12m ago
History makers, athletes coming out of retirement and more
Lindsey Vonn. Alex Ferreira. Alysa Liu. Brittany Bowe. Maxim Naumov.
These are just some of the more than 230 American athletes representing Team USA at the 2026 Milano Cortina Winter Olympics.
Olympians from Team USA have won a total of 330 Winter Olympic medals through Beijing 2022 — second only to winter sports powerhouse Norway.
Alysa Liu of Team USA celebrates with her team in the Kiss and Cry zone after competing in the Women’s Single Skating – Short Program at the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympic Games.
Jared C. Tilton / Getty Images
Take a look at some of the Team USA athletes to watch over the next few weeks in Italy.
38m ago
USA’s Madison Chock, Evan Bates post world-best score to open figure skating
Madison Chock and Evan Bates rock-and-rolled their way to a world-best 91.06 points in the rhythm dance Friday to open the team competition at the Milan Cortina Olympics.
Cheered on by a crowd that included Vice President JD Vance, his family and Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Chock and Bates were able to secure their team the maximum 10 points for their Lenny Kravitz-inspired dance while making a big early statement.
Madison Chock and Evan Bates of Team USA compete in the Ice Dance – Rhythm Dance at the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympic Games.
Matthew Stockman / Getty Images
The three-time world champions, Chock and Bates, are the favorites to win individual Olympic gold later in the Winter Games.
Read more here.
-CBS/AP
Updated 44m ago
What country is AIN in the Olympics?
As the 2026 Winter Olympic Games kick off, at least a dozen athletes will represent AIN.
The three-letter acronym isn’t an abbreviation of a country delegation — its athletes are tied to Russia, whose nation’s flag will not be present following a series of doping scandals and Russia’s ongoing war in Ukraine.
AIN athletes will also include competitors from Belarus, which was banned as a country in Paris 2024 over its involvement in the war.
What does AIN stand for?
AIN is an acronym of the French term “Athlètes Individuels Neutres,” meaning “Individual Neutral Athletes.” French is one of the two official languages of the Olympic Games, along with English.
Read more here.
Updated 49m ago
States and hometowns with most Team USA athletes for 2026 Winter Olympics
The United States Olympic and Paralympic Committee is sending its biggest Winter Olympics team ever to the 2026 Games in Italy — 232 Olympic athletes representing 32 home states.
The CBS News data team mapped the home states of the athletes to identify which states had the most representation.
Colorado leads with 30 athletes, followed by Minnesota, which is home to 24, and California, with 19.
States with the fewest competitors include Georgia, Indiana, Iowa, North Dakota and Washington, D.C., each with just one, while 18 states have no athletes on the team.
Read more here.
55m ago
Olympic torch travels across Milan ahead of Opening Ceremony
The Olympic torch arrived in Milan on Thursday evening ahead of today’s Opening Ceremony to officially kickstart the 2026 Milano Cortina Winter Games.
Nicoletta Manni holds the flame during the Winter Olympics Torch Relay on Feb. 5, 2026 in Milan, Italy.
Andreas Rentz / Getty Images
The torch, which was lit in Olympia, Greece, on Nov. 26, 2025, arrived in Italy on Dec. 5 and has since traveled through all the regions of the country, building anticipation for the Winter Games.
Today, the torch is making its way through Milan before reaching the San Siro Stadium for the lighting of the Olympic flame.
Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Swedish former professional footballer and senior advisor for AC Milan, carries the Olympic Torch during the final stage of the 2026 Milano Cortina Olympic Torch Relay.
Emanuele Cremaschi / Getty Images
9:26 AM
Who are Team USA’s flagbearers for today’s Opening Ceremony
Speedskater Erin Jackson and bobsledder Frank Del Duca were chosen as the U.S. flagbearers for today’s Opening Ceremony — and they might be the perfect pair to lead Team USA into the Milan Cortina Winter Olympics.
Jackson is the first Black woman to win an individual gold medal at a Winter Olympics and Del Duca is a sergeant in the Army with deep Italian roots. They were selected by a group of their fellow Olympians as the U.S. flagbearers.
Erin Jackson of Team USA was selected as one of the U.S. flagbearers for the 2026 Milano Cortina Winter Olympics Opening Ceremony.
Lee Jin-man / AP
Jackson will become the eighth U.S. speedskater to carry the flag into an Olympics, the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee said, while Del Duca will be the first bobsledder to carry the flag at an opening in 70 years.
Frank del Duca of Team USA was selected as one of the flagbearers at the 2026 Milano Cortina Olympic Games Opening Ceremony.
Seth Wenig / AP
Read more here.
Updated 9:17 AM
What is the 2026 Winter Olympics schedule?
The athletic events at the 2026 Milano Cortina Games began on Feb. 4 with training sessions and early rounds for multiple disciplines, including curling, ice hockey and snowboarding.
The first medals of the Games will be handed out on Saturday, Feb. 7:
Alpine skiing (men’s downhill)Cross country skiing (women’s 10k + 10k skiathlon)Ski jumping (women’s NH individual)Snowboard (men’s big air)Speed skating (women’s 3000m)
For more details on the Olympic schedule, click here.
Updated 9:06 AM
Lindsey Vonn hits 2026 Winter Olympics slopes for first time with torn ACL
American star Lindsay Vonn participated in an official Olympic training event for Women’s downhill skiing on Friday, hitting the slopes at the Winter Games for the first time after rupturing her left ACL when she crashed in a World Cup race in the Swiss Alps a week ago.
Friday’s run was the first official downhill training to take place ahead of the Games, after an event scheduled for Thursday was canceled due to the weather.
Lindsey Vonn of Team USA skis during the Women’s Downhill training at Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics.
Julian Finney/Getty
Vonn completed the run without any apparent issues. Her first competitive Olympic event, the women’s downhill, is scheduled for Sunday.
Read more about Vonn’s first run in Milan here.
Updated 9:05 AM
Meet the 2026 Winter Olympic mascots, the Milano Cortina stoats Tina and Milo
An animal most people have never heard of — the stoat — is the mascot for the 2026 Winter Olympic Games.
Drawings of Tina the stoat, the Olympic mascot, and her brother Milo, the Paralympic mascot, were designed by students of the Istituto Comprensivo of Taverna, according to the Olympics. The adorable mascots embody “the Italian spirit that inspires them.”
Tina, at left, and Milo, the mascots of the 2026 Milano Cortina Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games, stand on stage in Cortina d’Ampezzo before the last torch relay on Jan. 26, 2026.
Odd ANDERSEN /AFP via Getty Images
Tina and Milo are joined by six snowdrop flowers that the Olympics called “The Flo.”
Read more about Tina and Milo here.
Updated 9:00 AM
Who is the host of the 2026 Winter Olympics?
The 2026 Winter Olympics, officially the XXV Winter Olympic Games, will be co-hosted by Milan and Cortina d’Ampezzo in northern Italy. It is the first Olympic Games to be officially co-hosted by two cities.
Milan will primarily host the ice events, while the remaining events be hosted in clusters around Cortina and the Valtellina and Fiemme valleys. Milan and Cortina are about 250 miles apart by road, nearly a five-hour drive.
Italy first hosted the Winter Olympics in 1956 in Cortina d’Ampezzo, followed by the 2006 Games in Turin. The country has also hosted the Summer Olympics once, in Rome in 1960.
The first Winter Olympics were held in 1924 in Chamonix, France
Updated 9:00 AM
When are the 2026 Winter Olympics?
The 2026 Milano Cortina Winter Olympics will run from Feb. 6 to Feb. 22, although a few events are being held before the official opening day.
The Games will showcase 116 events on ice and snow, in eight sports and 16 disciplines, including alpine skiing, figure skating, ice hockey, and the debut of ski mountaineering, known as skimo.
The Paralympics will take place the following month, from March 6 to March 15.
Updated 9:00 AM
How to watch the 2026 Winter Olympics opening ceremony
The 2026 Winter Olympics opening ceremony will be broadcast in the U.S. on NBC. It will be streamed on Peacock and NBCOlympics.com at 2 p.m. ET. It will last about three hours.
The network says an enhanced encore presentation of the opening ceremony will be broadcast on NBC at 8 p.m. ET.
Read more here.