It’s the time of year again to look ahead to the next Winter Olympics season. There’s a lot to know, and since there are so many years ahead of us before the next event some information is still to be determined or put out over time. But here’s everything you can currently know about the Winter Olympics coming in 2026.
When?
The next Winter Olympic Games are slotted to take place in February of 2026, February 6 to the 22 to be precise. This is pretty typical of the Olympic Games, so it’s easy to know and plan ahead for.
Where
Italian cities Milan and Cortina d’Ampezzo won the rights to host the next Winter Olympics, which gives the 2026 games the name Milano Cortina 2026 Games. These two cities haven’t hosted in multiple decades until winning host rights this past game.
New Games
Quite a few new additions were included in the last Winter Olympics, so there’s not nearly as many ideas to be added come 2026. At least for right now. Some suggestions have been made to add ski mountaineering, which is being presented to the Olympic Committee.
Venue Dispersion
Across the entirety of the many Winter Olympic games, 14 venues have been allotted to host these varying events across the games in 2026. These places are all in Italy across the two cities that will be hosting as well as some surrounding area.
Future Plans
Olympic Games are going back into the original schedule for timing of events. Every two years will be one of these events, the next Summer Olympics is in 2024 then the Winter Olympics in 2026, and so on every 2 years forward. New games will likely continue to be added over time as usual, trying to incorporate modern sports and more Olympic competitors over time.
Travel Distance
Hosting in two cities means that the Winter Olympics will require some travel, since the main two Italian cities are approximately 250 miles apart. Some games and the places the athletes are hosted will be in some surrounding areas due to this.
If you love watching the Olympic Games, chances are you’re already pretty excited for the next event even with the years to wait until then. So hopefully knowing what we can start off knowing about the 2026 Winter Olympics now can help you be prepared! Be sure to keep an eye out for more updates as the time whittles down.