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Winter Olympic Games: Quick Facts

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News •

After crashing out at the Olympics, Ilia Malinin starts the long road back to the next Winter Games • Nov. 11, 2026, 12:29 PM ET (Washington Post)
2028 Summer Olympics: LA28 news, updates, qualifying • Nov. 7, 2026, 12:14 AM ET (USA Today)
Prep talk: Teenager from Venice gets his thrills snowboarding • Nov. 1, 2026, 7:15 AM ET (Los Angeles Times)
USA Bobsled strikes deals for higher-tech sleds, with eyes on 2034 Salt Lake City Games • Oct. 28, 2026, 9:13 PM ET (Washington Post)

Facts

Also Known As Winter Games • Winter Olympics
Notable Honorees Alysa Liu • Eileen Gu • Ilia Malinin • Sidney Crosby • Lindsey Vonn • Jonathan Toews • Chloe Kim • Lindsey Jacobellis • Bode Miller • Kaillie Humphries • Scott Hamilton • Ole Einar Bjørndalen • Shaun White • Tara Lipinski • Kristi Yamaguchi • Yang Yang • Yelena Vyalbe • Jaromir Jagr • Brian Boitano • Ted Ligety • Yevgeny Plushchenko • Apolo Ohno • Benjamin Raich • Marit Bjørgen • Tina Maze • Dominik Hašek • Hermann Maier • Viktor Ahn • André Lange • Janica Kostelić • Aksel Lund Svindal • Simon Ammann • Tatjana Hüfner • Carlo Janka • Anja Pärson • Cindy Klassen • Patrick Chan • Picabo Street • Martin Brodeur • Slava Fetisov • Matti Nykänen • Nicklas Lidstrom • Claudia Pechstein • Kim Yuna • Lasse Kjus • Oksana Baiul • Jim Craig • Katarina Witt • Sven Kramer • David Pelletier • Evan Lysacek • Jamie Salé • Gunda Niemann-Stirnemann • Peggy Fleming • Bente Skari • Ireen Wüst • Shani Davis • Dorothy Hamill • Vladislav Tretiak • Georg Hackl • Sylke Otto • Alberto Tomba • Marja-Liisa Hämäläinen • Tenley Albright • Armin Zöggeler • Jim Shea, Jr. • Lyubov Yegorova • Hjalmar Andersen • Andrea Mead Lawrence • Dan Jansen • Sonja Henie • Dick Button • Rosi Mittermaier • Anton Sailer • Eddie Eagan • Marie-Thérèse Nadig • Jean-Claude Killy • Manuela Di Centa • Vegard Ulvang • Jack Shea • John Curry • Bonnie Blair • Gillis Grafström • Karl Schäfer • Vreni Schneider • Ingemar Stenmark • Irina Rodnina • Yevgeny Grishin • Madge Cave Syers • Raisa Smetanina • Eugenio Monti • Hanni Wenzel • Cathy Turner • Robin Cousins • Karin Enke • Christa Luding-Rothenburger • Birger Ruud • Eero Mäntyranta • Clas Thunberg • Thomas Köhler • Galina Kulakova • Myriam Bédard • Terry McDermott • Bjørn Daehlie • Johann Olav Koss • Sixten Jernberg • Irving Jaffee • Toini Gustafsson • Henri Oreiller • Ivar Ballangrud • Yvonne van Gennip • Nancy Greene Raine • Franz Klammer • Ulrich Salchow • Knut Johannesen • Veikko Hakulinen • Barbara Ann Scott • Marielle Goitschel • Carol Heiss • Dianne Holum • Nikolay Zimyatov • Ulrich Wehling • Jayne Torvill • Viktor Petrenko • Nathan Chen • Oleg Protopopov • Lyudmila Belousova • Christopher Dean • Yekaterina Gordeeva • Andrée Brunet • Pierre Brunet • Stein Eriksen • Kjetil Andre Aamodt • Lidiya Skoblikova • Ard Schenk • Thorleif Haug • Eric Heiden • Hayes Alan Jenkins • Annemarie Moser-Pröll • David Jenkins • Phil Mahre • Christine Goitschel

Photos

The first Winter Olympic Games
Viktor Ahn of Russia, wearing a blue helmet and white racing suit, leads three skaters around a curve in the Short Track Men's 500m Final at the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics.
Torah Bright of Australia soars mid-air on a snowboard, one arm raised, against a snowy mountain backdrop during the Sochi 2014 Winter Olympics.
Christl Cranz
Helga Haase
Marja-Liisa Hamalainen of Finland cross-country skiing in a white and blue racing suit and bib number 40 during the 1984 Winter Olympics in Sarajevo, snow falling around her.
Opening ceremony at St. Moritz, 1948
Giant slalom medalists
Andrea Mead Lawrence
Ross Rebagliati of Canada snowboarding around a blue gate marked with the Nagano 1998 Winter Olympics logo during the giant slalom event.
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