The 2026 Winter Olympics in Milan-Cortina are set to showcase nearly 3,000 athletes from 90 nations competing across 116 medal events. Great Britain has assembled a 53-strong delegation with genuine medal prospects across multiple disciplines.
Sunday’s Competition Highlights
Nine medals will be awarded on Sunday, featuring a diverse range of winter sports disciplines. The mixed team skeleton event presents a particularly promising opportunity for British success, as the nation has historically excelled in sliding sports.
The skeleton mixed team competition represents a new addition to the Olympic program, providing Great Britain with an additional medal opportunity. While the exact composition of Britain’s two pairs remains to be confirmed, Tabby Stoecker and Matt Weston have demonstrated their potential by securing silver medals at the previous two World Championships.
Alpine Skiing Action
The women’s giant slalom will see Sweden’s Sara Hector defending her unexpected Beijing 2022 title. Hector’s victory in China came as a surprise to many, particularly after Mikaela Shiffrin’s failure to complete her runs. The Swedish skier became the first woman from her country to claim this Olympic title since Pernilla Wiberg’s triumph at Albertville in 1992.
Freestyle Skiing Competitions
Canadian moguls specialist Mikael Kingsbury will attempt to become the inaugural Olympic dual moguls champion. The five-time world champion in this discipline has dominated the event since 2019, with his primary challenger likely to be Japan’s Ikuma Horishima, the only other man to capture the dual moguls world title in recent years.
British snowboarder Mia Brookes, now 19, finally gets her Olympic opportunity after being too young for the previous Games. The Sandbach native won the world title at just 16 and will compete in the women’s slopestyle qualifying alongside Maisie Hill, who has recovered from a serious training accident three years ago.
Historic Ski Jumping Milestone
Women’s ski jumping reaches a landmark moment with the inaugural large hill competition. Slovenia’s Nika Prevc, aged 20, enters as a strong contender having claimed gold in both normal and large hill events at the 2024 World Championships.
Monday’s Medal Events
Six medals will be decided on Monday, including the conclusion of the women’s monobob competition where Britain’s Adele Nicoll, a shot put champion making her Olympic debut, will compete.
Dave Ryding, competing in his fifth and final Olympics at age 38, will participate in the men’s slalom. The British alpine skiing pioneer became the first from his nation to win World Cup gold in 2022 and achieved the country’s best World Championship result by a male skier since 1934 with a sixth-place finish this year.
Tuesday’s Snowboard Showdown
Mia Brookes headlines Tuesday’s women’s slopestyle final, where she’ll face defending Olympic and world champion Zoi Sadowski-Synnott of New Zealand. The competition format allows three runs with the highest score determining the winner.
The two-man bobsleigh competition features Germany’s Francesco Friedrich pursuing a record fifth bobsleigh Olympic gold. The 35-year-old led a German podium sweep in 2022 but faces strong competition from compatriot Johannes Lochner, who has dominated this season’s World Cup circuit.
Weekend Finale
The Games conclude with multiple medal events on the final weekend, including the women’s curling gold medal match. Great Britain’s defending champions from 2022 will be represented by a largely new team, with only Jen Dodds returning from the previous gold-winning squad.
Francesco Friedrich has the opportunity to make Olympic history in the four-man bobsleigh, potentially becoming the first athlete to win five or six bobsleigh Olympic titles. Britain’s Brad Hall pilots a crew with legitimate podium aspirations in this blue-ribbon event.
The Closing Ceremony will take place in Verona’s historic Roman amphitheatre, marking the end of the XXV Winter Olympic Games before the handover to the 2030 hosts in the French Alps.
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Photo by Kajetan Sumila on Unsplash
