The Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics are approaching. Here’s what you need to know.
When are the Olympics?
The 2026 Olympics begin on Feb. 6 and end on Feb. 22.
Where will the Olympics take place?
Italy is hosting the Olympics for the third time, and the events will primarily be in the cities of Milan and Cortina d’Ampezzo. Milan is the second-largest city in Italy, and has never hosted the Olympics. Cortina d’Ampezzo is a major destination for skiing and other mountain sports, and was the site of the 1956 Winter Olympics. Though both cities are in Northern Italy, they are roughly 400 kilometers (about 250 miles) apart.
How can one watch the Olympics?
Peacock is the streaming home of all Olympics coverage, and parts of the Games will be broadcast live on NBC. Italy is six hours ahead of Eastern Standard Time, so some of the events will likely take place in the early morning while the majority of Americans are still asleep.
What sports will athletes compete in?
The Milano Cortina Olympics will feature eight sports, 16 disciplines and 116 events.
The International Olympic Committee defines a discipline as “a branch of a sport comprising one or more events.” The disciplines included this February are Alpine skiing, biathlon, bobsleigh, cross-country skiing, curling, figure skating, freestyle skiing, ice hockey, luge, Nordic combined, short track speed skating, skeleton, ski jumping, ski mountaineering, snowboard and speed skating.
There are eight new events this year: men’s and women’s dual moguls, mixed team skeleton, women’s doubles luge, women’s large hill ski jumping and three within ski mountaineering: men’s sprint, women’s sprint and mixed relay.
Ski mountaineering is new to the Olympics as a whole, though it has been part of the Winter Youth Olympics since 2020.
Who’s competing?
Thus far, approximately 162 athletes have qualified for Team USA, with around 200 ultimately expected. 224 athletes competed for Team USA in Beijing in 2022. The total number of athletes expected to compete at the 2026 Games is around 2900, representing over 90 countries.
The 2026 Olympics are set to be the most gender-balanced Winter Games in history, with women making up 47% of the athletes in this year’s Olympics, compared to 45.4% in 2022.
Of the 116 events, 50 will be women’s events, which is the highest number in history. In the 2022 Games, there were only 46 women’s events. There will be 54 men’s events this year, and the other 12 are mixed, meaning women will compete in a record-breaking 53.4% of all events.
In cross-country skiing specifically, men and women will race the same distances for the first time at the Winter Games. Historically, the longest race for men was 50 kilometers, while the women’s race reached a maximum distance of 30 kilometers. In February, both genders will race 50 kilometers.
Following precedent from the Paris 2024 Summer Olympics, Russian athletes will be allowed to compete as Individual Neutral Athletes but can’t compete under the country’s flag. The sanction is due to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022. The same rule applies to athletes from Belarus because of the country’s assistance to Russia.
While Russian and Belarusian athletes can compete individually, they are banned from competing in team sports, like hockey.
As a result, Russian Olympian and Carolina Hurricanes defenseman Alexander Nikishin will not step foot on the ice in Milano Cortina come February. Four of his teammates on the Canes, however, have been selected to play for their national teams. Defenseman Jaccob Slavin will play for Team USA, and forward Sebastian Aho will represent Finland. Goalie Frederik Andersen and forward Nikolaj Ehlers were both chosen by Denmark.
NHL players will be allowed to compete in the Olympics this year for the first time since 2014. The COVID-19 pandemic prevented players from participating in 2022, and the league opted out of the 2018 Olympics out of concern that it would disrupt the normal hockey season. This year, the NHL will take a scheduled break from Feb. 6 to Feb. 24 so that players can partake in the Games.
What’s an Enloe perspective on the Olympics?
Enloe senior Madison Lindsay is a synchronized figure skater who competes at the national and international levels.
It’s “an amazing feeling” to see her sport represented on a worldwide stage, she said, adding that she’s “excited to see how the US teams do, but also how the Canadian teams do, because they are always very competitive.”
Everyone should watch the Olympics, Lindsay said, because “it’s really important to try everything… You can always have your own opinion, but if you’re not exposed to it, you’re not gonna know what you [like].”
Lindsay advised viewers to “just enjoy what you’re seeing. You don’t have to necessarily understand every single thing. Don’t be worried about what they’re getting called on. Take in the story they’re trying to tell through their programs.”
Even for those who don’t participate in a winter sport, it’s very inspiring “to see the athleticism and artistry that it takes to be a figure skater, and how much work and dedication and passion [athletes] have for their sports,” she said. “And that goes for all winter sports.”
