What you need to know about the upcoming Winter Olympics
Italy is preparing to host the Winter Olympics for the third time in its history. The cities of Milano and Cortina d’Ampezzo will organize Milan Cortina 2026 in almost three years, that is 70 years after the Cortina 1956 Winter Olympics and 20 years later Turin 2006.
In February 2026, around 2,900 athletes, the best in the world, will come together to participate in 114 medal events organized in 8 sports and 16 disciplines.
The majority of competitions will take place at sites already used in major international events.
Find out everything you need to know about Milano Cortina 2026, the next Winter Olympics.
WATCH: The assumption of the 2016 Winter Olympics in Milan-Cortina d’Ampezzo
Milano Cortina 2026: opening ceremony, schedule and dates to know
The opening ceremony of Milano Cortina 2026 is scheduled for February 6, 2026, while the closing ceremony will take place on February 22.
The timetable for the sessions is not yet known, but usually some events take place in the days before the opening ceremony.
Italian star: Why Milano Cortina 2026 will be so special
Parity at the Olympic Winter Games Milano Cortina 2026
Milano Cortina 2026 has been announced as the most gender-balanced Winter Olympics in history. There are more women’s events than ever before.
In June, the Executive Board of the International Olympic Committee approved the sports and events program for the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Games, and 47% of the athletes are women.
In total, 2,900 Olympic quotas will be allocated: 1,362 for women and 1,538 for men, for 50 women’s events are on the program.
“We have made significant progress in closing the participation gap between women and men at the Olympic Winter Games,” IOC President Thomas Bach said at the time of the announcement. “So we’re from 40% female representation in the Games to Sochi 2014 47% for the Milano Cortina edition. »
“We are committed to continuing to promote gender equality and the Milano Cortina 2026 Games is another important milestone in this effort. »
New sports and new events at the Olympic Winter Games Milano Cortina 2026
There are 116 events in the program for Milano Cortina 2026, two of which have been included on a temporary basis. Eight will be new while one of them has been retired since Beijing 2022.
The ski mountaineering will make its Olympic Winter Games debut following its success at the Lausanne 2020 Winter Youth Olympic Games. Three events take place in this sport: the women’s sprint, the men’s sprint and the mixed relay.
A mixed team event will also be introduced in skeleton, while in luge, there will be not one, but two double events. Women’s doubles and men’s doubles replace open doubles.
In freestyle skiing, parallel mogul skiing has been added to the Olympic program for women and men. A new women’s event is appearing on the Olympic program in ski jumping: the big hill.
There are also changes in alpine skiing: the mixed team parallel slalom will not be contested as the events will not take place at the same venue for women and men. Having Alpine events integrated into the Olympic program for the next Winter Games is only temporary for the moment.
We are next | Milano Cortina 2026
The Olympic venue of Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics
The Milano Cortina 2026 will go down in history. For the first time, an edition of the Olympic Games will be organized by two cities, Milan and Cortina, in two regions, Lombardy and Veneto, but also in two autonomous provinces: Trento and Bolzano for a total of 22,000 km2. The Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Games will be the biggest in history.
More than 90% of the Olympic venues used in 2026 already exist or are provisional.
The Giuseppe Meazza Stadiumalso called San Siro, which usually hosts AC Milan and Inter Milan football matches, will be the main stadium for the Olympic Winter Games Milano Cortina 2026. The opening ceremony is here.
The Arena of Verona, a Roman amphitheater more than 2,000 years old, will host the closing ceremony.
Alpine skiing takes place on two different slopes. Women will measure themselves againstOlympia to him Tofane while the men tackle the Stelvio at Bormio. Ski mountaineering events will also take place in Bormio.
The biathlon events will take place in Antholz-Anterselva, where the World Cup is usually held every winter. As in 1956, the Eugenio Monti track will host sliding sports and the Olympic Ice Stadium will host curling. It was the main Olympic venue for the 1956 Cortina Winter Games.
Ski jumping, Nordic combined and cross-country skiing are scheduled for Val di Fiemme, while Milan will host ice hockey, short track speed skating and figure skating. Snowboarding and freestyle skiing take place in Livigno.
Milano Cortina 2026: the official song
In March, Milano Cortina 2026 released their official song titled Fino all’alba which means “until dawn”.
This song, which will be used for the Olympic Games and Paralympic Games, is performed by Arisa.
This title won 72% of the votes in a competition organized on the Milano Cortina 2026 website.
Milano Cortina 2026: the mascots
The mascots for the Olympic Winter Games Milano Cortina 2026 will be unveiled at the end of 2023. A competition is currently taking place to choose the appearance of the character.
The selection phase is carried out for Italian schools and students.
In February 2023, the finalists will be announced and the public will have the opportunity to vote for the winner.
