GWR’s guide to the 2026 Winter Olympics: who could break records and who's retiring

Today sees the official start of the XXV Winter Olympic Games. Over the following 17 days, elite athletes from around the world will compete for Olympic glory against backdrops of dazzling snow and glistening ice. Get ready to watch 116 medal events unfold across 16 sports, some of which – including ski mountaineering and women’s large-hill ski jumping – are making their Olympic debut.

Italy’s Cortina d’Ampezzo has hosted the Winter Games before, in 1956, and is now one of only four locations to have held the event twice. But this year’s Games boasts five times more events than those Olympics, with almost four times as many athletes taking part. No single resort could handle all those competitions and competitors, so Milan Cortina 2026 will play out across a range of Italian cities and regions.

Even before a puck’s been struck, it’s already a great Games for ice hockey fans: NHL players will be appearing again for the first time since 2014, putting superstars such as Canada’s Sidney Crosby and Connor McDavid back on the Olympic stage.

So what’s on GWR’s watchlist? Well, most Winter Olympic events have been dominated by the same figures since 2018. If German luge dream duo Tobias Wendl and Tobias Arlt pick up two more golds, however, they’ll equal Norwegians Bjørn Dæhlie and Marit Bjørgen (both cross-country skiing) and Ole Einar Bjørndalen (biathlon) for the most Winter Olympic gold medals: eight. But Johannes Høsflot Klaebo could change all that: with five Olympic golds to his name, the Norwegian cross-country skier could take the record himself this year. Ominously for his rivals, he won gold in all six events he entered at the 2025 World Championships…

China’s freestyle-skiing star Eileen Gu is one to watch too. Four years ago, she enjoyed a spectacularly good Games: Gu became the youngest woman to win an Olympic freestyle skiing gold medal – triumphing in the big air event, aged 18 years 158 days – and racked up the most freestyle skiing medals won at a single Winter Olympic Games by a woman – three. She’ll certainly look to increase her medal tally in big air, slopestyle and halfpipe. 

And keep your eyes on bobsleigh star Francesco Friedrich (if you can!): this German athlete has won four gold medals over the past two Winter Games, making him the joint most successful athlete in this event (alongside compatriots Kevin Kuske, André Lange and Thorsten Margis). Austrian snowboarder Anna Gasser will be hoping to add to her two golds too.

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This year also sees the return of several headline athletes. Rebounding strongly from injury, “Mozart of Ski Racing” Mikaela Shiffrin is a top contender after a strong 2025 Alpine Ski World Cup restart. Meanwhile, 41-year-old Lindsey Vonn will be attempting to become the oldest alpine skiing Olympic medallist in history, reflecting an astounding comeback. Having unexpectedly returned to competitive sport after a six-year retirement, the US superstar sustained a torn anterior cruciate ligament, a bone bruise and meniscal tears at the 2025 Alpine Skiing World Cup – just one week before the Olympic opening ceremony!

Every Olympiad welcomes rising stars while bidding farewell to veteran athletes. Milano Cortina 2026 will see the ice hockey forward Hilary Knight lead Team USA out at her fifth and final Games. A four‑time Olympic medallist to date, and 10‑time world champion, Knight also played a pivotal role in advancing gender equity in professional hockey.

Speaking of exits, let’s close off this Olympic round-up by turning the spotlight on a couple of winter events that didn’t stand the test of time. 

Step forward (or rather, extend gracefully forward, perfectly poised): ski ballet. Cue choreographed flips and spins! Seamless glide on smooth slopes! All on skis! In the 1970s and 1980s, stars such as Suzy Chaffee (aka “Suzy Chapstick”) and Genia Fuller helped popularize this wintery hybrid, and it featured as a demonstration sport at the 1988 and 1992 Winter Olympics. Ski ballet teetered on the brink of joining the official programme, but the International Olympic Committee decided otherwise. 

Then there’s skijoring: skiers compete while being towed across frozen courses behind horses, dogs or motor vehicles. A bit like water skiing, but several degrees colder. The sport featured, fleetingly, at the 1928 Winter Games in St Moritz, Switzerland, but then disappeared over the Olympic horizon.

And with that, GWR brings this Milano Cortina 2026 round-up to a close.

So: Thermos flask at the ready? Goggles polished? Then let the Games begin!

Header image: Generic image of a skier. Photo by Maarten Duineveld on Unsplash