Milan Cortina 2026 Preview

Less than 2 weeks until the Games begin!

Jan 25, 2026

In case you haven’t heard - or been near a TV playing NBC in the past year - the XXV Winter Olympic Games are about to kick-off in Northern Italy.

Like every Olympic Games, this year’s edition will be the largest and most gender equal yet. Nearly 3,000 athletes - 47% of them female - from 92 countries will compete for 116 Gold Medals, and Ski Mountaineering makes its Olympic debut. (We’ll have much more on this new sport when it starts later in the games.)

All of those athletes and sports will be broadcast by NBC in the United States. There will be over 3,200 hours of live broadcasts across a dizzying array of networks and platforms, maybe even including your local multiplex. (Just don’t expect to read about the Games in the Washington Post.)

So now it’s time to (perhaps metaphorically) strap on our skis, lace up our skates, sharpen our blades, finish our 25 Olympic venues, and prepare for the literal largest Winter Olympics in history.

We’ll be back in your inbox on February 6th with our Day 1 edition of Olympics Daily.

What To Watch Before the Opening Ceremonies

(All times Eastern. Full event relays available on-demand on Peacock)

The Olympics officially begin with the opening Ceremonies on Friday, February 6th, but curling and hockey take so long they need an extra day or two. Think of these as your Olympic hors d’oeuvres.

Wednesday, February 4

1:05 pm - Curling: Mixed Doubles Round Robin (four matches)

Thursday, February 5

4:05 am - Curling: Mixed Doubles Round Robin (four matches) 🇺🇸
6:10 am - Ice Hockey: Prelim. Round - SWE vs GER
8:35 am - Curling: Mixed Doubles Round Robin (four matches) 🇺🇸
8:40 am - Ice Hockey: Prelim. Round - ITA vs FRA
10:40 am - Ice Hockey: Prelim. Round - USA vs CZE 🇺🇸
1:05 pm - Curling: Mixed Doubles Round Robin (four matches) 🇺🇸
3:10 pm - Ice Hockey: Prelim. Round - FIN vs CAN

In Other Olympic News…

There will be dozens of new stars and unexpected storylines during these Games, and we’ll do our best to bring you the most interesting ones every day. Here are a few pre-Games headlines that caught our eye:

NHL players return to the Olympics for the first time since Sochi 2014 - Canada and the US are betting favorites
Perhaps the biggest per-Olympic news this week, the stars of hit series Heated Rivalry have been selected as Olympic torchbearers.
Figure Skating is already getting dramatic - a former athlete was fired from her commentator job for bad-mouthing her still-competing ex. Heated rivalry, indeed!
It may feel like the Winter Olympics across much of the US right now, but in Italy they’re making snow.
And of course, it wouldn’t be the Olympics without some sort of cheating scandal, this one involving the snugness of ski jumping uniforms in a certain sensitive area.