Everything You Need to Know About the Most Anticipated Event of 2026: The Milano-Cortina Olympic Games
After the 1956 edition, the Winter Olympics are set to return to Cortina: the countdown to Milano-Cortina 2026 has officially begun. The world’s most beautiful and widely attended sporting event returns to Italy after 20 years (the last time the Games were held in Italy was in Torino). The decision to unite two cities, Milan and Cortina, in two different regions will offer spectators the chance to choose from two exclusive locations to watch the events. In fact, the Games will also involve other cities besides the two that give the name to the edition, including Bormio and Livigno in Valtellina, Rasun-Anterselva in Bolzano, and Predazzo and Tesero in the Val di Fiemme, as well as Verona, Rho, and Assago.
Milan’s San Siro stadium will host the opening ceremony on February 6, 2026, while Verona’s Arena will host the closing ceremony on February 22 and the Paralympic opening ceremony on March 6. The historic Cortina d’Ampezzo Ice Stadium will be the venue for the closing ceremony of the Paralympic Games on March 15.
The Olympics in Italy
The 2026 edition will mark the third winter Olympic Games hosted in Italy, following Cortina in 1956 and Torino in 2006, and the fourth overall when considering the 1960 Summer Games in Rome. Cortina will also become the fourth city to host the Winter Games at least twice, after St. Moritz (which hosted the Winter Olympics in 1928 and 1948), Lake Placid (1932 and 1980), and Innsbruck (1964 and 1976).
Cortina was elected as the host city for the 2026 Olympics on June 24, 2019, in Lausanne, with an absolute majority of votes, defeating rival Stockholm-Åre by 47 votes to 34.
The Milano-Cortina 2026 Events
Milano-Cortina 2026 will feature 16 Olympic disciplines, including the debut of ski mountaineering, and 6 Paralympic disciplines. The events, some indoors and some outdoors, will take place in 13 different locations. Over 3,500 athletes from more than 90 countries will compete, and 195 medals will be awarded.
The Olympic disciplines will include: biathlon, bobsleigh, curling, nordic combined, ice hockey, figure skating, speed skating, ski jumping, freestyle skiing, alpine skiing, ski mountaineering, cross-country skiing, short track, skeleton, luge, and snowboarding. The Paralympic disciplines will be: Paralympic biathlon, wheelchair curling, para ice hockey, Paralympic alpine skiing, Paralympic cross-country skiing, and Paralympic snowboarding.
Milan will host figure skating, speed skating, short track, and ice hockey. Cortina d’Ampezzo will be the stage for women’s alpine skiing on the legendary Olympia delle Tofane, curling tournaments, bobsleigh, skeleton, and luge events. The Val di Fiemme will host cross-country skiing, ski jumping, and nordic combined. Anterselva will be the biathlon hub. Bormio will host men’s alpine skiing on the famous Stelvio slope and celebrate the Olympic debut of ski mountaineering. Livigno will host freestyle skiing and snowboarding events.
The Olympic Flame
As tradition dictates, the Olympic torch will be lit in Olympia on November 26, 2025, and will begin its journey covering 12,000 kilometers over 63 days, stopping in 60 cities and touching all 110 provinces of Italy. After its lighting, the torch will arrive in Italy in Rome on December 4, and two days later, its journey will begin. It will be in Naples for Christmas 2025 and celebrate the New Year in Bari. On January 26, the torch will return to Cortina d’Ampezzo exactly 70 years after the Opening Ceremony of the 1956 Games and will complete its journey in Milan, entering the San Siro stadium on the evening of Friday, February 6, 2026, marking the official start of the Olympics.
The Paralympic Flame will be lit on February 24 in Stoke Mandeville, England, the birthplace of Paralympic sport, and will participate in five Flame Festivals from February 24 to March 2 in Milan, Turin, Bolzano, Trento, and Trieste, with the merging of the Flames ceremony on March 3 in Cortina d’Ampezzo. On March 4, the flame will reach Venice and Padua, entering the Arena di Verona on March 6 for the opening ceremony of the Paralympic Games after covering 2,000 kilometers.
The Mascots
The mascots of the XXV Winter Olympic Games in Milan and Cortina are two ermine siblings named Tina (short for Cortina) and Milo (short for Milan). The mascots, designed by students from a school in Taverna, Calabria, were chosen from 1,600 proposals submitted by children and young people aged 6 to 14. Tina, the Olympic mascot, has a white coat, while her brother Milo, the Paralympic mascot, has a brown coat and was born without one of his legs but uses his tail to help him walk. The two mascots are accompanied by six snowdrop flowers, called "The Flo."
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