Patrick Thorne, Author at InTheSnow

After two decades of competitions in North America, Asia and Russia, the Winter Olympics and Paralympics are returning to Western Europe for the first time in 20 years. What’s more, the Games are coming back to the same country that hosted the last European Winter Olympics in 2006. That time it was Torino and ski resorts in the Milky Way on the French border; this time it's Milano–Cortina with venues, reportedly spread over a wider area than any previous Olympics, located further East, including in the Dolomites. More than 3,500 athletes from 93 countries will be competing for 195 medals in 16 Olympic disciplines. The 2026 Games are officially the XXV Milano Cortina (25th) Olympic Winter Games and will be the first of a second century of the Olympics after Chamonix celebrated the centenary of holding the first ever winter games in 2024. Winter Olympics 2026: Everything You Need to Know About Milano Cortina When Are The Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics and Paralympics Taking Place? The 2026 Winter Olympics will take place from 6 to 22 February 2026 The 2026 Winter Paralympics will take place from 6 to 15 March 2026 What’s Happening Where At The Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics and Paralympics? Cortina d’Ampezzo – known as the Queen of the Dolomites – will host the women’s downhill ski races. This marks a return of the games to Cortina, which previously hosted the seventh-ever Winter Olympiad 70 years ago in 1956. It also means the village will have hosted two of Italy’s three Winter Olympics. Besides skiing the resort’s bobsleigh track will be back in action and curling will also be staged here. The Olympic track had fallen into disrepair and James Bond drove a car down it in the 1981 film For Your Eyes Only. It's now being resorted with Lake Placid in New York state reported to be the back up if the restoration is not completed in time. Bormio – the classic ski town with its legendary Stelvio race courses will stage the Men’s Alpine ski races including the blue ribbon downhill. Livigno with its high-altitude slopes will host Freestyle Skiing & Snowboarding competitions. Val di Fiemme will be the host of cross-country Skiing competitions. Anterselva (Antholz) will stage Biathlon races. Milan will host ice skating competitions. Olympic Flag How Many Competitions Will There Be At The Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics and Paralympics? The 2026 Winter Olympics will feature 116 medal events across 16 disciplines. This is an increase of seven events compared to the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing. The 2026 Paralympic Winter Games will feature 79 events in 6 Winter Paralympic sports. When and Where Will The Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics and Paralympics Opening and Closing Ceremonies Be Held? The 2026 Winter Olympics Opening Ceremony will be held on February 6, 2026, at the San Siro Stadium in Milan. The Closing Ceremony will take place on February 22, 2026, at the Arena di Verona. The 2026 Paralympic Winter Games opening ceremony is scheduled for March 6th in Verona, and the closing ceremony will be held on March 15th in Cortina d'Ampezzo. What’s on When At The Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics and Paralympics? The full competition schedule is here for the Winter Olympics The FIS also has a listing of Alpine skiing events here. A detailed full competition schedule is here for the Winter Paralympics. BIG EVENTS The first full day of Olympic competition, Saturday, February 7, sees one of the biggest events for ski racing fans, the Men's Downhill on Bormio's infamous Stelvio Slope. The Men's Snowboard Big Air will be staged in Livigno. The Women’s Downhill will be the next day, Sunday, February 8 which will also see the Men's parallel giant slalom final and the Women's parallel giant slalom final later in the day. Monday 9 February 2026 will include the Men's team combined, the Women's freeski slopestyle final and the Women's snowboard big air final. On Tuesday 10th February it’s the Women's team combined and the Men's freeski slopestyle final. Wednesday 11th February is the day of the Men's super-G and the Women's moguls. Thursday 12th brings four finals: Women's super-G, Men's moguls final, Men's snowboard cross finals and the Women's snowboard halfpipe final. Friday, February 13, 2026, sees the Women's Snowboard Cross Finals and Men's Snowboard Halfpipe Final in Livigno. Valentine’s Day, Saturday 14 February sees the Men's giant slalom and the Women's dual moguls final. Sunday, February 15, 2026 competitions include the Women’s giant slalom and men’s dual moguls. There’s also the exciting mixed team snowboard cross finals. Monday 16 February 2026 should see Dave Ryding’s final Olympic performance in the slalom, then in the evening the Women's freeski big air final. Tuesday 17th brings the Men's freeski big air final and the Women's snowboard slopestyle final. Wednesday, February 18, 2026, will see the women's slalom at Cortina d'Ampezzo and it’s the Men's snowboard slopestyle final. Thursday, February 19, 2026, will see the ski mountaineering sprint events will take place in Bormio. In freestyle skiing, it's the Men's aerials final. Friday 20 February 2026 will see the Women's ski cross finals and the Men's freeski halfpipe final. Saturday, February 21, 2026, will be a busy start to the final weekend of the Games with 10 gold medals awarded and the final downhill ski and board events including the Mixed team aerials final; Men's ski cross finals and the Women's freeski halfpipe final. There’s also the Ski mountaineering Mixed relay finals. What are the New Events For The Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics and Paralympics? Ski Mountaineering is debuting for 2026 with Men’s Sprint, Women’s Sprint and Mixed Relay events. Who Are The Ski Stars To Look Out For At The Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics? The Olympics usually generate a mix of surprise winners from outsiders and gold medals for the best in the sport. On the men's speed racing side, the Swiss have been dominant in recent years with Marco Odermatt (above), until recently seen as the 'young pretender' now firmly established as one of the greatest downhill racers of all times and himself challenged in particular by younger teammate Franjo Von Allmen. There are hopes that Norway’s Aleksander Aamodt Kilde will be back competing two years after injury at Wengen's Lauberhorn led to a long spell of recovery. Home favourite is Dominik Paris who has won more times on the Stelvio course in World Cup Races than anyone else. In fact his six wins there is a record for any skier at any one resort. Italy will also have high hopes for its Women’s speed team who have dominated the World Cup tour in recent years. Their top stars include Federica Brignone if she recovers from a current injury in time and Sofia Goggia. America’s Mikaela Shiffrin (pictured above and top), the greatest skier of all time is top hope in the slalom, she took her 100th World Cup victory, the first person ever to reach triple digits for wins, in Italy last winter. It's currently unclear if her long-time friend and rival, Slovakia's Petra Vlhova, will be back on the slopes two years after injury. Lindsey Vonn Back from retirement and hoping to win medals will be America’s living legend Lindsey Vonn; Austria’s Marcel Hirscher, the only man to have won the World Cup overall title eight times and racing for The Netherlands, both now in their early 40s, and young slalom skier, Lucas Pinheiro Braathen, representing Brazil. In freestyle, America's Chloe Kim is aiming to become the first snowboarder to win three consecutive Olympic golds in halfpipe and China's Eileen Gu, twice Olympic champion, will be one to watch in the freestyle skiing competition. Stars who say the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics will be their last include: Switzerland’s Lara Gut-Behrami won Super-G gold at the last Winter Olympics in Beijing. Britain’s most successful ever ski-racer Dave Ryding. Team GB Besides Dave, Billy Major and Laurie Taylor have been performing ever-better on the World Cup tour. Young snowboarder Mia Brookes won Crystal Globes last season (below) and freestyle skier Kirsty Muir (above) is also a serious contender. Charlotte Bankes is a snowboard cross champion. Winter Olympics 2026 How To Watch The Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics and Paralympics You can still get tickets for most events if you want to be there in person. Tickets are being allocated on a first-come, first-served basis. Olympic broadcast rights holders for the UK are the European Broadcast Union and Warner Bros Discovery. The most comprehensive coverage is through Discovery+ and TNT Sports who unfortunately more than quadrupled their monthly prices to watch skiing earlier this year if you subscribe directly with them. Better sign-up deals and packages via other providers may be available. Otherwise, some events will be live on the BBC and the European Broadcast Union may also stream some competitions free online. Useful Links To Official Sites For The Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics and Paralympics Official site: milanocortina2026.olympics.com/en Olympics Site: olympics.com/ InTheSnow Resort Guide

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