The 2026 Winter Olympics may be making history, but not always for the right reasons. Months of planning, expensive infrastructure, and last-minute fixes were meant to ensure smooth competition… yet logistical headaches and unfinished venues are already showing cracks. And if that wasn’t enough, the athletes themselves are now raising concerns…hinting that the strain isn’t just behind the scenes, it’s on the ice too.

“I’m not thrilled with the ice quality – everyone keeps praising it, but I don’t know, maybe that’s just the custom. I think the ice at the Olympic arena should be a bit better,” said Georgia’s ice dancer Gleb Smolkin.

These comments came after their performance in the rhythm dance segment.

On February 6, 2026, Georgia’s ice dance pair, Diana Davis and Gleb Smolkin, took the ice at the Milano Ice Skating Arena for the rhythm dance in the team figure skating event. Their upbeat routine earned 78.97 points – 44.81 for technical elements and 34.16 for program components, placing 6th and earning 5 points for Team Georgia.

On the following day, February 7, Davis and Smolkin returned to compete in the free dance part, which earned more points for Georgia, and placed the team in a position to achieve a top-five result and potentially a medal finish. And despite such a good routine, the skaters were not too happy about the conditions in the rink.

“This morning, when I went out, the ice had just been resurfaced and was in good condition. Then two machines resurfaced it again, layering water on top of each other, creating a thick layer. The first group goes out into the water, so water splashes everywhere, but that’s still okay. Then, in 30 minutes, the water freezes. When we go out in the second group, the ice becomes very springy and almost stone-like. We start bouncing on it, and if you go down on your knee, it just tears apart,” said Gleb Smolkin.

Davis further shed light on the problems in the Olympic Village in the Porta Romana section of Milan, where she said that “people were smoking in her bathroom, whether upstairs or down.

Also, the issues weren’t limited to the rink! Davis further unveiled problems in the Olympic Village in the Porta Romana area of Milan.

“In my bathroom, either upstairs or downstairs, people are smoking,” she said. Smolkin added, “We’re going to try to figure out who it is. The smell of smoke is really strong.”

The case is especially challenging when it comes to Davis, who has asthma. Nonetheless, it is their years-long collaboration that has helped them to cope with those difficulties together. While they can count on each other, not every athlete has that support amid these unexpected problems.

Milan Cortina Olympics face health concerns

The 2026 Winter Olympics are underway, but even as athletes compete for medals, not everything is going smoothly, even for NHL players!

At the Santagiulia ice hockey rink in Milan, players noticed something strange: the newly laid ice sometimes makes an odd sound.

“It’s just that sound is weird, you’re not really used to it, so I don’t really know what it means and why it is, but there are some spots on the ice when you skate that have that weird sound,” said Tatar, a former NHL player now competing in Switzerland.

Notably, officials say the ice is safe and will settle as more games are played. But earlier this year, this same rink had problems. In fact, one match was temporarily stopped when a hole appeared in the ice. Even just before the game started, major work was still ongoing on this new ice hockey venue. But the challenges don’t stop at the rink only!

At Cortina d’Ampezzo, an important cable car network to transport the audience to the women’s alpine skiing competitions was not completed in time to start the Games. The Apollonio- Socrepes cable car arrived late, there were landslide safety issues and a rushed timeline for final inspections. To control crowds, the organizers even asked schools to shut down on major days of the events.

Due to such delays, there was a restricted sale of tickets on Cortina Olympic events, and the access by shuttle and road had to be restructured to accommodate spectators.

This has been further complicated by health conditions. The Finnish women’s hockey team was struck by a norovirus-like stomach virus, and 14 out of 23 players were put under quarantine. In order to avoid additional spreading, their first game against Canada was cancelled and rescheduled to 12 February. Notably, the women’s team in Switzerland also had a positive case.

Despite these incidents, the officials of the IOC report that there is no general outbreak. All cases are being conducted under stringent health guidelines and competitions are going on. But these ice issues, unfinished venues and illness show why even major athletes are complaining.