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2026 Winter Olympics

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"2026 Olympics" and "Milan–Cortina d'Ampezzo 2026" redirect here. For the Winter Paralympics, see 2026 Winter Paralympics. For the Summer Youth Olympics in Dakar, Senegal, see 2026 Summer Youth Olympics.

XXV Olympic Winter Games
2026 Winter Olympics logo
The main logo; other colour variants are shown below
LocationMilan and Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy
MottoIT's Your Vibe[a]
Nations92 (including AIN)
Athletes2,871 (1,533 men, 1,338 women)
Events116 in 8 sports (16 disciplines)
Opening6 February 2026
Closing22 February 2026
Opened by
President Sergio Mattarella[2][3]
Closed by
IOC president Kirsty Coventry
Cauldron
Deborah Compagnoni and Alberto Tomba (Milan)[4]
Sofia Goggia (Cortina d'Ampezzo)[4]
Stadium
Winter
Summer
2026 Winter Paralympics

The 2026 Winter Olympics (Italian: Olimpiadi invernali del 2026), officially the XXV Winter Olympic Games and commonly known as Milano Cortina 2026, were an international multi-sport event that took place from 6 to 22 February 2026 at multiple sites across Lombardy and Northeast Italy, with competition in selected events beginning 4 February 2026. The 2026 Games featured the debut of ski mountaineering as a Winter Olympic event,[7] and they were the first Olympic Games under the International Olympic Committee (IOC) presidency of Kirsty Coventry.[8]

A joint bid by Milan and Cortina d'Ampezzo was awarded the 2026 Winter Olympics at the 134th IOC Session on 24 June 2019, beating another joint bid made by Stockholm and Åre, Sweden. Milano Cortina 2026 is the first Olympic Games to be officially co-hosted by two cities.[9] Milan primarily hosted the ice events, while the remaining events were hosted in clusters around Cortina, Livigno, and Fiemme. These marked the third Winter Olympics, and the fourth Olympics overall, hosted by Italy; Cortina d'Ampezzo previously hosted the 1956 Winter Olympics.[10]

Norway finished at the top of the medal table for the fourth successive Winter Olympics with 18 gold and 41 medals overall, setting a new record for the largest number of gold and total medals won at a single Winter Olympics. The United States finished second with 12 gold and 33 medals overall, making this the team's most successful Winter Olympics in terms of gold medals. The Netherlands finished in a tie for third with 10 gold and 20 medals overall, also making this the team's most successful Winter Olympics in terms of gold medals. The host nation Italy finished in a tie for third with 10 gold, but finished fourth due to having fewer silvers, and 30 medals overall, setting a new record for number of medals won. Brazil won the first medal and first gold medal in their Winter Olympic history; it is also the first tropical, Latin American and South American National Olympic Committee to win a medal at the Winter Olympics.[11][12][13] Georgia also won the first medal in their Winter Olympic history.[14] Despite early concerns and controversies relating to logistics, the Games were considered a success by the press and observers upon their conclusion.[15][16]

Bidding process

Main article: Bids for the 2026 Winter Olympics

Host city selection

Milan and Cortina d'Ampezzo were selected as the host cities on 24 June 2019 at the 134th IOC Session in Lausanne, Switzerland. The three Italian International Olympic Committee (IOC) members (Franco Carraro, Ivo Ferriani, and Giovanni Malagò) and two Swedish IOC members (Gunilla Lindberg and Stefan Holm) were ineligible to vote as stated in the Olympic Charter.[17][18][19]

2026 Winter Olympics bidding results[20]
City Nation Votes
Milan–Cortina d'Ampezzo  Italy 47
Stockholm–Åre  Sweden 34
One abstention[20]

Development and preparations

Venues

Main article: Venues of the 2026 Winter Olympics and Paralympics
class=notpageimage|
Locations of the venues in Lombardy and Northeast Italy. The host cities are in bold.
Stadio San Siro in Milan (top) and Verona Arena (bottom) are the venues of opening and closing ceremonies, respectively.

The Games primarily utilised existing venues across Lombardy and Northeast Italy, including those used by the 1956 Winter Olympics previously held in Cortina d'Ampezzo, and by the 2013 Winter Universiade hosted by the province of Trentino. Most ice events, aside from curling, were held in the Milan cluster, while sliding and snow events were held in clusters around Cortina, Valtellina, and the Fiemme Valley. A new 12,000-seat multi-use arena designed by David Chipperfield constructed in Milan's Santa Giulia district hosted ice hockey.[21][22] Stadio San Siro in Milan hosted the opening ceremony, and the historic Verona Arena in Verona hosted the closing ceremony.[23][24] Athletes stayed in several Olympic villages, depending on the location of their sport; Milan Olympic Village, Cortina d'Ampezzo Olympic Village, or in hotels.[25]

Milan cluster

Venue Events Capacity Status
Milano San Siro Olympic Stadium Opening ceremony 75,817 Existing
Milano Santa Giulia Ice Hockey Arena Ice hockey (preliminaries and finals) 12,000 New
Milano Rho Ice Hockey Arena Ice hockey (preliminaries) 6,000 Existing with temporary stands
Milano Speed Skating Stadium Speed skating 7,500
Milano Ice Skating Arena Figure skating 11,500 Existing
Short track speed skating
Santa Giulia Ice Hockey Arena

Cortina d'Ampezzo cluster

Venue Events Capacity Status
Tofane Alpine Skiing Centre Alpine skiing (women) 7,000 Existing
Anterselva Biathlon Arena Biathlon 19,000
Cortina Curling Olympic Stadium Curling 3,000
Cortina Sliding Centre Bobsleigh 5,500 New
Luge
Skeleton

Valtellina cluster

Venue Events Capacity Status
Stelvio Ski Centre Alpine skiing (men) 7,000 Existing
Ski mountaineering
Livigno Snow Park Snowboarding 2,000
Freestyle skiing 8,400
Livigno Aerials & Moguls Park 3,000
The half-pipe at Livigno Snow Park

Val di Fiemme cluster

Venue Events Capacity Status
Predazzo Ski Jumping Stadium Ski jumping 5,000 Existing
Nordic combined
Tesero Cross-Country Skiing Stadium Cross-country skiing 15,000
Nordic combined

Verona

Venue Events Capacity Status
Verona Olympic Arena Closing ceremony 15,000 Existing

Speed skating venue selection

During the bidding process, the bidding committee proposed that the speed skating events could be held at the existing Ice Rink Piné in Baselga di Piné. Despite the infrastructure being ready, it required a roof, which impact and cost studies indicated would be costly, potentially exceeding the budget. The committee deliberated over three choices: building an ice rink in the pavilions of Fiera Milano (with a possibility to be permanent or temporary), 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.[26]

The venue, which was constructed to host speed skating during the 2006 Winter Olympics and after the Games, has hosted events such as exhibitions, fairs, and conferences. The venue hosted the same sport in the 2007 Winter Universiade, but has remained iceless since. 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, as Turin was part of the initial stages of the project but later withdrew. One of the spokespersons to reject this proposal was Giuseppe Sala (the mayor of Milan) and officials from the host regions of Lombardy and Veneto.[27] Fiera Milano was confirmed as the speed skating venue in April 2023.[28][26]

Olympic torch

See also: 2026 Winter Olympics torch relay

The Olympic torch relay started on 26 November 2025 with the flame lighting in Olympia, Greece, and concluded on 6 February 2026 in Milan, Italy, coinciding with the opening ceremony at Stadio San Siro. Along with the 13 regional units and seven regions in Greece, the flame visited the 110 provinces of Italy, making 60 stops over 63 days across 12,000 kilometres (7,500 mi).[29] The Olympic torch was unveiled on 14 April 2025 in parallel events held in Milan and Osaka, Japan.[30] It was simultaneously revealed at the Triennale di Milano and at the Italian pavilion at Expo 2025 as a way of connecting the two sister cities, as Milan had previously hosted Expo 2015.[31][32][33] The Olympic torch is light blue whereas the corresponding Paralympic torch is bronze coloured.[30] Named "Essential"; developed by Eni and its subsidiary Versalis, designed by Studio Carlo Ratti Associati and produced in Italy by Cavagna Group, the torches are made primarily of an alloy of recycled aluminium and bronze. They run bio-LPG, a fuel made from renewable materials, produced at the Enilive [it] biorefinery in Gela, and have been designed to be refilled up to ten times in order to cut down on the number of torches produced.[34]

Following the lighting of the Olympic flame in Olympia, there was a low-key handover ceremony in Athens on 4 December 2025.[35] The flame then arrived in Rome to visit all 110 provinces of Italy, involving 10,001 torchbearers.[29][36] The torch was in Naples for Christmas, in Bari for New Year's Eve, and in Cortina d'Ampezzo on 26 January to commemorate the 70th anniversary of its hosting the 1956 Winter Olympics.[29] While the torch was in Piedmont, a tribute was planned for skier Matilde Lorenzi, who died while training in October 2024.[37] The torch relay visited every UNESCO World Heritage Site in Italy.[38] On 29 November 2024, Italian comedy trio Gli Autogol [it] were announced as official narrators for the torch relay.[39]

Medals

On 15 July 2025, the official medals of the Games were unveiled in Venice, designed as two halves that symbolise the culmination of an athlete and Para athlete's journey and of all those who have walked beside them along the way; it was created by the Istituto Poligrafico e Zecca dello Stato (IPZS).[40][41] The medals featured an essential design that places emotion and teamwork at its core. They had the traditional Olympic five-ring symbol on one side, with an inscription on the reverse that details the event and commemorates the venue.[42][43] The medals of several athletes broke after they received them.[44]

The Games

Opening ceremony

Main article: 2026 Winter Olympics opening ceremony
A scene from the opening ceremony; the unveiling of the Olympic rings
The Olympic cauldron in Milan

The opening ceremony was held on 6 February 2026 at Stadio San Siro in Milan, titled Armonia ("Harmony").[45] The ceremony was produced by Banijay Live (Balich Wonder Studio). Marco Balich, Creative Lead of the Opening Ceremony, explained that the word harmony derives from Ancient Greek: "It means 'bringing together' in musical terms, different elements."[46] The opening ceremony also featured special performances from American singer Mariah Carey,[47][48][49] as well as Italian artists Laura Pausini and Andrea Bocelli.[50] Two Olympic cauldrons were lit in both Milan and Cortina d'Ampezzo, a first in Games' history.[51]

Sports

The 2026 Winter Olympics featured 116 medal events in 16 disciplines, an increase of seven events and one discipline over Beijing 2022. New medal events included men's and women's dual moguls in freestyle skiing, the return of the men's and women's doubles in luge (replacing the open doubles event), men's and women's team combined events in alpine skiing, women's large hill individual in ski jumping, and a mixed relay team event in skeleton. The Games had the highest percentage of women's participation in Winter Olympic history until that point (Nordic combined remained the only Winter Olympic sport in which only men compete), at 47%.[52][53]

The alpine mixed team parallel event had been dropped. Alpine combined switched from an individual format to two-person teams; the event had seen diminishing participation due to evolving technical and training requirements and was dropped from the FIS Alpine Ski World Cup circuit in 2020.[54][55][56] Team ski jumping and Nordic combined also switched to two-person teams, with the latter adopting a large hill / 2×7.5 km (4.7 mi) course.[53] For the first time, women race the same distances as men in cross-country skiing.[53]

At the 138th IOC Session on 20 July 2021, the IOC approved a proposal by the Milano Cortina Organising Committee to add ski mountaineering as a debuting optional sport.[57] It consists of three medal events: men's sprint, women's sprint, and mixed relay.[58] In February 2024, the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) reached an agreement with the National Hockey League (NHL) for a break in the regular NHL season to allow the league's players to participate in the Olympics for the first time since 2014. The NHL was originally scheduled to compete in 2022 as well but opted out because of the COVID-19 pandemic.[59]

Numbers in parentheses indicate the number of medal events contested in each discipline.

Closing ceremony

Main article: 2026 Winter Olympics closing ceremony

The closing ceremony was held at the Verona Arena in Verona on 22 February 2026, entitled "Beauty in Action".[60] Along with the cultural segments, the ceremony featured the closing remarks and the formal handover to the French Alps as the host region of the 2030 Winter Olympics.[61] The first name confirmed to perform at the closing ceremony was the world-renowned ballet dancer Roberto Bolle, the principal dancer at La Scala Theatre Ballet. He and director Alfredo Accatino had previously worked together on the 2006 Winter Olympics opening ceremony.[62]

Participating National Olympic Committees

A total of 92 National Olympic Committees had qualified athletes. The Russian and Belarusian NOCs remained suspended for violating the Olympic Truce because of the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine. As with the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris, athletes from Russia and Belarus could compete at the 2026 Games as independent Olympians without national identification, under the banner of "Individual Neutral Athletes" (AIN).[63][64] The individual neutral athletes had to be approved by their sport's international federation, and then by an IOC panel.[65]

As individual athletes, AIN were not considered a delegation during the opening ceremony or in the medal tables.[66] They were also not allowed to compete in team events like ice hockey and curling.[63] International federations that were allowing Russian and Belarusian athletes to compete under the AIN banner included the International Skating Union (ISU) for the various skating events,[65] as well as the International Ski Mountaineering Federation (ISMF) for the ski mountaineering events.[67] In all, twenty athletes (thirteen from Russia and seven from Belarus) competed at the Games.[d][68] Benin, Guinea-Bissau and the United Arab Emirates all made their Winter Olympic debuts.[69]

Participating National Olympic Committees
NOCs that participated in 2026, but not in 2022 NOCs that participated in 2022, but not in 2026

Number of athletes by National Olympic Committee

Calendar

Main article: Chronological summary of the 2026 Winter Olympics

The first version of the 2026 Winter Olympics schedule was released in March 2024. Competitions started two days before the opening ceremony on 4 February with the mixed doubles event on curling, and end on 22 February 2026 with the men's ice hockey tournament final.[71] The second version of the schedule was released in December 2024.[72]

All times and dates use Central European Time (UTC+1).
OC Opening ceremony ● Event competitions X Event finals EG Exhibition gala CC Closing ceremony
February 2026 4th
Wed 		5th
Thu 		6th
Fri 		7th
Sat 		8th
Sun 		9th
Mon 		10th
Tue 		11th
Wed 		12th
Thu 		13th
Fri 		14th
Sat 		15th
Sun 		16th
Mon 		17th
Tue 		18th
Wed 		19th
Thu 		20th
Fri 		21st
Sat 		22nd
Sun 		Events
Ceremonies OC CC N/a
Alpine skiing 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 10
Biathlon 1 1 1 1 1 2 1 1 1 1 11
Bobsleigh ● 1 1 ● 1 1 4
Cross-country skiing 1 1 2 1 1 1 1 2 1 1 12
Curling ● ● ● ● ● ● 1 ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● 1 1 3
Figure skating ● ● 1 ● ● 1 1 ● 1 ● 1 EG 5
Freestyle skiing ● 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 ● 3 2 1 15
Ice hockey ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● 1 ● ● 1 2
Luge ● 1 ● 1 2 1 5
Nordic combined 1 1 1 3
Short-track speed skating 1 2 1 1 2 2 9
Skeleton ● 1 1 1 3
Ski jumping 1 1 1 1 1 1 6
Ski mountaineering 2 1 3
Snowboarding ● 1 2 1 ● 2 2 1 2 11
Speed skating 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 2 1 1 2 14
Daily medal events 0 0 0 5 8 5 9 8 9 7 8 9 6 6 9 6 7 9 5 116
Cumulative total 0 0 0 5 13 18 27 35 44 51 59 68 74 80 89 95 102 111 116
February 2026 4th
Wed 		5th
Thu 		6th
Fri 		7th
Sat 		8th
Sun 		9th
Mon 		10th
Tue 		11th
Wed 		12th
Thu 		13th
Fri 		14th
Sat 		15th
Sun 		16th
Mon 		17th
Tue 		18th
Wed 		19th
Thu 		20th
Fri 		21st
Sat 		22nd
Sun 		Total events


Medal table

For a more comprehensive list, see 2026 Winter Olympics medal table.

  *   Host nation (Italy)

2026 Winter Olympics medal table[A][74]
RankNOCGoldSilverBronzeTotal
1 Norway18121141
2 United States1212933
3 Netherlands107320
4 Italy*1061430
5 Germany810826
6 France89623
7 Sweden86418
8 Switzerland69823
9 Austria58518
10 Japan571224
11 Canada57921
12 China54615
13 South Korea34310
14 Australia3216
15 Great Britain3115
16–29Remaining7141536
Totals (29 entries)116118115349

Brazil and Georgia won their first Winter Olympic medals.[75][76][77][78]

Podium sweeps

Date Sport Event Team Gold Silver Bronze Ref
10 February Cross-country skiing Women's sprint  Sweden Linn Svahn Jonna Sundling Maja Dahlqvist [79]
17 February Bobsleigh Two-man  Germany Johannes Lochner
Georg Fleischhauer 		Francesco Friedrich
Alexander Schüller 		Adam Ammour
Alexander Schaller 		[80]
21 February Cross-country skiing Men's 50 kilometre classical  Norway Johannes Høsflot Klæbo Martin Løwstrøm Nyenget Emil Iversen [81]

Marketing

Main article: 2026 Winter Olympics marketing

Emblem

  • Energy logo
    Energy logo
  • Print logo (black)
    Print logo (black)
  • Print logo (white)
    Print logo (white)

For the first time, the emblem of the Olympic Games was determined via a public vote. During the finals of the Sanremo Music Festival 2021 on 6 March, 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.[82][83] On 30 March 2021, "Futura" was announced as the winning emblem.[84][85] The emblem consists of a stylised "26" written in a single stroke, representing the impact of "small gestures", and "sport, solidarity and sustainability".[86]

Slogan

"IT's Your Vibe"

The Games' official slogan, "IT's Your Vibe", was announced on 23 February 2025; it uses "IT" as both an abbreviation for Italy (i.e. "[Italy's] Your Vibe") and as the contraction "It's", with variants of the slogan used in other contexts to reflect upon the Games and its host country.[87][88]

Mascot

Main article: Tina and Milo
Tina and Milo

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,[89] were presented during the second night of the 2024 Sanremo Music Festival on 7 February.[90] Their names were revealed to be Tina and Milo (derived from the names of the host cities), and are portrayed as sister and brother.[91][92][93]

The choice of stoats was 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.[92][93] The two main mascots are additionally accompanied by six snowdrop flowers, called "The Flo".[94]

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, symbolises art, music, and the transformative force of beauty. Milo, the Paralympic mascot, was born without a leg but uses his tail to help him lead a normal life with some ingenuity, willpower, and creativity.[92]

Theme song

During the 2022 Sanremo Music Festival finals on 5 February, 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.[95]

Visual identity and iconic posters

The Milano Cortina 2026 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games developed two artistic poster programmes in collaboration with Triennale Milano.[96][97] These followed the Olympic art poster tradition that begun in 1972, which has included works by Robert Rauschenberg, Andy Warhol, and David Hockney.[98]

Art posters

on 18 June 2025, the Art Posters programme commissioned ten works from emerging Italian artists under 40, all selected from Triennale's 2023 exhibition Pittura Italiana Oggi (Italian Painting Today). Five posters were created for the Olympic Games and five for the Paralympic Games. The Olympic artists were Beatrice Alici, Martina Cassatella, Giorgia Garzilli, Maddalena Tesser, and Flaminia Veronesi; the Paralympic artists were Roberto de Pinto, Andrea Fontanari, Aronne Pleuteri, Clara Woods, and Giulia Mangoni.[99]

Iconic posters

Two official Iconic Posters were unveiled at Triennale Milano on 22 October 2025.[100] Olimpia Zagnoli's Olympic poster, Visione Olimpica (Olympic Vision), shows a figure wearing the Olympic rings as glasses against a backdrop of snowy mountains. It references both Milan's design culture and Cortina's alpine setting.[100][101] Carolina Altavilla's Paralympic poster depicted all six Paralympic winter sports against a background showing both the Dolomites and Milan's Duomo.[100][101] The posters were displayed in the exhibition Art and Iconic Posters at Triennale Milano alongside the official Olympic and Paralympic torches. The exhibition, curated by Damiano Gullì, runs until 15 March 2026.[96]

Broadcasting rights

Main article: List of 2026 Winter Olympics broadcasters

In Italy, domestic pay-TV rights are owned by Warner Bros. Discovery,[102] with free-to-air coverage and digital rights owned by Italy's public broadcaster RAI under a sublicense agreement with the European Broadcasting Union (EBU).[103] In January 2023, the IOC renewed its European broadcast rights agreement with Warner Bros. Discovery Sports to last from 2026 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.[102] Unlike the previous contract where corporate precursor Discovery, Inc. was responsible for sublicensing them to broadcasters in each country,[104][105] free-to-air rights packages were concurrently awarded to the EBU and its members to cover at least 100 hours of each Winter Olympics.[102] EBU member RAI then signed a sublicensing deal for Italian free-to-air TV and digital rights.[103]

Concerns and controversies

Main article: Concerns and controversies at the 2026 Winter Olympics

Corruption allegations and scandals

On 21 May 2024, the Guardia di Finanza raided the offices of Fondazione Milano Cortina 2026 (Milano Cortina 2026 Foundation), Quibyt and Deloitte for alleged irregularities over the selection of certain sponsors, such as bid-rigging, irregular payments and uncertain validity over relationships between the Milano Cortina Foundation officials.[106] The investigations mainly concern Deloitte and accusations of corruption and bid-rigging against three people.[107][108] In July 2025, the Prosecutor's Office of Milan started an investigation into alleged corruption regarding the public works tender for the Milan Olympic Village. 74 individuals were identified, with offences of corruption, forgery, or abuse of public offices.[109]

According to Italian media reports, the accused are alleged to have boasted of their friendship with Fabrizio Piscitelli, former leader of the Irriducibili (a Lazio football club ultras group with mafia links), who was murdered in a Rome park in 2019. The reputation of the Irriducibili as a violent association football group helped them present themselves as influential figures within Rome's criminal underworld.[110] The investigation, disclosed by the Venice prosecutor's office, details how two brothers from Rome, linked to the Irriducibili, were arrested after trying to illegally obtain contracts related to Olympic construction works.[111]

In November 2025, the Milan Court of the preliminary investigations judge (GIP) referred a question of constitutional legitimacy to the Constitutional Court of Italy concerning Article 11 of Decree-Law No. 76 of 11 June 2024 (converted into Law No. 111 of 8 August 2024) — a provision widely described in Italian media as the "Save the Olympics" decree — which states that the activities of the Fondazione Milano Cortina 2026 are not governed by public-law rules and that the foundation is not a "body governed by public law".[112][113] The Milan Court raised concerns about the constitutionality of a Meloni government decree intended to shield the Milano Cortina Foundation from investigations into alleged bid rigging and corruption scandals.[114][115]

Infrastructural and venue issues

Sliding sports venue

During the bidding process, the Meloni government proposed to restore the Eugenio Monti Olympic Track in Cortina (used during the 1956 Winter Olympics), to be relaunched as a federal centre also for sledding and skeleton, despite opposition from the IOC. The project received criticism from environmental groups because of the planned felling of 20,000 square metres (220,000 sq ft) of larch forest.[116][117] The minimum cost of restoring the closed track was initially estimated at €14 million, while the cost indicated in the official Milan-Cortina bid dossier was €100 million—similar to the cost of building the Cesana Pariol track for the sliding events at the 2006 Winter Olympics.[118] After initially forecasting an expenditure of €40‍–‍50 million, the Veneto region allocated funds of 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 for four months of the year, to be settled through the establishment of an €8 million fund.[119]

Due to the rising cost of construction materials, the Veneto region president Luca Zaia said in February 2023 that the cost of restoring the Eugenio Monti track could be upwards of €120 million.[120] Calling for tenders to award the work, no company came forward with a bid by the 31 July 2023 deadline;[121] even after that, no company interested in carrying out the work could be found, both for economic reasons and because of the difficulty of completing all works before the start of the Olympics.[122] Owing to critical issues, costs and the prohibitive timescale for a total renovation of the Cortina track, the mayor of Innsbruck, Austria, proposed the use of the Igls Olympic Sliding Centre in Innsbruck.[123]

On 16 October 2023 the Italian National Olympic Committee (CONI) announced that the track would not be rebuilt to host the 2026 Olympic Winter Games, and the sliding events could be held outside of Italy.[124][125] The Italian government wanted the sliding events to remain in Italy, so they studied the possibility of revamping the Cesana Pariol track, which has been dormant since 2011.[126] After that, several construction companies submitted bids to study a potential reconstruction of the Eugenio Monti track.[127] A bid was won to build a new sliding track (the Cortina Sliding Centre) instead of rebuilding the Eugenio Monti track, which was demolished.[128] Despite concerns that the new track might not be ready on time, it was confirmed in September 2024 that construction was on schedule and homologation of the track was expected within six months.[129] The venue's first tests were held in March 2025.[130][131]

In late 2025, international training periods were planned by the International Bobsleigh and Skeleton Federation (IBSF) and the International Luge Federation (FIL) to allow all internationally competing athletes to learn and train on the new track well ahead of the Olympic Games. Luge athletes began this training on 27 October 2025.[53] Bobsleigh and skeleton athletes had a planned training block from 7 to 16 November, immediately followed by the opening week of the Bobsleigh World Cup, where further training and official racing took place from 17 to 23 November.[132] The athletes returned to Cortina in the days leading up to the 2026 Games for a final training period prior to the start of the Olympic competition.[132]

Ice hockey venue delays

The construction of the main ice hockey venue, Milano Santa Giulia Ice Hockey Arena, faced notable delays and concerns over rink size, leading to criticism from the NHL.[133] IIHF president Luc Tardif announced in January 2026 that the stands would not be completed on time, leading to reduced capacity, but assured that the rink and player facilities would be ready.[134][135] At the end of January, organisers admitted that the venue was not going to be fully complete in time, despite the IOC's Games executive director, Christophe Dubi, saying it was "absolutely certain" it would be ready.[136]

Antholz/Anterselva naming dispute

Ahead of the Games, organisations in South Tyrol led by the Südtiroler Schützenbund, criticised that all signage around the Antholz/Anterselva biathlon venue was in Italian (and English) only, even though signage in bilingual South Tyrol must, by law, be in German and Italian, and also that the venue was referred to in promotional materials only by its Italian name. As a consequence, some signage was exchanged, and during the Games, the venue was mostly identified as Antholz/Anterselva in video graphics and official Olympics texts.[137][138]

Security concerns

Trial for the death of a security guard

During the night of 7–8 January 2026, security guard Pietro Zantonini was found dead of exposure near the arena construction site in Cortina.[139] The Belluno Public Prosecutor's Office has opened an investigation into the worker's working conditions by S.S. Security & Bodyguard.[140]

No-fly zones and Russian cyberattacks

In January 2026, U.S. and Italian security teams flagged the risk of "lone actor" drone attacks, similar to those seen in recent global conflicts. No-fly zones are strictly enforced over all venues. Researchers (such as Palo Alto Networks) have warned of state-sponsored "killware" and phishing campaigns targeting ticketing systems and athletes' personal data.[141] In February 2026, days before the opening ceremonies, Italian officials were reported to have foiled Russian cyberattacks aimed at disrupting the Games.[142]

Presence of ICE security officers

On 17 January 2026, the second Trump administration confirmed that the U.S. Department of State's Diplomatic Security Service (DSS) would deploy United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE)'s Homeland Security Investigations division "to vet and mitigate risks from transnational criminal organisations". ICE was similarly involved in past major sports events "as part of international partnerships related to human trafficking and drug trafficking".[143][144][145] On 24 January 2026, as reported by the Italian newspaper Il Fatto Quotidiano,[146] ICE agents were already permanently stationed at the U.S. Embassy in Rome.[147]

The news sparked protests from both Italian citizens and opposition parties to the right-wing-to-far-right coalition government led by Giorgia Meloni of Brothers of Italy (FdI),[143][148][149] accusing it of favouring the introduction of foreign military forces that use "brutal methods" against the population.[146] The event was also supported by the 2026 Minnesota general strike, which began following the killing of American citizens Renée Good and Alex Pretti by ICE agents, against the FdI's policy.[146] During the protests, Italian public broadcaster RAI aired a video of ICE agents threatening to break the window of the vehicle its crew were using to report in Minneapolis.[150][151][149]

Matteo Piantedosi, the Italian minister of the interior, regarding the alleged presence of the forces, did not confirm and minimised it,[152][153] stating: "We are not aware of this at the moment, but foreign delegations choose who to turn to in order to ensure their own security. I don't see what the problem is. Security coordination remains the responsibility of the national authorities."[154] The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) stated that "all security operations remain under Italian authority" and "ICE does not conduct immigration enforcement operations in foreign countries".[143] A petition campaign to prevent agents from entering Italian territory was launched on Change.org.[155] On the opening day of the Olympics, protests were held against the presence of ICE agents in Milan and against the Trump administration. Some spectators booed JD Vance during the opening ceremony.[156][157][158] U.S. Olympic officials announced they would change the name of their assigned hospitality space from "Ice House" to the "Winter House" to avoid a reference to the agency.[159]

Presence of Qatari security forces

Although Qatar has never sent athletes to any Winter Olympics, numerous Qatari police vehicles have been spotted in Milan. Officially, Qatari Lekhwiya, the elite security forces, and the Qatari police sent more than 100 officers (including about 20 women) to Italy to participate in security for the Olympics, along with more than 20 special vehicles (from Nissan Patrols to Stark Motor's mammoth Thunders) and 3 snowmobiles. Some Qatari security forces personnel also took part in a winter training course on snowy environments and skiing operations, conducted in collaboration with the Carabinieri in Selva di Val Gardena.[160] According to a source at the Italian interior ministry, the Qatari security force was involved "mainly in a training" capacity.[161] On 28 January, it was reported that a Qatari plane carrying 104 security personnel and heavy equipment slightly hit and damaged a lighting tower in Milan's Malpensa Airport while making a "wrong manoeuvre" during landing. Despite the incident, the welcome ceremony prepared for the passengers still took place. The Guardian reported that "any controversy over the Qatari involvement has so far been mute".[161]

Participation of controversial nations

Participation of Israeli athletes

Student protestors in Milan accused Olympic organisers of having double standards, arguing that if Russian athletes are barred due to their country's war crimes, then Israel should also not be allowed to parade their flag, due to the Gaza genocide and alleged Israeli apartheid in Gaza. The Palestinian NOC stated that Israel's actions in Gaza amounted to crimes of genocide and ethnic cleansing, and the IOC's decision shows there are "international institutions that insist on applying double standards and not adhering to the Olympic Charter, laws and regulations, or morals".[162] The Israeli team was booed during the opening ceremonies.[163] The IOC said that the situations are not comparable. Russia was barred following its 2022 invasion of Ukraine, which is a violation of the Olympic Truce and Ukraine's territorial integrity as a member National Olympic Committee.[164] An IOC spokesperson stated that their organisation "deeply believes that differences between nations must be resolved through dialogue, not violence", and it is beyond their "remit to react to any conflict or war situation between countries", which it regards as "the pure realm of politics".[165]

Participation of Iranian athletes

In January 2026, multiple Iranian athletes were among the thousands of civilians killed during the 2026 Iran massacres amid the 2025–2026 Iranian protests,[166][167][168] including former Tractor Sazi midfielder Mojtaba Tarshiz.[169] Following the massacres, activists called on FIFA and the IOC to ban the Iranian teams from the 2026 FIFA World Cup and the 2026 Winter Olympics.[170][171]

Participation of Russian and Belarusian athletes

Latvian Television, which is a part of the Public Broadcasting of Latvia, announced it would not cover the participation of athletes from Russia and Belarus (competing as Individual Neutral Athletes, or AIN), including their individual events. Instead, live broadcasts will feature advertisements, interviews with Latvian athletes, or other content.[172] Toms Circenis, the TV3 Group's director of sports programming, confirmed that channels would insert commercial breaks during Russian and Belarusian athletes' performances, describing this as an editorial decision coordinated with the Latvian Olympic Committee. This policy constitutes a boycott in response to the participation of neutral athletes from "aggressor countries".[173]

Athletes' expression

British-American freestyle skier Gus Kenworthy shared an Instagram post hours before arriving at the Olympics, where the words "fuck ICE" could be seen written in urine in the snow. Kenworthy was not censored or punished by the IOC for his post because it was posted outside the Olympic environment on his personal social media.[174] The Haitian Olympic team was forced to remove a depiction of Toussaint Louverture from their opening ceremony uniforms after the IOC determined that his presence on their clothing violated Olympic policies on political expression.[175]

Ukrainian skeleton racer Vladyslav Heraskevych was banned from wearing a helmet depicting Ukrainian athletes killed during the Russo-Ukrainian War, with the IOC stating that the helmet violated the Olympic Charter's guideline on demonstrations and "political, religious or racial propaganda". As a compromise, he was instead allowed to wear a black armband.[176] Heraskevych later changed his mind and proclaimed he would accept a disqualification rather than wear a black armband because a "medal is worthless in comparison to people's lives and, [he] believe[s], in comparison to the memory of these athletes".[177] With no resolution by the day of the competition on 12 February, a jury of the International Bobsleigh and Skeleton Federation ruled to disqualify him from the Games.[178] Ukrainian short track speed skater Oleh Handei was banned from using his helmet because it had a line of poetry from Lina Kostenko. Handei maintained the Kostenko quote, "Where there is heroism, there is no final defeat", had nothing to do with politics.[179] Freestyle skier Kateryna Kotsar also had to remove the phrase "Be brave like Ukrainians" from her helmet.[180]

Allegations of cheating and unsportsmanlike conduct

Some athletes were reported to have injected hyaluronic acid into the crotch area to improve performance in ski jumping. Earlier, two Olympic gold medalists and three staffers on the Norway men's team "were charged with ethics violations after equipment manipulation following an investigation" stemming from an incident where they were reportedly "caught on video adding stitching into the crotch area of their suits to make them bigger and thus, more aerodynamic during competition".[181][182]

Both the men's and women's Canadian curling teams were accused of delivery violations, specifically touching the stone after it reached the hog line, and touching the granite surface of the stone rather than just the handle.[183] The women's team had a stone removed during their round-robin loss to Switzerland for double-touching.[184]

See also

Notes

  1. ^ Only an English motto was used during the Games. There was no Italian equivalent of the motto adopted.[1]
  2. ^ Named "Milano San Siro Olympic Stadium" during the Games.[5]
  3. ^ Named "Verona Olympic Arena" during the Games.[6]
  4. ^ In alpine skiing, cross-country skiing, figure skating, freestyle skiing, luge, short-track speed skating, ski mountaineering and speed skating.
  5. ^ Individual Belarusian and Russian athletes compete as Individual Neutral Athletes due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine that began in 2022.
  6. ^ Belarusian athletes compete as Individual Neutral Athletes due to the Belarusian involvement in the Russian invasion of Ukraine that began in 2022.
  7. ^ Russian athletes compete as Individual Neutral Athletes due to the country's invasion of Ukraine that began in 2022.
  1. ^ a b Although the IOC does not include Individual Neutral Athletes in the official medal tables,[73] they are listed here for comparison and historical purposes.
  2. ^ Individual Neutral Athletes is the name used to represent approved individual Belarusian and Russian athletes at the 2026 Winter Olympics, after the IOC suspended the Russian Olympic Committee and Belarus Olympic Committee due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine. The IOC country code is AIN, after the French name Athlètes Individuels Neutres.[73]

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