Italy's Winter Olympics 2026: Ensuring safety across vast venues

The 2026 Winter Olympics in Italy are set to begin with the opening ceremonies Friday afternoon. This year, the games are expected to draw more than 400,000 spectators each day.

The venues for this year's Olympics are the most spread out in history, covering 8,500 square miles across Northern Italy.

WINK News Anchor Taylor Petras sat down with security analyst Rich Kolko, who has experience working with the FBI on security at several Olympic Games, to discuss the challenges of keeping everyone safe.

Petras: "How many Olympic Games did you work as law enforcement?"

Kolko: "Let's see, I worked '96... did a little work for 2002 but ended up not going because of other events. I went to 2004 in Athens, 2008 Beijing, 2010 in Vancouver, Canada, and 2016 I worked at an Intel center stateside."

Kolko explained that preparations for Olympic security begin many months, or even years, before the event.

"There are law enforcement entities, intelligence agencies, all working together to check the traps to see if there are any plots being developed around the world, because it's not going to happen last minute, right there at the games."

Petras: "Are there any challenges with how broad and big the Olympics events span across these cities, and how many people come to watch them as well at one time?"

Kolko shared that while the venues themselves are easier to secure with guards and gates, the open areas present more difficulties. He recounted the 1996 Atlanta Olympics, where Eric Rudolph targeted an unsecured Olympic Park, highlighting the challenges of protecting open spaces where people gather.

Petras: "Why do you think the Olympics has been a target for these threats?"

Kolko explained, "Because of the international viewership of participation in the Summer Olympics, just about every nation in the world is participating there. So if you have, if you're a terrorist or somebody who wants to cause harm, that's unfortunately a very good place to get a message out."

Kolko noted that extensive security measures are in place, including monitoring who checks into hotels, and increased security at airports and border crossings.

"So at the end of the day, while some of it may be a nuisance, the goal is to keep everybody safe," he said.