Thursday officially marked one year until the opening ceremonies of the 2026 Winter Olympics, hosted for the first time by two cities: Milan and Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy.

The International Olympic Committee has set a deadline for the end of next month for pre-certification of the Cortina track. There is a Plan B option that would require moving bobsled, luge and skeleton events all the way to Lake Placid, New York, if it isn’t finished in time.

Italy is counting down to the 2026 Winter Olympics co-hosted by Milan and Cortina d'Ampezzo, with significant investments to ensure readiness. Despite logistical challenges and climate concerns, organizers are confident in showcasing Italy's sportsmanship and sophistication on the global stage.

Italy marked the one-year countdown to the Winter Olympics on Thursday with a series of events designed to fuel enthusiasm for the Games that will be co-hosted by Milan and the Alpine town of Cortina d'Ampezzo.

Alpine skiing will be divided between Cortina (for the women’s events) and Bormio (for the men) — which are separated by a 5 ½-hour drive. Livigno will host freestyle skiing and snowboarding, biathlon will be in Anterselva, Nordic events will be in Val di Fiemme and ice sports in Milan.

Thomas Bach said Italy is ready to host next year's Winter Olympics as the one-year countdown to the sprawling Milan-Cortina Games began at an event in Italy's economic capital on Thursday. "Italy is ready to write the next chapter of its great Olympic history,

The president of the International Olympic Committee, Thomas Bach, said on Thursday that Italy is ready to write the next chapter of its Olympic history at an event organized at Milan's Piccolo Theatre one year before the 2026 Winter Olympics are scheduled to kick off.

Next year’s Olympics might be called the Milan Cortina Games but it will actually be staged across a large swath of northern Italy spread over five different venue clusters.