Winter Olympics construction site guard dies in freezing temperatures

A security guard at the 2026 Winter Olympics has died, authorities confirmed on Saturday, January 10.

According to CBS reportthe guard was working the night shift at an Olympic construction site in Cortina, Italy, when he died in the cold weather.

Milan Cortina organizers said the official cause of death was a heart attack.

“The information we have is that it was a death from natural causes, it was a heart attack. And we are investigating,” he added. Andrea VarnierCEO of the Fondazione Milano Cortina 2026, told reporters at a test event at the new hockey arena in Milan.

He continued: “All the documentation we have is in order. And we are waiting for the investigation to understand what the specific cause was. At the moment, the information we have from the emergency services is that it was a death from natural causes … while he was on the scene.”

Italian media reported that the unnamed 55-year-old man died on Thursday, January 8, while on duty outside the ice arena. Temperatures dropped to 10.4 degrees Fahrenheit overnight.

Minister of Infrastructure of Italy, Matteo Salviniis reportedly calling for a full investigation into the circumstances of the worker’s untimely death.

The 2026 Winter Olympics are scheduled to begin with the opening ceremony on Friday, February 6 and run through Thursday, February 22.

Cortina city officials said they were “deeply saddened and troubled by the death.”

The Olympic ice arena has been in the middle of controversy since it was revealed in November that construction of the 16,000-seat Santagiulia ice hockey arena, which will host hockey at the Olympics, was behind schedule, raising doubts about whether it will be ready when the 2026 games begin in February.

Chief Official of the Winter Games Andrea Francesc said the Associated Press that “there is no plan B” if the arena is not ready, but that he feels certain that it will be.

“So we must necessarily be able to organize the competition in an impeccable way in Santagiulia,” he said in a news release on November 29.

The arena is scheduled to host its first Olympic competition, a women’s preliminary round match, on Thursday, February 5, the day before the opening ceremony.

On Friday, January 9, the arena hosted its first test match, which was delayed for the first period after a hole developed in front of one of the goals, according to The Athletic.

Despite the complication of playing time, Scott SalmondHockey Canada’s senior vice-president of high performance and hockey operations told the outlet he is “excited” while acknowledging the challenges.

“The games are going to be great,” Salmond said. “Like every Olympics, there are challenges with what happens outside of the game, but we’re Canadian. People grew up in small towns and small rinks, outdoor rinks. We can adapt to all those things. The most important thing is that we can play on a rink, families can come and watch it, and people from all over the world can watch it.”