Interesting Stuff About the 2026 Winter Olympics That You Might Not Know

I love watching the Olympics, but one of my favorite parts isn't watching the competitions, it's hearing all the interesting tidbits and backstories that you learn in between events. And in our modern world of technology, there are all kinds of stories and videos online that tell us even more that we might otherwise miss. Here are some of the most interesting (and sometimes the funniest) stories and facts I've learned about the Olympics this year!

SkiMo

There is a new event this year called "Ski Mountaineering," or "SkiMo," for short. One commentator described it as "skiing, but without a ski lift." In other words, the skiers ski UP the mountain before skiing DOWN the mountain, plus an additional ski-less climbing section in the middle. Here's how it works:

Competitors begin by "skinning" uphill: they put special covers ("skins") on their skis which help them to not slide backwards, and they climb up a curving path. 

The hill then becomes steeper and they remove their skis, carrying them on their backs, and climb to the top of the course. 

At the top, they remove the "skins" from the skits, put the skis back on, and ski down a slalom course to the finish line. 

Events include men's and women's sprints, which follow the course as described above, plus a mixed relay, in which a male and female duo alternate a total of four laps of the course (the woman racing the first and third and the man the second and fourth lap), with each lap taking roughly 7-9 minutes. 

There are also a few interesting rules, such as that ski poles must be flat on the ground while removing skins and donning skis, the skins must be tucked inside the racer's bodysuit when not on the skis, and each racer must carry a survival backpack containing a Missing Avalanche Victim Detector (DVA). Racers/teams can receive time penalties for a number of violations, including missing or improper equipment (e.g., no batteries in the DVA, crampons not clipped to ankles, helmet not worn properly, etc.), missing a gate or checkpoint, "disrespecting the environment", pushing/shoving a competitor, or failing to assist a person in distress or danger. 

Not surprisingly, the teams favored to medal are all from countries near the Alps: France, Italy, Switzerland, and Spain. 

Helmet Controversies

Great Britain's Skeleton team had developed a new, supposedly more aerodynamic crash helmet, but just days before the start of competition, the sport's ruling body, the International Bobsleigh and Skeleton Federation (IBSF), deemed it illegal due to its shape. The Brits disagreed and filed an appeal with the Court of Arbitration, but the ruling was upheld. Fortunately, the team had brought their old helmets with them to Italy, and will compete in those helmets. 

Another Skeleton Olympian was barred from wearing his preferred helmet, although for a completely different reason. Ukrainian Vladyslav Heraskevych emblazoned his helmet (top photo, above) with images of Ukrainian athletes and coaches who were killed in the conflict with Russia, but the International Olympic Committee (IOC) banned it, citing regulations which state, "no kind of demonstration or political, religious or racial propaganda is permitted in any Olympic sites, venues or other areas." Similarly, Ukrainian freestyle skier Kateryna Kotsar was banned from wearing a helmet that stated, "BE BRAVE LIKE UKRAINIANS" (lower photo, above). 

Gender Parity

The 2024 Summer Olympics was the first Olympic Games with full gender parity on the field, and the 2026 Winter Olympics is set to be the most gender equal Winter Games so far. 47% of athletes are women, which is a 1.6% increase from Beijing in 2022. On the executive side, 50% of the positions on IOC commissions are held by women, and 47% of the IOC's Executive Board members are women, including its president.

In addition, the distances for all twelve cross-country skiing events are now the same for male and female competitions for the first time. 
 

The Mascots

You may know that the official mascots of the 2026 Winter Olympics are a pair of stoats named Milo and Tina (they're brother and sister), and you might even know - or have guessed from their names - that they represent that two host cities of Milano and Cortina, but did you know that Milo was born without one of his paws, and therefore also represents the Paralympic Games? 

Brothers and Sisters

Speaking of brothers and sisters, there are a number of sibling pairs competing in these games, including (but no doubt not limited to) Slovenian ski jumpers Nika and Domen Prevc (in photo above, winning gold in the mixed team event; their brother Peter won Olympic gold in the mixed team event in 2022), Swedish curlers Isabella and Rasmus Wranå (who won gold in mixed doubles), Italian freestyle skiers Miro and Flora Tabanelli, Danish biathletes Sondre and Ukaleq Slettemark, American ice dancers Maia and Alex Shibutani, American hockey players Matthew and Brady Tkachuk (whose father, Keith, is a four-time Olympian in the sport), and American hockey players Quinn and Jack Hughes. 

In addition to all the pairs, there is also a trio of skiing sisters on Team USA: Alpine skier Lauren Macuga, mogul skier Alli Macuga, and ski jumper Sam Macuga. And keep your eye on their family in the future, because they have a younger brother, Daniel, who is an Alpine skier with Olympic dreams.

The Name Game

Some of the best names spotted on the rosters:

• Saulius Ambrulevicius, Figure Skating (Lithuania)
• Daniel Barefoot, Skeleton (USA)
• Vinzenz Buff, Skeleton (Switzerland)
• Florian Chakiachvili, Ice Hockey (France)
• Vili Crv, XC Skiing (Slovenia)
• Jenning de Boo, Speed Skating (Netherlands)
• Bing Dong, Ski Jumping (China)
• Ariuntungalag Enkhbayar, XC Skiing (Mongolia)
• Mac Forehand, Freestyle Skiing (USA)
• Minerva Fabienne Hase, Figure Skating (Germany)
• Breezy Johnson, Alpine Skiing (USA)
• Cheyenne Loch, Snowboard (Germany)
• Emerance Maschmeyer, Women's Ice Hockey (Canada)
• AA Papathoma Paraskevaidou (Azerbaijan)
• River Radamus, Men's Alpine Skiing (USA)
• Maia Schwinghammer, Freestyle Skiing (Canada)
• Ingrid Landmark Tandrevold, Biathlon (Norway)
• Louis Philip Vito III, Snowboard (Italy)
• Vid Vrohovnik, Nordic Combined (Slovenia)
• Kira Weidle-Winkelmann, Alpine Skiing (Germany)

(And yes, I read the name of every single Olympian on the roster, from Ingrid Bergene Aabrekk all the way to Damien Zurek. You're welcome.)

Firsts

The Milano-Cortino Games mark not only the first time that two cities serve as official hosts, but also the first time the Parade of Athletes in the Opening Ceremonies was celebrated at multiple venues. The distances between the venues were too far for some of the already-competing athletes to travel to the Olympic Stadium in Milano, so organizers set up a large gold Olympic ring at each of four different venues for the athletes to march through, and coordinated the timing so each country's athletes would march together. 

This Olympics marks the debut of six new events: Ski Mountaineering, Women's Doubles Luge, Mixed-team Skeleton, Dual Moguls, Alpine Skiing Combined, and Women's Large Hill Ski Jumping. With 116 total medal events across 16 disciplines, this will be the largest Winter Games ever.

Three nations are making their Winter Olympic debut this year: Benin, Guinea-Bissau, and United Arab Emirates (UAE). Benin's team consists of Alpine Skier Nathan Tchibozo; Guinea-Bissau is represented by Alpine Skier Winston Tang; and UAE has two Alpine Skiers, Alexander Astridge and Piera Hudson.

Ester Ledecka (above, women’s parallel giant slalom), Anna Gasser (women’s big air) and Chloe Kim (women’s halfpipe) all have a chance to become the first snowboarder to win gold in the same event at three straight Winter Olympics.

Random Fun Facts

The Winter Olympics were previously held in Cortina d'Ampezzo in 1956 - exactly 70 years ago! The sliding center, Eugenio Monte, is in the same location as the 1956 venue (although heavily refurbished). The ice stadium, Stadio Olimpico del Ghiaccio, originally used for figure skating and ice hockey, will host curling and wheelchair curling, as well as the Paralympic closing ceremony. 

Austria’s Olympic snowboard team includes two Gen Xers (above, top photo): Claudia Riegler (52) and Andreas Prommegger (45). They both raced in the Snowboard Parallel Giant Slalom, but were eliminated before the finals. Riegler is the oldest female athlete to ever compete in the Winter Olympics. Other "oldies but goodies" include 46-year-old Edson Bindilatti, a bobsledder for Team Brazil; Nick Baumgartner, a 46-year-old snowboarder for Team USA competing in his fifth Olympics; and Rich Ruohonen, a 54-year-old alternate for the USA curling team, and a first-time Olympian. If Ruohonen competes, he will be the oldest Team USA athlete in Olympic history. At age 40, Benjamin Karr became the oldest individual gold medalist ever in the Winter Games when he won the Men’s Parallel Giant Slalom Snowboard competition for Team Austria. Following his win, Karr tore off his shirt and flexed in an homage to fellow Austrian Hermann Maier, who had once done the same (above, lower photo).

On the opposite end of the spectrum, the youngest competitors include 15-year-old freestyle skiers Abby Winterberger (USA) and Indra Brown (Australia; above) and 16-year-old snowboarders Choi Gaon (South Korea) and Lily Dhawornvej (USA). 

The Olympic medals are two joined halves, representing the two host cities, the partnership of athlete and team, and the union of Olympics and Paralympics. The medals are produced by the Italian State Mint using recycled materials and renewable energy, signifying sustainability and ecological awareness.  

Five Fast Facts about the Winter Olympics

#1) All the events take place on a surface of either ice or snow. At the 1964 Innsbruck Games, there wasn't enough natural snow, so the Austrian army carted more than 38,200 cubic meters of snow and 20,000 blocks of ice from the nearby mountains to the venues. 

#2) Animals have participated in the Winter Games: The 1928 Games included a demonstration sport called skijoring, in which athletes were towed on skis behind riderless horses; and the 1932 Games included a dog-sledding demonstration event.  

#3) Until 1948, the only Winter Olympic sport that allowed female competitors was figure skating. 

#4) The Opening Ceremonies of the 1960 Squaw Valley Games were coordinated by Walt Disney, and included 700 musicians, 2,000 doves, and more than 30,000 balloons.

#5) To date, only one person has won a gold medal in both the Summer and the Winter Olympics:  American Eddie Eagan won a gold medal for boxing at the 1920 Summer Games in Antwerp, and more than a decade later, was part of the gold medal-winning bobsled team at the 1932 Winter Games in Lake Placid.