Juventus and Italy star Giorgio Chiellini: Torchbearer in Turin hails 'unique feeling' of competing at an Olympic Games

Italian football legend and current Juventus director Giorgio Chiellini told us of his pride at being selected to be a Milano Cortina 2026 Torchbearer in the Piedmontese capital that played host to the Olympic Winter Games Turin 2006.

A former captain of the country's national football team, Chiellini put his own mark on the Olympic Torch Relay on Sunday (11 January), as the Olympic flame makes its way to the Opening Ceremony at the Milano San Siro Olympic Stadium on 6 February.

And while he boasts nine Italian Serie A league league titles, five Coppa Italia crowns, and five Supercoppa Italiana trophies, not to mention a men's football bronze medal from the Olympic Games Athens 2004, off the pitch, he is thrilled to have carried the Olympic Torch around the city that’s become his adopted home.

"I have wonderful memories of those Olympics and how the city has changed," said the former Juventus defender, who signed with the club a few months before Turin 2006. "I've been here for twenty years now. It's the place where I became a man."

"My family is still in Livorno," he added. "But Turin has adopted me. I've learned to recognise its strengths and weaknesses and to love it in all its facets. It's a city of art, culture, and even sport.

"Being part of these small aspects of the city is a source of pride for me," asserted the passionate 41-year-old, who beamed with enthusiasm after passing the Olympic flame to the day’s final Torchbearer: three-time motorcycling world champion Francesco 'Pecco' Bagnaia.

The moment provided the perfect ending to a leg that also featured double Olympic medallist in volleyball Ivan Zaytsev and former speed skater Stefano Donagrandi – a gold medallist at Turin 2006.

It left the Italian footballer in a reflective mood, inspiring him to revisit his Olympic past, before sharing his passion for some of the winter sports that will feature at Milano Cortina 2026 in just a few weeks.

'Lucky to experience Athens 2004'

Chiellini’s first brush with the five multi-coloured rings that have come to define international sport came during the Olympic Games Athens 2004. There, he formed part of the Italian squad that claimed a bronze medal in the men’s football tournament.

"I think there's something unique about the Olympics," he told Olympics.com. "I was fortunate enough to play in one in the summer, in Athens 2004, and I spent the whole of 2006 in Turin. It's an indelible memory, and I'm truly proud to be able to carry the Olympic flame."

He took much more than a medal away from the whole experience, noting how special those memories were for a young football player who hadn’t had many chances to be in that sort of environment before.

"It was a different and unique feeling,” Chiellini explained. “In football, you don't have the chance to experience the Olympic Village and share certain moments with other sports and other athletes."

"The week spent in the Village is a wonderful memory," he added. "It was a period of adaptation and comparison with other sports, something that doesn't happen often in a footballer's career."

'I started skiing with my daughters'

Cheillini’s interest in winter sports began during his youth, but was ignited once more during the Olympic Winter Games Turin 2006.

"I remember going to watch hockey in Turin in 2006. I can still see the images of the NHL games on TV," he recalls. "I asked my mom if I could play, but she told me it would be impossible in Livorno (Italy)."

"Then there was all the skiing. I can't follow it every day, but as a youngster I used to watch the likes of Alberto Tomba, Deborah Compagnoni, and Stefania Belmondo," the Juventus great asserted. "I knew and experienced that whole era."

His passion for winter sports returned, as he hung up his boots and spent more time on the slopes with his daughters.

"The girls and I started skiing last year," he told Olympics.com. "We've become a little closer to winter sports and the beauty of having… winter regions [nearby], despite coming from a seaside town and having mostly played summer sports my entire life.”

He’s found the skiing community to be quite welcoming: "I've met athletes who have now retired, just like me.”

“I then met Sofia Goggia, with whom I connected after her injury, and Federica Brignone, who is now trying to recover."

Goggia and Brignone both hope to compete at Milano Cortina 2026, and the duo can count on his support when the Olympic Winter Games gets underway next month.

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