2026 Winter Olympics : Everything You Think You Know Is About to Change

As Milan and Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy, prepare for the2026 Winter Olympics, the stage is set.Approximately 3,000 athletes from 90 countries will compete in snow and ice events throughout the games, which officially begin on Friday, February 6 and end on Sunday, February 22. However, because it took a long time to crown medallists, some competitions began early.

On Wednesday, February 4, the mixed doubles curling round-robin sessions began with Team GB against Norway.On Thursday, February 5, the men's snowboarding big air qualification and the women's ice hockey preliminary rounds will begin.

2026 Winter Olympics, All games

Over the course of 19 competition days, 116 events in eight different sports are planned.

The games will be held in 15 locations around northern and northeastern Italy. The majority of indoor sports, including ice hockey and skating, will take place in Milan, Italy's upscale financial center.

On the other hand, snow and sliding competitions like curling will take place at Cortina d'Ampezzo, a ski resort that last held the Winter Olympics in 1956.

Alpine skiing, snowboarding, and freestyle skiing competitions will be held in towns and locations in the Valtellina region, which will also play a significant role in the games.

List Of All Venues Of Winter Olympics 2026

Antholz/Anterselva
• Biathlon in the Anterselva Biathlon Arena

Bormio
• Stelvio Ski Centre: ski mountaineering and alpine skiing

Cortina d'Ampezzo
• Olympic Curling Stadium in Cortina: Curling
• Cortina Sliding Center: skeleton, bobsleigh, and luge
• Alpine skiing at Tofane Alpine Skiing Centre

Livigno
• Freestyle skiing in Livigno Aerials & Moguls Park
• Livigno Snow Park: Snowboarding and freestyle skiing

Milan
Figure skating and short track speed skating are available at Milano Ice Skating Arena.
• Opening Ceremony at Milano San Siro Olympic Stadium
• Santagiulia Ice Hockey Arena in Milan: Ice hockey
• Speed skating in Milano Speed Skating Stadium
• Ice hockey at Milano Rho Ice Hockey Arena

Predazzo
• Predazzo Ski Jumping Stadium: Nordic coupled with ski jumping

Tesero
• Tesero Cross-Country Skiing Stadium: Nordic coupled with cross-country skiing

When Will Be The Opening and Closing Ceremony?

The games will formally begin on February 6th with the opening ceremony.

American singer Mariah Carey and renowned Italian tenor Andrea Bocelli will perform at San Siro Stadium, home of AC Milan and Inter Milan. 

Due to the games spanning over 530 miles, elements of the ceremony will be broadcast from Livigno, Predazzo and Cortina.

Which games are the Games That are Introducing This Year

There will be a number of firsts during this year's games, chief among them being the new sport of ski mountaineering.

The sport, often called skimo, involves participants climbing on foot, skiing downhill, and skinning (going up a mountain with skis that have adhesive cloth on the bottom and poles).

The closing ceremony will take place on 22 February at the Verona Arena in Verona.

Priority On Women's Games Also

Eight new events from a variety of disciplines will make their premiere this year, despite the fact that there is only one new sport.

In order to guarantee that women have the same medal prospects as men in the sport, women's doubles in the luge and mixed team skeleton, which consists of one male and one female athlete from each country, will be featured for the first time.

 The women's large hill ski jumping competition, the men's and women's freestyle skiing dual moguls, and the team combined alpine skiing competition are additional new events.

So far, about 1.2 million tickets have been sold for the ice hockey games. Players from the professional North American National Hockey League (NHL) will be permitted to participate in the games for the first time since 2014.

Unlike the agents stationed in Minnesota and other US cities, the ICE agents sent to Milan are not from the same unit.

To help with security, Homeland Security Investigations, an ICE unit that focuses on cross-border crimes, regularly dispatches its officers abroad to events like the Olympics.