Winter Olympics 2026: Today's Thrilling Schedule and Results

**Milano Cortina 2026** is the organizing entity behind the 2026 Winter Olympics, a private foundation tasked with coordinating the first officially co-hosted Games by two Italian cities: Milan (ice events) and Cortina d'Ampezzo (snow events in Valtellina and Fiemme valleys).[1][2] Spanning nearly **8,500 square miles** across 13 venues—mostly existing or temporary, save a new 16,000-seat hockey arena and renovated Milan Olympic Village—the event marks Italy's third Winter Olympics after Cortina 1956 and Turin 2006.[1][2] Selected on June 24, 2019, at the IOC's 134th Session in Lausanne, the joint bid triumphed over Stockholm-Åre, leveraging Italy's Olympic legacy.[1] The foundation oversees logistics for **116 events** in 16 disciplines, debuting **ski mountaineering (skimo)** with sprint and mixed relay, plus eight new formats like women's luge doubles, men's dual moguls, and equal-distance cross-country skiing for gender parity.[2][3] Innovations include a men's super team ski jump and team combined alpine events, blending high-tech timing with sustainable venue reuse.[3] From a **business perspective**, the Games drive infrastructure upgrades, like converting the Porta Romana rail yard into 1,700 student units post-event, while tech integrations promise real-time data analytics and AR fan experiences.[2] Challenges persist: A November 2025 "Olympics rescue decree" classifying the foundation as private to evade probes into bid-rigging and corruption faces Constitutional Court review, spotlighting governance risks.[1] An Innsbruck sliding track proposal highlights cost pressures on Cortina's renovations.[1] As Games approach (February 6-21, 2026), Milano Cortina 2026 positions Italy as a winter sports innovator

**Team USA**, the public-facing brand of the United States Olympic & Paralympic Committee (USOPC), empowers America's elite athletes to compete on the global stage while driving innovation in sports performance and athlete support.[1][2][6] Founded in 1894 amid the International Olympic Committee's inception, the USOPC—headquartered in Colorado Springs, Colorado—evolved from early efforts by American IOC members to organize U.S. participation in the 1896 Athens Olympics. It formalized as the American Olympic Association in 1921 and gained its modern structure via the 1978 Ted Stevens Olympic and Amateur Sports Act, which designated it as the nation's National Olympic Committee (NOC) and, uniquely, National Paralympic Committee (NPC)—one of only four worldwide managing both.[1][2] U.S. Paralympics, a key division, launched in 2001 to oversee Paralympic teams and community programs.[2] The USOPC fields U.S. teams for the Olympic, Paralympic, Youth Olympic, Pan American, and Parapan American Games, collaborating with 45 Olympic National Governing Bodies (NGBs) and others for training, trials, and athlete selection. As a federally chartered nonprofit, it relies entirely on private funding from fans, sponsors, and partners—unlike government-backed NOCs elsewhere—allocating 78% of its budget directly to athletes via programs like the Athlete Marketing Platform and Technology and Innovation Fund, which deliver cutting-edge sport science and sponsorships.[1][3][5] Key achievements underscore its dominance: Team USA topped the 2020 Tokyo Olympics medal count with 113 medals (39 golds) across 28 sports and ranked third in Paralympics with 104 medals (37 golds), even amid pandemic delays.[3] The U.S. consistently leads global medal tallies, hosts major events, and holds leadership roles in internationa