Here Are The New Events Coming To The 2026 Olympics

Starting on February 6th many Minnesotans will be basing portions of their days around the Winter Olympics. There are several Minnesotans who will be participating in the games that are being held in Milan and Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy, through February 22, 2026, marking Italy's fourth time hosting the Games. Just like two years ago when there were new events at the Olympics, remember the break dancing? There are also new events for this winter. Here are the new events and what you need to know about them, ahead of the start of the Olympics.

Skeleton Mixed Team Relay

This event will see two participants, a male and a female from the representative country compete together, with the female going first, followed by the male. The winners will be determined by their combined times for the team's total score.

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SkiMo (Ski mountaineering)

SkiMo, or Ski Mountaineering, combines uphill climbing and downhill skiing on challenging terrain. According to the Olympics website, the sprint event will consist of various stages. "The ascent has three stages. Athletes begin the race with skis attached, then remove them and place them on their backpacks to tackle a set of steps. The final stage involves a further ascent on skis before the skins are removed for the descent to the finish line."

Women's Ski Luge Doubles

Two females will race a sled down an icy track, where the top athlete on the sled steers using head movements, signaling to the bottom athlete, who controls steering with their body and legs. This is a very fast-paced event and a good chance at a team USA medal.

Women's Large Hill Ski Jumping

This one is fairly straightforward with its name, but the bigger hills mean more distance and more possible points being scored.

Men's & Women's Dual Moguls

A head-to-head race down a hill that features moguls, and has the performers offering aerial tricks off two jumps, with scoring based on "Turns, Air, and Speed" according to the Olympic website. 

Team Alpine Combined Skiing

This event will see a technical specialist, a slalom skier, paired up with a speed specialist skier think downhill/super G, looking to get down the hill in the fastest combined time for the gold. This might be the funnest-sounding event of the Olympics.

Women's Cross Country Skiing

This year's Olympics will have the men and women competing on the same courses with the same distances, a change from previous years.

Nordic Combined & Ski Jumping Team Formats

This is an event that has been an Olympic event since 1924, but there is now a team aspect, where, according to the event's page on the Olympics website, "In the team competition, two athletes from each NOC compete. Each jump from the large hill and the total team score determines the starting order for the 2x7.5km cross-country relay. The distance jumped is converted into seconds of advantage in the starting order."

How You Can Watch The Olympics

You can watch the Olympics on Peacock, a NBC based-streaming service, or on a host of NBCUniversal stations like NBC, USA, and CNBC.

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