2026 Winter Olympics facts for kids

Quick facts for kids
XXV Olympic Winter Games

Emblem of the 2026 Winter Olympics
Host city	Milan and Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy
Motto	IT’s Your Vibe
Events	116 in 8 sports (16 disciplines)
Opening	6 February 2026 (in 6 months)
Closing	22 February 2026 (in 7 months)
Opened by	President Sergio Mattarella (expected)
Stadium	San Siro (opening ceremony) Verona Arena (closing ceremony)
Winter
← Beijing 2022 French Alps 2030 →
Summer
← Paris 2024 Los Angeles 2028 →

The 2026 Winter Olympics, also known as Milano Cortina 2026, is a big international sports event. It will happen from February 6 to February 22, 2026. The games will take place in different locations across Lombardy and Northeast Italy.

The cities of Milan and Cortina d'Ampezzo in Italy won the chance to host these games. They were chosen on June 24, 2019. This is the first time the Olympic Games will be officially hosted by more than one city. Milan will mainly host ice sports. Other events will be held in areas around Cortina, and in the Valtellina and Fiemme valleys.

Italy has hosted the Winter Olympics twice before. Cortina d'Ampezzo also hosted the games in 1956. A new sport, ski mountaineering, will be part of the Winter Olympics for the first time. These games will also be the first Olympics led by the new IOC President, Kirsty Coventry.

Choosing the Host City

The decision on where to hold the 2026 Winter Olympics was made on June 24, 2019. This happened at the 134th IOC Session in Lausanne, Switzerland. Milan and Cortina d'Ampezzo won the bid. They competed against a bid from Stockholm and Åre in Sweden.

2026 Winter Olympics bidding results

City	Nation	Votes
Milan–Cortina d'Ampezzo	Italy	47
Stockholm–Åre	Sweden	34
One abstention

Preparing for the Games

Speed Skating Venue

When Milan and Cortina d'Ampezzo first bid to host the games, they planned to use the Ice Rink Piné for speed skating. However, putting a roof on this rink would have been too expensive.

So, the organizers looked at other options. They considered building a new rink at Fiera Milano or using the Oval Lingotto in Turin. The Oval Lingotto was used for speed skating in the 2006 Winter Olympics. Milan officials, like Mayor Giuseppe Sala, did not want to use the Turin venue. They wanted the events to stay closer to Milan.

On April 19, 2023, it was decided that speed skating would take place at Fiera Milano. A temporary ice rink will be built there.

Sliding Sports Venue Concerns

The plan was to fix up the Eugenio Monti olympic track in Cortina for bobsleigh, luge, and skeleton. This track was used in the 1956 Winter Olympics. The cost to fix it kept going up, reaching an estimated €120 million.

By July 2023, no company wanted to take on the repair work. This was because of the high costs and the short time to finish before the Olympics. There was even a suggestion to use a track in Innsbruck, Austria.

However, the Italian government wanted the events to stay in Italy. They looked into using the Cesana Pariol track, which was used in the 2006 Winter Olympics. This track had been closed since 2011.

Eventually, it was decided to build a new sliding track instead of fixing the old Eugenio Monti track. The old track was taken down. In September 2024, officials confirmed the new track was on schedule. Tests for the track were held in March 2025. If the new track had not been ready, the Mt. Van Hoevenberg Olympic Bobsled Run in Lake Placid, USA, was a backup option.

Olympic Torch Relay

The Olympic torch relay is set to begin on November 26, 2025. The flame will be lit in Olympia, Greece. It will then travel across Italy, visiting all 110 provinces of Italy. The relay will end on February 6, 2026, in Milan, for the opening ceremony. The torch will travel about 12,000 kilometers (7,500 miles) over 63 days.

The Olympic torch was shown to the public in Milan, Italy, and Osaka, Japan, at the same time. This was to connect the two cities, as Milan hosted Expo 2015. The Olympic torch is light blue, and the Paralympic torch is bronze. The torches are made from recycled aluminum and bronze. They use a special fuel made from renewable materials. They can also be refilled many times to reduce waste.

Olympic Locations

San Siro Stadium in Milan and Verona Arena will be venues of opening and closing ceremonies, respectively.

Most of the places where the games will be held are already built. Some were used for the 1956 Winter Olympics in Cortina d'Ampezzo. Others were used for the 2013 Winter Universiade in Trentino.

Most ice events will be in Milan. Sliding and snow events will be in areas around Cortina, Valtellina, and the Fiemme Valley. A new 16,000-seat arena is being built in Milan for ice hockey. The San Siro stadium will host the opening ceremony. The historic Verona Arena will host the closing ceremony.

Milan Venues

Cortina d'Ampezzo Venues

Valtellina Venues

Val di Fiemme Venues

Verona Venue

Sports and Events

The 2026 Winter Olympics will have 116 medal events. These events are spread across 16 different sports. This is seven more events than the Beijing 2022 games.

New events include men's and women's dual moguls in freestyle skiing. There will also be men's and women's doubles in luge. Other new events are men's and women's team alpine combined, and women's large hill individual in ski jumping. A mixed relay team event will be added for skeleton.

The 2026 games will have the highest number of women athletes in Winter Olympic history, at 47%. The alpine mixed team parallel event has been removed. Alpine combined will now be a two-person team event. For the first time, women will race the same distances as men in cross-country skiing.

Ski mountaineering will make its debut as an Olympic sport. It will have three medal events: men's sprint, women's sprint, and mixed relay. In February 2024, the IIHF and National Hockey League (NHL) agreed. This means NHL players can play in the Olympic men's hockey tournament for the first time since 2014.

The numbers in parentheses show how many medal events are in each sport.

Participating Countries

Teams from 85 different countries have qualified athletes for the games. The Olympic teams from Russia and Belarus are still suspended. This is because of the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine.

However, individual athletes from Russia and Belarus can compete. They will be called "Individual Neutral Athletes" (AIN). They will not represent their countries. These athletes must be approved by their sport's international group and the IOC. They will not be part of a country's team during the opening ceremony or in the medal counts.

Some sports, like skating and ski mountaineering, allow these neutral athletes. But Russian and Belarusian athletes cannot compete in team sports like ice hockey. This is because a group of neutral athletes cannot be considered a team.

Guinea-Bissau and the United Arab Emirates are expected to compete in the Winter Olympics for the first time.

Number of Athletes by Country

Ranking	NOC	Athletes
1	Italy	135
2	Canada	92
3	United States	91
4	Switzerland	90
5	Sweden	89
6	Germany	88
7	France	86
8	Czech Republic	80
8	Finland	80
10	Latvia	43
11	Japan	39
12	Norway	35
12	Slovakia	35
14	Denmark	33
15	Great Britain	25
16	Austria	21
16	Estonia	21
16	Poland	21
19	Slovenia	18
20	Ukraine	17
21	China	15
21	Lithuania	15
21	South Korea	15
24	Bulgaria	14
25	Australia	13
26	Belgium	12
26	Spain	12
28	Kazakhstan	11
29	Romania	10
30	Hungary	8
31	Georgia	7
32	Andorra	6
32	Argentina	6
34	Brazil	5
34	Croatia	5
34	Greece	5
37	Armenia	4
37	Iceland	4
37	Iran	4
37	Ireland	4
37	Liechtenstein	4
37	Mexico	4
37	Netherlands	4
37	Serbia	4
37	Chinese Taipei	4
37	Turkey	4
47	Bosnia and Herzegovina	3
47	Chile	3
47	Israel	3
47	North Macedonia	3
47	Portugal	3
47	Uzbekistan	3
53	Albania	2
53	Cyprus	2
53	Haiti	2
53	India	2
53	Kosovo	2
53	Kyrgyzstan	2
53	Luxembourg	2
53	Madagascar	2
53	Mongolia	2
53	Montenegro	2
53	New Zealand	2
53	Saudi Arabia	2
53	South Africa	2
53	Thailand	2
53	Trinidad and Tobago	2
68	Azerbaijan	1
68	Bolivia	1
68	Colombia	1
68	Eritrea	1
68	Guinea-Bissau	1
68	Hong Kong	1
68	Individual Neutral Athletes	1
68	Kenya	1
68	Lebanon	1
68	Malaysia	1
68	Malta	1
68	Monaco	1
68	Morocco	1
68	Nigeria	1
68	Philippines	1
68	Singapore	1
68	Togo	1
68	United Arab Emirates	1
Total		1,405

Event Schedule

The first version of the schedule was shared in March 2024. Competitions will start on February 4, 2026, two days before the opening ceremony. The first event will be mixed doubles curling. The games will end on February 22, 2026, with the men's ice hockey final.

OC

Opening ceremony

●

Event competitions

1

Event finals

CC

Closing ceremony

February 2026		4th Wed	5th Thu	6th Fri	7th Sat	8th Sun	9th Mon	10th Tue	11th Wed	12th Thu	13th Fri	14th Sat	15th Sun	16th Mon	17th Tue	18th Wed	19th Thu	20th Fri	21st Sat	22nd Sun	Events
Ceremonies				OC																CC	N/A
Alpine skiing					1	1	1	1	1	1		1	1	1		1					10
Biathlon						1		1	1		1	1	2		1	1		1	1		11
Bobsleigh													●	1	1			●	1	1	4
Cross-country skiing					1	1		2		1	1	1	1			2			1	1	12
Curling		●	●	●	●	●	●	1	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	1	1	3
Figure skating				●	●	1	●	●	1		1		●	1	●		1				5
Freestyle skiing					●		1	1	1	1		1	1	1	1	1	1	2	3		15
Ice hockey			●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	1	●	●	1	2
Luge					●	1	●	1	2	1											5
Nordic combined									1						1		1				3
Short-track speed skating								1		2		1		1		2		2			9
Skeleton										●	1	1	1								3
Ski jumping					1		1	1				1	1	1							6
Ski mountaineering																	2		1		3
Snowboarding			●		1	2	1		●	2	2		1	●	1	1					11
Speed skating					1	1	1		1	1	1	1	1		2		1	1	2		14
Daily medal events		0	0	0	5	8	5	9	8	9	7	8	9	6	7	8	7	6	10	4	116
Cumulative total		0	0	0	5	13	18	27	35	44	51	59	68	74	81	89	96	102	112	116
February 2026		4th Wed	5th Thu	6th Fri	7th Sat	8th Sun	9th Mon	10th Tue	11th Wed	12th Thu	13th Fri	14th Sat	15th Sun	16th Mon	17th Tue	18th Wed	19th Thu	20th Fri	21st Sat	22nd Sun	Total events

Marketing the Games

Emblem and Slogan

For the first time ever, the public voted for the Olympic Games emblem. On March 6, 2021, two designs, "Dado" and "Futura," were shown. These were designed by Landor Associates. On March 30, 2021, "Futura" was chosen as the winning emblem. It shows a stylish "26" drawn in one line. This design represents "small gestures" and ideas like "sport, togetherness, and caring for the planet."

The official slogan for the games, "IT's Your Vibe," was announced on February 23, 2025. "IT" stands for Italy. It also means "It's," so the slogan can be read as "Italy's Your Vibe" or "It's Your Vibe." This helps connect the games to Italy.

Mascots

The mascots for the event were chosen by an online vote that ended on February 28, 2023. The winning mascots were designed by students from a school in Taverna. They are inspired by stoats.

The mascots were shown on February 7, 2024. Their names are Tina and Milo, taken from the host cities. They are shown as a sister and brother. Stoats were chosen because they are curious and can adapt to different seasons and places. This represents the spirit of Italy.

Milo is a brown stoat, and Tina is a white stoat. They are siblings "born in the mountains of Italy." Tina is the main Olympic mascot. She represents art, music, and the power of beauty. Milo is the Paralympic mascot. He was born without a leg but uses his tail to help him live a normal life. He shows cleverness, determination, and creativity.

Theme Song

During the Sanremo Music Festival 2022 finals, two songs were presented as possible official anthems. People then voted for their favorite. On March 7, 2022, "Fino all'alba" ("Until the dawn") was announced as the winner. This song was created by a youth music group called La Cittadina. It was performed by Arisa at the Sanremo festival.

See also

In Spanish: Juegos Olímpicos de Milán-Cortina d'Ampezzo 2026 para niños

• 2026 Winter Paralympics
• Olympic Games celebrated in Italy
  • 1956 Winter Olympics – Cortina D'Ampezzo
  • 1960 Summer Olympics – Rome
  • 2006 Winter Olympics – Turin
  • 2026 Winter Olympics – Milan and Cortina D'Ampezzo

• List of IOC country codes
• 2026 Summer Youth Olympics