Milan-Cortina 2026: Where Sport, Style, and Tradition Collide
As the world turns its gaze to northern Italy, anticipation for the 2026 Winter Olympics is mounting. From February 6 to 22, 619, the XXV Olympic Winter Games will unfold across Milan and Cortina d’Ampezzo, bridging high-octane sport, centuries-old culture, and culinary artistry in a region renowned for its beauty and innovation (Travel + Leisure, NBC Sports).
Team USA Women Take Center Stage in Dazzling NBCUniversal Campaign
The build-up to the Games has already captured imaginations worldwide, thanks in part to NBCUniversal’s electrifying new promo. During the 2025 Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, millions witnessed Dua Lipa, a global music icon, glide through Milan’s Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II in a campaign that seamlessly transitions from urban elegance to Alpine wonder. The spot, produced with Industrial Light & Magic’s virtual technology, celebrates the power and charisma of Team USA’s women Olympians—Mikaela Shiffrin (alpine skiing), Chloe Kim (snowboarding), Lindsey Vonn (alpine skiing), and Alysa Liu (figure skating). Set to Dua’s hit “Training Season,” the promo pulses with the promise of historic moments and unforgettable performances.
“Lindsey Vonn—fearless. Alysa Liu—graceful. Mikaela Shiffrin—historic. Chloe Kim—levitating,” Dua Lipa declares, framing these athletes not just as competitors but as icons who embody the spirit of Milan itself: cool, confident, and world-class. This campaign will roll out across NBCUniversal’s platforms, setting the tone for an Olympics defined by female excellence and Italian flair.
The Venues: A Journey Through Italy’s Alpine Heart
The 2026 Games will be staged across multiple northern Italian venues, each offering a distinct flavor of local culture and history. Cortina d’Ampezzo returns to the Olympic spotlight for the first time since 1956, while Milan, famed for its fashion and architecture, provides a cosmopolitan counterpoint. The event marks Italy’s fourth time as an Olympic host, following Rome (1960), Torino (2006), and Cortina’s previous Winter Games appearance.
From alpine skiing and snowboarding in Livigno to figure skating and ski mountaineering in Bormio, athletes and visitors alike will be immersed in landscapes where jagged peaks meet historic towns. NBC and Peacock will serve as the primary broadcast platforms, ensuring audiences worldwide are treated to both the athletic drama and the region’s visual splendor.
Mountain Cuisine: A Feast for the Senses
But the Olympic experience in Milan-Cortina will be about much more than medals. The region’s culinary scene, shaped by centuries of Alpine living, is set to shine just as brightly. Alessandro Gilmozzi, a celebrated chef from Val di Fiemme, calls it “mountain cuisine”—food forged from the challenges and gifts of high-elevation life. Wild herbs, freshwater fish, game meats, and cheeses from malghe (seasonal dairy farms) form the backbone of menus throughout the area.
The Ladin people, a minority ethnic group with their own language and traditions, infuse local fare with unique flavors. Italian Alpine cuisine is further influenced by neighboring Austria, resulting in dishes that are both hearty and nuanced. In Cortina d’Ampezzo, visitors can sample casunziei all’Ampezzana—half-moon ravioli filled with turnips or beets and dressed in butter and poppy seeds. Livigno offers manfrigole, buckwheat crêpes stuffed with cheese and air-dried beef, while Bormio’s specialty is pizzoccheri, a rustic buckwheat pasta.
Five Must-Try Restaurants: From Heritage to Haute Cuisine
- Chalet Gerard (Selva di Val Gardena): Helga Mussner has kept the spirit alive since 1964, serving up apple strudel, crafuncins (rye-flour ravioli), and Italian-style goulash. The lodge, renovated in 2010, remains a cozy haven for both locals and visitors.
- Al Peršéf (Livigno): Chef Attilio Galli’s tasting menus blend Japanese subtlety with Alpine ingredients—rabbit, thistle, wild hay, and the milk-and-rice stew menestra da lecc with a hint of spruce.
- El Brite de Larieto & SanBrite (Cortina d’Ampezzo): Riccardo Gaspari and Ludovica Rubbini run two contrasting eateries—one rustic, serving canederli (hearty dumplings) and farmstead cheese fondue, the other a Michelin-starred showcase for spaghetti infused with mountain pine.
- Fana Ladina (San Vigilio di Marebbe): Set in a 17th-century farmhouse, Chef Alma Willet’s menu honors Ladin cuisine—roasts, risottos, savory doughnuts (crafuns môri) with ragù, and fried potato dough sheets (feies da sôni) with cranberries and sauerkraut.
- El Molin (Cavalese): Alessandro Gilmozzi’s Michelin-starred kitchen is a laboratory of wild botanicals—juniper, pine buds, calendula—and traditional preservation techniques like smoking and pickling, essential for Alpine winters.
A New Kind of Olympic Spectacle: More Than Just Sport
The Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics promise a tapestry of experiences, weaving together world-class sport, stunning Italian scenery, and the flavors of mountain life. The Games will not only spotlight legendary athletes but also celebrate the rich traditions and vibrant communities of the Italian Alps.
NBCUniversal’s campaign, led by Dua Lipa and the dazzling Team USA women, sets a new standard for Olympic storytelling—one that honors both the competition and the cultural context in which it unfolds. The blend of innovative broadcast technology and authentic local flavor ensures that these Games will be remembered not just for podium finishes, but for the way they bring the world together in celebration of excellence, diversity, and tradition.
With Milan-Cortina 2026, the Olympic movement steps boldly into a future where sport, culture, and cuisine are inseparable—and where the stories told off the slopes matter as much as the triumphs on them.