With the world’s eyes turning to Italy, anticipation is reaching a fever pitch as Milan-Cortina prepares to host the 25th Winter Olympic Games in 2026. This marks Italy’s third time at the helm of the Winter Games, a testament to its enduring passion for snow and ice sports. The grandeur of the event is unmistakable—116 medal events, the highest ever, including the Olympic debut of ski mountaineering, promise to make these Games a spectacle for the ages.
Since the inaugural Winter Olympics in 1924, when a handful of athletes dazzled intimate Alpine crowds, the Games have grown into a global sports phenomenon, captivating billions across continents. Historic venues like Cortina d’Ampezzo, which first hosted in 1956, now join the bustling metropolis of Milan and other Italian regions in a geographically expansive celebration of athletic achievement. The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has made sustainability a core principle, spreading events across multiple cities to reduce the need for new infrastructure—a move that IOC president Kirsty Coventry, the first woman to hold the organization’s top post, calls “the new normal.”
But what sets Milan-Cortina 2026 apart isn’t just its scale or sustainability. It’s also shaping up to be the most gender-equal Winter Olympics in history. According to the IOC, about 1,300 female athletes—more than ever before—will compete, making up 53.4% of all medal events. Twelve of the sixteen disciplines will feature equal numbers of men and women, a milestone for gender balance in Olympic sport. The program includes new women’s events such as luge doubles and the ski jumping individual large hill, as well as a mixed skeleton relay. However, progress still has its limits: Nordic combined remains the only Winter Olympic sport not open to women, despite lobbying from leading athletes and advocates.
The return of NHL stars to Olympic ice hockey after a 12-year hiatus is another headline-grabber. NHL-contracted players were absent from the 2018 Games due to league decisions, and Covid-19 dashed hopes for their participation in 2022. Their comeback injects fresh excitement, especially for Team USA, which hasn’t clinched men’s ice hockey gold since the legendary ‘Miracle on Ice’ in 1980. With Russia barred from competing, the field is wide open. And it’s not just the USA and Canada who stand to benefit—all but one of the twelve Olympic teams will boast NHL talent, including defending champions Finland and perennial powerhouses Slovakia and Sweden. The anticipation is palpable: can the USA reclaim its former glory, or will another nation seize the spotlight?
Meanwhile, Great Britain is quietly plotting what could be its most successful Winter Olympics ever. Historically, Team GB has never bagged more than five medals or more than one gold at a single Winter Games. Yet optimism is running high. UK Sport has set a target range of four to eight medals, and Team GB chef de mission Eve Muirhead believes there’s “an opportunity to get the most we ever have.” The evidence is compelling: British athletes collected nine medals at the most recent World Championships in Winter Olympic sports, spanning bobsleigh, curling, figure skating, freestyle skiing, skeleton, and snowboarding. Exciting prospects like snowboarder Mia Brookes and freestyle skier Kirsty Muir have already topped World Cup podiums this season. Still, memories of the 2022 Olympics—where Team GB went medal-less until the final weekend—serve as a cautionary tale. The pressure is on, but the potential is undeniable.
Italy, the host nation, faces a different kind of expectation. The Italian Olympic Committee has set its sights on a minimum of 19 medals, just shy of its record haul of 20 in 1994. Hosting often brings a medal boost, but as Italy learned in 2006, it’s not guaranteed. That year, the team managed 11 medals in Turin, down from 13 in Salt Lake City four years earlier, though the gold count did increase. This time around, Italy’s hopes have been tempered by setbacks: flagbearer Federica Brignone and freestyle skier Flora Tabanelli are both battling injuries, while alpine star Marta Bassino has already been ruled out. Yet the roster remains stacked with talent. Speed skater Davide Ghiotto, snowboarder Maurizio Bormolini, and the curling duo Amos Mosaner and Stefania Constantini are all considered serious medal threats. And then there’s Arianna Fontana, Italy’s most decorated Winter Olympian. Having won her first Olympic medal as a 15-year-old in Turin, Fontana is aiming for a podium finish at a remarkable sixth consecutive Games. If anyone embodies Italian resilience and excellence, it’s her.
On the global stage, all eyes are on athletes poised to rewrite history. German lugers Tobias Wendl and Tobias Arlt, known as the ‘Two Tobis,’ are gunning for their seventh and eighth Olympic golds. If successful, they’ll join the legendary ranks of Norwegian biathlete Ole Einar Bjorndalen and cross-country skiers Bjorn Daehlie and Marit Bjorgen. Their dominance is striking: the Tobis have won 100% of the Olympic events they’ve entered—a feat unmatched by their Nordic counterparts, who competed in far more disciplines. Yet they could be surpassed by Norwegian cross-country sensation Johannes Hosflot Klaebo. Already a five-time Olympic champion, Klaebo swept six titles at last season’s World Championships. If he brings that form to Milan-Cortina, the all-time gold medal leaderboard could be in for a shake-up.
As the Olympics return to Cortina d’Ampezzo, the sense of history is inescapable. The town becomes just the fourth location to host the Winter Games twice, following in the footsteps of St Moritz, Innsbruck, and Lake Placid. The transformation from 1956 is staggering: where once a single ski resort could manage the entire event, the modern Olympics now require the resources of multiple cities and regions. Even the venues tell a story—Cortina’s Olympic Ice Stadium, which hosted the opening ceremony, ice hockey, and figure skating (outdoors!) in 1956, will be repurposed for curling in 2026, now under a roof but still brimming with Olympic spirit.
Of course, the Winter Olympics are about more than medals and records. They’re a showcase of human potential, where athletes push the limits of balance, speed, and endurance on snow and ice. From the breathtaking leaps of ski jumpers to the split-second decisions of bobsledders and the artistry of figure skaters, these Games have inspired generations of fans and athletes alike. As a historic photograph of Austrian ski jumper Reinhold Bachler training for the 1976 Innsbruck Games reminds us, “You had to see it to believe it!” That refrain echoes through the decades, capturing the wonder and excitement that only the Olympics can deliver.
With the 2026 Winter Olympics just around the corner, the stage is set for new legends to emerge, old records to fall, and the world to unite in celebration of sport. Whether it’s the thrill of NHL stars returning to the ice, the anticipation of groundbreaking gender equality, or the hope of home-nation glory, Milan-Cortina promises to deliver a Winter Games that will be talked about for generations to come.