He was to carry the Olympic flame on January 26 in Cortina, a ski resort where he filmed “four, five films” in his memories. But Massimo Boldi, famous Italian actor, was finally removed from the list this Saturday by the organizing committee of the Milan-Cortina Winter Olympic Games (February 6-22). The reason? An interview given the same day to the newspaper “Il Fatto Quotidiano” where the 80-year-old actor takes a very saucy register.
“The pussy,” replies Massimo Boldi when the media asks him about his favorite sport of these Games. “I have some doubts about his presence on the program,” the journalist retorted. “Maybe not, but it won’t be long,” Boldi replies. It’s a sport too, and believe me, it’s a discipline that’s good for the body and boosts morale. Although…I have to admit…fitness declines a bit with age. »
“Carrying the Olympic flame is a privilege”
At the end of the day, the Olympic organizing committee published a press release announcing the exclusion of the actor from the torch relay. “This decision follows an interview published today (Saturday) in a national daily, in which opinions were expressed, deemed incompatible with the Olympic values and the principles which guide the work of the Organizing Committee,” underlines the text.
“Carrying the Olympic flame is both a privilege and a responsibility, and requires those chosen to embody and promote the values of respect, unity and inclusion, the foundations of the Olympic Movement and essential conditions for participation in the torch relay,” insist the organizers.
Controversy surrounding the torch relay in Italy
In the same interview, Massimo Boldi states that his favorite summit is “the mountain of spritz (an Italian cocktail), of aperitifs”. The interview and the decision of the organizing committee come as a controversy surrounding the identity of the bearers of the Olympic flame for the Milan-Cortina Olympic Games broke out in Italy.
Several former athletes criticize the organizers for having ignored them in favor of singers or actors. The criticism was taken up by the League, a far-right party, and the Ministry of Sports requested clarification on the criteria for selecting relay personalities from the organizing committee.
“The torchbearers can be designated by the various organizations that contribute to the running of the Olympic Torch Relay, including the Fondazione Milano Cortina 2026 (the organizing committee), the host cities, the sponsors of the Olympic projects, the regional Olympic committees, the local authorities and the International Olympic Committee,” say the organizers.
The torch relay, a two-month, 12,000-kilometer journey in the hands of 10,001 torchbearers across Italy, will end on February 6 with the arrival at the San Siro stadium for the opening ceremony of the 2026 Olympics.
