The 2026 Winter Olympics are here

The Winter Olympic Games kick off tomorrow with the opening ceremony in Milan, Italy. And while the Games have yet to officially begin, action is already well underway.

• Several Olympic competitions are scheduled to kick off prior to the opening ceremony, including alpine skiing, curling, and luge events held yesterday.
• Today’s slate includes the Team USA women’s hockey squad taking on the Czech Republic in a preliminary match at 9 am CT.

Some other top storylines heading into the Milano Cortina Olympics:

Norway is favored to win the most gold medals for the fourth straight Winter Games, with Team USA projected to place second. Oddsmakers give Norway a 60%-65% chance to win the most golds thanks to the country’s dominance across nearly all skiing events.

There’s a new sport on the scene. Ski mountaineering, often shortened as “SkiMo,” is a new event this year that combines elements of Alpine skiing, cross-country skiing, skinning (uphill skiing), and boot packing into a single race.

US Olympic skier Lindsey Vonn, 40, plans to compete this weekend despite rupturing her right ACL in a crash on Friday. 

• Vonn, who recently came back from a five-year retirement, says her main goal is to compete in the downhill event.
• She’s currently leading the World Cup downhill standings, and stands as a top gold medal contender if at close to full strength.

A Spanish figure skater faces legal issues over his Minions routine. Tomas-Llorenc Guarino Sabate, who’s repeatedly performed to Minions songs while dressed as one in recent months, revealed on Monday that his routine is banned from the Olympics due to copyright problems. But on Tuesday, Sabate said Universal Studios had reversed its objection and that he’s "so close" to being allowed to perform as a Minion in next week’s event.

Looking ahead…The Winter Games opening ceremony begins tomorrow at 1 pm CT. See the full Olympic schedule here.