As preparations for Milan-Cortina 2026 enter their final stretch, the Games are set to unfold in a global landscape vastly different from the unprecedented pandemic conditions of Beijing 2022.
Alpine skier Anastasia Papatoma and figure skater Vladimir Litvintsev will represent Azerbaijan at the Olympic Winter Games Milano Cortina 2026.
Two days ahead of the official opening of the Milan-Cortina 2026 Olympic Winter Games, the mixed doubles curling competition will start at the Cortina Curling Olympic Stadium on Wednesday.
The mixed doubles curling competition will start at the Cortina Curling Olympic Stadium on Wednesday, two days ahead of the official opening of the Milan-Cortina 2026 Olympic Winter Games.
Four games are scheduled on the opening day. Beijing 2022 runner-up Norway will play Britain, while Sweden, bronze medalist in Beijing, faces South Korea. Other two games pit Canada against the Czech Republic, and Estonia against Switzerland.
Milan-Cortina 2026 will mark a Winter Games jointly hosted by a global metropolis and an Alpine mountain town. Roughly 2,900 athletes from around the world are expected to compete for 116 gold medals, spread across Italy's cities, valleys and peaks.
The opening ceremony is scheduled for February 6 at Milan's iconic San Siro stadium. Legendary Italian tenor Andrea Bocelli will lend his voice to the spectacle, joining a lineage of global stars who have helped turn Olympic ceremonies into cultural touchstones.
The Games will conclude on February 22, with the closing ceremony to be staged at the Verona Arena. Built nearly 2,000 years ago, the amphitheater has long hosted operas, concerts and cultural festivals.
Milan-Cortina 2026 will be the most spread-out Winter Olympics ever, spanning two regions - Lombardy and Veneto - and the autonomous provinces of Trento and Bolzano. From Milan, Italy's cultural and financial center, to the alpine town of Cortina d'Ampezzo, the Games will be staged across a wide range of settings with deep sporting traditions.
Milan-Cortina 2026 will be the first Winter Olympics fully built on a multi-hub hosting model. Competition venues will be divided into four clusters: the urban hub of Milan, and the mountain venues of Cortina, Valtellina and Val di Fiemme.
