Winter Olympics 2026 guide: All you need to know about the Milano Cortina Games
Some of the action has already begun, but the Games officially begin on Friday, with the first gold medals awarded on Saturday
The start of the 2026 Winter Olympics in Italy is upon us.
The torch relay is nearly complete and some of the top athletes are already making headlines. There are 16 sports in all, including some never seen before, and 116 gold medals are waiting to be awarded.
Milan’s San Siro stadium is the venue for Friday’s opening ceremony, which is usually the most viewed moment of the Games as millions around the world will watch on official broadcasters. US pop star Mariah Carey and crossover tenor Andrea Bocelli are among the performers in the show, which begins at 8pm local time (Saturday 3am Hong Kong time).
This will be the most spread-out Winter Games in history: the two primary competition sites are the city of Milan and Cortina d’Ampezzo, the winter resort in the Dolomites that is more than 400 kilometres (250 miles) away by road.
Athletes will also compete in three other mountain clusters besides Cortina, while the closing ceremony will be in Verona, 160km east of Milan.
Preliminary heats began on Wednesday.