The 2026 Winter Games will feature 16 different sports, including ski jumping, snowboarding, bobsleighing and figure skating.
WASHINGTON — In just 100 days, athletes from all over the world will gather in Italy to compete in the 2026 Winter Olympics.
The event comes nearly two years after the Summer Games in Paris and four years after the last edition of the Winter Games in Beijing.
Next year, the Winter Games will be hosted by two Italian cities, Milan and Cortina d’Ampezzo.
More than 3,500 athletes from 93 countries will compete in the 16 Olympic and six Paralympic sports events. Several prolific American athletes are expected to compete, with the U.S. a top contender for overall medal count.
The Winter Games will feature 16 different sports, including ski jumping, snowboarding, bobsleighing and figure skating.
Why are the Olympics every two years?
For most of the 20th century, the Winter and Summer Olympics were held in the same year, then repeated every four years.
However, in 1994, things changed when the Winter and Summer games split and were then held every two years instead. The 1994 Winter Olympics were held in Lillehammer, Norway, followed by the Summer Games in 1996 in Atlanta.
The decision to break the 70-year-old tradition came after the International Olympic Committee amended the Olympic Charter to separate the games.
Since 1994, the Summer and Winter Olympics have been held every four years, respectively. The four-year period that elapses between Olympic Games is called an “Olympiad.”
Summer Games are held in the first year of the Olympiad, while the Winter Games are held in the third year of that time period.
There have been a few times that the Olympic Games were canceled or rescheduled, usually due to war or a global factor like the COVID-19 pandemic.