Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics

Milano Cortina 2026: Italy’s Winter Showcase

Twenty years after Torino gave us one of the most memorable Winter Olympics in modern history, Italy gets another turn — and this time the stage is even bigger. The 2026 Winter Olympics will unfold across multiple clusters in northern Italy, connecting the urban energy of Milan with the alpine grandeur of Cortina d’Ampezzo, Bormio, Livigno, and the valleys of Trentino-Alto Adige. It is, by design, a Games that stretches across an entire region rather than a single host city.

The numbers: 16 sports, approximately 116 gold medals, 17 days of competition, and roughly 2,900 athletes from around the globe. The Opening Ceremony takes place at Milan’s iconic Stadio San Siro on February 6, and the Closing Ceremony caps things off at the ancient Arena di Verona on February 22.

What Makes These Games Different

Ski mountaineering makes its Olympic debut in 2026. The grueling uphill-downhill discipline has deep roots in the Alps and will finally get its moment on the world’s biggest stage. For American fans, it’s a chance to learn a sport that’s been quietly growing in the Rockies and the Northeast.

Speed skating returns to the outdoors. The oval at Baselga di Piné, sitting at roughly 1,000 meters of elevation in Trentino, brings back an old-school feel that hasn’t been part of the Games in decades. Weather becomes a factor again — wind, temperature, ice conditions — and that could shake up the results.

Milan itself hosts figure skating, short track, and ice hockey at modern arenas in the Santa Giulia district and at Fiera Milano, while the Dolomites handle the mountain sports. Cortina is the home for alpine skiing’s technical events and the sliding sports. Bormio gets the men’s downhill and super-G on one of the most feared courses in World Cup racing. Livigno, a duty-free town near the Swiss border, stages freestyle skiing and snowboard events.

Storylines to Watch

Mikaela Shiffrin arrives in Cortina chasing more Olympic hardware and further cementing her claim as the greatest alpine skier ever. Chloe Kim looks to defend her snowboard halfpipe crown in Livigno. On the men’s side, Switzerland’s Marco Odermatt is the favorite to dominate the alpine events, and Norway’s Johannes Thingnes Bø will try to pad his already historic biathlon medal collection.

For Team USA, the women’s hockey squad is hungry after silver in Beijing, and Jessie Diggins remains a legitimate cross-country medal contender — still a rarity for an American in that sport.

Italy, as host nation, will have massive support behind athletes like Sofia Goggia in alpine skiing and Dorothea Wierer in biathlon. The home crowd in Cortina and Anterselva could be a real factor.

These Games have a chance to be special. The settings are world-class, the fields are stacked, and the six-hour time difference from the East Coast means early risers will be rewarded.