Cortina d'Ampezzo-Milan Winter Olympics

[Sciatic]

Place to discuss any events of interest during the next two weeks of Olympic competition. I will mostly be watching the alpine and Nordic skiing events. Perhaps someone else can add some info about the cross-country and biathlon races. Below is my primer for the alpine events.

• Note that the men's events are on the Stelvio course in Bormio and women's events at the Olimpia delle Tofane course in Cortina d'Ampezzo. Also, I didn’t list the Team Combined events because I think its a crime that they replaced the individual combined medal event with this silliness.
• Could be an exciting time for the home crowd as Italian skiers (Sofia Goggia and Giovanni Franzoni) are the likely favorites in both downhills, one of glamour events of any Winter Games. There will be tons of media attention on Lindsey Vonn’s injury derailing her comeback as the Queen of Speed, but I honestly don’t think she would have been one of the top tier favorites on this course. Shiffrin (slalom) and Odermatt (Super G) will be the biggest favorites in any of the events.

Medal events:
07 Feb Men’s Downhill 11:30 CET
Bormio-Stelvio

08 Feb Women’s Downhill 11:30
Cortina d' Ampezzo

11 Feb Men’s Super G 11:30
Bormio

12 Feb Women’s Super G 11:30
Cortina d' Ampezzo

14 Feb Men’s Giant Slalom, Bormio
1st Run 10:00
2nd Run 13:30

15 Feb Women’s Giant Slalom, Cortina d' Ampezzo
1st Run 10:00
2nd Run 13:30

16 Feb Men’s Slalom, Bormio
1st Run 10:00
2nd Run 13:30

18 Feb Women’s Slalom, Cortina d' Ampezzo
1st Run 10:00
2nd Run 13:30

Complete schedule for the entire Olympics here: https://www.olympics.com/en/milano-cortina-2026/schedule

 

[Sciatic]

Want to add that unlike the downhill courses at some Olympics, at locations that didn't have the terrain to be all that challenging, both men's and women's courses--especially the Stelvio--are quite tough and regularly part of the World Cup circuit. Should be fun to watch.

 

[Tricycle Rider]

Want to add that unlike the downhill courses at some Olympics, at locations that didn't have the terrain to be all that challenging, both men's and women's courses--especially the Stelvio--are quite tough and regularly part of the World Cup circuit. Should be fun to watch.

I've been to northern Italy several times and even did some skiing there years ago - the scenery should be lovely and, what's the snow forecast like? Little or artificial snow will put a damper on the party visually at least...

 

[Sciatic]

I've been to northern Italy several times and even did some skiing there years ago - the scenery should be lovely and, what's the snow forecast like? Little or artificial snow will put a damper on the party visually at least...

It was really low snow until very recently. Courses will be mostly artificial snow, which is getting pretty common in many of the World Cup Alpine events. New snow will of course improve the scenery!

ed Watching some of the women's downhill training runs from early this morning I can see that Cortina got a big dump of snow. Don't know about the other venues

 

[JR1012]

The hockey will be insane. The best of the world will finaly clash against each other.

 

[Samu Cuenca]

I'm not sure I've ever thought about Andorra and zebra stripes at the same time before.

 

[Sciatic]

The hockey will be insane. The best of the world will finaly clash against each other.

Yeah, should have mentioned that’s the other event I’m looking forward to watching.

 

[Sciatic]

I'm not sure I've ever thought about Andorra and zebra stripes at the same time before.

Germany has had something like zebras stripes on their downhill suits for years, though they are getting less prominent than they used to be.

 

[KZD]

As usual I will pay more attention to the biathlon and cross country skiing events but I will tried to watch a few hockey games and other sports.

On biathlon I expect the French to win the most medals, with Jeanmonot and Perrot. However the Swedes should be anle to give them a good fight with the Öberg sisters, Samuelsson and Ponsiluoma possibly winning the mixed relay with this line up. As for Norway with JTB retiring last year I think they are kind of screwed but they can still take one or two golds with their male athletes or Kirkeeide. Finally the Italians have a decent shot of take a gold medal with Giacomel, Vitozzi or even Wierer.

On cross-country skiing, the men's side will be dominated by Klæbo with him likely taking the gold medal record on Winter Olympics. It would be good news for the sport if Norway is beaten in just one race but I don't think so. In the women's side things will be more open, but the Swedes are the favourites for most races with Andersson, Karlsson, Svahn and Sundling making likely taking some golds. Diggins and the Norwegians will likely be the biggest challengers.