Greece’s Olympic Team looks to skier Alexandros Ioannis Ginnis for its first medal in the Winter Games starting in the Italian Alps today, February 6, 2026. The XXV Olympic Winter Games, officially known as Milano Cortina 2026,

As the flag is raised up the pole, and orchestra — often with a youth choir — plays the Olympic Anthem, which dates back to the 1896 Games in Athens, Greece. It was composed by Spýros Samáaras to words by Kostís Palamás, and invokes the "immortal spirit" of competition.

Davidson College Visiting Assistant Professor of Classics Allison Smith examines the "distant echoes" of the original Olympic Games and how they compare to the modern global competition. The discussion explores the evolution of the games from a sacred religious sanctuary at Olympia to today's "moving circus" of international host cities.

This past week, Switzerland and Greece announced its 2026 Winter Olympic teams. Tanguy Nef '20 was named to Team Switzerland while AJ Ginnis '20, Greece's

Every Olympic Games has a torch. Every torch has a designer. For the 2026 Milano Cortina Olympic Games and Paralympic Games, that designer is MIT engineer and architect Carlo Ratti .

The Milano Cortina Winter Olympics kick off in February 2026! Learn more about the opening ceremony festivities now.

Coubertin first created the iconic design in 1913, at a time when the amount of countries competing in the Games were significantly smaller than today. The widely believed notion is that the rings and the five individual colours - blue, black, yellow, green and red - represent five inhabited continents, with the Americas counting as one.

Roughly 3,000 Olympic athletes will participate in the ceremony, officially marking the beginning of the 2026 Milan Cortina Winter Olympics.

Americans who top the podium at the Milan Cortina Games will be in line for a $37,500 bonus. Their competitors could collect as much as $800,000.