Everything you need to know about the 2026 Winter Olympics

29 September marks 100 days until the opening of the 2026 Winter Olympics in Italy.

Thousands of athletes from around the world will be going for glory on the ice and snow, when the Games get underway in February next year.

So what events will there be, how many medals are up for grabs and what will the mascots look like?

Here's everything you need to know about the 2026 Winter Olympic Games.

Are you excited for the Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games? Which winter sport is your favourite? Let us know in the comments below.

Where are the 2026 Winter Olympics taking place?

Football's famous San Siro stadium - home to AC and Inter Milan - will host the opening ceremony

Next year's Winter Olympics has two official joint hosts - the city of Milan and the town of Cortina d'Ampezzo in the Alps.

A total of 15 venues across the north and north-east of country will host sporting competitions.

Most indoor ice events, such as the figure skating and ice hockey, will be held in Milan.

Whereas the ski resort of Cortina d'Ampezzo, and surrounding areas, will be home to the snow and sliding events such as alpine skiing, bobsleigh and luge.

Italy has only hosted the Summer Olympics once but the 2026 Winter Games will be the country's third Winter Olympics.

Cortina d'Ampezzo previously hosted the Winter Games in 1956.

When are the 2026 Winter Olympics taking place?

These are the medals that will be presented to athletes at the 2026 Winter Games

The Winter Olympics take place every four years and the Winter and Summer Games are traditionally separated by two years.

The 2026 Winter Games will take place from 6 February until 22 February.

The Paralympic Winter Games will follow a month later, from 6 March until 15 March.

More than 3,500 athletes from 93 countries will be competing for 195 medals in 16 Olympic disciplines and six Paralympic sports.

Is there a mascot?

Tina (L) and Milo (R) are the official mascots for the 2026 Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games

The International Olympic Committee (IOC), who are the organisers of the Olympics, have revealed the mascots for next year's Games.

The official mascot for the Olympics is a white stoat called Tina.

Her younger brother Milo, with his darker fur, is the face of the Paralympic Winter Games.

Their names are inspired by the host cities - Tina from Cortina d'Ampezzo and Milo from Milano.

What are the new sports at the 2026 Winter Olympics?

Ski mountaineering has previously featured at the Winter Youth Olympics

There'll be one new sport making its debut at next year's Winter Olympics.

Ski mountaineering - also known as skimo for short - sees athletes race up and down a course and can alternate between being on skis and being on foot.

Skimo medals will be awarded in men's and women's sprints and in a mixed-gender relay.

Some new events will also be appearing for the very first time at the Milan Cortino Games.

They include a women's doubles in luge, women's large hill in ski jumping, skeleton mixed team event, men's and women's dual moguls in freestyle skiing and team combined in alpine skiing.

Who are the Brits to look out for?

Great Britain have competed at every Winter Olympics since they began in Chamonix in France in 1924.

At the last Winter Olympics that took place in Beijing in 2022, Team GB won two medals in total, one gold and one silver in the curling.

We don't know the final Team GB line-up yet for next year's Games as many of the different sports teams are yet to announce their final squad, but here are some of the names expected to take part.

• Snowboarder Mia Brookes became the youngest ever world champion when she won the slopestyle title in 2023 at the age of sixteen. She has also has won medals of every colour at the X Games.

• Fellow snowboarder Charlotte Bankes, became the overall snowboard cross World Cup champion in 2023 and has won World Cup races this year and is the top-ranked female racer.

• Freestyle skier Zoe Atkin will be hoping to follow in her older sister Izzy's footsteps, after she became the first British skier to win an Olympic medal in 2018. Zoe is also no stranger to the podium. She has won a number of halfpipe medals at World Cups, World Championships and the X Games.

If ice sports are more your thing, then keep an eye out for the bobsleigh.

• Brad Hall is fast becoming one of the world's top bobsleigh pilots and has won numerous two-man and four-man World Cup medals, including five golds and a historic World Championship silver.

• Great Britain have not won a figure skating medal at the Winter Olympics since 1994, but could Lilah Fear and Lewis Gibson finally change that?

The ice dance duo have a number of European Championship medals to their name and won bronze at the 2025 World Figure Skating Championships earlier this year.