Just as the high from Paris is beginning to wear off, there’s another Olympics and Paralympics right around the corner.
The Milan Cortina Olympics begin a year from Thursday. Given this is the first Winter Games since the COVID-19 pandemic and the Western Europe location makes it easily accessible for most fans, expect a rollicking show like the one in Paris. Raucous, happy fans packing public spaces and stands, athletes happy to be competing in front of families and friends, and all of it with a picturesque backdrop — though it’ll be the Italian Alps instead of the Eiffel Tower.
“In Paris, you saw the power of sport. You saw the power of the Olympic Games to bring people together,” said Kit McConnell, sports director for the International Olympic Committee.
“This is what’s waiting for us on snow and ice in one year in Milan Cortina.”
Milan Cortina will be the largest Winter Games yet, with 116 medal events in 16 sports for the Olympics. There are 79 medal opportunities in six sports at the Paralympics, which are March 6-15, 2026.
Here’s what else you need to know about next year’s Winter Games:
Where are the 2026 Winter Games?
The Milan Cortina Olympics and Paralympics will be held across eight sites in northern Italy. Figure skating, speedskating, short track and ice hockey will be in Milan, while women’s Alpine skiing, curling, bobsled, luge and skeleton will take place in Cortina.
Men’s Alpine skiing and ski mountaineering will be in Bormio; biathlon in Antholz; freestyle skiing and snowboarding in Livigno; Nordic combined and ski jumping in Predazzo; and cross-country skiing and Nordic combined in Tesero. Verona will host both the Olympic closing ceremony and the opening ceremony for the Paralympics.
That sounds a bit spread out
It is. Milan and Cortina are more than 250 miles apart, Cortina to Bormio is almost 200 miles, Bormio to Milan is 122 miles, Milan to — you get the picture. Though you can reach the various sites by car, train or bus, these are not Games where the snow and ice sites are in close proximity, as they were in Salt Lake City, Vancouver and Pyeongchang.
“These are not the Games where you will be watching three events a day, unless you are in Milano and you stay in Milano. But if you want to be in the mountains and then looking at some ice events, this will be impossible, right?” said Christophe Dubi, the IOC’s executive director.
“For all of us, it will all be in how we plan for the events, where we are going to go. And then for the organizers to have all the resources that are needed,” Dubi said. “You can’t do it all. It has to be planned.’
Pro tip: Bookmark the Milan Cortina schedule and move Google maps to the front of your home screen.
Is Milan Cortina ready for these Games?
Organizers mostly made use of existing venues, including some that were used when the 1956 Winter Games were held in Cortina. The others are regular hosts of World Cups or world championships, which eliminates most of the angst in the lead-up to the Games.
But there’s always something, right?
Against the IOC’s objections, local organizers decided to rebuild the sliding track that was used in 1956 at an estimated cost of $123 million, and it isn’t done yet. The IOC will decide in March if the track can be used, and there are two key tests in the coming weeks.
The first, the icing of the track is expected to be done some time this month. Then there is what is called “pre-homologation,” which is a fancy word for athletes and officials from the bosled, luge and skeleton federations inspecting and testing the track to make sure it meets their standards.
And if the track isn’t done? The IOC had wanted the Olympic sliding events to be held in Austria or Switzerland, but the Italians didn’t want to pay one of their next-door neighbors to help throw their party. Instead, the track in Lake Placid, N.Y., is Plan B.
“Very much (the Cortina track) is Plan A for the Games and we’re very confident and hopeful that it will remain on track,” McConnell said. “But there’s a lot of work still to do and it’s being very closely monitored by everyone involved.”
Speaking of headaches, what’s the status of the Russians?
Just as in Paris, don’t expect to see “Olympic Athletes from Russia” or “Russian Olympic Committee” teams. After years of trampling on Olympic ideals with little to no consequence, Russia’s unprovoked invasion of Ukraine remains something even outgoing IOC President Thomas Bach can’t excuse.
The IOC is allowing the various sport federations to make the call on whether any “individual, neutral athletes” from Belarus and Russia can compete, but the conditions are so strict very few will make it to Milan Cortina.
For example, the International Skating Union, which governs figure skating, speedskating and short track, is allowing only one skater each at a series of qualifying events later this year. The International Ski and Snowboard Federation, which governs Alpine skiing, snowboarding, freestyle skiing, cross-country skiing, ski jumping and Nordic combined, has yet to lift its ban.
And despite some thought the return of NHL players to the Olympics might entice the International Hockey Federation to lift its ban of Russia and Belarus, it announced earlier this week that it was “not yet safe” to do so.
“As the current security conditions do not allow the necessary requirements for the organization of tournaments guaranteeing the safety of all, the IIHF must maintain the current status quo until further notice,” the federation said.
This likely means we’ve seen the last of Alexander Ovechkin, who is 39, at the Olympics.
Wait, the NHL is back?
Yes. And let us all rejoice, because the Olympic tournament is better with NHL players.
Fortunately, commissioner Gary Bettman agreed, announcing last year that the NHL would return to the Winter Games for the first time since 2014. Even better, the agreement is for both Milan Cortina and the 2030 Winter Olympics.
Who are the athletes to watch for Milan Cortina?
The NHL players, obviously. Connor McDavid, Auston Matthews, Nathan MacKinnon and Connor Hellebuyck — they’re all too young to have played in the last Olympic tournament. Though if they need some pointers, maybe they can ask Matthew Tkachuk’s dad.
Two-time Olympic champion Mikaela Shiffrin will again be favored in multiple Alpine skiing events. Ilia “Quad God” Malinin has dominated men’s figure skating this, umm, quad, and it should be more of the same in Milan. Jessie Diggins might be even better than she was in 2018, when she led the U.S. women to the team sprint gold in cross-country skiing.
Jordan Stolz has been rewriting the record books in speedskating, winning the 500, 1,000 and 1,500 titles at each of the last two world championships. Chloe Kim will be looking for a three-peat in snowboarding while the ageless Lindsey Jacobellis could add a few more medals to her haul.
Are there any new events?
Yes! Ski mountaineering, better known as ‘skimo,’ is an endurance sport that combines skiing and climbing. Competitors will climb a hill, first on foot and then on skis, and then ski down. It is popular both as an elite sport and for weekend warriors in Italy, France and Switzerland.
‘It’s a great fit for these Games,’ McConnell said. ‘We’ll measure the success of that. With the next Games in the French Alps, we’ll see if they choose to put forward ski mountaineering, as well.’
Women’s ski jumping has added the large hill event, and there’s now a mixed relay in skeleton. Instead of the individual Alpine combined, which featured downhill and slalom runs, there is now a team combined that pairs a speed skier with a technical specialist.
Paris had gender equality. What about Milan Cortina?
No, but it’s getting closer. Women are expected to make up 47% of the more than 3,500 athletes competing, McConnell said.
“The job is not done yet because it’s not 50% and we still have that goal. But it’s a record level and another big stepping stone to that gender equality in the Olympic Winter Games,” McConnell said.
Tom Schad contributed.
Follow USA TODAY Sports columnist Nancy Armour on social media @nrarmour.