Olympic Winter Games 2026

XXV. winter Olympics

Sognando Insieme ( dream together )
Venue:	Milan - Cortina d'Ampezzo ( Italy )
Stadion:	Giuseppe Meazza Stadium Verona Arena
Opening ceremony:	February 6, 2026
Closing ceremony:	February 22, 2026
← Beijing 2022
2030 →

The XXV. The Winter Olympics are scheduled to take place in Milan and Cortina d'Ampezzo from February 6 to February 22, 2026 . The host cities were selected in Lausanne on June 24, 2019.

Candidacies

Originally, the decision for the venue should be in Milan, but this was postponed due to the application of the city of Milan. The IOC met in Lausanne on June 9, 2017 to discuss the application process for 2026. The first application phase began in September 2017.

In Tyrol one took place on October 15, 2017 referendum on the possible application of Innsbruck and the Tyrol for the Olympic Winter Games in 2026 instead. The project failed with a no of 53.25 percent, with over two thirds of those who voted in the city of Innsbruck saying no. In the planned venues of St. Anton am Arlberg and Hochfilzen , a majority voted for the project.

On January 23, 2018, Graz and Schladming announced a joint application as Austria 2026 .

After the failure of the application for 2006, Switzerland planned to submit another application with a decentralized concept for the city of Sion in 2026 . A possible candidacy of Graubünden had already failed in advance, because the population of the canton had spoken out against the funding of an application process.

In addition to Graz and Sitten, Stockholm , Sapporo , Calgary and Milan were also planning an application to host the Winter Games.

On April 3, 2018, the IOC announced the following interested parties:

Canadian Olympic Committee (Calgary) - Application withdrawn
Comitato Olimpico Nazionale Italiano (Cortina d'Ampezzo / Milan / Turin , on September 18, 2018 reduced to Milan and Cortina d'Ampezzo )
Japanese Olympic Committee (Sapporo) - no application
Austrian Olympic Committee (Graz / Schladming) - application withdrawn
Sveriges Olympiska Kommitté (Stockholm / Åre)
Swiss Olympic Association (Sion) - application withdrawn
Türkiye Milli Olimpiyat Komitesi ( Erzurum ) - no application

In a referendum in the canton of Valais in June 2018, a majority of 53 percent of the voters decided against financial support for the application for the 2026 Winter Olympics in Sion (Sion). This made the candidacy invalid.

On July 6, 2018, the Austrian Olympic Committee (ÖOC) surprisingly withdrew Graz / Schladming's candidacy for the 2026 Winter Games. The reason given by the ÖOC was the lack of support from the Styrian state government. The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has already been informed of the end of the application efforts, it said.

At the beginning of October 2018, the IOC announced that with Calgary, Stockholm and Milan with the former host Cortina d'Ampezzo only three candidates for the Olympic Winter Games 2026 are in the running, after the Turkish Erzurum was eliminated.

On November 13, 2018, a referendum was held on the hosting of the 2026 Winter Olympics in Calgary. The project failed with a no of 56.4 percent. For the 2026 Winter Games, there were now only two candidates left with Stockholm and Milan with Cortina d'Ampezzo.

Allocation of the games

The vote on June 24, 2019 at the 134th IOC session in Lausanne resulted in 47 votes for Milan and Cortina d'Ampezzo against 34 votes for Stockholm and Åre . According to observers, the decisive factor was the significantly higher approval rate among the population (83 to 55 percent) and the hesitant attitude in Sweden to state financial guarantees, while in Italy the government pledged its full support after initial discussions.