The countdown to the 2026 Winter Olympics is officially on, and anticipation is reaching fever pitch as the world’s top athletes prepare to descend on Milan and Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy. From February 6 to February 22, these two cities will jointly host the Games for the first time in Winter Olympic history, welcoming around 2,800 competitors across 116 events. With a blend of seasoned champions, rising stars, and debut events, Milano Cortina 2026 is shaping up to be a spectacle packed with drama, speed, and heart-stopping moments.
Among the most talked-about competitions is skeleton, which never fails to thrill. The Cortina Sliding Centre will be the stage for one of the most daring sports on ice, as athletes hurl themselves headfirst down the track at speeds reaching up to 140 kilometers per hour. The skeleton events will run from February 9 to February 15, culminating in the much-anticipated debut of the mixed team event on the final day.
Germany’s stranglehold on skeleton was emphatically demonstrated at Beijing 2022, where Christopher Grotheer and Hannah Neise clinched gold in the men’s and women’s events, marking the first sweep since Salt Lake City 2002. Both Grotheer and Neise are back to defend their crowns, but the competition at Milano Cortina promises to be fiercer than ever. Grotheer, despite his Olympic pedigree, finished the 2025/26 World Cup season ranked ninth, trailing nearly 500 points behind Great Britain’s Matt Weston, who has been nothing short of dominant this year. Weston, the World Cup crystal globe winner, has not finished lower than second in any World Cup event this season and captured victory at the all-important test event on the very track where Olympic glory will be decided.
Weston’s closest challenger may well be his compatriot and close friend, Marcus Wyatt, who secured silver at the 2025 IBSF World Championships. Austria’s Samuel Maier and China’s Zheng Yin, both test event medallists, are also in the hunt, ready to seize any opportunity if the favorites falter. On the women’s side, Hannah Neise’s quest for back-to-back golds is complicated by the emergence of formidable rivals. Neise finished second at the test event, edged out by her German teammate Jacqueline Pfeifer, who has her sights firmly set on the top step of the podium. But all eyes are on Belgium’s Kim Meylemans, who not only claimed three World Cup victories this season but also took home the crystal globe. Meylemans, who finished third at the test event, is determined to become Belgium’s first gold medallist in skeleton, and she’ll have extra motivation competing alongside her wife, Brazil’s Nicole Silveira.
The skeleton schedule is packed, with official training runs for both men and women kicking off on February 9 and running through February 11. The men’s competition heats begin on February 12, followed by the women’s on February 13, with finals for both wrapping up by February 14. Then, on February 15, history will be made as the mixed team event debuts. Here, reigning world champions Team USA will face off against the likes of Germany and Great Britain in a battle of nerves, speed, and razor-sharp precision.
But skeleton is just one piece of the Olympic puzzle. Australia, long considered an underdog in winter sports, is sending its second-largest team ever—53 athletes strong—and expectations are sky-high for a record medal haul. The Australians are coming off their best-ever Winter Olympics in Beijing 2022, where they bagged four medals, and the momentum has only built since then. Five of their six medallists from the past two Games are back, including defending moguls champion Jakara Anthony. Anthony, now 27, has overcome a broken collarbone from late 2024 and stormed back into form, capturing her 26th World Cup moguls title in January 2026 and securing a No. 1 world ranking. She’s not just aiming for another gold—she’s out to become the first Australian to win successive winter gold medals, doubling her chances with the addition of dual moguls to the Olympic program.
Australia’s roster boasts a blend of seasoned veterans and youthful prodigies. Sixteen-year-old Indra Brown has burst onto the freestyle skiing scene, collecting medals in her first three World Cup halfpipe events and earning a superpipe silver at the X-Games. Tess Coady, who won bronze in snowboard slopestyle at Beijing 2022 while nursing a fractured ankle, is back to compete in both slopestyle and big air, having previously been a world champion in each. Matt Graham, a silver medallist in Pyeongchang, is returning for his fourth Olympics with a No. 2 world ranking and a hunger for redemption after injury dashed his 2022 hopes.
On the snowboarding front, Valentino Guseli, now 20, has rebounded from an ACL injury to capture World Cup halfpipe gold and a series of podium finishes, setting up a showdown with five-time Olympian Scotty James. James, who has already claimed Olympic silver and bronze, is chasing the elusive gold to complete his collection. He’s coming in hot, having made history with a switch backside 1440 at the X-Games and winning the most recent World Cup event in Laax. Adam Lambert, ranked No. 1 in snowboard cross after a breakthrough World Cup victory, and aerials veterans Laura Peel and Danielle Scott, both seeking their first Olympic medals after stellar World Cup seasons, round out a formidable Australian contingent.
In bobsleigh, Bree Walker stands as one of Australia’s brightest gold medal prospects. After winning five medals, including three golds, in the latest World Cup monobob season, Walker is primed to improve on her fifth-place finish from Beijing 2022. She’ll also contest the two-woman event alongside Desi Johnson, facing stiff competition from American Olympic champion Kaillie Humphries and Germany’s Laura Nolte.
Viewers worldwide will have no shortage of options to catch the action live. Major broadcasters include NBC Olympics and Peacock in the United States, BBC Sport and Discovery+ in the UK, CBC in Canada, and Eurosport across Europe. Fans can also stream events via the Olympic Channel on Olympics.com, depending on their region. With so many storylines, rivalries, and potential history-making performances, the 2026 Winter Olympics promise to be a can’t-miss global event.
As Milan and Cortina d’Ampezzo put the finishing touches on preparations, the world’s winter sports community waits with bated breath. Will Germany continue its skeleton dominance? Can Australia shatter its medal record? Will new stars rise on the snow and ice of Italy? The answers will unfold over two thrilling weeks as the Olympic flame burns bright in the heart of Europe.