Athletes from the Winter Games in Milan and Cortina d'Ampezzo visited the Vatican for a special audience on the moral and educational value of sports.
Sports can convey "the idea that it is possible to compete without hating each other," Pope Leo XIV told a delegation of Italian Olympic athletes at the Vatican on April 9, 2026. He also warned against the logic of "performance at any cost, which can lead to doping."
The large delegation of Italian athletes and officials from the Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games were involved in competitions earlier this year in Milan and Cortina d'Ampezzo, a resort town in the Dolomites. Alongside the medalists, several athletes who finished in fourth place also received an invitation to attend. Leo XIV congratulated them all on their achievements, highlighting the "stories of sacrifice, of discipline” and “of tenacity" shared throughout the Games.
