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The 25th Winter Olympic Games are almost here. Returning to Europe, Milan-Cortina 2026 will be the biggest Winter Olympics yet, featuring a record 116 medal events, including three in the new sport of ski mountaineering.
From Team GB’s medal hopes to historic gender balance and the return of NHL stars, here’s everything you need to know.
🇬🇧 Could This Be Britain’s Most Successful Winter Olympics?
Great Britain has never won more than five medals — or more than one gold — at a single Winter Olympics. That record could fall in 2026.
UK Sport has shifted from fixed medal “targets” to medal ranges, and for Milan-Cortina it is projecting between four and eight medals. Team GB chef de mission Eve Muirhead believes there is a real “opportunity to get the most medals we ever have”.
The optimism is backed by recent results. British athletes collected nine medals at World Championships in Winter Olympic sports, including bobsleigh, curling, figure skating, freestyle skiing, skeleton and snowboarding.
That tally doesn’t even include rising stars such as snowboarder Mia Brookes and freestyle skier Kirsty Muir, both World Cup winners this season and considered genuine medal contenders.
However, caution remains. Team GB targeted three to seven medals at the Beijing 2022 Games, but only delivered on the final weekend with a curling gold and silver — avoiding disappointment, but falling short of expectations.
♀️ A Landmark Games for Gender Equality
The Winter Olympics have come a long way since their 1924 debut, when just 11 women competed, compared to hundreds of men.
According to the International Olympic Committee (IOC), around 1,300 female athletes will take part in Milan-Cortina 2026. Of the 116 medal events:
- 50 will be women’s events (a record)
- 12 will be mixed events
That means women will compete in a Winter Games-record 53.4% of all medal events.
Twelve of the 16 disciplines will be fully gender-balanced in athlete numbers — another milestone. New women’s events include luge doubles and ski jumping (large hill), alongside a new mixed skeleton relay.
Symbolically, these Games will also be the first overseen by IOC president Kirsty Coventry, the first woman to hold the organisation’s most powerful role.
Yet progress is incomplete. Nordic combined remains the only Winter Olympic sport not open to women, after the IOC declined to add a women’s event for 2026 despite strong lobbying from athletes.
🏒 NHL Stars Return to Olympic Ice Hockey
Ice hockey is one of the Winter Olympics’ biggest attractions, and anticipation has surged with the return of NHL players after a 12-year absence.
NHL athletes were barred from the 2018 Games, while Covid ruled them out in 2022. Even for 2026, their participation was uncertain due to concerns over venue readiness and ice conditions.
Their return has reignited USA hopes of winning a first Olympic men’s ice hockey gold since the legendary 1980 “Miracle on Ice”, especially with Russia banned from the tournament.
But the impact extends far beyond North America. Although NHL teams are based in the USA and Canada, 11 of the 12 Olympic teams will feature NHL players. Reigning champions Finland, along with Sweden and Slovakia, boast rosters packed with league talent.
🇮🇹 Milan-Cortina 2026 vs Cortina 1956: A Different Scale
Cortina d’Ampezzo will become only the fourth location to host the Winter Olympics twice, following:
- St Moritz (1928 & 1948)
- Innsbruck (1964 & 1976)
- Lake Placid (1932 & 1980)
But the Games have grown dramatically since 1956. There are now five times as many events and almost four times as many athletes, making it impossible for a single ski resort to host the Olympics alone.
Milan-Cortina 2026 will be the most geographically spread Winter Games ever, with events staged across multiple regions and cities — including Milan, Italy’s second-largest city.
🌱 Sustainability Takes Centre Stage
The IOC has placed sustainability at the heart of its planning, favouring existing and shared venues over large-scale new construction.
IOC president Kirsty Coventry has described this approach as “the new normal”, reducing environmental impact while controlling costs.
A prime example is Cortina’s Olympic Ice Stadium. In 1956, it hosted the opening ceremony, ice hockey and outdoor figure skating — the last time that discipline was held outdoors at the Games. Seventy years later, now roofed, it will host curling in 2026.
❄️ A Winter Games Like No Other
With record medal events, historic strides in gender equality, the return of global ice hockey stars and a sustainability-focused footprint, Milan-Cortina 2026 is shaping up to be one of the most significant Winter Olympics ever.
And for Team GB, it might just be the most successful yet.
