The 2026 Winter Olympics (Italian: Olimpiadi invernali del 2026), officially the XXV Olympic Winter Games (Italian: XXV Giochi olimpici invernali) and also known as Milano-Cortina 2026,[1] is an upcoming international multi-sport event scheduled to take place from 6 to 22 February 2026 in three regions, with the Italian cities of Milan and Cortina d'Ampezzo as main hosts.
This will be the fourth Olympic Games hosted in Italy, which previously hosted the 1956 Winter Olympics in Cortina d'Ampezzo, the 1960 Summer Olympics in Rome, and the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin. It will be the first Olympic Games officially featuring multiple host cities and will be the first Winter Olympics since Sarajevo 1984 where the opening and closing ceremonies will be held in different venues. These games will become the first of two consecutive Winter Olympic Games to be hosted (at least partially) in the European Alps, followed by the French Alps in 2030. The Organizing Committee received the Olympic flag during the closing ceremony of the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing, China.[2] Along the main host cities, events will also take place in seven other north-northeastern Italian cities. The games will mark the 20th anniversary of the Winter Olympics in Turin, also the 70th anniversary of the Winter Olympics in Cortina d'Ampezzo. This also marks the first time that Milan will host the Olympic Games. These games will mark the first Winter Olympics under a new IOC President, who is expected to be elected in 2025 at the 143rd IOC Session. The joint bid from the two cities beat also another joint bid from Swedish cities Stockholm–Åre by 47–34 votes at the 134th Session of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) in Lausanne, Switzerland, on 24 June 2019.[3][4][5]
During the bid process, the bidding Committee proposed that the speed skating events could be held at the existing Ice Rink Piné in Baselga di Piné. However, despite the infrastructure being ready, it required a roof which impact and cost studies indicated would be very expensive, potentially breaking the budget. So instead, the Committee deliberated over three choices: building a temporary or a permanent ice rink in the pavilions of Fiera Milano, options that would require significant structural work, or move the events to the Oval Lingotto in the city of Turin which required no structural changes. The venue was constructed to host the speed skating during the 2006 Winter Olympics and after the games, hosted a variety of events such as exhibitions, fairs and conferences. The venue was also used at 2007 Winter Universiade to host the same sport and also will host the same event in 2025. In April 2023, it was estimated that the temporary ice rink in Fiera Milano would cost nearly €20 million, which would be paid for with private funds. The proposal to use Turin's Oval Lingotto received opposition from Milan-area officials, including Milan mayor Giuseppe Sala and officials from the host regions of Lombardy and Veneto.[7] Fiera Milano was confirmed as the speed skating venue on 19 April 2023.[8][9]
Concerns about sliding sports venue
During the bidding process, the joint Committee proposed to restore the iconic Eugenio Monti olympic track in Cortina, to be relaunched as a federal centre also for sledding and skeleton.[10] The minimum cost of restoring the closed track was initially estimated at €14 million, while in the official Milan-Cortina bid dossier the cost indicated was €100 million (similar budget needed to build the Cesana Pariol track used at the 2006 Winter Olympics).[11] After initially forecasting an expenditure of €40-50 million, the Veneto Region allocated funding up to €85 million to build the new Olympic venues. An annual expenditure of €400,000 was also planned for the management of the facility, which would be open four months a year, to be settled through the establishment of €8 million fund.[12]
Due to the rising cost of construction materials, the Veneto region president Luca Zaia turned public in February 2023 that the restoring cost for the Eugenio Monti track could be upwards of €120 million.[13] Calling for tenders to award the work, no company came forward with a bid by the 31 July 2023 deadline;[14] even after that, no company interested in carrying out the work could be found, both for economic reasons and because of the difficulty to complete all works before the start of the Olympics.[15] Due to critical issues, costs and prohibitive times for the total renovation of Cortina track, the mayor of Innsbruck, Austria made a proposal for the use of the Igls Olympic Sliding Centre in Innsbruck.[16] On 16 October 2023 the Italian National Olympic Committee (CONI) announced that the track will not be rebuilt to host the 2026 Olympic Winter Games, and the sliding events could be held outside of Italy.[17] However, the current Italian government wanted the sliding events to remain in Italy, so they studied the possibility to revamp the Cesana Pariol track which hosted the events at the 2006 Winter Olympics, which has been dormant since 2011.[18] Since then, several construction companies have submitted bids to study a potential reconstruction of the Eugenio Monti track.[19] A bid was won to build a new sliding track instead of rebuilding the Eugenio Monti track, which will be demolished.[20]
Despite concerns about the new track not being ready on time, it was confirmed in September 2024 that the new Eugenio Monti track was on schedule, and that homologation of the track is expected by March 2025.[21]
The Milano-Cortina 2026 proposal involved many of the competition venues used during the 2013 Winter Universiade, held in the province of Trentino and the existing venues used during 1956 Winter Olympics also held in Cortina D'Ampezzo. All the ice events in Milan and their metropolitan region,with the exception of curling.The opening ceremony is scheduled for the 6 February in San Siro Stadium and the closing ceremony is scheduled for 22 February in Verona Arena.
On 24 June 2022, the IOC announced the final 2026 program. The alpine mixed team parallel event was removed due technical issues, while the alpine combined event will now feature two athletes from same NOC.[23] Along with the three ski mountaineering events, five new events have been added to the Olympic program in four sports that were already on the program rising from 109 to 116 events.Therefore, 7 more events will be played than in Beijing, 4 years earlier.[24]
Freestyle skiing: Men's and women's dual moguls.
Luge: The mixed event leaves the program and the men's doubles returns along the new women's doubles event,
Ski jumping: Women's large hill individual.
Ski mountaineering: Men's and Women's sprint, mixed relay.
Skeleton: Mixed relay team.
Participating National Olympic Committees
The following 56 National Olympic Committees have qualified athletes. Seven qualifiers and the hosts, Italy, were confirmed as qualified by the IIHF into the ice hockey tournament with Russia provisionally holding another spot.[25] However, its participation is uncertain due to the aftermath of the invasion of Ukraine starting in 2022. Russian athletes were not permitted to enter team events at the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris. The final decision on Russia in ice hockey is expected in early 2025. Other NOCs have had at least one male or female competitor meet the minimum alpine skiing requirements.[26] United Arab Emirates is expected to make its Winter Olympics debut.
The first version of the schedule was released in March 2024. Competition will begin two days before the opening ceremony on 4 February, and end on 22 February 2026.[27]
For the first time, the emblem of an Olympic Games was determined via a public vote. On 6 March 2021 during the Sanremo Music Festival finals, two candidate designs titled "Dado" and "Futura" were unveiled by former Italian Olympic gold medallists Federica Pellegrini and Alberto Tomba. They were both designed by Landor Associates.[28][29] On 30 March 2021, "Futura" was announced as the winning emblem.[30][31] The emblem consists of a stylized "26" written in a single stroke, representing the impact of "small gestures", and "sport, solidarity, and sustainability".[32]
An online vote closing on 28 February 2023 was held among a list of candidates to select the two mascots of the event. The winning candidates, designed by the students of a school in Taverna and inspired by stoats,[33] were presented during the second night of the Sanremo Music Festival 2024 on 7 February 2024.[34] Their names were revealed to be Tina and Milo (derived from the names of the host cities), and are portrayed as sister and brother.[35][36] The choice of stoats has been explained as being due to these animals' embodiment of "the contemporary Italian spirit" of curiosity, ability to change according to the seasons, and capacity of adaptation to challenging habitats.[36] The two main mascots are additionally accompanied by six snowdrop flowers, called "The Flo".[37]
Characteristics
Milo, a brown stoat, and Tina, a white stoat, are brother and sister "born in the mountains of Italy", who "decided to move to the city". Tina, the main Olympic mascot, symbolizes art, music, and the transformative force of beauty. Milo, the Paralympic mascot, was born without a leg but uses his tail to help him walk, representing ingenuity, willpower, and creativity.[36]
Theme song
During the Sanremo Music Festival 2022 finals, the two final candidates for the official anthem of the event were presented, with a poll opening afterward. On 7 March 2022, "Fino all'alba" ("Until the dawn")—composed by the youth music group La Cittadina of the San Pietro Martire in Seveso, and performed during Sanremo by Arisa — was announced as the winner.[38]
In Italy, domestic pay-TV rights are owned by Warner Bros. Discovery,[40] with free-to-air coverage and digital rights owned by RAI under a sub-license agreement with the European Broadcasting Union.[41] On 16 January 2023, the IOC announced that it had renewed its European broadcast rights agreement with Warner Bros. Discovery Sports to last from 2026 through to 2032. The contract covers pay television and streaming rights to the Summer, Winter, and Youth Olympics on Eurosport and Discovery+ in 49 European territories.[40] Unlike the previous contract where corporate precursor Discovery, Inc. was responsible for sub-licensing them to broadcasters in each country,[42][43] free-to-air rights packages were concurrently awarded to the EBU and its members to cover at least 100 hours of each Winter Olympics.[40] EBU member RAI then signed a sub-licensing deal for Italian free-to-air TV and digital rights.[41]
In the United States, NBC will again broadcast the event as part of its US$7.75 billion contract[44] to air the Olympics through to 2032.[45]
^The participation of Russia is not yet confirmed and depends on whether the team is allowed to return to the IIHF Championship program. If Russia is banned, its spot in the men's hockey tournament will go to France, the top seeded non-qualifying nation, and in the women's hockey tournament the not-yet-confirmed top seeded non-qualifying nation will take its place.
^Belarus is uncertain whether it will participate in the aftermath of Russia's invasion of Ukraine, which began in 2022.
^"Competition Schedule V.5 (by session)"(PDF). www./milanocortina2026.olympics.com. Milano-Cortina Organising Committee for the 2026 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games. 13 March 2024. Retrieved 10 September 2024.
