While most Cal High students are busy completing their homework and studying for their next exams, thousands of elite athletes have completed their final stages of preparation and are now competing in the world’s most prestigious winter sports event.
The Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics, jointly organized in Milan and Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy, began last Friday with the traditional opening ceremonies.
The games will last 18 days before concluding on Feb. 23.
Between 200 and 235 athletes will represent the United States in this year’s Olympic games, forming one of the largest delegations at the event in the country’s history.
Notably, Auston Matthews, a hockey player who was born in San Ramon, will make his Olympic debut at the Olympics as Team USA’s captain.
Many Cal students are encouraged by Matthews’ achievement.
“It’s inspiring to see athletes from San Ramon go to such prestigious events across the world,” junior Prithvi Sudarshan said. “Knowing that people from our city can reach amazing heights inspires me.”
The 2026 Winter Olympics will feature 16 sports classified into four main categories, including ice sports (figure, speed and short track speed skating, ice hockey), sliding sports (bobsleigh, luge, curling), skiing/snowboard sports (alpine, cross-country and freestyle skiing, nordic combined, snowboarding), and mountain sports (ski mountaineering).
Ski mountaineering, also known as SkiMo, is a new winter sport that will debut this year.
The sport tests athletes on ascending and descending terrains while skiing.
The addition of the sport shows the Olympics’ ongoing effort to highlight and diversify winter sports.
Top athletes, such as Mikaela Shiffrin (alpine skiing), Kailie Humphries (bobsledding), Illa Malinin (figure skating), Chloe Kim (snowboarding), and Kendall Coyne Schofield (hockey) will represent the United States over the next few weeks.
Excitement for the Olympics isn’t just brewing in Italy, as many Cal students said they are equally eager to watch the games this month.
“I’m excited to watch snowboarding at this year’s Olympics,” sophomore Rahul Chamarajanagar said. “I go to Tahoe every year and snowboard, so seeing people play it on TV is pretty thrilling.”
For the first time, organizers have created 3D virtual replicas of the alpine runs, offering fans an immersive, athlete’s-eye view of the treacherous descents.
Senior Aryan Patil raves about SkiiMo and the thrill of the climbs and descents.
“I saw ski mountaineering on TV, and I thought, damn, it’s pretty cool when they ski up and down the mountains,” Patil said. “I wish I could be soaring through the sky on the skis.”
Other students are drawn to different aspects of the games.
AP World History teacher Benjamin Andersen enjoys the high-speed thrills that sliding sports have to offer.
“I like watching luge and skeleton when the Winter Olympics are on,” Andersen said. “It’s impressive watching athletes race at incredibly fast speeds on those tiny sleds.”
The athletes aren’t the only ones creating buzz for this year’s Olympics.
Milan’s elaborate opening ceremonies left a lasting impression on those watching, and the closing ceremonies are expected to do the same.
Milan’s opening ceremony, titled “Armonia” (Harmony), focused on human factors and sustainability, and was the vision of creative director Marco Balich.
Sophomore Christon Rex was most excited about Milan’s highly anticipated opening ceremony.
“Personally, I’m really interested in the opening ceremony,” Rex said before it happened. “The theme on sustainability, art, and Italian culture, with the mix of the cultures of Milan and the Dolomites, sounds fascinating.”
The opening ceremony featured several award-winning artists and actors, such as Mariah Carey, Andrea Bocelli, Laura Pausini, Pierfrancesco Favino, and Sabrina Impacciatore.
It was an impressive lineup of what was definitely a grand opening ceremony by host country Italy.
The closing ceremony is set to focus on blending Italian traditions with sports and arts to wrap up the games.
It is to be performed by renowned ballet star Roberto Bolle as well as the orchestra and choir groups of the Arena di Verona Foundation, a foundation created to inspire the growth of music.
Domestic politics will also play a role in this year’s Olympics as Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Agents will assist U.S. security operations.
Following the deaths of Renee Good and Alex Pretti in Minnesota last month, ICE has since been on high alert to “mitigate transnational criminal organizations,” as reported by the BBC.
Nevertheless, local politicians have condemned ICE’s involvement in the Winter Olympics.
Milan Mayor Giuseppe Sala expressed his frustration after ICE announced their participation in the global sporting event.
“This [ICE] is a militia that kills, a militia that enters into the homes of people, signing their own permission slips,” Sala said. “They are not welcome in Milan, without a doubt.”
Antonio Tajani, Italy’s foreign minister, took a different stance on ICE.
“We’re not talking about [ICE Agents] who were out on the streets of Minneapolis,” Tajani said at a press conference. “It’s not as if the SS are arriving.”
For Grizzlies, the Milano Cortina Olympics will prove to be historic, connecting millions across the globe through 16 sports, countless stories and the shared enthusiasm of world-wide competition.
