The 2026 Milan Cortina Winter Games, which open one year from today, feature the Olympic debuts of one sport and six new events within existing sports.
The Opening Ceremony is next Feb. 6 at the San Siro Stadium in Milan. Non-medal competition starts Feb. 4. There will be a Winter Olympic record 116 medal events spread across clusters in Northern Italy.
Here’s a look at what’s new at the Winter Games:
Ski Mountaineering
Often called skimo, it was added through a rule that allows Olympic hosts to propose adding sports solely for their edition of the Games (such as breaking at Paris 2024).
In skimo, athletes race up and down a course and can alternate between being on skis and on foot (with their skis attached to their back). Medals will be awarded in men’s and women’s sprints and in a mixed-gender relay.
Skimo will be the first sport to make its Winter Olympic medal event debut since luge in 1964. Skimo is rooted in the Alps, so it is unsurprisingly dominated by European countries.
Luge: Women’s Doubles
Within existing sports, new events were added with an emphasis on gender equality. Milan Cortina is projected to have the highest female participation rate in Winter Games history (47%).
In luge, one doubles event has already been on the Olympic program for decades, open to both men and women, but only men competed. Now women get their own event.
Americans Chevonne Forgan and Sophia Kirkby are two-time world championships bronze medalists and won a World Cup race last Nov. 30.
Ski Jumping: Women’s Large Hill
A second individual women’s ski jumping event debuts in 2026 to match the number of individual men’s events.
Women’s ski jumpers first competed at the Olympics at the 2014 Sochi Games in the normal hill event. Then in 2022, a mixed-gender team event was added with two men and two women per nation.
The top female ski jumpers are from Austria, Canada, Germany, Norway and Slovenia.
Skeleton: Mixed Team
Skeleton is the latest winter sport to add a mixed-gender team event following those in biathlon, figure skating and luge that debuted in 2014, curling in 2018 and aerials, short track, ski jumping and snowboard cross in 2022.
Teams will have one male and one female skeleton athlete each take one run. Best combined time wins.
The event debuted at the world championships in 2020, and Germany has won all four titles.
Alpine Skiing: Team Combined
The individual combined, where skiers combined times from their runs of downhill and slalom, was held at the last 10 Olympics.
It is replaced by the team combined. A nation can qualify up to four teams per event consisting of one skier for a downhill run and another skier for a slalom run. Best combined time wins.
The event debuts at the World Championships next Tuesday. The U.S. could field strong women’s teams at the Olympics with the likes of downhill standouts Lindsey Vonn and Lauren Macuga and slalom stars Mikaela Shiffrin and Paula Moltzan.
Freestyle Skiing: Women’s and Men’s Dual Moguls
Moguls skiers have traditionally been among the first athletes to finish their Olympic competitions in the first few days of the Games. Now, they can fill their schedules with a second medal event.
In dual moguls, skiers compete head-to-head in a bracket-style elimination format. It has been held at the World Championships since 1999,
American Jaelin Kauf, the 2022 Olympic moguls silver medalist, has finished first or second in the last eight World Cup dual moguls events.
