Nora Webb, Publishing Editor  

Every four years, the Winter Olympics arrive with a humbling message: there are people on this planet who can do things with their bodies that would permanently injure the rest of us. For transparency’s sake, I am writing this with a slipped disc I earned by hanging curtains. The 2026 Winter Games, officially Milano Cortina 2026, will take place from February 4^th to 22^nd across northern Italy, spanning Lombardy and the Northeast.  

Milano Cortina 2026 will feature 116 medal events across 16 disciplines, the largest Winter Olympics to date. Seven new medal events are being added, and ski mountaineering will make its Olympic debut. If you are unfamiliar with ski mountaineering, imagine combining uphill endurance racing with downhill speed skiing and then asking participants to do both without collapsing. Athletes repeatedly switch between climbing on skis and running with skis strapped to their backs before descending at high speed. It is efficient, brutal, and wildly impressive. 

Freestyle skiing is expanding with men’s and women’s dual moguls joining the program—because apparently racing down a hill covered in icy bumps wasn’t hard enough without direct competition. Snowboarders will continue to defy gravity in halfpipe and slopestyle events, spinning and flipping high above the snow while commentators casually describe routines as “clean”—a word that here means “completed without serious bodily harm.” Figure skating remains the sport where viewers will confidently critique technique from their couches, despite the fact that Olympic skaters are launching into what are basically trapeze-free Cirque du Soleil routines with blades strapped to their feet.  

Luge, meanwhile, is what happens when you take childhood sledding and remove every reasonable safety consideration. Athletes lie flat on their backs and hurtle down an icy track at speeds topping 80 miles per hour, inches from unforgiving walls, steering by flexing their calves and shifting their weight. At highway speeds, those tiny adjustments are the only thing between a clean run and pinballing between walls.  

That inherent absurdity was recently captured perfectly by Saturday Night Live, which aired a sketch imagining three American Olympians reflecting on their emotions heading into the Games. While a snowboarder and figure skater expressed excitement, the luger—played with escalating dread—was openly terrified of her own sport. “I hate the luge. It’s too fast,” she admitted repeatedly, as her coach, portrayed by Alexander Skarsgård, urged her back onto the track. At one point, she explains that luge success is largely about body shape and weight distribution, adding that “a corpse that’s my same shape could win.” The coach reassures her that she is a “once-in-a-generation… shape,” which is somehow both encouraging and deeply unsettling.  

The joke works because it’s not really a joke. Luge is genuinely terrifying. Crashes are part of the sport—most are minor, riders stay on their sleds—but when things go truly wrong, athletes can walk away with broken bones and long roads to recovery, like USA luger Emily Sweeney Fischnaller who broke her neck and back in 2018. Don’t worry! She recovered and went on to compete in 2022, and she will be competing this year as well.  

Hockey fans will have an extra reason to tune in during Milano Cortina 2026. For the first time since 2014, National Hockey League players will be allowed to compete, following an agreement between the International Ice Hockey Federation and the National Hockey League. The NHL opted out of the 2022 Games due to pandemic-related concerns, making this a long-awaited return of top-tier professional talent to Olympic ice.  

One of my favorite events to watch, curling, will also return; I hope it continues its tradition of confusing first-time viewers while quietly demanding extreme strategy. Yes, there are brooms. Yes, people shout. But beneath the surface is a sport built on geometry, timing, and teamwork that would quickly humble anyone who tried to dismiss it. 

These athletes dedicate years to mastering sports that take place in cold, unstable environments that punish mistakes. They fall, get back up, and try again at speeds and heights that would send the rest of us (or me at least) directly to urgent care and in need of an MRI.  

So settle in and enjoy the replays. Marvel at the dramatic slow-motion shots. Be profoundly grateful that your most intense winter sport involves trying not to slip while carrying groceries. Milano Cortina 2026 will deliver new events and elite competition, plus a reminder that while we may never be Olympic athletes, we can still admire the absurd heights of human ability from the safest possible distance: horizontal on the couch, preferably under a blanket, with snacks within arm’s reach.  

If you want to watch, NBC has exclusive broadcast rights in the U.S., with coverage on NBC, USA Network, and Peacock. While some events begin as early as February 4th, the opening ceremony airs Friday, February 6^th and will feature Mariah Carey and Andrea Bocelli. Daily coverage includes live events every afternoon and primetime recaps with Snoop Dogg and Stanley Tucci confirmed as celebrity guests. Peacock offers 24/7 streaming. For a full schedule of events, check out Olympics.com.