The 16 Sports of Milan-Cortina 2026 – Your Complete Guide

The 16 Sports of Milan-Cortina 2026 bring together disciplines across ice, alpine skiing and snowboarding, and Nordic competition, making these Winter Olympics Events the most diverse program in global sport. Each requires different skills, specialized venues, and unique athletic capabilities—from explosive power on the bobsleigh track to endurance in cross-country skiing. Here is your comprehensive breakdown of what to watch over the next 17 days.

ICE SPORTS – MILAN’S SHOWCASE

All ice events take place in Milan’s urban venues, bringing Olympic competition directly to Italy’s business capital.

Figure Skating The most artistic of Olympic sports, figure skating combines athletic power with balletic grace. Men’s and women’s singles, pairs, ice dance, and team events will crown champions at Milano Ice Skating Arena. Watch for American Ilia Malinin and his quadruple jumps in men’s competition – he’s nicknamed “The Quad God” for his technical mastery.

Competition runs February 6-14, with the team event opening the Games and the exhibition gala closing figure skating competition.

Speed Skating Pure power and endurance on a 400-meter oval track. Athletes race against the clock in distances from sprint 500m to the grueling 10,000m. Dutch athletes typically dominate, but Norway, USA, Canada, and South Korea all field competitive skaters.

Events run February 8-20 at Fiera Milano’s temporary speed skating oval – a €20 million installation built specifically for these Games.

Short Track Speed Skating
The chaotic cousin of speed skating, short track packs multiple skaters onto a tight 111-meter oval where contact, crashes, and last-second passes are common. China, South Korea, and Canada typically excel in this discipline that rewards aggression and tactical racing as much as pure speed.

Competition runs February 8-14 at Milano Ice Skating Arena.

Ice Hockey The marquee team sport of the Winter Olympics, particularly with NHL players returning for the first time since 2014. Canada and USA enter as favorites in men’s competition, while the women’s tournament features perennial powerhouses USA, Canada, and Finland.

Tournament runs February 4-22 at Milano Santa Giulia Ice Hockey Arena, with preliminary rounds starting before the opening ceremony and medals decided on the final day of competition.

Curling Strategy on ice – teams slide 44-pound granite stones toward a target while teammates frantically sweep the ice to control speed and direction. Scotland invented the sport in the 16th century; it’s been an Olympic medal sport since 1998. Watch for mixed doubles, men’s, and women’s tournaments.

Competition runs February 4-16 at Cortina Curling Olympic Stadium, making it one of the few ice sports held outside Milan.

ALPINE, SKIING & SNOWBOARDING – MOUNTAIN MASTERY

The alpine events showcase speed, technical skill, and fearlessness on snow-covered mountains.

Alpine Skiing The fastest, most dangerous skiing discipline. Athletes hurtle down steep mountain slopes at speeds exceeding 140 km/h (87 mph) in downhill, navigate tight turns in slalom and giant slalom, or combine speed and technique in super-G and combined events.

New for 2026: The combined event switches from individual format to two-person teams – one athlete handles downhill, the other takes slalom.

Watch: Lindsey Vonn’s comeback attempt in women’s downhill (despite her pre-Games crash), and Mikaela Shiffrin dominating technical events. Competition runs February 8-22 at Cortina’s legendary Tofane Alpine Skiing Centre and the Stelvio course in Bormio.

Freestyle Skiing Aerial acrobatics, mogul navigation, slopestyle courses with rails and jumps, and halfpipe tricks. This is skiing at its most creative and visually spectacular.

New for 2026: Men’s and women’s dual moguls – head-to-head racing down parallel bumpy courses – debuts as a medal event.

Events run February 7-21 across Livigno’s Snow Park and dedicated moguls facility. Watch for Chinese-American star Eileen Gu, the two-time Olympic champion looking to add to her legacy.

Snowboarding Born from surf and skate culture, snowboarding brings younger, more informal energy to the Games. Halfpipe, slopestyle, big air, snowboard cross, and parallel giant slalom all crown champions.

American Chloe Kim, two-time Olympic gold medalist, leads a deep field. Competition runs February 7-20 at Livigno Snow Park.

Ski Mountaineering (SKIMO) – OLYMPIC DEBUT The newest Olympic sport, ski mountaineering makes its debut at Milan-Cortina 2026. Athletes race up mountains on skis with climbing skins attached, transition to downhill mode, then race back down – sometimes switching between skis and running on foot multiple times.

This is an endurance sport that combines cross-country fitness, technical climbing, and downhill skiing skill. Men’s and women’s sprint races plus mixed relay will award medals February 19-21 at the Valmalenco ski mountaineering course.

NORDIC EVENTS – ENDURANCE & PRECISION

Nordic sports take place in the valleys of northern Italy, testing stamina, technique, and nerve.

Biathlon Cross-country skiing combined with rifle shooting – a sport born from military ski patrol competitions. Athletes ski grueling courses, then drop their heart rates enough to hit five small targets from distances of 50 meters. Miss a target, ski a penalty lap. The combination of cardiovascular endurance and precision shooting makes biathlon uniquely demanding.

Norway, France, and Germany typically dominate. Events run February 8-20 at Anterselva Biathlon Arena.

Cross-Country Skiing Pure endurance racing – distances range from sprint events around 1.5km to marathon-length 50km races. Some events use classical technique (parallel skiing in set tracks), others use freestyle (skating technique), and some combine both.

Norway owns this sport historically, but Sweden, Finland, Russia (competing as neutral athletes), and USA all field strong competitors. Competition runs February 8-22 at Tesero Cross-Country Skiing Stadium.

Ski Jumping Athletes launch themselves off massive ramps, flying through the air for distances exceeding 100 meters on the large hill. Judges score both distance and style – body position, landing, and flight trajectory all matter.

New for 2026: Women’s large hill individual debuts, giving female jumpers the same platform men have competed on since the first Winter Olympics in 1924.

Japanese and Slovenian athletes enter as favorites. Events run February 8-17 at Predazzo Ski Jumping Stadium.

Nordic Combined Ski jumping followed by cross-country skiing – the ultimate test of versatility. Athletes must excel at two completely different disciplines: explosive power for the jump, then cardiovascular endurance for the ski race.

This remains the only Olympic sport with no women’s events – a controversial distinction that organizers are working to change for future Games. Competition runs February 12-20.

Sliding Sports: Bobsleigh, Luge, Skeleton The adrenaline sports – athletes pilot sleds down an icy 1.2km track at speeds exceeding 130 km/h.

Skeleton: Face-first, solo, steering by shifting body weight Luge: Feet-first on your back, solo or doubles
Bobsleigh: 2-person or 4-person teams in aerodynamic sleds

New for 2026: Women’s doubles luge debuts (previously only men competed in doubles), and mixed team skeleton relay becomes a medal event.

All sliding sports take place at Cortina’s controversial new sliding centre – built at enormous cost after the historic Eugenio Monti track was deemed beyond repair. Events run February 9-22.

Each of the 16 Sports of Milan-Cortina 2026 represents years of dedication, specialized training, and often a single shot at Olympic glory. Over the next 17 days, these Winter Olympics Events will crown champions across every discipline – from the artistic beauty of figure skating to the raw speed of downhill skiing, from the precision of biathlon to the controlled chaos of short track speed skating.

The Winter Olympics aren’t just a sporting event – they are a showcase of human capability at the extreme edges of what bodies can achieve on snow and ice.