More than 3500 athletes from 93 countries will be competing for 195 medals at the Milan-Cortina Games. Three countries will be making their Winter Olympic debuts at the 2026 Games, the African nations of Benin and Guinea Bissau along with the United Arab Emirates.

Bissau, along with the United Arab Emirates (UAE) from the Middle East, are making their Winter Olympic debuts, while North Korea has not received an invitation. The exclusion is not due to political reasons or sanctions from the International Olympic Committee (IOC),

The 2026 Winter Olympics will take place on Feb. 6 in Milan and Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy, and it will be the first time the Games will be jointly hosted.

The Milan Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics kicked off on Friday with an unprecedentedly widespread opening ceremony that was certainly more somber that the Paris 2024 opener but still delivered a classy spectacle and projected an overall elegance that reflects its Italian spirit.

The United States has the largest Olympic delegation with 232 athletes, followed by Canada with over 200 athletes and Italy with 196.

The Olympic opening ceremony ran 3 1/2 hours, an hour longer than its scheduled run time. It was a spectacular event, one that had a blend of Italian music, food, fashion, culture and a lot more. Catc

The 2026 Winter Olympics were under way in Milan, Italy, with U.S. Vice President JD Vance and second lady Usha Vance looking on. Team USA is expected to come out into San Siro soon.

The 2026 Milan Cortina Winter Olympics’ early events continued on day -1 ahead of Friday's opening ceremony. After opening the games on day -2 as the first event to start competitive play, curling continued with wins for the U.