2026 Winter Olympics facts for kids

Quick facts for kids
XXV Olympic Winter Games

The main logo; other colour variants are shown below
Host city	Milan and Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy
Motto	IT's Your Vibe
Nations	92
Athletes	2,871 (1,533 men, 1,338 women)
Events	116 in 8 sports (16 disciplines)
Opening	6 February 2026
Closing	22 February 2026
Opened by	President Sergio Mattarella
Cauldron	Deborah Compagnoni and Alberto Tomba (Milan) Sofia Goggia (Cortina d'Ampezzo)
Stadium	Stadio San Siro (Opening ceremony) Verona Arena (Closing ceremony)
Winter
← Beijing 2022 French Alpes 2030 →
Summer
← Paris 2024 Los Angeles 2028 →

The 2026 Winter Olympics, also known as Milano Cortina 2026, was an exciting international sports event. It took place from February 6 to February 22, 2026, across different locations in Lombardy and Northeast Italy. Some competitions even started a bit earlier, on February 4. These Games were special because ski mountaineering made its debut as an Olympic sport. They were also the first Olympics led by Kirsty Coventry, the President of the International Olympic Committee (IOC).

The cities of Milan and Cortina d'Ampezzo in Italy worked together to host these Games. They won the bid on June 24, 2019, beating a bid from Stockholm and Åre, Sweden. This was the first time two cities officially co-hosted the Olympic Games! Milan mainly hosted the ice sports, while other events were held in areas like Cortina, Livigno, and Fiemme. Italy has hosted the Winter Olympics twice before, and this was their fourth time hosting any Olympic Games. Cortina d'Ampezzo itself hosted the Winter Olympics back in 1956.

Norway was the top country in the medal count for the fourth Winter Olympics in a row. They won an amazing 18 gold medals and 41 medals in total, setting a new record! The United States came in second with 12 gold and 33 total medals. The Netherlands finished third with 10 gold and 20 total medals, which was their most successful Winter Olympics ever. The host country, Italy, finished fourth with 10 gold and 30 total medals, also a new record for them. It was a historic moment for Brazil and Georgia, as both countries won their very first Winter Olympic medals! Brazil's medal was also the first for any tropical, Latin American, or South American country at the Winter Olympics.

Choosing the Host Cities

Milan and Cortina d'Ampezzo were chosen to host the Games on June 24, 2019. This decision happened at the 134th meeting of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) in Lausanne, Switzerland. Members from Italy and Sweden on the IOC could not vote, as the rules state.

2026 Winter Olympics bidding results

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

Game Locations and Venues

The Games used many existing sports venues across Lombardy and Northeast Italy. Some of these were even used during the 1956 Winter Olympics in Cortina d'Ampezzo. Others were used for the 2013 Winter Universiade in Trentino.

Most of the ice events, except for curling, took place in Milan. Sliding and snow events were held in areas around Cortina, Valtellina, and the Fiemme Valley. A new 12,000-seat arena in Milan hosted ice hockey games. The famous Stadio San Siro in Milan hosted the opening ceremony. The historic Verona Arena in Verona hosted the closing ceremony. Athletes stayed in special Olympic villages or hotels, depending on where their sport was located.

Stadio San Siro in Milan (top) and Verona Arena (bottom) are the venues of opening and closing ceremonies, respectively.

Speed Skating Venue

For speed skating, the committee first thought about using an existing rink in Baselga di Piné. However, adding a roof to it would have been too expensive. They considered building a temporary rink in Fiera Milano or using the Oval Lingotto in Turin. In the end, Fiera Milano was chosen as the speed skating venue in April 2023.

Olympic Torch Relay

The Olympic torch relay began on November 26, 2025, with the flame lighting in Olympia, Greece. It ended on February 6, 2026, in Milan, Italy, just in time for the opening ceremony. The flame traveled across Greece and then visited all 110 provinces of Italy. It made 60 stops over 63 days, covering 12,000 kilometers (7,500 miles).

The Olympic torch was shown to the public on April 14, 2025. It was revealed in Milan and also in Osaka, Japan, connecting the two cities. The torch was light blue and made from recycled aluminum and bronze. It used a special eco-friendly fuel. The torch relay visited every UNESCO World Heritage Site in Italy.

Medals

The official medals for the Games were shown on July 15, 2025, in Venice. They were designed as two halves, symbolizing the journey of athletes and everyone who supported them. The medals had a simple design, focusing on emotion and teamwork. They featured the traditional Olympic five-ring symbol on one side. The other side showed details about the event and the venue.

The Games

Opening Ceremony

The opening ceremony was held on February 6, 2026, at Stadio San Siro in Milan. It was called Armonia, which means "Harmony" in Italian. The ceremony featured special performances from American singer Mariah Carey and Italian artists Laura Pausini and Andrea Bocelli. For the first time in Olympic history, two Olympic cauldrons were lit, one in Milan and one in Cortina d'Ampezzo.

A scene from the opening ceremony; the unveiling of the Olympic rings

The Olympic cauldron in Milan

Sports and Events

The 2026 Winter Olympics featured 116 medal events across 16 different sports. This was an increase of seven events compared to the Beijing 2022 Games. New medal events included men's and women's dual moguls in freestyle skiing. The men's and women's doubles in luge also returned.

The Games had the highest percentage of women athletes in Winter Olympic history, at 47%. For the first time, women raced the same distances as men in cross-country skiing. Ski mountaineering was added as a new sport, with three medal events: men's sprint, women's sprint, and mixed relay. The National Hockey League (NHL) players also participated in the Olympics for the first time since 2014.

Numbers in parentheses indicate the number of medal events contested in each discipline.

Closing Ceremony

The closing ceremony was held at the Verona Arena in Verona on February 22, 2026. It was called "Beauty in Action". The ceremony included cultural performances and the official handover to the French Alps, which will host the 2030 Winter Olympics. The famous ballet dancer Roberto Bolle was confirmed as one of the performers.

Participating Countries

A total of 92 National Olympic Committees (NOCs) had athletes qualify for the Games. Because of ongoing international situations, athletes from Russia and Belarus competed as "Individual Neutral Athletes" (AIN). This meant they did not represent their countries and could not compete in team events. In total, twenty athletes (thirteen from Russia and seven from Belarus) competed under the AIN banner.

Benin, Guinea-Bissau, and the United Arab Emirates all made their first-ever appearance at the Winter Olympics.

Calendar

The first schedule for the 2026 Winter Olympics was released in March 2024. Competitions started two days before the opening ceremony on February 4 with mixed doubles curling. They ended on February 22, 2026, with the men's ice hockey final. A second version of the schedule was released in December 2024.

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		EG		5
Freestyle skiing					●		1	1	1	1		1	1	1	1	1	●	3	2	1	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			2					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	6	9	6	7	9	5	116
Cumulative total		0	0	0	5	13	18	27	35	44	51	59	68	74	80	89	95	102	111	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

Medal Table

  *   Host nation (Italy)

2026 Winter Olympics medal table

Rank	NOC	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
1	Norway	18	12	11	41
2	United States	12	12	9	33
3	Netherlands	10	7	3	20
4	Italy*	10	6	14	30
5	Germany	8	10	8	26
6	France	8	9	6	23
7	Sweden	8	6	4	18
8	Switzerland	6	9	8	23
9	Austria	5	8	5	18
10	Japan	5	7	12	24
11–29	Remaining	26	32	35	93
Totals (29 entries)		116	118	115	349

Podium Sweeps

Some countries were so good they won all three medals (gold, silver, and bronze) in a single event!

Date	Sport	Event	Team	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Ref
10 February	Cross-country skiing	Women's sprint	Sweden	Linn Svahn	Jonna Sundling	Maja Dahlqvist
17 February	Bobsleigh	Two-man	Germany	Johannes Lochner Georg Fleischhauer	Francesco Friedrich Alexander Schüller	Adam Ammour Alexander Schaller
21 February	Cross-country skiing	Men's 50 kilometre classical	Norway	Johannes Høsflot Klæbo	Martin Løwstrøm Nyenget	Emil Iversen

Brazil and Georgia also made history by winning their first-ever Winter Olympic medals!

Marketing and Fun Facts

Emblem

For the first time, the official symbol of the Olympic Games was chosen by a public vote! Two designs, "Dado" and "Futura," were shown during a TV festival in Italy on March 6, 2021. On March 30, 2021, "Futura" was announced as the winner. This emblem showed a stylish "26" drawn in one line. It represented the idea that small actions can make a big difference, and it stood for sport, teamwork, and caring for the planet.

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  Energy logo

• 

  Print logo (black)

• 

  Print logo (white)

Slogan

The official slogan for the Games, "IT's Your Vibe," was announced on February 23, 2025. The "IT" in the slogan stood for Italy, meaning "Italy's Your Vibe." It also sounded like "It's Your Vibe," which was a fun way to connect with the Games and the host country.

"IT's Your Vibe"

Mascots: Tina and Milo

The two mascots for the event were chosen through an online vote that ended on February 28, 2023. The winning mascots were designed by students from a school in Taverna. They were inspired by stoats, which are small, quick animals. The mascots were introduced on February 7, 2024, during a music festival. Their names were Tina and Milo, taken from the host cities. They were portrayed as sister and brother.

Tina and Milo

Tina, the main Olympic mascot, was a white stoat. She symbolized art, music, and the power of beauty. Milo, the Paralympic mascot, was a brown stoat. He was born without a leg but used his tail to help him live a normal life with cleverness, determination, and creativity. They were also joined by six snowdrop flowers, called "The Flo." Stoats were chosen because they are curious, can change with the seasons, and adapt well to tough environments, much like the spirit of Italy.

Theme Song

During the finals of the 2022 Sanremo Music Festival on February 5, 2022, two songs were presented as possible official anthems for the event. After a public poll, "Fino all'alba" ("Until the dawn") was announced as the winner on March 7, 2022. It was composed by a youth music group and performed by Arisa.

Art and Iconic Posters

The Milano Cortina 2026 Games created two special poster programs. These continued a tradition of Olympic art posters that started in 1972.

Art Posters

On June 18, 2025, ten works from young Italian artists were chosen for the Art Posters program. Five posters were made for the Olympic Games and five for the Paralympic Games. These artists were selected from a special exhibition called Pittura Italiana Oggi (Italian Painting Today).

Iconic Posters

Two official Iconic Posters were shown on October 22, 2025. Olimpia Zagnoli's Olympic poster, Visione Olimpica (Olympic Vision), showed a figure wearing the Olympic rings as glasses. It had snowy mountains in the background, combining Milan's design style with Cortina's alpine setting. Carolina Altavilla's Paralympic poster showed all six Paralympic winter sports with the Dolomites mountains and Milan's Duomo in the background. These posters were displayed in an exhibition in Milan.

How People Watched the Games

In Italy, people could watch the Games on pay-TV through Warner Bros. Discovery. Free-to-air coverage and online streaming were available through Italy's public broadcaster RAI. The International Olympic Committee (IOC) also made a deal with Warner Bros. Discovery Sports for broadcast rights in many European countries from 2026 to 2032. This deal ensured that at least 100 hours of each Winter Olympics would be shown for free.

Images for kids

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  Santa Giulia Ice Hockey Arena

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  The half-pipe at Livigno Snow Park

See also

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