The International Olympic Committee (IOC) announced that Italy will host the 2026 Winter Olympics and Paralympics. This was announced post a conference in Lausanne, Switzerland by IOC President Thomas Bach on 24th June.
The cities of Milan and Cortina d’Ampezzo in Italy will host the sporting extravaganza. While the skating sports event will be held in Milan, the alpine skiing events will be held in Cortina.
Milano-Cortina elected as Host City for the Winter Olympic Games 2026 @MilanoCortina26 #MilanoCortina2026 pic.twitter.com/v9MHpRMfLB
— Olympics (@Olympics) June 24, 2019
The 2026 Winter Olympics are due to be held from 6th to 22nd February in 2026 while the Winter Paralympics will be held a little later from 6th to 15th March.
Italy has hosted the event twice in the past – Cortina has been host to the Winter Olympics earlier in 1956. Italy had last hosted the event in Turin in 2006.
Italy beat its closest rival Sweden in the race to host the event. It won 47 votes out of 82. The delegation from Italy was jubilant after the announcement and broke into chants of ‘Italia! Italia!.’
This also marks the return of the Winter Games to Europe after 2006. It has, since, been held in Vancouver, Canada in 2010; Sochi, Russia in 2014; and Pyeongchang, South Korea in 2018. The city of Beijing in China will host it in 2022.
What is the Winter Olympics?
The Winter Olympics is a multi-sport event held specifically for sports played on ice and snow. It is held once in four years and was first held in 1924 in Chamonix in France.
Athletes world over compete in events such as alpine skating, ice hockey, luge, figure skating, cross-country skiing, freestyle skiing, curling, ski jumping, and snowboarding among many others.
