One year until Milan-Cortina: What to know ahead of 2026 Winter Olympics

Thursday officially marked one year until the opening ceremonies of the 2026 Winter Olympics, hosted for the first time by two cities: Milan and Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy.

Preparations for the Games are already well underway, 19 years after the country last hosted an Olympics (Torino 2006).

Here are four interesting stories you’ll want to pay attention to when the latest Olympiad comes to a head next February.

These will be the biggest games on record (literally)

The competition will be spread out over 10,000 square miles of northeastern Italy, the largest reach in modern Olympic history.

The organizing committee is using mostly existing venues like the San Siro stadium in downtown Milan to the Dolomites mountain range.

Team USA comeback stories galore

Legendary women’s ski champion Lindsey Vonn will be making her Olympic return after originally retiring in 2019. She’ll be 41 years old and has already said Milan-Cortina will be the final races of her career.

“I have a second chance,” Vonn told ESPN in January. “This isn’t me trying to prove anything or break records. I’m doing this for myself and because I know what I’m capable of.”

American bobsledder Lolo Jones will also be returning to Winter Olympic competition, 12 years after she competed at her first Games. In preparation for this opportunity, Jones trained for and qualified for the 2024 Paris Summer Olympics as a Track and Field athlete.

Snowboarder Chloe Kim and alpine skier Mikaela Shiffrin will also be looking to add to their legacies, gunning for even more gold medals to add to their already-bulging trophy cabinets.

Men’s and women’s hockey will be at its peak

The NHL will allow its players to participate in an Olympic Games for the first time since 2014 in Sochi, Russia. The world’s best will finally go head-to-head on arguably the biggest stage in the sport. However, it appears Team Russia will miss out yet again due to bans from the IIHF and IOC over the country’s continued invasion of Ukraine.

Team USA and Team Canada will be the heavy favorites on the women’s side to meet in a rematch of the 2022 gold-medal match in Beijing, China. Hockey lovers will have a lot to look forward to in Milan-Cortina.

A new Olympic sport will debut

Ski mountaineering, also known as SkiMo, will make its grand entrance at the 2026 Games. It’s a combination of uphill climbing (with special ski equipment) and downhill skiing through a man-made course. Typical races can be hours long, but the events in Milan-Cortina will be between three to five minutes.

Team Italy is considered the heavy favorite entering the Games, but don’t be surprised if Team USA puts on a strong showing. In the 15 years since the sport’s inception, Americans have consistently been near the top of the competition.