Olympics: 60 percent of Milan-Cortina Winter Games tickets sold: CEO

Speaking at Italy's embassy in Tokyo, Andrea Varnier revealed that the host nation was followed by the United States and Germany as the top three nations with the most tickets purchased since they went on general sale on March 8, with strongest demand from those aged 25 to 40.

"Ticket sales have been going really well," Varnier said two days after the torch for the Olympic torch relay was unveiled in Osaka at the World Exposition. "The young generations have shown great interest."

Varnier also said there have been 110,000 applications made for the 18,000 volunteer positions, including from outside Italy, with more than half of the applicants under the age of 35.

The 2026 Winter Games will be staged in four main geographical clusters or zones, with the opening ceremony to be staged at the iconic San Siro Stadium in Milan.

"I can imagine volunteers gathering in Milan," he said. "It will be important to have and send enough numbers also for events at the mountainous areas."

Speed skating is set to be held at Milano Ice Park, a temporary venue, and Varnier believes a successful hosting of the event will have a lasting impact.

"The venues that can host speed skating are extremely limited at the moment," he said. "If we can succeed, I think it would pave the way for more places across the world to host the sport."

To note, Kazakh athletes kicked off training for 2026 Winter Olympics.