Source: Radio New Zealand
NZ Winter Olympic selections Alice Robinson, Zoi Sadowski-Synnott, Luca Harrington, Fin Melville Ives, Cam Melville Ives, Ben Barclay and Ruby Star Andrews. James Allan/Photosport
2026 Winter Olympics
6-22 February
Milano and Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy
Live blog updates on RNZ Sport
History
The inaugural Olympic Games were created by Frenchman Baron Pierre de Coubertin in 1894, inspired by the ancient Greek Olympics held at Olympia.
The first summer games were held at Athens 1896 and the winter version was introduced at Chamonix 1924. The five original sports consisted of bobsleigh, curling, ice hockey, Nordic skiing (military patrol, cross-country skiing, Nordic combined and ski jumping) and skating (figure and speed).
Like the Summer Olympics, the winter event is held every four years and, until 1992, they held in the same year. In 1994, the Winter Olympics skipped out of sequence and are now held between summer games.
Historically, Norway has been the most successful nation in terms of medals, with 148 gold, 134 silver and 123 bronze, 405 in total, with United States next (114 gold/330 total) and Germany (105 gold/267 total).
‘Miracle on Ice’
Perhaps the most famous Winter Olympics event was the men’s ice hockey clash between USA and Soviet Union at Lake Placid 1980.
Played against a political backdrop of the long-running Cold War and the 1979 Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, which would later spark a boycott of the summer games at Moscow, this clash between the hardened Soviet pros and US amateurs would become the subject of two documentaries and two movies.
US President Donald Trump hosts the 1980 USA ice hockey team at the Oval Office. ANNA MONEYMAKER/AFP
The Soviet Union had won five of the previous six gold medals and were favourites to win again, with a team consisting of essentially fulltime athletes at a time when the Olympics still had an amateur-only policy.
They also beat the Americans 10-3 in an exhibition game in the lead-up to the Olympics, but during the medal rounds at Lake Placid, USA turned the tables for a 4-3 victory. Under the round-robin format, the home team still needed a win over Finland to secure gold and trailled 2-1 after two of the three periods.
They scored three unanswered goals in the final period to win, while the Soviets overwhelmed Sweden 9-2 for silver.
Winter Kiwis
Assembling a team for the Winter Games has historically been difficult for a nation better know for its maritime legacy. The Games have never been staged in the southern hemisphere, which means NZ athletes have also had to compete out of season.
New Zealand first appeared at Oslo 1952 – the sixth Winter Olympics – where we were represented by alpine skiers Herbert Franklin, Bill Hunt and Annette Johnson.
Annelise Coberger at the Albertville 1992 Winter Olympics. Photosport
Teams were made up exclusively of skiers until Calgary 1988, when New Zealand first fielded teams in the two-man and four-man bobsleigh.
Skier Annelise Coberger claimed our first medal, when she finished second in the women’s slalom at Albertville 1992, and she would remain our only medallist for quarter of a century, until snowboarder Zoi Sadowski-Synnott (women’s big air) and freestyle skier Nico Porteous (men’s halfpipe) won bronze on the same day at Pyeongchang 2018.
At 16 years 353 days, Sadowski-Synnott became New Zealand’s youngest-ever Olympic medallist, eclipsing swimmer Danyon Loader (17 years 100 days), but she later lost that distinction to Porteous (16 years 91 days).
Both returned four years later at Beijing to win gold – Sadowski-Synnott in slopestyle and Porteous in halfpipe, while ZSS also took silver in big air.
New Zealand now has two Winter Olympic golds, two silver and two bronze.
Milano Cortina 2026
The joint Italian bid was awarded hosting rights, beating out another joint proposal by Stockholm and Are (Sweden) in 2019.
It will become the first Winter Olympics hosting by two cities, but in reality, events will be spread over a variety of venues, with Milan staging ice events, and the others in clusters around Cortina, and the Valtellina and Fiemme valleys.
Cortina d’Ampezzo previously hosted the 1956 Games. Italy has now hosted three Winter Olympics, as well as the 1960 Rome summer games.
Athletes celebrate their arrival at the games village at Cortina d’Ampezzo. KOJI ITO/AFP
Events
The 2026 Winter Olympics will be contested across 16 sports and 116 medal events.
The new sport is ski mountaineering, contested in men’s and women’s sprint, and a mixed relay.
New Zealand will only be represented in three sports – snowboarding, freestyle skiing and alpine skiing.
Canadian bobsleigh team in action at Pyeongchang 2018. Tobias Hase
Alpine skiing, biathlon, bobsleigh, cross-country skiing, curling, figure skating, freestyle skiing, ice hockey, luge, Nordic combined, short-track speed skating, skeleton, ski jumping, ski mountaineering, snowboarding, speed skating
NZ team schedule
Friday, 6 February
7.30am
Men’s big air snowboard qualifying – Lyon Farrell, Rocco Jamieson, Dane Menzie
Saturday, 7 February
10.30pm
Women’s slopestyle freestyle skiing qualifying – Ruby Star Andrews, Sylvia Trotter
Sunday, 8 February
2am
Men’s slopestyle freestyle skiing qualifying – Lucas Ball, Ben Barclay, Luca Harrington
7.30am
Men’s big air snowboard final
11.30pm
Women’s downhill skiing final – Alice Robinson
Monday, 9 February
8.30am
Women’s big air snowboard qualifying – Lucia Georgalli, Zoi Sadowski-Synnott
Lucia Georgalli in action at the 2023 world junior snowboard championships. Iain McGregor/Photosport
Tuesday, 10 February
12.30am
Women’s slopestyle freestyle skiing final
7.30am
Women’s big air snowboard final
Wednesday, 11 February
12.30am
Men’s slopestyle freestyle skiing final
Thursday, 12 February
7.30am
Men’s halfpipe snowboard qualifiers – Campbell Melville Ives
11.30pm
Women’s Super-G final – Alice Robinson
Saturday, 14 February
7.30am
Men’s halfpipe snowboard final
Sunday, 15 February
7.30am
Women’s big air freestyle skiing qualifying – Ruby Star Andrews, Sylvia Trotter
10pm
Women’s giant slalom final – Alice Robinson
Monday, 16 February
7.30am
Men’s big air freestyle skiing qualifying – Lucas Ball, Ben Barclay, Luca Harrington
10.30pm
Women’s slopestyle snowboard qualifying – Lucia Georgalli, Zoi Sadowski-Synnott
Ben Barclay in action at the 2020 Winter Youth Olympics. Simon Bruty/OIS
Tuesday, 17 February
2am
Men’s slopestyle snowboard qualifying – Lyon Farrell, Rocco Jamieson, Dane Menzie
7.30am
Women’s big air freestyle skiing final
Wednesday, 18 February
1am
Women’s slopestyle snowboard final
7.30am
Men’s big air freestyle skiing final
Thursday, 19 February
12.30am
Men’s slopestyle snowboard final
10.30pm
Men’s halfpipe freestyle skiing qualifying – Luke Harold, Ben Harrington, Finley Melville Ives, Gustav Lagnavsky
Friday, 20 February
7.30am
Women’s halfpipe freestyle skiing qualifying – Mischa Thomas
Saturday, 21 February
7.30am
Men’s halfpipe freestyle skiing final
Sunday, 22 February
7.30am
Women’s halfpipe freestyle skiing final
Kiwi medal hopes
Zoi Sadowski-Synnott enters these games as reigning champion in slopestyle and a big air medallist at the last two Winter Olympics.
She took some time off in 2024, but returned last year to win her third world crown and fifth X Games title at slopestyle, and tuned up for the Olympics with second at the X Games last month.
Zoi Sadowski-Synnott celebrates her slopestyle gold medal at Beijing 2022. AFP
Despite Porteous’ retirement from competition, New Zealand still has a freestyle skiing halfpipe medal contender in Finley Melville Ives, who won the world championship at Engadin last year and underscored his form with X Games gold last month.
He also currently leads the FIS Freestyle Ski World Cup halfpipe standings with victories at Secret Garden in December and Aspen in January.
Big air exponent Luca Harrington is another worth watching in freestyle skiing, with three podium finishes in as many events on the World Cup. He briefly led the standings after finishing second at Beijing in December, but now trails American Troy Podmilsak on a countback.
He is also reigning world champion.
Alice Robinson in World Cup skiing at St Moritz. FABRICE COFFRINI / AFP
Alpine skier Alice Robinson has also been in hot form on the World Cup circuit, with three wins and two other podiums across giant slalom and super-giant slalom. She currently sits second on the super-G rankings and fourth on overall prizemoney for the season.
Robinson finished second in giant slalom at last year’s world championships.
Event descriptions
Alpine skiing – the traditional form of skiing and one of the original Winter Olympics sports. Contested over downhill, slalom, giant slalom and super-giant slalom (Super-G).
Downhill is the fastest of the disciplines, reaching speeds of up to 130km/h, as athletes assume aerodynamic positions for maximum velocity.
Slalom involves skiing between poles or gates, which are spaced closer than the other alpine events, requiring tighter turns. Men traditionally negotiate 55-75 gates, women 40-60.
Giant slalom has poles set wider apart and Super-G is wider still, although it is regarded as a speed event, as opposed to slalom and giant slalom, which are more technical.
Super-G and downhill competition consists of just one run each, while slalom and giant slalom are contested over two runs for a combined time.
Snowboarding – contested across slopestyle, big air, halfpipe, parallel slalom and snowboard cross, although the Kiwis are only entered in the first three.
Slopestyle sees athletes travel down a course of obstacles, including rails, jumps and other features, with points awarded for amplitude, originality and qualify of tricks.
Big air is an extreme version of slopestyle, with bigger jumps and more hangtime to perform tricks, but bigger landings.
Luca Harrington competes in the freestyle skiing big air final at the Beijing World Cup. JU HUANZONG / AFP
As the name suggests, halfpipe is contested on a course with steep curved walls, with athletes using the walls to gain height and perform tricks.
Big air consists of three runs, with the best two counting towards final placings. Halfpipe also has three runs, but only the best counts, as with slopestyle.
Freestyle skiing – contested over aerials, moguls, cross, halfpipe, slopestyle and big air, although New Zealand only has entries in halfpipe, slopestyle and big air. Basically the same format as snowboarding.
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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand
