One month to go until the 2026 Winter Olympics in Milan | Olympics

MILAN, Italy (KVOA) – Excitement is building as the 2026 Winter Olympics is officially one month away! The Opening Ceremony will take place in Italy on Feb. 6, bringing the Games close to their Greek roots as they will be hosted by the Italian cities of Milan and Cortina d’Ampezzo.

More than 3,500 athletes from 93 countries are expected to compete in 16 Olympic and six Paralympic sports events. Team USA is gearing up with several prolific athletes, making the United States a top contender for the medal count.

The Winter Olympics in Milan and Cortina d’Ampezzo will run for 17 days, from Feb. 6 to Feb. 22. The Paralympic Winter Games will follow, from March 6 to March 16.

Chloe Kim, Mikaela Shiffrin, Lindsey Vonn, Jordan Stolz, Brittany Bowe, Madison Chock, and Evan Bates are among the American athletes to watch as they could take the spotlight during the 2026 Winter Games.

The events will take place at several venues in the Milano area, including San Siro Stadium, Mediolanum Forum in Assago, Palasharp in Lampugnano, and the Santa Giulia arena.

The 2026 Winter Olympics will feature two mascots, Tina and Milo, representing the host cities of Cortina and Milano.

The Olympic medals will be unique, comprised of two halves forming the Olympic rings. “The medals are being produced by Italy’s state mint, the Zecca dello Stato, using recycled metal recovered from its own production waste,” according to the Olympics.

More than 1,100 medals will be awarded throughout the 195 events in the Milan Cortina Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games.

The Winter Games will introduce eight new events, including ski mountaineering, freestyle skiing, open luge, skeleton, and ski jumping. However, the alpine skiing mixed team parallel event will not return.

The Winter Olympics have been held every four years since 1994, alternating with the Summer Olympics, which are also held every four years. The last U.S. host for the Winter Olympics was Salt Lake City in 2002, and the Summer Games were last hosted in Atlanta in 1996.

Looking ahead, the Summer Olympics will return to the U.S. in 2028, with Los Angeles hosting the Games starting July 14, 2028. The Paralympic Games will follow on Aug. 15, concluding on Aug. 27.

You can catch all the Olympic action for both the Winter and Summer games on News 4 Tucson and all of our platforms.