During the Milan–Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics, which took place from 6 February to 22 February 2026, Open Doors Italy (Porte Aperte Italia) pointed out that many of the nations represented at the Olympics are also among those where the church faces the most persecution in the world. Throughout the Olympic Games, they used social media every day to highlight the World Watch List 2026, one nation at a day and call for prayers.

Several churches in the areas affected by the Milan-Cortina Olympics organised various types of evangelism activities, in some cases in collaboration with para-church organisations such as Jesus Revolution Italy. People were reached in the squares and streets of Milan and the mountain villages hosting the Olympics, or through cultural events held on church premises, such as screenings of the films “Chariots of Fire” or “Joni”. 

In the run-up to the Olympics, sport was also the subject of discussion in the ethics supplement of the Italian journal “Studi di teologia” (Theological Studies, 2025, no. 23, “Sport”) published by IFED in Padua, the Institute for Evangelical Training and Documentation. EEA Board Member Lucia Stelluti, author of one of the essays entitled “Trajectories of a Christian pedagogy of sport”, was interviewed by the Believers Today podcast during the Olympics to offer an evangelical reflection on the topic, about which she also subsequently wrote in the online magazine Loci Communes.