The Winter Olympics attracts fans from far and wide – but one may be regretting their decision to buy tickets for Milano Cortina after it resulted in their long-awaited arrest
The fugitive was set to be in the crowd for Wednesday evening’s ice hockey action(Image: Getty Images)
A thief who had evaded Italian authorities for 16 years has been arrested after returning to support his nation at the Winter Olympics. The Slovakian man returned to the scene of his alleged crimes to cheer on their ice hockey team.
But the 44-year-old, who hasn’t been named publicly, didn’t even get to the arena before police detained him. A warrant for his arrest was issued all the way back in 2010.
It stemmed from a series of shop thefts he’s claimed to have committed. The Carabinieri police say he has 11 months and seven days to serve.
They were able to track him down after he checked into a guesthouse on the outskirts of Milan. He’d opted to return to the country despite being on the wanted list.
The ice hockey events at the Winter Games are being held at the Santagiulia Ice Hockey Arena and the Rho Ice Hockey Arena on opposite sides of the city. The man intended to attend the former on Wednesday evening.
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But he found himself in handcuffs before he got there. He was subsequently escorted to the central San Vittore Prison, while Slovakia’s men got off to a flying start in their Olympics opener.
They beat medal favourites Finland 4-1 in a major upset, adding insult to injury for the fugitive. Next up for them are Italy on Friday before facing Sweden to close out the preliminary round on Saturday.
Slovakia won bronze four years ago in Beijing when NHL players were still banned. However, they’ve now returned for the first time since Sochi 2014.
There’s been plenty of drama at Milano Cortina 2026 so far. Returning Team USA legend Lindsey Vonn dramatically crashed and broke her leg as she attempted to race without an ACL.
Jake Paul’s fiancée Jutta Leerdam upgraded her silver medal from Beijing to gold with a dramatic victory in the 1000m speed skating. The YouTuber-turned-boxer was seen in floods of tears in the crowd as he supported his Dutch partner.
There’s yet to be a medal for Team GB after some near misses. But further hopes include skeleton world champion Matt Weston, who’s on course for gold heading into Friday evening’s final.
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Watch Winter Olympics 2026 live on discovery+
The Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympic Games is running from February 6-22 and fans can enjoy more than 850 hours of action live on discovery+ via Prime Video.
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