2026 Winter Olympics by the numbers: The athletes, events and milestones of the Milano Cortina Games
The 2026 Winter Olympics are bringing thousands of athletes from around the world together for more than two weeks of competition on snow and ice. From the athletes and events to records and costs, the Games are a gold mine for statistics.
Here's a look at the 2026 Winter Olympics by the numbers:
2: Number of previous times Italy has hosted Winter Olympic Games
Italy first hosted the Winter Olympics in 1956 in Cortina d'Ampezzo, followed by the 2006 Games in Turin.
The country has also hosted the Summer Olympics once, in Rome in 1960.
8,494: Square miles the venues for the Winter Olympics will cover
The 2026 Games will be the first Olympics co-hosted by two cities, with competitions held across 13 venues in Milan and Cortina d'Ampezzo.
The dual host cities mean it will become the most widespread Games in Olympic history, according to the International Olympic Committee, spanning nearly 8,500 square miles of northern Italy.
Milan and Cortina are about 250 miles apart by road, nearly a five-hour drive.
"This approach allows the maximum use of existing venues, reducing the need for new construction and, as a consequence, minimising the carbon footprint," states an IOC press release.
Out of 13 venues, 11 will be existing or temporary, with the exception of a new 16,000-seat ice hockey stadium which has been in construction for about two years. The abandoned Porta Romana railway yard is also seeing a renovation, according to the International Olympic Committee. It'll be home to the Milan Olympic Village during the games then converted into 1,700 student housing units.
92: National Olympic Committees participating
The athletes compete as representatives of their "National Olympic Committees" rather than as countries.
At the 2024 Paris Olympics, Russia and Belarus were banned from competing because of the war in Ukraine, a policy that carries into this year's Games, with athletes competing as "Individual Neutral Athletes" under a neutral flag.
2,916: Total number of athletes expected to compete
According to data from the International Olympic Committee, approximately 2,916 athletes are expected to compete in this year's Winter Games.
The U.S. will have the largest presence at the Winter Olympics with 235 athletes (including three alternate athletes), followed by Canada (211 athletes) and host nation Italy (195 athletes).
The 1992 Winter Olympics in Albertville, France, had just 1,801 athletes. Participation has grown in the decades since.
There was a brief drop in athlete participation at the 1994 Winter Olympics in Lillehammer, Norway.
232: Athletes competing on Team USA
A total of 232 athletes and three alternate athletes will compete on Team USA, featuring 98 returning Olympians who have won a combined 22 gold medals, according to the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee.
Seven athletes will make their fifth Olympic appearance, including bobsledders Kaillie Humphries and Elana Meyers Taylor, snowboarders Nick Baumgartner and Faye Thelen, alpine skier Lindsey Vonn, figure skater Evan Bates and ice hockey player Hilary Knight.
Meanwhile, 32 athletes on the roster previously competed at the Youth Olympic Games, with 20 of them set to make their Olympic debut in Milano Cortina. The 232-athlete roster is expected to be the largest U.S. Winter Olympic team ever, surpassing the 228 who competed at PyeongChang in 2018.
Search the full list of U.S. Olympic athletes:
8: New events debuting at Milano Cortina Winter Olympics
Athletes will compete in 116 events across 16 Olympic disciplines and six Paralympic sports. The 2026 Games will introduce ski mountaineering — known as skimo — as a new sport, along with eight new events:
- Men's sprint in skimo
- Women's sprint in skimo
- Mixed relay in skimo
- Men's dual moguls in free style skiing
- Women's dual moguls in free style skiing
- Women's doubles in luge
- Mixed gender team in skeleton
- Women's large hill in ski jumping
2 million: Fans attending the Winter Olympics
U.S. diplomatic officials in Italy urged Americans to book early, since organizers expect about 2 million people to descend on the venues in northern Italy to attend the Games.
Tickets range from $30 for cross-country skiing to nearly $1,400 for the figure skating exhibition gala. The full schedule of events can be found here.
CBS News will continue to crunch the numbers on the Paralympic Games after qualified athletes are announced on March 2.