7 new events debuting at Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics | Daily Hive

Ski mountaineering is a new Olympic sport (OIS/Jed Leicester)

The Winter Olympics will be bigger than ever before.

At least, that’s the case in terms of the event lineup at Milano Cortina 2026, which begins Feb. 6.

For the first time this century, an entire new category of events will be added to the Winter Olympics.

Ski mountaineering is the latest sport to be added. It’s the first time since 2002 that an entirely new category of events has been added to the Winter Games.

Here’s a breakdown of the seven new Olympic events that will debut in Italy.

1. Ski mountaineering – men’s and women’s sprint

The sport of ski mountaineering involves three stages:

An ascent on foot while carrying skis
Ascent on skis with climbing skins
Descending down the mountain on skis

This is a shortened sprint race, with the elite athletes expected to finish between three and four minutes. At larger, non-Olympic events, elite athletes typically finish those courses in 90 minutes.

2. Ski mountaineering – mixed relay

The final event involving ski mountaineering will include one man and one woman for each team.

This race will take longer than the sprint-style ski mountaineering events, with each athlete doing two circuits of the course.

3. Skeleton – mixed team competition

This mixed team event originally debuted in skeleton championships back in 2023. Now, it’s coming to the Olympics for the first time.

One man and one woman will race separately, and the winning country is determined by the combined times of the two racers.

There’s added pressure for competing athletes in this event, as each participant will race in just one heat. For a typical skeleton event, there are four heats per athlete, spread out over two days.

4. Luge – women’s double

David Kirouac/Imagn Images

Luge first debuted at the Olympics in 1964, featuring men’s singles, women’s singles, and a men’s doubles event.

Now, for the first time ever, a women’s doubles event is being added.

Beattie Podulsky and Kailey Allan of Calgary will represent Canada at the event.

5. Freestyle skiing – men’s and women’s dual moguls

The moguls event in freestyle skiing has given Canada some of the most memorable Olympic moments.

At Vancouver 2010, Alexandre Bilodeau became the first Canadian to win gold during a Canadian-hosted Olympics, when he emerged victorious in ski moguls.

Now in 2026, the thrill of the event will ratchet up, as skiers will race side-by-side in this event for the first time at the Olympics.

“There’s a bit more adrenaline in dual moguls because you have someone against you and you’re absolutely, sometimes, going all out,” Canadian flag bearer and dual moguls participant Michael Kingsbury said.

6. Ski jumping – women’s large hill

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More than 100 years after men’s large hill ski jumping debuted at the 1924 Chamonix Olympics, women’s large hill has been added. It was preceded by women’s normal hill ski jumping, which debuted at Sochi 2014.

The distance is based on how far the skiers can safely jump. For normal hills, it’s 109 metres. In the large hill events, that climbs to 149 metres.

Calgary’s Abi Strate just won silver in this event at the ski jumping World Cup last week.

7. Alpine skiing – men’s and women’s team combined

There have been some tweaks to the alpine ski discipline at the Olympics.

Team parallel and individual combined races have been removed. In their place is the team combined alpine ski event.

This event will feature two racers per country represented, with one skier competing in the downhill (Super G) race. The other skier will compete in the slalom.

Their times will be added together to determine the top countries.

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