Milano Cortina 2026 Olympic Winter Games

The U.S. national Olympic committee (NOC) sent 232 athletes to the Milano Cortina 2026 Olympic Winter Games, making it the largest U.S. contingent in the history of the Winter Olympic Games. Those 232 athletes came from 32 states and ranged in age from 15 to 54 years old and included 18 former Olympic medalists. Some of the most notable American competitors were Lindsey Vonn, Mikaela Shiffrin, Ilia Malinin, and Chloe Kim.

The Milano Cortina 2026 Olympic Winter Games were held from February 6 to 22, 2026.

Italy has hosted the Olympic Games four times. It held the Winter Olympic Games in Cortina d’Ampezzo in 1956, Turin in 2006, and Milano Cortina in 2026. Italy held the Summer Olympic Games in Rome in 1960. The majority of events at Milano Cortina took place in the city of Milan (Milano) and the Alpine mountain resort town of Cortina d’Ampezzo. The rest of the competitions were held in several small towns, including Rasen-Antholz, Bormio, Livigno, Predazzo, and Tesero.

The 2026 Winter Games took place in eight locations spread across northern Italy. The majority of events were held in the city of Milan (Milano) and the Alpine mountain resort town of Cortina d’Ampezzo. The rest of the competitions took place in several small towns, including Rasen-Antholz, Bormio, Livigno, Predazzo, and Tesero. The closing ceremonies were held in the ancient Roman amphitheater Verona Arena, in Verona.

Ski mountaineering, or skimo, made its Olympic debut at the 2026 Winter Games.

Russia is currently banned from competing at the Olympic Games because of its invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. Belarus is likewise banned because of its support for Russia in that conflict. However, approved athletes from those countries will be permitted to compete as Individual Neutral Athletes (referred to as AIN, from the French athlètes individuels neutres), an official designation that serves to distance athletes from their national affiliation. As of late January 2026, there were about 20 AINs scheduled to compete at the Milano Cortina 2026 Olympic Winter Games. To find out more about the ban, read Britannica’s Is Russia Participating in the Olympics? article.

Breezy Johnson (born Breanna Noble Johnson in 1996) is an American Alpine skier. She won the U.S. team’s first gold medal at the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Games, taking first place in the downhill event. With that victory, Johnson also became just the second U.S. woman, after Lindsey Vonn, to win a downhill gold medal. She later competed in the team event. Although she won the downhill portion, the United States ultimately placed fourth. In the super-G final, Johnson crashed. About an hour later her boyfriend, Connor Watkins, proposed at the finish line. Johnson said yes.

Johnson suffered numerous injuries during her career, including an ACL tear that prevented her from competing during the 2019 season. In 2024 she was suspended for 14 months for her third whereabouts failure—Olympic-level athletes are required to make their daily locations known to the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency for random drug testing. Johnson subsequently considered retiring but ultimately opted to continue competing, aided, in part, by the support of other athletes. She later won two gold medals at the 2025 world championship: downhill and team combined.

Since the 2010s drone cameras have been used during broadcasts at the Olympic Games. However, the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Games were notable for the extensive use of first-person-view (FPV) drones, which have revolutionized the viewing experience. These cutting-edge devices are incredibly lightweight and can achieve speeds of 75 miles (120 km) per hour while still providing quality video. The FPV drones are especially suited for high-speed sports, such as downhill skiing, and they provide unprecedented views, placing audiences in the middle of the action. The primary drawback is the noise created by the machines. Some TV viewers and spectators at Milano Cortina complained about the high-pitched whine produced by the drones.

Johannes Høsflot Klæbo (b. 1996) is a Norwegian cross-country skier who has won the most gold medals at the Winter Olympics (11) and the most gold medals at a single Winter Olympics (6). Both records were set at the 2026 Milano Cortina Games, where he won gold medals in the skiathlon, sprint classic, 10-km, 4 × 7.5-km relay, team sprint, and 50-km mass start. He previously won three gold medals at the 2018 Pyeongchang Winter Games; those wins made him, at 21 years old, the youngest Olympic champion in cross-country skiing. He added two more golds, a silver, and a bronze in Beijing in 2022. In addition, at the time of the Milano Cortina Games, he had more than 100 World Cup victories.