Over the past few centuries, the Olympics have become a symbol of peak athleticism and a source of national pride. Every two years, the world’s best athletes come together to compete in the ultimate showdown, representing their country. Between figure skaters, hockey players, snowboarders and skiers, the Winter Olympics never fail to deliver excitement to households across the globe.
This year’s Winter Olympics will be the first games officially hosted by two cities: Milan and Cortina d’Ampezzo. More than 93 countries will be featured in Milan, bringing the total number of competing athletes close to 3,500. The 2026 Winter Olympics will feature a record 116 events across eight different sports. A new discipline will debut in Milan this year: ski mountaineering (skimo). Also, making an appearance for the first time at the Olympic Games are mixed-team skeleton and women’s doubles luge. Hosting one of the most famous sports events, Milan is expecting approximately two million visitors during the 17-day athletic spectacle. With this immense influx, Northern Italy is expected to bring in more than 5.3 billion euros (6.3 billion dollars) in tourism revenue.
Norway was at the top of the leaderboard at the previous Winter Olympics, held in Beijing, China, bringing home a whopping 37 total medals, 16 being gold. Consequently, they are heavily favored to win Milan’s Olympic Games, closely followed by Germany and Canada.
The Paralympic Winter Games will also be held in Milan and are set to begin the following month, on March 6th. They will feature 600 athletes competing for 79 medals across six sports. The 2026 Paralympics will mark the 50th anniversary of the very first Winter Paralympics in 1976 in Sweden. One new event will be featured: wheelchair curling mixed doubles.
The 2026 Winter Olympics are set to be the most gender-equal games in history. 12 of 16 disciplines in this year’s games will have equal participation between men and women, the most of any Olympics. Women will represent 47% of all athletes participating in the games, three percent more than in Beijing in 2022: 44%. Women will even race an equal distance to men in cross-country skiing for the first time.
Want to watch? The Winter Olympics will stream on Peacock and will also be live on NBC, USA Network and CNBC, among other channels. The games began on Feb. 5, and the closing ceremony will take place on Feb. 22. Tune in and support Team USA!
