2026 Winter Olympics
The 2026 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XXV Olympic Winter Games (French: Les XXVes Jeux olympiques d'hiver;[1] Italian: XXV Giochi olimpici invernali), and commonly known as Milano Cortina 2026 or Milan Cortina 2026, is a forthcoming international multi-sport event that is scheduled to take place from 6 to 22 February 2026 in the Italian cities of Milan and Cortina d'Ampezzo. Milan–Cortina d'Ampezzo beat another joint bid from Swedish cities Stockholm–Åre by 47–34 votes to be elected host cities at the 134th Session of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) in Lausanne, Switzerland, on 24 June 2019.[2][3][4]
Host city | Milan and Cortina, Italy | ||
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Motto |
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Opening | 6 February | ||
Closing | 22 February | ||
Stadium |
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Winter | |||
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Summer | |||
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This will be the fourth Olympic Games hosted in Italy and the first hosted in Milan. It will mark the 20th anniversary of the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin, the 70th anniversary of the 1956 Winter Olympics in Cortina d'Ampezzo, the 80th anniversary of the Italian Republic, the 165th anniversary of Italian unification, and the 130th anniversary of the first 1896 Summer Olympics. This will be the first Olympic Games featuring two host cities in an official form.[note 1]
Bidding
Host city selection
Milan and Cortina d'Ampezzo was elected as the host cities on 24 June 2019 at the 134th IOC Session in Lausanne, Switzerland. The three Italian IOC members, Franco Carraro, Ivo Ferriani and Giovanni Malagò, and two Swedish IOC members, Gunilla Lindberg and Stefan Holm, were ineligible to vote in this host city election under the rules of the Olympic Charter.
City | Nation | Votes |
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Milan–Cortina d'Ampezzo | Italy | 47 |
Stockholm–Åre | Sweden | 34 |
One abstention[5] |
Criteria
A firm criterion for the Winter Olympics is the availability of adequate alpine skiing venues, which narrows down potential locations significantly. The men's downhill requires a minimum vertical drop of 800 metres (2,625 feet), with a course length of around 3 kilometres (1.9 miles).[6] Bormio and Cortina are notable regular stops on the World Cup circuit for men's and women's downhills, respectively.
For the 2026 Winter Olympics, the IOC allowed a longer distance between events, so that alpine skiing can be held in a mountain area, and indoor sports such as ice hockey and figure skating can be held in a large city more than 160 km (100 mi) away, where such arenas are already available or have greater usage after the games.
A certain spectator capacity is required, most often 10,000, but varies according to the particular sport. Furthermore, certain VIP areas are required at every venue.
National Hockey League (NHL) commissioner Gary Bettman stated in 2017 that NHL players were unlikely to be included if the Winter Games was held outside of North America.[7] However, on July 6, 2020, the league and its players' union announced a tentative agreement to extend their Collective Bargaining Agreement,[8] which included provisions for participating in the 2022 and 2026 Olympics.[9]
Venues
Milan Cluster
- San Siro Stadium – opening ceremony
- PalaItalia Santa Giulia – main ice hockey venue (planned despite the games)
- PalaLido – second ice hockey venue
- Piazza del Duomo - Medal Plaza
Assago stand-alone venue
- Mediolanum Forum – figure skating, short track
Valtellina Cluster
Cortina d'Ampezzo Cluster
- Olimpia delle Tofane Slope, Cortina d'Ampezzo – alpine skiing (technical resort is in construction for FIS Alpine World Ski Championships 2021)
- Pista Eugenio Monti, Cortina – bobsleigh, luge and skeleton (modernisation and lighting works)
- Stadio Olimpico Del Ghiaccio, Cortina – curling
- South Tyrol Arena, Antholz – biathlon
Val di Fiemme Cluster
- Stadio del salto "Giuseppe Dal Ben", Predazzo – ski jumping, nordic combined (wind net required)
- Lago di Tesero Cross Country Stadium, Tesero – cross-country skiing, nordic combined
- Ice Rink Piné, Baselga di Piné – speed skating (venue to be rebuilt)
Verona
- Verona Arena – closing ceremony
Sports
- Biathlon
- Biathlon (11) ()
- Bobsleigh
- Bobsleigh (4) ()
- Curling
- Curling (3) ()
- Ice hockey
- Ice hockey (2) ()
- Luge
- Luge (4) ()
- Skating
- Figure skating (5) ()
- Short track speed skating (9) ()
- Speed skating (14) ()
- Skeleton
- Skeleton (2) ()
- Skiing
- Alpine skiing (11) ()
- Cross-country skiing (12) ()
- Freestyle skiing (13) ()
- Nordic combined (3) ()
- Ski jumping (5) ()
- Snowboarding (11) ()
Broadcasting rights
See also
- 2026 Winter Paralympics
- Olympic Games celebrated in Italy
- 1956 Winter Olympics – Cortina D'Ampezzo
- 1960 Summer Olympics – Rome
- 2006 Winter Olympics – Turin
- 2026 Winter Olympics – Milan and Cortina D'Ampezzo
Notes
- Some events in previous Olympic Games were held in cities outside of the official hosts, usually for logistical reasons. These events were:
- sailing events held in land-locked host cities, which are typically held in nearby coastal areas, of particular note are:
- sailing events at the Antwerp 1920 Summer Olympics, which were held in Ostend, Belgium and in Amsterdam, Netherlands;
- sailing events at the Montreal 1976 Summer Olympics, which were held on Lake Ontario near Kingston, Ontario, the only time sailing has been held in fresh water;
- sailing events at the Moscow 1980 Summer Olympics, which were held in Tallinn in modern-day Estonia;
- equestrian events for the Melbourne 1956 Summer Olympics, which were held in Stockholm due to strict horse quarantine requirements in Australia;
- equestrian events for the Beijing 2008 Summer Olympics, which were held in Hong Kong due to its well-established equestrian facilities.
- sailing events held in land-locked host cities, which are typically held in nearby coastal areas, of particular note are:
References
- "French and English are the official languages for the Olympic Games.", .(..)
- "Lausanne To Host Vote For Winning 2026 Winter Olympic Bid Instead of Milan After Italy Enters Race". GamesBids. 20 September 2018.
- "IOC To Move Up 2026 Olympic Bid Vote Three Months, Now June 2019". GamesBids. 9 October 2018.
- "Winter Olympics: Italy's Milan-Cortina bid chosen as host for the 2026 Games". BBC. 24 June 2019.
- "Milan-Cortina awarded the Olympic Winter Games 2026". IOC. 24 June 2019. Retrieved 25 June 2019.
- "It's looking downhill for Quebec's Olympic bid". National Post (Canada). 13 December 2010. Retrieved 31 March 2018.
- "Gary Bettman says it's 'hard to envision' the NHL ever returning to the Olympics". CBS Sports. 11 November 2017. Retrieved 31 March 2018.
- Gulitti, Tom. "NHL, NHLPA agree to four-year CBA extension, protocols for Phases 3, 4". NHL.com. Retrieved 7 July 2020.
- Seravalli, Frank. "NHL, NHLPA on verge of labour peace; plan to resume games Aug. 1". tsn.ca. Retrieved 7 July 2020.
- "IOC reaches agreement for broadcast rights in Brazil with Grupo Globo through to 2032". International Olympic Committee. 10 December 2015. Retrieved 11 December 2015.
- "IOC awards broadcast rights to the Japan Consortium through to 2032". IOC. Olympic.org. 14 November 2019. Retrieved 14 November 2019.
- "IOC awards 2026-2032 Olympic Games broadcast rights in Korea to JTBC". International Olympic Committee. Olympic.org. 4 June 2019. Retrieved 4 June 2019.
- "IOC awards Olympic Games broadcast rights to NBCUniversal through to 2032". International Olympic Committee. 7 May 2014. Retrieved 7 May 2014.
External links
- "Milano-Cortina 2026". Olympic.org. International Olympic Committee.
- Milano–Cortina 2026
Preceded by Beijing |
Winter Olympics Milan–Cortina d'Ampezzo XXV Olympic Winter Games (2026) |
Succeeded by TBD |