Winter Olympics (2026)

Overview

• Held 6–22 February 2026 across Lombardy, Veneto, and Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol, Italy; some events began 4 February.
• Officially the XXV Olympic Winter Games, known as Milano Cortina 2026.
• Milano Cortina 2026 was the first Olympic Games under the IOC presidency of Kirsty Coventry.
• First Olympic Games ever officially co-hosted by two cities (Milan and Cortina d'Ampezzo).
• It featured the Olympic debut of ski mountaineering.
• Third Winter Olympics hosted by Italy (after Cortina 1956 and Torino 2006); fourth Olympics overall in Italy.

Bidding Process

• Host cities selected 24 June 2019 at the 134th IOC Session in Lausanne, Switzerland.
• Milan and Cortina d'Ampezzo (Italy) defeated Stockholm and Åre (Sweden).
• Final vote: Italy 47 votes, Sweden 34 votes, 1 abstention.
• Three Italian and two Swedish IOC members were ineligible to vote per the Olympic Charter.

Venues

• Games mostly used existing venues, including some from the 1956 Cortina Olympics and 2013 Winter Universiade (Trentino).
• A new 12,000-seat arena in Milan's Santa Giulia district (designed by David Chipperfield) hosted ice hockey.
• Opening ceremony: Stadio San Siro, Milan.
• Closing ceremony: Verona Arena, Verona.
• Athletes stayed in Milan Olympic Village, Cortina d'Ampezzo Olympic Village, or hotels.

Venue Clusters

• Milan cluster — most ice events (hockey, speed skating, figure skating, short track); San Siro Stadium (opening ceremony).
• Cortina d'Ampezzo cluster — women's alpine skiing, biathlon, curling, bobsleigh, luge, skeleton.
• Valtellina cluster (Livigno/Stelvio) — men's alpine skiing, ski mountaineering, snowboarding, freestyle skiing.
• Val di Fiemme cluster (Predazzo/Tesero) — ski jumping, nordic combined, cross-country skiing.
• Verona — closing ceremony only.

Speed Skating Venue Controversy

• Originally proposed for Ice Rink Piné in Baselga di Piné, but adding a roof was too costly.
• Considered options: Fiera Milano pavilions, other structural builds, or Turin's Oval Lingotto (used in 2006 Olympics).
• Oval Lingotto plan opposed by Milan-area officials, including Mayor Giuseppe Sala.
• Fiera Milano was confirmed as the speed skating venue in April 2023 (temporary rink, ~€20 million, privately funded).

Olympic Torch

• Torch relay ran 26 November 2025 – 6 February 2026, flame lit in Olympia, Greece.
• Visited all 13 regional units/7 regions of Greece and all 110 Italian provinces — 60 stops, 12,000 km, 63 days.
• Torch unveiled 14 April 2025 in Milan and Osaka, Japan; named "Essential."
• Designed by Studio Carlo Ratti Associati; made of recycled aluminium/bronze alloy; runs on bio-LPG; reusable up to 10 times.
• 10,001 torchbearers participated across Italy.
• Notable stops: Naples (Christmas), Bari (New Year's Eve), Cortina d'Ampezzo (26 January, marking 70 years since 1956 Games).
• Relay visited every UNESCO World Heritage Site in Italy.
• Tribute planned in Piedmont for skier Matilde Lorenzi, who died in training in October 2024.

Medals

• Official medals unveiled 15 July 2025 in Venice; designed by Istituto Poligrafico e Zecca dello Stato (IPZS).
• Two-half design symbolising an athlete's journey and the people who supported it.

Final Medal Table (Top 4)

Rank

Nation

Gold

Silver

Bronze

Total

1

Norway

18

12

11

41

2

United States

12

12

9

33

3

Netherlands

10

7

3

20

4

Italy (host)

10

6

14

30

• Norway topped the table for a fourth consecutive Winter Olympics, setting records for most gold and total medals in a single Games.
• USA's 12 golds were its best-ever Winter Olympics gold-medal haul.
• Netherlands tied for 3rd with its best-ever Winter Olympics gold total (10).
• Italy tied for 3rd in golds (10) but placed 4th on fewer silvers; its 30 total medals set a new national record.
• Brazil won its first-ever Winter Olympic medal — a gold — becoming the first tropical, Latin American, and South American NOC to medal at a Winter Games.
• Georgia also won its first-ever Winter Olympic medal.
• Despite early logistics concerns, the Games were seen as a success by press and observers.

Opening Ceremony

• Held 6 February 2026 at Stadio San Siro, Milan; titled "Armonia" ("Harmony").
• Produced by Banijay Live (Balich Wonder Studio); creative lead Marco Balich.
• Performers included Mariah Carey, Laura Pausini, and Andrea Bocelli.
• Two Olympic cauldrons were lit — in Milan and Cortina d'Ampezzo — a first in Olympic history.

Sports & Events

• 116 medal events across 16 disciplines — an increase of 7 events and 1 discipline over Beijing 2022.
• New medal events: ski mountaineering (men's/women's sprint, mixed relay), freestyle skiing dual moguls (men's/women's), luge doubles (men's/women's, replacing open doubles), alpine skiing team combined (men's/women's), ski jumping women's large hill individual, skeleton mixed team relay.
• Alpine mixed team parallel events dropped; team ski jumping, alpine combined, and nordic combined switched to pairs events.
• Women's participation reached 47% — the highest in Winter Olympic history to that point.
• Nordic combined remained the only Winter Olympic sport contested exclusively by men.
• NHL players returned to men's Olympic ice hockey for the first time since 2014 (agreement reached February 2024 between IIHF and NHL).

Disciplines (medal events)

• Alpine skiing (10), Biathlon (11), Bobsleigh (4), Cross-country skiing (12), Curling (3), Figure skating (5)
• Freestyle skiing (15), Ice hockey (2), Luge (5), Nordic combined (3), Short-track speed skating (9)
• Skeleton (3), Ski jumping (6), Ski mountaineering (3), Snowboarding (11), Speed skating (14)

Closing Ceremony

• Held 22 February 2026 at Verona Arena, Verona; titled "Beauty in Action."
• Included formal handover to the French Alps as hosts of the 2030 Winter Olympics.
• Featured ballet dancer Roberto Bolle (La Scala Theatre Ballet); some segments held at Teatro Filarmonico.
• Director Alfredo Accatino previously worked with Bolle on the 2006 Winter Olympics opening ceremony.