The 25th Winter Olympics will be held in Milan and Cortina, Italy.
The event will be held over 19 days, with approximately 3,500 athletes participating in 116 events in 16 events.
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Here’s what you need to know before the game.
When will the Winter Olympics start?
The Winter Olympics officially open on Friday.
The first qualifying round begins on Wednesday, with the first medals being awarded on Saturday.
The games will conclude with the closing ceremony on February 22nd at the Verona Olympic Arena.
When and where will the opening ceremony be held?
The Olympics will officially start with the opening ceremony on Friday.
For the first time, the ceremony will be held in multiple locations, with the main activities centered around Milan’s iconic 80,000-seat San Siro Stadium, home of Milan’s two famous soccer clubs, AC Milan and Inter Milan.
Celebrations will also be held in Predazzo, Livigno and Cortina d’Ampezzo, where delegations will parade in their respective competition areas.
The opening ceremony will feature a lineup of popular artists from Italy and abroad, including American pop star Mariah Carey.
Approximately 60,000 spectators are expected to attend the ceremony.
In which city will the Milan-Cortina competition be held?
The Winter Olympics will be held against the stunning backdrop of two major locations: Milan, Italy’s second most populous city, and Cortina, an exclusive winter resort in the Dolomites mountains of the Alps.
With additional events taking place elsewhere in the north of the country, Milan-Cortina 2026 will be the most widely held Winter Games in history.
The game is divided into four main clusters.
Milan Valtellina (Bormio, Valdisotto, Livigno) Cortina (including Anterselva/Ansolz) Val di Fiemme (Predazzo, Tesero)
Verona will also be participating, hosting the closing ceremony and opening the Paralympic Games on March 6th.
Italy will be hosting the Olympics for the fourth time in total. It hosted the Winter Olympics in 1956 and 2006, and the Summer Olympics in 1960.
How can I watch the Winter Olympics?
The official media rights holder of the Olympics will broadcast the games in several countries.
The list of broadcasters includes Peacock and NBC Olympic in the US, CBC Gem and TOU.tv in Canada, BBC and Discovery+ in the UK, NRK and HBO Max in Norway, and more.
What are the major events to watch at the Winter Olympics?
Alpine skiing, freestyle skiing, figure skating, ski jumping and ice hockey are some of the key events at the Winter Games.
Freestyle snowboarding events (slopestyle, big air and halfpipe) featuring iconic athletes such as Mark McMorris, Scotty James and Marcus Cleveland are also widely popular with younger audiences.
Will there be any new or reinstated Olympic sports in 2026?
Ski mountaineering, also known as “skimo,” will make its Olympic debut at the 2026 Milan-Cortina Games, which will feature a men’s and women’s sprint race and a mixed relay.
What sports will be featured at the 2026 Winter Olympics?
The 2026 Winter Games will feature eight sports and 16 disciplines.
Alpine skiing Biathlon Bobsled Cross-country skiing Curling Figure skating Freestyle skiing Ice hockey Luge Nordic combined Short track Speed skating Skeleton Ski jumping Ski mountaineering Snowboarding Speed skating
Who are the top athletes to watch at the 2026 Winter Olympics?
Alpine skiing superstar Lindsey Vonn will lead the U.S. national team to the Olympics, and the 41-year-old is aiming for one gold medal and two bronze medals. Vonn crashed in her last race before the Winter Olympics in Crans-Montana, but she hopes to recover from her injuries.
Mikaela Shiffrin, widely considered the greatest alpine skier of all time, and two-time gold medal-winning snowboarder Chloe Kim, along with figure skater Ilya Marin, the self-proclaimed “God of the Quad,” are among the rising Americans aiming for Olympic gold and stardom.
Cash medalist Ryosuke Kobayashi of Japan and in-form Slovenian Domen Plebusi are favorites to win the ski jumping competition, while two-time Olympic champion freestyle skier Irene Gu will once again be in the spotlight as China’s most prominent athlete at the Olympics.
Fans should also keep an eye on Team USA and Team Canada, the leading contenders for ice hockey gold, as National Hockey League (NHL) players are set to return to the Olympic ice for the first time since the 2014 Sochi Games.
NHL legend Sidney Crosby of Canada will headline several superstar athletes participating in the 2026 Winter Olympics.
Which countries are expected to dominate the medal table?
Norway’s 39 medals at the 2018 Pyeongchang Olympics were the most by any country at the Winter Olympics. The Norwegian was also the top scorer at the 2022 Beijing Games with 37 points and is expected to win again at the 2026 Milan-Cortina Games.
However, Norway is expected to face stiff competition from the usual powerhouses such as the United States, China, Germany, and Canada.
What is the ratio of men to women at the Winter Olympics?
The 2026 Milan-Cortina Games will be the most gender-balanced Winter Games in history, with female athletes accounting for more than 47% of the spots, up from 45.4% for the 2022 Beijing Games.
These games will also feature a record number of 50 women’s events.
Who are the mascots?
The Milan and Cortina mascots are brother and sister Tina (Olympic mascot) and Milo (Paralympic mascot). Tina is short for Cortina and Milo is short for Milan.
The pair are joined by a team of six snowdrops named “The Flo”.
Why is ICE involved in security for the 2026 Winter Olympics?
Competing countries often bring in their own security forces. In that vein, the U.S. State Department said that, as with past Olympics, several federal agencies, including Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), will help protect visiting Americans.
ICE and Border Patrol agents have drawn intense criticism in the United States over President Donald Trump’s enforcement of immigration enforcement, and images of their actions have shocked many in Italy, traditionally a close ally of the United States.
Italy has detailed its comprehensive security plan for the Winter Olympics, stressing that it will maintain control over all operations.
The Interior Department said in a statement that ICE officers only work at U.S. diplomatic missions overseas, such as the consulate general in Milan, and “do not work on the ground.” It added: “All security operations on Italian territory remain, as always, under the exclusive responsibility and direction of the Italian authorities.”
How much will the 2026 Winter Olympics cost?
The 2026 Milan-Cortina Games currently has a total budget of 5.2 billion euros ($6.17 billion), including 3.5 billion euros ($4.15 billion) in public funding for infrastructure and 1.7 billion euros ($2.02 billion) in private funding for planning and hosting the Games.
The Italian government is expecting 2 million tourists and more than 3 billion global viewers, with lasting economic benefits for local communities through improved tourism and transport links, Reuters reported in January.
“The total investment amounted to 3.5 billion euros ($4.15 billion), but according to some studies, the revenue will exceed 5.3 billion euros ($6.29 billion),” Transport Minister Matteo Salvini said.
