Photo by REUTERS/via SNO Sites/Issei Kato

Milano Cortina 2026 Olympics – Curling – Mixed Doubles Round Robin Session 5 – United States of America vs Canada – Cortina Curling Olympic Stadium, Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy – February 06, 2026. Jocelyn Peterman of Canada in action with Brett Gallant of Canada against Korey Dropkin of United States and Cory Thiesse of United States REUTERS/Issei Kato

2026’s most highly anticipated sporting event is here!

The long-awaited 2026 Winter Olympics begin on Friday, February 6th in Milan, featuring 116 medal events across eight sports and numerous disciplines. 

 Though the Opening Ceremony is on February 6th, the Games actually start earlier, with the curling opening competition beginning on February 4th.  

 The official start of the Olympics on February 6th marks the end of the torch relay, a tournament tradition that began in 1936 at the Berlin Olympic Games. The flame will light the Olympic cauldron during the opening ceremony hosted at San Siro Stadium, the largest sports stadium in Italy. 

 During the torch relay, the Olympic flame travels across the host country featuring thousands of famous torchbearers of significance to the Olympic sporting world and pop culture. The torch relay is themed “The Greatest Journey,” as it spans 12,000 km and stops in every Italian province.  

 This is the first Olympic games being hosted by two cities: Milan and Cortina d’Ampezzo. Both northern Italian cities are known for their colder climates and mountainous landscapes, proving suitable for winter sporting events.  

 The Winter Olympics cover snow and ice sports like skiing, snowboarding, skating, hockey, curling, and more. For the first time at the Olympics, ski mountaineering will be held as an event. 

 This year, NHL players are officially returning to Olympic men’s hockey for the first time since 2014. The NHL and International Olympic Committee finalized an agreement confirming participation for 2026 and a potential return for NHL players in 2030 as well. 

 The Milano Cortina Olympic Games are also one of the most sustainable Olympics to date with the widespread repurposing of Italian sporting facilities. About 85% of competition venues are pre-existing, making this one of the highest venue reuse rates in Winter Olympics history.  

 The Olympics are infamous for costing host countries a lot of money, as building new venues, upgrading transportation, and increasing security led to greater spending than the games can account for. In some cases, countries end up with insurmountable debts and abandoned venues, such as what happened in Brazil after the 2016 Rio Olympic Games. 

 At the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing, Norway won the most medals, totaling at 37, including 16 gold. Will Norway remain dominant four years later, or will other top winter sport countries such as Germany and the United States surpass their competition? 
 

You can watch the 2026 Winter Olympics on NBC and Peacock, where major events and highlight coverage will be aired for viewers to keep up with the biggest finals and sporting moments without having to track every single event live. 

 At 2 p.m. on February 6th, the Olympic flame will be lit, and the Winter Olympics are officially underway. The next two weeks are certain to be a steady build of anticipation and close finishes that keep spotlights moving across athletes and sports until February 22nd.