Since 1924 – Norway accumulates a record 405 total Winter Olympic medals including 148 golds, the highest tally in the Games’ history, establishing a benchmark for all nations [3].

Sochi 2014 – The United States fields 222 athletes, the largest U.S. Winter delegation to date, a record later surpassed [11].

PyeongChang 2018 – The U.S. sends 228 athletes, breaking its own Sochi record and setting a new high‑water mark for American Winter Olympians [11].

2018 – The International Olympic Committee bars NHL‑contracted players from the Winter Games, ending a long‑standing professional‑hockey presence [1].

2022 – NHL players miss the Beijing Games because of COVID‑19 restrictions, while the U.S. figure‑skating team wins gold after Russia is penalised for a doping violation [1] [8].

2024 Paris Summer Games – The U.S. finally receives its delayed 2022 figure‑skating team gold medals during a ceremony in Paris, underscoring the significance of a repeat title in Milan‑Cortina [9] [18].

Jan 7, 2026 – U.S. officials announce that the final Olympic ski‑jumping roster will be released by Jan 20, setting the selection deadline ahead of the Games [23].

Jan 12, 2026 – U.S. Figure Skating publishes the full Milan‑Cortina roster, naming Alysa Liu, Isabeau Levito, Amber Glenn, Ilia Malinin, Maxim Naumov, Andrew Torgashev and the pairs and ice‑dance teams that will compete [13] [22].

Jan 26, 2026 – Team USA unveils a record 232‑athlete Winter Olympic team, the largest ever, featuring 98 returning Olympians and 18 champions, and makes the roster searchable online [11] [20].

Jan 26, 2026 – The IOC confirms Milan‑Cortina will open on Feb 6, host 195 medals across 116 events, debut ski mountaineering, and achieve a historic 53.4 % female participation rate [12] [21].

Jan 31, 2026 – UK Sport sets a target of four‑to‑eight medals for Great Britain; Italy aims for at least 19 medals despite key injuries; IOC President Kirsty Coventry, the first female president, pledges a “new normal” of sustainability; and Chef de Mission Eve Muirhead says there is “an opportunity to get the most we ever have.” [1]

Feb 2, 2026 – Norway retains its all‑time Winter Olympic lead; the United States delegation is headed by Vice President JD Vance and his wife Usha, sparking protests in Milan over ICE deployment [3].

Feb 3, 2026 – Colorado supplies the most U.S. Olympians (31 athletes), followed by Minnesota (24), as the American roster reaches 234 competitors, surpassing the 2018 record [10] [19].

Feb 4, 2026 – Mixed‑doubles curling round‑robin kicks off, becoming the only sport contested daily throughout the Games and marking the first competition before the opening ceremony [5] [7].

Feb 5, 2026 – Athletes begin training and early matches: alpine downhill runs in Bormio, women’s ski‑jumping in Predazzo, and preliminary women’s ice‑hockey games, while mixed‑doubles curling continues [5].

Feb 5, 2026 – The opening ceremony launches at Milan’s San Siro, featuring simultaneous parades in four venues, two Olympic cauldrons, and a dispersed format spanning 22,000 km²; IOC President Kirsty Coventry defends the model despite “added additional complexities,” while Lindsey Vonn notes she “appreciates Cortina’s beauty but misses the close‑quarter village of Salt Lake 2002,” and Hilary Knight confirms the U.S. women’s hockey team is ready despite a smaller ice sheet [6].

Feb 6, 2026 – The Games open with a dual ceremony in Milan and Cortina under the “Harmony” theme, starring Mariah Carey, Andrea Bocelli and others; the figure‑skating team event begins hours earlier at the Milano Ice Skating Arena, and Team USA declares its goal to win back‑to‑back gold, citing the 2022 victory that came after Russia’s doping penalty [2] [8] [14] [15].

Feb 6‑8, 2026 – The Olympic figure‑skating team competition runs, with the U.S. roster of Liu, Levito, Glenn, Malinin, Naumov, Torgashev, pairs and ice‑dance teams competing for a repeat gold; the schedule streams live on Peacock and select NBC/USA Network slots [8] [9] [13] [18].

Feb 11, 2026 – Day 11 highlights include the men’s 4×7.5 km biathlon relay in Anterselva, Nordic combined in Tesero, intense men’s curling round‑robin, and Italy’s men’s speed‑skating gold alongside Canada’s women’s gold [4].

Feb 22, 2026 – The Winter Olympics close in Verona with a closing ceremony, ending a 17‑day program that featured the debut of ski mountaineering and a record‑high share of women athletes [2] [7].

2030 – The IOC plans to apply the Milan‑Cortina dispersed, sustainability‑focused model to the upcoming French‑Alps Winter Games [6].

2034 – Utah is slated to host the next Winter Olympics, expected to reuse the multi‑venue approach pioneered in 2026 [6].

2038 – A Swiss bid proposes to continue the geographically spread format for the 2038 Winter Games [6].