2026 Winter Olympics: What to look forward to

Photo courtesy of U.S. Ski Team/Wikimedia Commons

As the Milan-Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics approach, all eyes are on alpine legend Lindsey Vonn and a star-studded Team USA, with historic venues, NHL player returns, and record-setting performances set to define the Games.

It is finally here! The 2026 Winter Olympics have been years in the making, and as the torch finally reaches Italy, the anticipation has reached a fever pitch. The opening ceremony is set to start on Feb. 6, and with it some major storylines. So today, we are going to break down everything you have to look forward to. 

Starting with the location, these games are by far the most geographically spread out in Olympic history. Every Winter Olympics is spread out because of the need for mountains; however this one requires multiple hours to get from one location to another. Most of the indoor events, including ice hockey, speed skating, short-track speed skating, and figure skating, will be held in Milan. For the mountain events, already existing venues used for World Cups and world championships will be used. 

To give you a basic understanding of just how far these venues are from each other, let me paint the scene. Cortina, the city where women’s alpine, curling, and sliding sports (bobsled, luge, and skeleton) are taking place, is almost four hours away from Milan under normal traffic conditions, which will not be the case during the duration of the games. The city of Livigno, where snowboarding and freestyle skiing will take place, is also around a four-hour journey. 

Moving on to some returning athletes making a run for more medals. One of the most notable storylines to come out of the Olympics so far is the 41-year-old alpine skiing legend Lindsey Vonn, who tore her anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) on Jan. 30. She also sustained a bone bruise and meniscal tears; however, doctors are unsure how much of that damage she received from the most recent injury. Vonn posted on Instagram after the injury, saying that she will be continuing to evaluate with her medical team daily to ensure they are making smart decisions, but she has every intention of competing on Sunday. 

Even more Team USA athletes to watch include: Jordan Stolz, Mikaela Shiffrin, and Chloe Kim. Stolz has been dubbed the “Michael Phelps” of his generation, dominating speed skating for the past three years. He is the heavy favorite in each of his individual events, and has a chance to win the most gold medals for any U.S. Winter Olympian since speed skier Eric Heiden in the 1980 Winter Olympics in Lake Placid. 

Shiffrin is a two-time Olympic champion who has more world victories under her belt than any male or female skier, and is expected to win in slalom and be a medal contender in team combined giant slalom. In the past two Winter Olympics, Kim has won two gold medals; if she remains healthy after recent shoulder dislocations, she could make it three. 

Another exciting thing to look forward to is the return of National Hockey League (NHL) players to the Olympics for the first time since 2014. If that was not already thrilling enough, every team but host Italy has at least one NHL player on their roster, while the U.S., Canada, and Sweden’s rosters are compiled entirely of NHL players. 

The league did not allow players to be a part of the 2018 Winter Olympics rosters, which left players displeased. They planned to let players return for the 2022 Olympic Games in Beijing, but due to COVID-19 cancellations leading up to the Games, the league pulled out again for the sake of the regular season and playoffs. 

NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman spoke on the return to the games, saying, “I think it'll be worth it, A) for the exposure, B) for the fan engagement, but C) and most importantly, this is and has always been very important to our players. And that's why we're doing this.”

To wrap things up, these Olympic Games are debuting ski mountaineering, or Skimo, a popular endurance sport in Italy, where athletes climb a hill, and once at the top, they ski down it. Lastly, these will be the most gender-balanced Winter Games to date, with women making up 47 percent of the almost 3,000 athletes competing. Ski jumping added a large hill event for the women; however, it also added a super team event for the men. Women have one less event in ski jumping, so to speak, there is more work to be done. 

There is not nearly enough time or room for me to go on about what to look forward to—but, in short, the Milan-Cortina Games are shaping up to deliver drama, history, and unforgettable moments. No matter which sports you are paying attention to, one thing is for certain—the world will be watching.