Italy is entering the final 60 days before the Milano-Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics, a multi-city spectacle poised to reshape the global perception of the Games.
Set for Feb. 6-22, the 25th Winter Olympics will mark Italy’s third turn as host after Cortina d’Ampezzo in 1956 and Turin in 2006.
Yet this edition pushes the boundaries of tradition, becoming the first Winter Games to be shared across multiple cities and the first since 1984 to hold its opening and closing ceremonies in different venues.
Milan’s famed San Siro Stadium will welcome the world at the opening, while the historic Verona Arena will close the curtain.
The program stretches across 16 Olympic disciplines, covering the full spectrum of winter sport: alpine skiing, freestyle skiing, ski jumping, figure skating, ice hockey, curling, luge, skeleton, speed skating, bobsleigh and more.
Two new events make their Olympic debut – the mixed team skeleton and women’s double luge.
Milano-Cortina will also carry a milestone for gender equality, featuring the highest ratio of women athletes in Winter Games history at 47%.
For the first time, women will race the 50-kilometer mass-start cross-country event, matching the men’s distance.
Unlike past Olympics that centered events within one region, Italy has embraced a model that extends the Games from the Dolomites to the Po Valley.
The plan adapts the Olympics to the landscape rather than reshaping a region around the event.
Milan will stage figure skating, speed skating, short track and ice hockey, while Cortina d’Ampezzo hosts women’s alpine disciplines, curling, bobsleigh, skeleton and luge.
Val di Fiemme becomes home to cross-country skiing, ski jumping and Nordic combined, and Anterselva brings its half-century of experience to biathlon.
Bormio’s iconic Stelvio slope will carry the men’s alpine program along with the Olympic debut of ski mountaineering, and Livigno will welcome freestyle skiing and snowboarding.
Organizers say Milano-Cortina’s legacy rests on two pillars: motivating more people to engage in sport – especially young athletes and individuals with disabilities – and supporting sustainable economic growth in mountain regions struggling with population decline.
Investments made for the Games, from improved infrastructure to expanded tourism capacity, are intended to serve as long-term engines of development rather than short-lived upgrades.
The Games will also be defined by Tina and Milo, the official mascots introduced during the Sanremo Music Festival.
Their designs were selected through a nationwide school competition, highlighting the organizers’ commitment to youth involvement.
Türkiye secured its first Olympic quotas for Milano-Cortina through short-track athletes Furkan Akar and Deniz Örs. Akar earned his spot in the 500 meters, becoming the first Turkish athlete in his discipline to qualify for back-to-back Winter Olympics.
With Örs joining him, Türkiye is guaranteed to compete with multiple athletes in short track for the first time.
