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Opening ceremony marks start of 16-day Winter Games
The 2026 Winter Olympics officially begin Friday in northern Italy, where nearly 2,900 athletes from over 90 nations will compete across snow and ice venues stretching from Milan to the Dolomites.
The opening ceremony at Milan's San Siro stadium will feature performances by Grammy winner Mariah Carey and Italian tenor Andrea Bocelli. Due to the vast distances between event clusters, separate ceremonies with their own Olympic cauldrons will also take place in Cortina d'Ampezzo, Predazzo, and Livigno.
BBC coverage of the opening ceremony starts at 18:30 GMT on BBC Two and iPlayer.
Team GB eyes record medal haul
Great Britain, a country with no permanent ice track and an average of just 13 snow days per year, could achieve its most successful Winter Olympics yet. UK Sport projects up to eight medals, surpassing the previous record of five set at Sochi 2014 and Pyeongchang 2018.
Leading contenders include two-time world champion skeleton racer Matt Weston and teammate Marcus Wyatt, who dominated this season's World Cup. Snowboarders Mia Brookes and Charlotte Bankes, along with freestyle skiers Kirsty Muir and Zoe Atkin, are also in contention for Britain's first Olympic gold or silver on snow.
On the ice, figure skaters Lewis Gibson and Lilah Fear-tipped as the next Torvill and Dean-aim to secure Britain's first Olympic figure skating medal since 1994. The nation's curlers, who won two medals in 2022, are also strong medal prospects.
New sport and events added to the program
For the first time since 2002, a new sport joins the Winter Olympics: ski mountaineering, or "skimo." The event, held in Bormio, includes men's and women's sprint races and a mixed relay. Athletes sprint uphill with adhesive skins on their skis, then transition to climbing on foot before skiing downhill to the finish.
No British athletes will compete in skimo, but France's Emily Harrop-a multiple world champion with British parents-is a top contender.
Additional new events include dual moguls, luge doubles, team alpine combined, women's large hill ski jumping, and a mixed relay in skeleton.
Venue delays and doping scandal mar preparations
While most venues were repurposed from existing facilities, two new sites faced significant challenges. The Cortina Sliding Centre, rebuilt on a century-old track at a cost of over £72 million, was completed just in time for November's test events. However, the Milano Santagiulia ice hockey stadium remains unfinished ahead of Thursday's opening match.
Organizers insist all scheduled games will proceed, despite delays and controversies, including a threatened boycott by the NHL. The rink's dimensions fall short of NHL standards, raising concerns about increased collision risks and ice quality.
Italy's preparations suffered another setback Monday when biathlete Rebecca Passler was expelled from the Games after failing a doping test.
Neutral athletes from Russia and Belarus face scrutiny
Following Russia's 2022 invasion of Ukraine, athletes from Russia and Belarus were banned from many international competitions. The IOC later permitted 20 competitors from the two nations to participate in Milan-Cortina as Individual Neutral Athletes (AINs), provided they met strict conditions, including no active support for the war and no military contracts.
However, evidence reviewed by BBC Sport links four of the 13 approved Russian athletes to pro-war activities: figure skater Petr Gumennik, cross-country skiers Savelii Korostelev and Dariya Nepryaeva, and speed skater Kseniia Korzhova. The IOC stated it could not comment on individual cases but confirmed the athletes were reviewed under established principles. None of the named athletes responded to requests for comment.
