The 2026 Winter Olympics, officially named Milano Cortina 2026, will be held in Italy from Feb. 6-22, co-hosted by Cortina d’Ampezzo and Milan across venues all over Northeast Italy and Lombardy.
The idea of staging events across many different stages is to create a more sustainable Olympic movement.
The Olympic ski committee has worked hard and added some new events for this year. These include Ski Mountaineering (Skimo), dual moguls, women’s doubles luge, mixed team skeleton and women’s large hill ski jumping. More than 2,900 athletes from over 90 nations will compete.
Powerhouse nations include Norway, Germany, Canada and the United States. The United States boasts over 330 total medals, including over 100 gold, and athletes are hoping to bring more hardware home in 2026. Predicted to get second place in medal count this year, only behind Norway, America will be seeking to get first place.
The Wolf sat down with ski team members freshman Colton Vest and junior Jackson Harris to discuss their thoughts on the Winter Olympics.
“I think the winter Olympics are fun to watch because it only happens every four years. I like how you can see more niche sports like skiing and bobsled,” Vest stated.
The Winter Olympics have gained mass popularity and increased attention over the past few years, driven by the growing popularity of winter sports like skiing and snowboarding. It also brings attention to lesser-watched sports, like curling and skeleton.
Harris stated, “I really like the Winter Olympics because they are really fun to watch, especially since I’m doing ski team this year. It makes me enjoy them more.”
The 2026 Winter Paralympics will also be taking place at the same venues from Mar. 6-15, featuring 79 events in six different sports. With over 660 athletes competing, new events such as sled hockey, para alpine skiing, para nordic skiing, para snowboarding and wheelchair skiing have been introduced. This will be the third edition of the Paralympic Games held in Italy.
