The Man Making Sure The Olympics Work

There are many reasons to like IOC Executive Director Christophe Dubi: This 30-year veteran of the Olympic Games is gracious and personable. He has endless stories to share and is quick to deflect attention from himself and toward the army of people around him that make the Games go.

International Olympic Committee (IOC) Sports Director Christophe Dubi speaks during a final press conference closing a four-day visit of the IOC Evaluation Commission for the 2026 Winter Olympics games, on April 6, 2019 in Milan. (Photo by Miguel MEDINA / AFP) (Photo credit should read MIGUEL MEDINA/AFP via Getty Images)

AFP via Getty Images

What sealed it for me? He is friends with Jean-Claude Killy—the Jean-Claude Killy, winner of three gold medals at the 1968 Grenoble Winter Olympics. He was my first Olympic hero as a nine-year old boy.

A Three-Year Old Boy And A Picture

Christophe Dubi remembers the photograph. It hung in a small Swiss apartment after the 1972 Winter Olympics in Sapporo—an outdoor speed skating oval, the opening ceremony frozen in time. In the distance, barely visible, stood a thin line of athletes dressed in white, including Dubi’s father, a member of Switzerland’s Olympic hockey team.

For Dubi, now the International Olympic Committee’s Executive Director of the Olympic Games, that image became something more than a family keepsake. It was an early lesson in what the Olympics represent.

“I realized very early how important sport and the Games were,” Dubi says. “Not because of spectacle, but because of what they stood for.” For so many millions of people the Games mean competition, but also national pride, joy, and heartache too.

More than 30 years later, Dubi is one of the most influential figures in the Olympic movement, even if few fans recognize his name. As executive director, he oversees the Games from the moment a city dares to imagine hosting them through the final dismantling of venues after the closing ceremony. Strategy, planning, operations, delivery—every phase of a decade-long project ultimately funnels through his role.

With the 2026 Milano-Cortina Winter Olympics now less than three weeks away, Dubi is once again at the center of one of the most complex undertakings in global sport.

An Accidental Olympic Career

Dubi’s path to the IOC was never part of a master plan. In 1996, he was working in finance and real estate and teaching macroeconomics. He enjoyed the work—less so his boss. After leaving his job, he began helping his father’s small business when a chance encounter changed everything.

A friend of his father’s, then the IOC’s sports director, was stopped on the street. “Do you know my son Christophe?” his father asked. “Maybe you have something for him at the IOC.”

The answer was simple: Come next week.

Dubi joined the IOC as an intern at age 27—just as the Atlanta Games exposed the growing need for better coordination between organizers and the Olympic body. When Jacques Rogge, then overseeing preparations for Sydney 2000, realized the IOC lacked centralized Games supervision, Dubi was asked to step in.

“I think I was the only person available,” Dubi says, smiling.

Availability turned into responsibility. Rogge was elected IOC president in 2001, and not long after, Dubi was called into his office and told he would become the next sports director.

“I never pitched for the job,” Dubi recalls. “But he told me, ‘I’m the president—and you are the next one.’”

The Heart Of The Games

As sports director, Dubi was responsible for the Olympic program itself—the events, disciplines, quotas, and federations that define the Games. It was, he says, “the heart and soul” of the Olympic movement.

Working across multiple commissions, Dubi balanced the technical, political, and human sides of sport. He coordinated with powerful international federations and smaller organizations whose survival depends on Olympic inclusion. He also worked closely with athletes and entourages—coaches, families, and support systems that surround elite competitors.

“That diversity is fascinating,” Dubi says. “You have extremely sophisticated operations and very small ones, all sharing the same stage.”

Eventually, Dubi’s remit expanded further. He was appointed executive director of the Olympic Games, overseeing the entire lifecycle of each edition—from candidate city to final wind-down.

“From soup to nuts,” as Americans like to say.

Milano Cortina’s Unique Challenge

Every Olympic Games follows a similar arc, but no two are ever the same. Milano Cortina may be among the most ambitious in recent memory.

The 2026 Winter Games stretch across northern Italy, from the global metropolis of Milan to the alpine heart of Cortina d’Ampezzo, with Livigno, Bormio, Predazzo, and Val di Fiemme hosting events across hundreds of miles. The approach reflects sustainability goals and the use, wherever possible, of existing infrastructure—but it comes with logistical complexity.

“There are a lot of pros,” Dubi says. “And real challenges.”

With just weeks to go, those challenges dominate daily life. Snow production in Livigno was once a major concern due to reliance on a new system. It now works “brilliantly.” Bormio’s iconic Stelvio slope—among the most demanding in alpine skiing—is ready. Dubi describes conditions there simply: “Fantastic.”

The top priority remains Milan’s Santa Giulia ice hockey arena. Thousands of workers are racing the clock, assembling temporary and permanent elements in the final phase.

“Temporary things don’t go in eight months before,” Dubi says. “This all comes together at the last moment.”

He has no doubt it will be ready. “Painting might still be drying when we enter,” he says. “But it won’t affect the experience for athletes or fans.”

Security, Ceremonies, And Culture

Security planning for Milano Cortina reflects a different risk environment than Paris 2024. While Dubi defers to public authorities and intelligence experts, he notes that Milan does not face the same threat profile—and the opening ceremony will take place inside San Siro rather than along a river.

Still, Dubi remains proud of Paris’ boldness.

“Céline Dion, the Eiffel Tower, that crowd,” he says. “It still gives me goosebumps.”

In Italy, the tone will be different but no less symbolic. The opening ceremony at San Siro will be a large-scale production led by experienced Italian creatives. The closing ceremony will take place in Verona’s Roman Arena—a 2,000-year-old venue offering elegance and gravitas.

“It’s very Italian,” Dubi says. “And very fitting.”

A Games Built For Athletes

One of Milano Cortina’s most innovative elements is also its most athlete-centered. For the first time, the opening ceremony will unfold across four locations, allowing athletes competing outside Milan to participate locally rather than missing the ceremony entirely.

“It never happens,” Dubi says. “But we wanted to offer something special.”

Athletes will march not only in San Siro but also in Cortina, Livigno, and Predazzo. Combined with nightly Champions’ Celebrations across host communities, the goal is unity—ensuring medalists feel part of a single Games, no matter where they compete.

“It might be a big theater of operation,” Dubi says. “But it will feel like one.”

The Man Who Doesn’t Watch

Despite his lifelong passion for sport, Dubi does not get to experience the Olympics as a fan.

“That’s not part of the job,” he says. “The Games are for others to enjoy.”

During competition, he remains on constant alert, monitoring issues and responding in real time. If he manages to briefly watch an event for half an hour, he considers it a privilege.

What brings him joy instead are the volunteers, the cultural exchanges, the shared pride across communities.

“Move away from sport,” Dubi advises fans. “Enjoy the local culture. Enjoy what it means when the world comes together.”

After three decades inside the Olympic movement, Christophe Dubi still measures the Games the same way he did as a child—by their power to connect people, long after the final medal is awarded.

(I interviewed IOC Executive Director Christophe Dubi on January 13, 2026, from Milan, Italy. His quotes are mostly taken from that interview transcript.)