The 2026 Winter Olympics in Milan and Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy, are generating excitement as athletes settle into the athletes' villages and prepare for competition. The games will feature eight new events, including ski mountaineering, which marks the first new sport added to the Winter Olympics in decades, according to NPR.
Team USA athletes have begun arriving at their accommodations. Cory Thiesse, a curler from Minnesota, described arriving at the village in Fiames, part of the Cortina d'Ampezzo competition cluster, at night and being able to "kind of see the mountains around you," according to NPR.
Among the athletes preparing for the games is Brenna Huckaby, a highly decorated para snowboarder with four Paralympic medals and 10 World Championships. Huckaby emphasizes maintaining a light atmosphere despite the pressure. "Win or lose, I'm still the same Brenna," Huckaby told Wired. "I'm loved. I have an incredible family. Snowboarding is important, but it's not everything to me." Huckaby also has some interesting rituals, "If Huckaby has a good day in training, she wears the same socks for qualification and racing. If she had a good race for those, she'll wear them for the next race. So, sometimes I wear dirty socks to compete," according to Wired.
The addition of ski mountaineering to the Olympic program is a significant development. Athletes will compete in events that test their endurance and skill in navigating mountainous terrain.
Further updates and behind-the-scenes glimpses of the Winter Olympics in Italy will be available through newsletters and other media outlets, according to NPR.
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