translated by AI

Versione italiana

It was precisely from Rho Fiera, the venue of the Olympic speed skating competitions - the skating that saw the victories of Francesca Lollobrigida of the Aeronautics and the trio of the Guardia di Finanza Ghiotto-Giovannini-Malfatti, who celebrated their 100th Olympic medal, as well as the bronze medal of Riccardo Lorello of the Army -, during the 'Conference of Ambassadors and Ambassadors of Italy in the World', which the Vice-President of the Council of Ministers and Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Antonio Tajani, launched a message on sports diplomacy in December 2025.

Sports Diplomacy

Tajani, a supporter of sports diplomacy at least since 2013/14 (when he was Vice-President of the European Commission with responsibility for Industry and Tourism and set up a working group on Sport-Industry), had deepened a national reflection with CDP, SACE, Simest, ICE, and other system actors during the 'National Conference on Export and Internationalisation of Enterprises'.

The sports diplomacy action in the last two years has carried out more than 400 initiatives, the last of which, in Cortina on 8 February, was the first business forum, organised by Agenzia ICE in conjunction with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in collaboration with Assosport and with the support of Fondazione Cortina, the 'Italian Sport Industry & Business Connections' event. This action focuses on the 2026 Olympics and the sport economy to give further impetus to the sports supply chain, which is worth 1.4% of Italy's GDP, generates 24.7 billion in added value, employs over 400,000 people, and produces 4.7 billion in exports of sports goods, with an additional potential of 650 million.

Assosport and industry companies

Assosport, the 'Confindustria dello Sport' of sporting goods manufacturers, counts among its associates related to the world of skating: FILA Skates and Rollerblade (belonging to the Tecnica Group), respectively. The company founded in 1979 in Varna (Bolzano), Engo, is a supplier of ice rink equipment (ice shaving machines, balustrades and more - but also the ice processing machine used to prepare the starting area for the bobsleigh run in Cortina). With more than 2,500 ice-shaving machines produced for over 2,000 arenas thanks to the work of more than 100 global employees, Engo is a partner of the FISG (Federazione Italiana Sport del Ghiaccio - Italian Ice Sports Federation, which saw its number of partners increase in the Olympic year with the addition of Enel and Esselunga, to the traditional FILA, Suzuki, Rudy Project and Technogym).

Engo is now part of the TechnoAlpin Group of companies - a Bolzano-based company with a presence in 17 countries (with 14 branches) and over 800 employees, a turnover of EUR 222.4 million in 2024 (183 in 2023, 132 in 2022 - with exports accounting for around 75% of turnover), which has become Official Supplier of the Milan Cortina Foundation and won the tenders for artificial snow (worth around EUR 30 million) on the slopes of Bormio, the snowboard facilities in Livigno and the biathlon centre in Anterselva.

The Federations

The world of skating is changing fast and, in addition to companies, institutions are also moving in this direction: emblematic is the Strategic Plan 2022-2026 of the FISG (Italian Ice Sports Federation), realised in collaboration with Monitor Deloitte, Strategy Practice of the consulting firm Deloitte. And even more so is the ISU Vision 2030 (ISU is the International Skating Union, the international sports federation that includes speed skating, short track and figure skating), a strategic map strongly desired by ISU President Jae Youl Kim and Director General Colin Smith in close collaboration with the Council, approved by the Movement at the 2024 Congress.

ISU President Jae Youl Kim, newly elected IOC member of the International Olympic Committee Executive Committee and President of Samsung Global Research (Samsung became a local sponsor at the 1988 Seoul Olympics, evolved into a global Olympic partner from Nagano 1998, and the strategic partnership will be upgraded in 2028) said: "ISU's investment in innovation and modernisation that puts athletes first around the world is critical to the growth of skating at all levels, a responsibility we are excited about and have acted on with concrete results around the world for the sport and its presentation through our long-term strategy, ISU Vision 2030."

Isu President Jae Youl Kim

While ISU and Deloitte Switzerland have concluded a partnership agreement to enable the strategic transformation of skating (remember that Deloitte is a partner of the Olympic and Paralympic Movement on a global level and also of the Milano Cortina Foundation), the ISU President concludes: "The results at the two competition venues for skating in Milan were outstanding and offered global visibility with an estimated 330 million people connected to skating competitions worldwide. The performances of the Italian athletes, as well as skaters from all over the world on Italian ice, also inspired people from all over Italia to participate and become passionate about skating. Since the first weekend of the Games, Francesca Lollobrigida's first gold medal - and Olympic record - has thrilled fans beyond national borders, not to mention her success in the mixed relay in short track and bronze in the team competition in figure skating. We have more than 430 male and female skaters from 41 countries at these Games and we can be proud of the high level of competition in all skating disciplines". This confirms the IOC data on the broadcasting and global audience of the Italian Olympics - just published at official level.