Winter Olympics Betting Guide: Milano Cortina 2026

Winter Olympics History

The first-ever Winter Olympics was held in Chamonix, france where there were only six different sports, totalling just sixteen events, which, when you compare it to the 116 in 2026, shows just how much it has grown.

There were just 258 competitors at the first Winter Olympics; at the 2022 Olympics, there was a total of 2,861, which featured 1,288 women, the most ever seen at the Winter Olympics! The most we have ever seen was in 2018 in Korea, when there was a total of 2,922, and the most men were in Sochi (2014) with 1,714.

Milano Cortina will be the 25th Winter Olympics, with future hosts already decided, in 2030 we will be heading to the French Alps, the first time the French will have hosted since 1992, and then in 2034, we head back to the USA for a fourth time, with Utah hosting.

Here are the last ten Winter Olympics

Milano Cortina 2026 Schedule

Here are the 16 disciplines at the Milano Cortina 2026 with the scheduled dates and number of events under each discipline. Each discipline has multiple events, with the majority split into men's and womens events.

Whilst the official start date of the 2026 Winter Olympics is the 6th of February, when we will have the opening ceremony, the Curling (4th), Ice Hockey (5th) and Snowboarding (5th) all start before the opening ceremony takes place.

All-time Winter Olympic Medal Winners

Ten countries have had participants at all twenty-four Winter Olympics, and it is no surprise that the top two in terms of gold medals won are two of those ten.

Norway top the table in terms of gold medals and does so by some distance; they have amassed a total of 148 golds, which is some thirty-four more than the USA, who are next on the list with 114. The only other country to top the 100 mark is Germany, who have won 105.

Norway also lead the way in terms of total medals won with 405, the only country to surpass the 400 mark, whilst the USA have 330 and no other country has passed the 300 mark.

When looking at the medal leaders for each of the previous twenty-four games, Norway have topped the charts at ten of those, including all of the last three.

In terms of medals won vs the number of games competed at, Great Britain would be disappointed with their 34 medals, 12 of which have been gold, considering they have competed at all 24 Winter Olympics!

Here are the top ten countries based on the number of gold medals won

All-time Individual Medal Winners

Seven athletes have taken home ten or more medals at the Winter Olympics with three of those taking home eight gold medals, the most anyone has ever won.

When looking at the top seven, you will notice that five of the seven are women, including the all-time leading medal winner and looking further down 7 of the top 10 are females, showing they tend to win more medals per individual.

Leading the way is Norwegian Marit Bjørgen, who won a total of 15 medals over just five Olympics (2002-18), and eight of those have been golds. She won three in both 2010 & 2014 for her discipline, which is cross-country skiing.

Next on the list is the top male with fourteen medals (1994-2014), and that is, once again, a Norwegian, Ole Einar Bjørndalen, who was a star in the Biathlon. He also won eight golds, 2002 Salt Lake City being the standout when he won four of those!

Noweigan Bjørn Dæhlie is the only other athlete to have won eight gold medals; he, like Bjørgen, won them in cross-country over three Olympics with 3 in 1992, 2 in 1994 and then 3 in 1998.

Arianna Fontana (Italy) is the only athlete in the top fourteen for medal wins who is still active and will be heading to 2026, so she will be looking to add to her tally and move up the list.

Athletes with 10+ medals at the Winter Olympics

Alpine Skiing

• Venue: Multiple Venues
• Events: 10 events over 10 days
• Dates: 7th-12th, 14th-16th & 18th

There are a total of ten events when it comes to Alpine Skiing, those are Downhill, Super-G, Giant Slalom, Slalom and Team Combined. Those five events are on both the men's and women's sides, making up the ten in total.

The events will all take place at two venues, with the Tofane Alpine Skiing Centre and the Stelvio Ski Centre hosting the events.

Alpine Skiing has been part of the Winter Olympics since 1936, with Austria by far the most successful country with 40 golds and 128 medals in total. Switzerland is the closest to them with 27 golds, and it's no surprise to see two 'Skiing' countries top the medal charts.

At the 2022 Winter Olympics, it was Switzerland who came out on top; they won 5 of the 11 golds on offer, and 9 of the 33 medals in total. Austria, with 3 golds were the only other country to win multiple golds.

The most successful men's skier for golds won is Norwegian Kjetil André Aamodt, who won four between 1992 & 2006, whilst on the women's side is Croat Janica Kostelić, who also won four between 1998 & 2006.

Here are the all-time top three gold medal winners in Alpine Skiing at the Winter Olympics:

Biathlon

• Venue: Antholz-Anterselva Biathlon Arena
• Events: 11 events over 10 days
• Dates: 8th, 10th-11th, 13th-15th, 17th-18th & 20th-22nd

All of the Biathlon events will be hosted at the Antholz-Anterselva Biathlon Arena, which is located near the Austrian border.

It will be made up of eleven events, five restricted to men, five restricted to women and then one mixed event. That mixed event will be the first event, a 4 x 6km relay.

The men's events will be a 20km Individual, 10km Sprint, 12.5km Pursuit, 15km Mass Start and a 4 x 7.5km Relay, whilst the women's events will be 15km Individual, 7.5km Sprint, 10km Pursuit, 12.5km Mass Start and a 4 x 6km Relay.

There is not a lot separating Norway and Germany at the top of the medal table; in terms of total medals, it is just one with Norway on 55 and Germany on 5,4 whilst for Golds, Norway has won 22 and Germany 20.

At the 2022 Winter Olympics, it was much different, though. Germany only managed to pick up 1 gold and only 2 medals in total, whilst Norway went home with 6 golds and 14 in total! France had a good year with 3 goals and 4 silvers for their 7 medals.

The most succcessful Biathletes at the Winter Olympics are Ole Einar Bjørndalen (Norway), who won an incredible eight golds (1998-2014) and Darya Domracheva (Belarus), who won four golds between 2010 & 2018.

Here are the all-time top three gold medal winners in the Biathlon at the Winter Olympics:

Bobsleigh

• Venue: Cortina Sliding Centre
• Events: 4 events over 6 days
• Dates: 15th-17th & 20th-22nd

Bobsleigh was part of the first-ever Winter Olympics in 1924 and has been ever-present since, except for one year, the 1960 Olympics in the USA, when it was deemed too expensive to construct a bobsled run for nine competing nations.

This year's bobsleigh will take place at the Cortina Sliding Centre, which hosts not only bobsleigh but also the skeleton and luge. There are only four events, which are the 2-man, 4-man, 2-woman and Women's Monobob, which is a single-seater bobsleigh.

There is not much between the top three countries in terms of total medals won, with just four medals between Germany (32), Switzerland (31) and the USA (28), but Germany is clear at the top for gold medals, with 50% (16) of their medals being gold.

In 2022, Germany took home 3 of the 4 gold medals and 7 of the 12 medals overall. They achieved a 1-2-3 in the two-man and 1-2 in both the four-man and two-woman. The only gold they didn't win was in the women's monobob, which was making its debut with the USA taking home both gold and silver.

On the men's side of things for the most successful bobsledders at the Winter Olympics, there are four German's who each share top spot with four golds, those are Kevin Kuske (2002-18), André Lange (2002-10), Francesco Friedrich (2018-22) & Thorsten Margis (2018-22) whilst it is Canadian gone American Kaillie Humphries (2010-22) who leads the way for the women having won three golds.

Here are the all-time top three gold medal winners in the Bobsleigh at the Winter Olympics:

Cross-Country Skiing

• Venue: Tesero Cross-Country Skiing Stadium
• Events: 12 events over 10 days
• Dates: 7th-8th, 10th, 12th-15th, 18th & 21st-22nd

It will be a busy ten days for the Cross-Country Skiing with twelve events taking place over those ten days, all of which will take place at the Tesero Cross-Country Skiing Stadium, which is located in Val di Fiemme.

The discipline has been ever-present at the Olympics since 1924, and the twelve events are 10km + 10km Skiathlon, Sprint Classic, 10km Interval Start Free, 4 x 7.5km Relay, Team Sprint Free & 50km Mass Start Classic, with each of the six events having men's and women's versions.

The Nordic countries have dominated at this event, Norway lead the way with 129 medals, 52 of which have been gold. That is twenty more than anyone else, with Sweden next on the list with 32 golds, and then the next still active country is Finland with 22.

Norway showed their dominance in 2022 when they took home five of the twelve gold medals, although it was only one more than Russia, with four and no one else managed multiple golds.

For most successful cross-country skiers, it is eight golds apiece for Norwegians Bjørn Dæhlie (1992-98) and Marit Bjørgen (2002-18) for the men's and women's events.

Here are the all-time top three gold medal winners in Cross-Country Skiing at the Winter Olympics:

Curling

• Venue: Cortina Curling Olympic Stadium
• Events: 3 events over 19 days
• Dates: 4th-22nd

Curling was an event at the very first Olympics in 1924, it was dropped and was only a demonstration event in 1932, 1988 & 1992 before being reintroduced in 1998 and has now been present since then.

It is the only sport which takes place on every single day during the Winter Olympics, starting on the 4th and ending on the 22nd. During that time, there are only three events, the Men's, the Women's and the Mixed Doubles, with them all taking place at the Cortina Curling Olympic Stadium.

Having only been at eight previous Olympics, a total of 17 events, it's no surprise that only three countries have won multiple golds, with Canada leading the way with six, ahead of Sweden with four and then Team GB with three.

In Beijing (2022), the three golds went to three different countries: Sweden took home gold in the men's event, Team GB in the women's event and Italy in only the second event staging of the mixed doubles.

Considering there are not many golds on offer in curling, it is no surprise that no person has picked up more than two golds. There are four who are multiple winners, those are Canadians Kaitlyn Lawes & John Morris and Swedes Anette Norberg, Eva Lund, Cathrine Lindahl & Anna Le Moine.

Here are the all-time top three gold medal winners in curling at the Winter Olympics:

Figure Skating

• Venue: Milano Ice Skating Arena
  
• Events: 5 events over 11 days
• Dates: 6th-11th, 13th, 15th-17th & 19th

The Figure Skating will take place at the Milano Ice Skating Arena over 11 days, with a total of 5 disciplines. It's another which has been ever-present at the Winter Olympics since 1924 and even dates back earlier, having been part of the Summer Olympics in both 1908 & 1920.

It is split into five events: you have both the Men's and Women's Single Skating, and then you have the Pair Skating, the Ice Dance and a Team Event which includes singles, pairs and Ice Dance events as a team.

It's probably one of the most well-known sports when you think of the Winter Olympics and one that the USA have achieved a lot in. They have collected 54 medals in total, with 17 of those being gold. Names like Michelle Kwan & Nancy Kerrigan spring to mind when thinking of figure skaters, although neither of them actually won gold at the Winter Olympics, they both picked up Silver and Bronze medals.

At the 2022 Olympics in Beijing, the USA took home two of the five golds, with Nathan Chen winning the men's single and the other coming in the team event. China won gold in the pairs event, and that was only their second ever gold medal, having won the same event back in 2010.

Five people have won three golds in figure skating, the most anyone has ever won, and those have gone to Gillis Grafström (Sweden), Sonja Henie (Norway), Scott Moir (Canada), Irina Rodnina (Soviet Union) and Tessa Virtue (Canada).

Here are the all-time top three gold medal winners in Figure Skating at the Winter Olympics:

Freestyle Skiing

• Venue: Multiple Venues
  
• Events: 15 events over 13 days
• Dates: 7th, 9th-12th & 14th-21st

The Freestyle Skiing will be a busy discipline with fifteen events spanning over thirteen days, with the action taking place at both the Livigno Aerials & Moguls Park and the Livigno Snow Park. It has been part of the Winter Olympics since being introduced in 1992.

The events feature Aerials, Moguls, Ski Cross, Halfpipe, Big Air, Slopestyle and Dual Moguls for both the men and women, making up 14 of the 15 events with the 15th being a mixed Team Aerials event.

Participants from the Americas have done well in the past, with Canada (12 Golds) leading the way from the USA (11 Golds); they have won 40% of the gold medals between them. David Wise (USA) and Alexandre Bilodeau (Canada) are both dual gold winners, along with Eileen Gu (China).

It was certainly home advantage at the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing, with the host claiming four gold medals, two of those going to the already mentioned Eileen Gu, the first female dual gold medal winner in this discipline at the Winter Olympics.

Here are the all-time top three gold medal winners in Freestyle Skiing at the Winter Olympics:

Ice Hockey

• Venue: Multiple Venues
  
• Events: 2 events over 18 days
• Dates: 5th-22nd

Ice hockey has been part of the Winter Olympics ever since its creation in 1924 and goes back further, having been part of the 1920 Summer Olympics. It's a simple men/women split for the two disiciplines which will take place over 18 days with the Milano Santagiulia Ice Hockey Arena & Milano Rho Ice Hockey Arena being used to host games.

Canada is the most successful country for ice hockey at the Winter Olympics, which is no surprise given the country's love of the sport, as it is the number one sport in Canada, and they have won 14 gold medals, 44% of the gold medals on offer! They have won 9 of the 25 men's golds and 5 of the 7 women's golds.

Given the popularity of the NHL, people often question why the USA do not win more medals given the quality of players, but the NHL is the problem. When the Winter Olympics come around, it's NHL season, so the best players cannot make it to the Olympics, the USA have been beaten in the final on 12 occasions.

At the 2022 Winter Olympics, Finland won their first-ever ice hockey gold when defeating Russia 2-1 in the men's final, whilst on the women's side, Canada defeated the USA in the final (3-2) for a fourth time, claiming their fifth gold.

Make sure you head over to our Best Hockey Tipsters during the Winter Olympics to see what our best tipsters are predicting on a game to game basis.

Here are the all-time top three gold medal winners in Ice Hockey at the Winter Olympics:

Luge

• Venue: Cortina Sliding Centre
  
• Events: 5 events over 6 days
• Dates: 7th-12th

The luge will feature at the Cortina Sliding Centre over the course of 6 days, during which we will have 5 different events. It has been part of the Winter Olympics since being introduced at Innsbruck (Austria) in 1964.

The five disciplines are made up of singles and doubles for both men and women, and then the fifth event is a team relay. It is up by one event this year, with it being the first year that the women's doubles will take place.

Germany has dominated the luge over the years. East Germany won 13 golds during its existence, with West Germany winning one, and then a unified Germany has now won a total of 22 golds, that is a combined 36 goals from the 52 on offer!

Germans Natalie Geisenberger, Tobias Arlt & Tobias Wendl have all won six golds for this event, a record number of golds and all were part of the 2022 team, which won all four golds in China. Germany has won 11 of the 12 golds at the last three Olympics.

Here are the all-time top three gold medal winners in the Luge at the Winter Olympics:

Nordic Combined

• Venue: Multiple Venues
  
• Events: 3 events over 3 days
• Dates: 11th, 17th & 19th

The Nordic Combined was introduced at the 1964 Winter Olympics in Innsbruck, Austria, when Norway's Tormod Knutsen took home the gold, the first of many that would head Norway's way.

We are now up to three events, they are the Men's 10 km individual normal hill, 10 km individual large hill and team 4×5 km large hill, which will take place over three days at the Predazzo Ski Jumping Stadium and the Tesero Cross-Country Skiing Stadium.

As already touched on, Norway have been successful in this discipline, after winning the first ever gold, they have now tallied up a total of fifteen, that is nine more than Germany, who have six golds.

In 2022, the golds went the way of those two countries, with Norway picking up two and Germany one. 2010 was the latest time a country other than Germany or Norway won gold, and that was when the USA won gold in the Individual large hill/10 km.

Jørgen Graabak won gold in 2022, which moved him on to four golds and is now the outright most successful participant in this discipline, moving him ahead of Eric Frenzel, Felix Gottwald, Samppa Lajunen & Ulrich Wehling with three golds.

Here are the all-time top three gold medal winners in the Nordic Combined at the Winter Olympics:

Short-Track Speed Skating

• Venue: Milano Ice Skating Arena
  
• Events: 9 events over 6 days
• Dates: 10th, 12th, 14th, 16th, 18th & 20th

Short-track speed skating is one of the newer events at the Winter Olympics, having only been introduced in Albertville (France) in 1992. 9 events feature over the 6 days, with all of the events taking place at the Milano Ice Skating Arena.

The nine events are made up of 500m, 1000m & 1500m races on both the men's and women's side, and then the men have a 5000m relay, the women a 3000m relay, and then there is a mixed 2000m relay to make up the nine.

So far, short-track speed skating has only featured at ten Olympics; however, one thing is very clear, and that is the success of the Asian participants. South Korea (26) have won more than double the golds of the next best (China with 12), and those two have won 58% of all of the golds.

In 2022, South Korea won the most medals (5), with two of those being golds. Both China and the Netherlands also won two golds each, which was a big improvement for the Netherlands, which had only ever won one previously.

Arianna Fontana (Italy) has won the most medals with 11, but only 2 were golds. Viktor Ahn (previously known as Ahn Hyun-Soo), who represented South Korea in 2002-06 and then Russia in 2014, is the most successful in terms of gold medals, having won a total of six gold medals.

Here are the all-time top three gold medal winners in the Short-Track Speed Skating at the Winter Olympics:

Skeleton

• Venue: Cortina Sliding Centre
  
• Events: 3 events over 4 days
• Dates: 12th-15th

The skeleton was first introduced at the Olympics in 1928, but we didn't see it again until 1948 and then again in 2002, but it has been ever-present since then. The events, over 4 days, will all take place at the Cortina Sliding Centre.

There have always been two straightforward events, men and women, since its reintroduction in 2002; however, in 2026, they added a third event, which will be a mixed event, which is a relay format.

There have only been fourteen events, so fourteen gold medals up for grabs, and there hasn't really been a dominant force; both the USA and Team GB have three golds between them, whilst Team GB leads the way with a total of nine medals.

Neither of those two picked up any medals in 2022; both golds went the way of Germany, who also picked up a silver in the men's event, whilst Australia (Silver), China (Bronze) and the Netherlands (Bronze) picked up their first-ever medals.

There are only five ever athletes who have picked up multiple medals in the skeleton, and only one of those has won double gold, and that was Team GB's Lizzy Yarnold, who won gold in both 2014 & 2018.

Here are the all-time top three gold medal winners in the Skeleton at the Winter Olympics:

Ski Jumping

• Venue: Predazzo Ski Jumping Stadium
  
• Events: 6 events over 6 days
• Dates: 7th, 9th-10th & 14th-16th

Ski jumping is one of the six sports that have been ever-present since the creation of the Winter Olympics in 1924. This year, we have 6 events over 6 days, with them all taking place at the Predazzo Ski Jumping Stadium.

We have an increase this year with a new event added, which will feature men's and women's events for the individual normal hill and the large hill (new for women), a men's super team event and then a mixed team event.

This is another sport where Norway tops the medal chart; they have won a total of 36 medals, with 12 of those being gold. Not too far behind with 10 golds is Finland, and then it is a further three back to Austria on 7.

Slovenia had never won a gold heading to Beijing in 2022 but had a great Olympics, coming away with two gold,s winning the Women's normal hill individual and the Mixed normal hill team.

When it comes to the most successful Athletes on the men's side, that is shared by Matti Nykänen (Finland) and Simon Ammann (Switzerland), who won four apiece, whilst on the women's side, only one athlete has ever won multiple golds, and that was Urša Bogataj (Slovenia).

Here are the all-time top three gold medal winners in the Ski Jumping at the Winter Olympics:

Ski Mountaineering

• Venue: Stelvio Ski Centre
• Events: 3 events over 2 days
• Dates: 19th & 21st

As I previously mentioned, ski mountaineering is a new addition to the Winter Olympics for 2026, with the events all taking place at the Stelvio Ski Centre.

For those who are unaware of ski mountaineering, it's an event where athletes have to ascend a mountain, either wearing their skis or carrying them, before descending on their skis. It's a true test of endurance.

It will feature three events, a men's sprint, a women's sprint and a mixed relay. The sprints will be over 610m, where they have a vertical gain of 70m, whilst the relay will be over 1,310m with a 135m vertical gain.

Snowboarding

• Venue: Livigno Snow Park
  
• Events: 11 events over 11 days
• Dates: 5th, 7th-9th, 11th-13th & 15th-18th

1998 in Nagano, Japan, was when snowboarding was introduced to the Winter Olympics, and this year will feature eleven events over eleven days, all taking place at the Livigno Snow Park.

As mentioned, there are eleven events, these are split with the following for both the men and women: snowboard cross, parallel, half-pipe, slopestyle & big air and then a mixed snowboard cross making up the eleventh.

Given the popularity of the X-Games in America and extreme sports, it is absolutely no surprise that the USA leads the way for gold medals. In fact, their 17 won is more than double the next best, which is Switzerland with eight.

The Americans had another good Olympic in 2022; they took home three golds for snowboarding, but that was matched by Austria, which also took home three golds. No other country managed multiple golds.

For most people, when you think of snowboarding, you think of the legend that is Shaun White. You know you are good when you have a computer game series named after you! He is the most successful snowboarder, having won three golds, one of only four people to win multiple golds. Jamie Anderson & Lindsey Jacobellis lead the way for the women, with both claiming two golds apiece.

Here are the all-time top three gold medal winners in Snowboarding at the Winter Olympics:

Speed Skating

• Venue: Milano Speed Skating Stadium
  
• Events: 14 events over 12 days
• Dates: 7th-9th. 11th-15th, 17th & 19th-21st

All of the speed skating action will come from the Milano Speed Skating Stadium, with fourteen events taking place over twelve days. This has been ever-present since the 1924 Winter Games.

Only freestyle skiing features more events than speed skating, which has a total of 14. These are split 7/7 with 500m, 1000m, 1500m, 5000m, 10,000m, Mass Start and Team Pursuit events for both the men and women.

Whilst the Asian countries dominate the short-track, they have not been as successful here; in fact, China's 8 golds is only enough to have them 9th on the list. The Netherlands top the list with 48 golds and are quite some way clear at the top with the USA next with 18 fewer on 30.

In Beijing (2022), the Netherlands went home with a total of 6 golds to continue their run in this event, having taken home 7 in 2018 and 8 in 2014, that is 21 golds at the last three Olympics for this event from a possible 40, they have taken more than half of the golds!

Ireen Wüst of the Netherlands is the most successful athlete; she won a total of 6 golds between 2006 & 2022 and 13 medals in total! On the men's side, it's also an athlete from the Netherlands, which is no surprise and that is Sven Kramer who won 4 golds between 2006 & 2022.

Here are the all-time top three gold medal winners in Speed Skating at the Winter Olympics: