Italy's New Olympic Arena Opens Just in Time for Victory

Against all odds, Milan pulled off what seemed impossible just days ago: opening a brand-new Olympic ice hockey arena literally hours before the puck dropped.

The Milano Santagiulia Ice Hockey Arena welcomed nearly 11,800 fans on Thursday for Italy versus France, marking a triumphant end to a construction saga that had Olympic organizers sweating. Just five days earlier, the venue was still a construction site with building materials scattered everywhere, unfinished bathrooms, and hospitality boxes nowhere near ready.

Workers raced against time to transform chaos into an Olympic venue. When BBC Sport visited the Saturday before the opening game, they found rubble, dust, and plastic-wrapped toilets. The International Olympic Committee admitted that Sunday that not every space was finished, and honestly, not everything needed to be.

By game time Thursday afternoon, the transformation was remarkable. The piles of building materials had vanished from the concourses. Toilets, lifts, and concession stands that looked hopeless days earlier were open for business. While some merchandise stalls were still being assembled and the arena needed a good cleaning, it was ready to host Olympic hockey.

The venue may have been dusty and unpolished, but the atmosphere was electric. Live organ music filled the air as fans packed the stands on a Thursday afternoon, an impressive turnout that proved Italians were hungry for Olympic action at home.

The Bright Side

The construction drama makes what happened on the ice even sweeter. Italy's women's hockey team had only played at one previous Olympics, losing all three games by a combined 32-1 score in 2006. France was competing as last-minute replacements after Russia's ban. These were two underdogs making history together.

France struck first when Gabrielle de Serres scored the arena's first-ever Olympic goal. But Italy answered immediately with Kayla Tutino's equalizer, sending the crowd into a frenzy. Rebecca Roccella gave Italy the lead in the second period with their 32nd shot of the game, showing the home team's relentless determination.

The victory was sealed with third-period goals from Matilda Fantin and Kristin Della Rovere. Italy earned its first Olympic women's hockey win in 18 years, in a building that didn't seem possible to finish.

The arena may stand alone in what's essentially wasteland, 25 minutes from the nearest metro station. But on Thursday, it was the center of the Olympic universe, proving that sometimes the best victories come after the toughest struggles.