The 2026 Winter Olympics, known as “Milan–Cortina,” were officially opened on the evening of Friday, 6 February 2026, with an opening ceremony held at San Siro Stadium in Milan. This comes as several competitions had already begun on Wednesday, 4 February, two days prior to the opening ceremony, in accordance with the official schedule of the Games.
This edition of the Games will run from 6 to 22 February 2026 and is being held across multiple locations in northern Italy. Hosting duties are shared between Milan and Cortina d’Ampezzo, with the majority of ice events taking place in the Milan cluster, while a significant number of snow and sliding events are scheduled in clusters around Cortina and other northern regions of the country.
According to information released by the organisers, the 2026 Winter Olympics are being held with the participation of 92 countries and a total of 2,871 athletes, featuring 116 medal events across eight sports. Alongside traditional disciplines such as alpine skiing, snowboarding, ice hockey, curling, and various skating events, ski mountaineering has been included in the official Olympic programme for the first time, and it will award medals in several events.
In the early days of the Games, alongside the sporting competitions, some security-related issues were also reported. Reports indicate that protest gatherings took place in Milan ahead of and during the opening ceremony. At the same time, Italian authorities and event organisers have stated that security management and public order around competition venues remain in place and that any acts of violence or disruption will be addressed.
From a sporting perspective, the competitions have moved into their operational phase with the holding of preliminary events and the start of the medal standings. It is expected that in the coming days, particularly with the start of key speed and team events, public attention will increasingly focus on results and the medal table. The closing ceremony of the Games is scheduled to be held on 22 February 2026 at the Verona Arena.
