Source: Radio New Zealand
Zoi Sadowski-Synnott of New Zealand competes in the Women’s Snowboard Big Air on day two of the X Games Aspen 2026. Michael Reaves/ Getty Images via AFP
This year, the most contested “ice” at the Winter Olympics isn’t on the rink – it’s US Immigration and Customs Enforcement
For Kiwis, the Winter Olympics no longer feels like we’re on the outside looking in.
RNZ First Up presenter and sport reporter Nathan Rarere says New Zealand has a great team of 17 for the Italian games which start on Friday.
In a Games that has long been dominated by Northern Hemisphere countries – specifically, Norway – our young snow athletes are really starting to make their mark. And that should add excitement to what has long been a thrilling spectator event.
Today on The Detail, Winter Olympics tragic Rarere talks about the highlights, the anticipated wins, and the controversies of the Games.
And before the world’s spotlight has even reached the Italian snow, a different kind of ICE has secured a part in the 2026 Winter Olympics story, dominating headlines, causing anger, and a chilling unrest.
The focus is meant to be on tomorrow’s opening ceremony, but away from the slopes, controversy has followed reports of ICE agents operating around Olympic infrastructure to support American security operations during the 19-day-long Games, hosted in Milan and Cortina.
“This is a militia that kills… of course they’re not welcome in Milan,” the city’s mayor, Beppe Sala, was quick to tell an Italian broadcaster.
An ICE spokesperson responded by saying that “all security operations remain under Italian authority”.
But still, hundreds of protestors took to Italian streets at the weekend, arguing it risks chilling effects – on athletes, spectators, and media – particularly those travelling on complex visas or from politically sensitive regions.
Rarere, a long-time Winter Games follower who covered the most recent Summer Olympics in Paris, tells The Detail that while the locals aren’t happy about the arrival of ICE agents, teams have been known to send security with their athletes in the past.
“When I did Paris [in 2024] … the security was incredible, I had never seen so many actual soldiers,” he says.
“And on the Champs Élysées, I think it was the second to last day, I saw a group of about 12 of them coming along, all the mirrored glasses and what-have-you, and then there was a guy walking along and then up goes the finger to the earpiece and there was a nod, and then they all turned and follow, and they completely enveloped him and demanded to have a look in his bags.
“The security everywhere was massive, even coming in from the airport… my cab driver was so excited, he said ‘the German police are doing the motorway, they are the best, you watch them’, and they were just right up to cars – vans in particular, they were very worried about vans, they would bang on the side of them…. so, security is always massive at these Games.
“I don’t think America really needed to send their own. I don’t understand why they did. I don’t think the rest of the world understands either, and I know from the Europeans, they were like ‘hey, we have it covered, we are fine’.”
Sports not politics
He says the focus should be on the athletes and their performances, not the politics.
This year’s Games, he says, will be spread across two distinct hosts: the fashion capital of Milan and the dramatic peaks of Cortina d’Ampezzo in the Italian Dolomites. It will be “visually stunning”.
For New Zealand athletes the road to get there is always longer than most – geographically, financially, and often psychologically.
Rarere says competing isn’t just about medals. It’s about legitimacy – proving New Zealand belongs in winter sports’ biggest arena.
“From a New Zealand point of view, these games are all about where we stand in the world now, in these sports, because we have made massive strides.”
He says, “Possibly, we have three medals coming our way, which will be massive.”
“That’s if [alpine skier] Alice Robinson can recapture her form, if [free ski halfpipe athlete] Ben Harrington can keep his as well, and if [women’s snowboard slopestyle and Big Air athlete] Zoi Sadowski-Synnott can keep hers as well, I think those are the three medallists.”
It should be noted that Kiwi gold medal Olympian Nico Porteous won’t compete at the Games; he walked away from competitive free skiing last year, retiring at age 23.
Rarere did point out that the difference between winning an Olympic medal in ski jumping or being disqualified this year could come down to a tiny piece of fabric.
In an unusual cheating scandal, it’s been discovered that the cold temperature on the ski jump ramp has an indirect effect on aerodynamics.
Dubbed the “crotch-enlarging scandal” or even “Penisgate”, the controversy centres on Norwegian team officials who were caught illegally modifying athletes’ suits to gain an aerodynamic edge, specifically by enlarging the crotch area for extra lift and distance.
“They can jump an extra five to six metres… that’s the difference.”
Regulators have now added new measures to ensure all competitors play by the same rules after the scandal rocked the sport.
All up, about 2800 of the world’s best athletes will participate in the 2026 Winter Games, which run until February 22.
The Winter Paralympic Games will be from March 6-15.
Ski mountaineering will make its Olympic debut, featuring three events – men’s and women’s sprints, and a mixed relay.
Skeleton will also feature a mixed team event for the first time in the Games’ history, while separate men’s and women’s doubles events will be held in luge, replacing the open doubles event.
The alpine skiing mixed team parallel event has been removed, with the men and women set to compete at separate resorts.
But the question hanging over these Games isn’t just who will win.
It’s whether the Olympics can still be a place where the hardest part of the journey begins at the start gate – not at passport control.
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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand
