Milan Cortina 2026: must-see races and the full calendar

With the lighting of the braziers in Milan and Cortina, a new edition of the Winter Games will be inaugurated. From 6 to 22 February, some 3,000 athletes from 90 countries will compete. Here are the Italian favourites for the medals

by Marco Bellinazzo

4 February 2026

5' min read

Translated by AI

Versione italiana

5' min read

Translated by AI

Versione italiana

With the lighting of the Olympic braziers in Milan and Cortina, Italia is inaugurating a new edition of the Winter Games, structured on a polycentric model and events spread across Lombardy, Veneto and Trentino-Alto Adige, which aims to become a laboratory of sustainability, reuse of facilities and territorial economic impact. The Winter Olympics, scheduled from 6 to 22 February, are divided into competitions in 16 different disciplines, which actually started on 4 February, and will award a total of 116 titles with about 3 thousand athletes from over 90 countries competing.

The Widespread Olympiad

The widespread model will have four macro-competition areas. In Milan, ice hockey (with NHL champions), figure skating, short track and speed skating will take place. In Valtellina, snowboarding and freestyle will be staged in Livigno and men's alpine skiing and ski mountaineering will be staged in Bormio, the only new entry of the Winter Olympic Games. The other Olympic capital, Cortina d'Ampezzo, will be the stage for the challenges of women's alpine skiing, curling, bobsleigh, skeleton and luge. The biathlon, on the other hand, will take place in Anterselva. Finally, Val di Fiemme will host cross-country skiing in Tesero and ski jumping in Predazzo.

The facilities

A total of 12 sports venues will be involved, with an impact on infrastructures and tourism that could generate spin-offs greater than those of Turin 2006, also thanks to the network of connections and the enhancement of the winter offer of the Alpine resorts: in Milan the Santa Giulia Arena, Rho Fiera and the Forum di Assago for ice hockey, short track, speed and figure skating; in Cortina the "Tofane Alpine Skiing Centre", the Sliding Centre and the Curling Olympic Stadium; in Predazzo the Ski Jumping Stadium and in Tthe Cross-Country Skiing Stadium; in Livigno the Snow Park and the Aerials & Moguls Park (for acrobatic skiing and snowboarding); in Bormio the Stelvio Ski Centre; in Anterselva the Biathlon Arena.

Italian record team

For the 'home' Games, Italia will field 196 athletes, the largest delegation ever for a winter edition, surpassing even Turin 2006. The youngest is Giada D'Antonio, 16 (alpine skiing), the veteran is Roland Fischnaller, 45, at his seventh Olympics (snowboarding).

There will be four standard-bearers, two for Milan and two for Cortina: Arianna Fontana and Federico Pellegrino on one side; Federica Brignone and Amos Mosaner on the other, in line with the format of the double ceremony.

Italy's Olympic Committee aims to improve on Beijing 2022's haul of 17 medals and to approach or exceed Lillehammer 1994's 20, still Italy's best result at the Winter Games.

In fact, Italy seems to have a deep team, capable of being competitive in almost all disciplines.

Alpine skiing

Alpine skiing remains the beating heart of Italian ambitions. On 7 February, the first big excitement will come with the men's downhill, where Dominik Paris will try to confirm the competitiveness he showed in the season's approach.

The following day, 8 February, it will be the turn of the women's downhill, which will immediately put the spotlight on Sofia Goggia, who has been a staple of world speed for years, and where Federica Brignone, although more oriented towards the giant, will also want to measure herself in terms of the combined event.

Brignone will then be eagerly awaited in the technical trials: between 9 and 10 February, in fact, the key days for her specialities open, with the calendar offering the combined team event and then the individual technical trials.

Alongside the big names, names such as Giovanni Franzoni, Alex Vinatzer and Mattia Casse will live up to their chances in the middle days of the Olympics, when the slalom and giant slalom will come into their own.

Speed skating

Speed skating will award one of the first Olympic medals on 7 February, with the women's 3000 m, a distance in which Francesca Lollobrigida is expected to be one of the main protagonists.

A few days later, on 8 February, the men's 5000 m will take the stage, where Davide Ghiotto - vice world champion and Italian number one - is openly aiming for the podium. His favourite distance, however, will come later: the 10,000 m, the most eagerly awaited time for him, will be among the mid-Olympic trials (the full calendar shows the long races in the second week).

Andrea Giovannini will also have his cards to play in the mass start races, which are scheduled in the final part of the skating programme.

Biathlon

Already on 8 February, the action gets under way with the mixed 4x6 km relay, where Italia will field Lisa Vittozzi, Dorothea Wierer, Tommaso Giacomel and a quartet capable of competing with the best in the world.

The individual events will be spread throughout the first week, with the men's individual expected on 10 February, a day that represents Giacomel's first big chance.

Short track

The short track programme gets into full swing in the first days after the ceremony. The 500 metres, Arianna Fontana's signature distance, are among the most eagerly awaited races of the first week, with qualifying and finals scheduled on the days immediately following the opening weekend (the short track programme is concentrated between 7 and 10 February).

Pietro Sighel, on the other hand, will experience more starring events: his decisive moments will be distributed between relays and individual races during the first half of the Games.

Curling

The mixed doubles, with Stefania Constantini and Amos Mosaner, enter the draw as early as 4 February with the first round robin sessions, two days before the opening ceremony. The semifinals are scheduled for 9 February, while the finals will come either on the same day or the following day, according to the schedule established by the IOC This is one of the first concrete medal chances for Italia - and one of the most heartfelt, given the 2022 gold the pair is defending.

Freestyke and snowboarding

On 7 February, the men's big air final will open the programme with Italy's Miro Tabanelli among the interesting outsiders. On the same day, it will be qualifying time for the women's big air, where Flora Tabanelli remains one of the most eagerly awaited athletes when she is on form.

The 8 February will also be dedicated to the parallel snowboard giant slalom, with Roland Fischnaller, Aaron March, Maurizio Bormolini and Lucia Dalmasso engaged in qualifying and finals on the same day.

For snowboard cross, the competitions will come in the middle days of the Olympics, with Michela Moioli and Omar Visintin finding their ideal window just as Milan-Cortina enters its busiest week.

Sliding

7 and 8 February are the days dedicated to the single luge: the 8th will be decisive for the second part of the men's race, where Dominik Fischnaller will chase the podium. The women's doubles - with the Vötter/Oberhofer pair - will compete shortly afterwards, on one of the middle days of the first block of races (women's luge on 9 February).

Cross-country skiing

The first big occasion for Italia will come with the men's skiathlon on 7 February, but it is 10 February, with the sprint qualification in classic technique, the real key day for Federico Pellegrino, who historically excels in the fast formats. The sprint finals will be held on the same day in the afternoon, in the tradition of Olympic cross-country skiing.

Ski Mountaineering

Ski mountaineering will make its Olympic debut in a series of races concentrated between the middle and second half of the Olympics. Italia starts among the favourites with Michele Boscacci, Giulia Murada and Alba De Silvestro, athletes who showed excellent condition in the last pre-Games phase.