Your TV Guide
The 5 Biggest Things To Watch At The 2026 Winter Olympics
Don't miss the legendary USA-Canada women's hockey rivalry or the new guard of ice dancers.
The 2026 Winter Olympics are set to take place Feb. 6-22, with events spread across northern Italy including in Milan and the ski resort of Cortina d'Ampezzo. These Games will mark the first time the Olympics have been officially hosted by two cities, and will feature the debut of ski mountaineering — colloquially known as “skimo” (catch the first events on Feb. 19). And with Heated Rivalry stars Hudson Williams and Connor Storrie serving as Olympic torchbearers, even the craze over the gay Canadian hockey show has made it to the biggest stage in sports.
Despite some controversy ahead of Milano Cortina (like, will the hockey arena be finished in time? And why are women still banned from competing in the Nordic Combined ski event?), excitement is ramping up about the incredible stories and performances we’ll see at the Games.
NBC is once again the exclusive home of Olympics coverage in the U.S.; you can watch live events airing across NBC channels and streaming on the Peacock app starting with the Opening Ceremony on Feb. 6, which is set to include performances from Mariah Carey, Andrea Bocelli, and The White Lotus’ Sabrina Impacciatore.
Not sure which events to watch? Here are five storylines that sports insiders are paying attention to.
All Eyes On Women’s Hockey
The Olympics have long been the biggest stage for women’s ice hockey, particularly in North America, and Milano Cortina will be the first Games of the Professional Women’s Hockey League era. All 10 teams have at least one current or former PWHL player on their roster. (A real-life Heated Rivalry will play out between PWHL fiancées Anna Kjellbin and Ronja Savolainen, who represent Sweden and Finland, respectively.)
Olympic women’s ice hockey is always exciting because it means we get to watch what Maya Smith, reporter for The Ice Garden and host of The IX Sports Podcast: Hockey Edition, calls “the greatest rivalry in sports.”
“In the history of the women's game at the Olympics, only one gold medal game has not included both Team Canada and Team USA, and Canada has come out on top the majority of the time,” Smith tells Bustle. “These two teams are incredibly familiar opponents, having played a four-game series early this year. The Americans swept the series and also won gold over the Canadians at the Women’s World Championships in 2025. But don’t count out Team Canada. They've been in a similar situation before and still won gold.”
Team USA captain Hilary Knight, who plays for the Seattle Torrent, has announced that this will be her fifth and final Olympic Games. Laila Edwards will be making her Olympic debut for Team USA, becoming the first Black woman hockey player to compete for the U.S. at the Games. Meanwhile, Team Canada captain and Montreal Victoire player Marie-Philip Poulin, who scored the gold medal-winning goal at the 2010 and 2014 Games, is also entering her fifth Olympics.
The field is ripe for a changing of the guards, though. “Czechia, Finland, and Sweden could pose a threat to the North American juggernauts,” Smith says. “Keep an eye out for them to pull off an upset.”
Meanwhile, on the men’s side, this is the first time since the 2014 Winter Games that NHL players will be competing in ice hockey, bringing league stars like Sidney Crosby, Connor McDavid, and Matthew Tkachuk to the Olympic spotlight.
Key events:
- Tuesday, Feb. 10 at 10:10 a.m. ET: Women’s preliminary game, USA vs. Canada
- Thursday, Feb. 19 at 1:10 p.m. ET: Women’s gold medal game
- Sunday, Feb. 22 at 10:40 a.m. ET: Men’s gold medal game
The Skeleton Race Has Wives — And Mystique Ro
The women’s skeleton event, which runs from Feb. 13-14, has so many fun storylines to follow this year. To start: Wives Kim Meylemans (representing Belgium) and Nicole Silveira (of Brazil) will compete against each other. “I would die if they both won medals and got to stand on the podium together,” Coach Jackie J, a women’s sports content creator with over 700,000 followers on TikTok, tells Bustle.
There’s also Mystique Ro, who is looking to end a nearly quarter-century American gold medal drought in skeleton. The 31-year-old is a former collegiate track athlete who transitioned to high-speed ice track sports, and one of the few Black women in a heavily white sport. In 2024, Ro won gold at the International Bobsleigh and Skeleton Federation (IBSF) World Cup on home ice in Lake Placid, New York, becoming the first American to win the World Cup in eight years.
“My dream skeleton podium would have the wives take silver and bronze and Mystique Ro take home the gold,” Coach Jackie says.
Key events:
- Friday, Feb. 13 at 10 a.m. ET and 11:48 a.m. ET: Women’s heat 1 and 2
- Saturday, Feb. 14 at 2 p.m. ET and 1:44 p.m. ET: Women’s heat 3 and 4
- Sunday, Feb. 15 at 12 p.m. ET: Mixed team
It’s Time For A New Ice Dancing Champ
Not unlike hockey, there are a few teams that have dominated the field of ice dancing for the last couple of decades. This year will finally bring a new champion. “Since 2010, there have been direct rivalries of Canada's Virtue and Moir, USA's Davis and White, and France's Papadakis and Cizeron,” Tim Koleto, 2022 Olympic silver medalist and five-time Japanese national champion ice dancer, tells Bustle. “This will be the first Games in 20 years where one of those three teams won't take the title.”
Koleto says he’ll be rooting for the American team of Evan Bates and Madison Chock, reigning three-time World Champions (and husband and wife), to take the gold in the individual event at their fourth Olympics together.
Key events:
- Friday, Feb. 6 at 4:55 a.m. ET: Rhythm dance, team
- Saturday, Feb. 7 at 4:05 p.m. ET: Free dance, team
- Monday, Feb. 9 at 1:20 p.m. ET: Rhythm dance, individual
- Wednesday, Feb. 11 at 1:30 p.m. ET: Free dance, individual
The First Openly Queer Woman In Olympic Figure Skating
Amber Glenn is set to be the first out queer woman on the U.S. Olympic figure skating team. The pansexual skater just won her third consecutive U.S. Women’s Figure Skating Championship and, at 26, is the oldest U.S. women’s figure skater to qualify for the Olympics since 1928. Glenn “speaks a lot about pride and what it means to represent the LGBTQ+ community,” Coach Jackie says. “I just know we’re gonna see the pride flag on the Olympic ice, and I’m gonna love that.”
But Glenn’s personal story isn’t the only reason to watch the women’s individual event, which comes at the tail end of the Games with the short program on Feb. 17 and the free skate on Feb. 19. “Kaori Sakamoto, three-time World Champion and the first Japanese woman to qualify for three Olympic Games, will be going for the gold, with USA's Alysa Liu (reigning World Champion) and Amber Glenn (reigning and three-time U.S. Champion) playing spoiler,” Koleto says. “It's absolutely anyone's game.”
Not only that, but the figure skating team event (which starts Feb. 6) will take place without Russian or individual athletes for the first time, which opens the door for Italy, France, Canada, China, and Georgia to join the USA and Japan in the medals conversation.
Key events:
- Friday, Feb. 6 at 7:35 a.m. ET: Women’s single skating, short program
- Sunday, Feb. 8 at 2:45 p.m. ET: Women’s single skating, free skate
- Tuesday, Feb. 17 at 12:45 p.m. ET: Women’s single skating, short program
- Thursday, Feb. 19 at 1 p.m. ET: Women’s single skating, free skate
A Comeback On The Slopes
The women’s skiing field is littered with comeback stories this year. Americans Mikaela Shiffrin, the most decorated alpine skier of all time, and Lindsey Vonn, a three-time Olympic medalist, are both hoping to make another run for medals — Shiffrin after a disappointing showing at the 2022 Winter Games, and Vonn after retiring in 2019. Catch their attempts in the alpine skiing events that run Feb. 7-18.
A comeback story Coach Jackie says she’ll be watching is that of Brazilian cross-country skier Bruna Moura. Moura broke several bones in a bad car accident while traveling to make her Olympic debut at the 2022 Winter Games. But she’s recovered and is back in shape to compete as part of the Brazilian team at Milano Cortina in the cross-country skiing events happening Feb. 7-22.
And if you’re a sucker for firsts, 17-year-old Tallulah Proulx of Park City, Utah, is one to watch, according to Coach Jackie. Competing for the Philippines, she’s the youngest ever Filipino Winter Olympian and the first Filipina to ever compete in the Winter Olympics. She’ll be racing the slalom (Feb. 18) and giant slalom (Feb. 15) events in Milano Cortina.
Key events:
- Preliminary event: Tuesday, Feb. 10 at 4:30 a.m. ET: Women’s team combined downhill
- Medal event: Tuesday, Feb. 10 at 8 a.m. ET: Women’s team combined downhill
- Medal event: Thursday, Feb. 12 at 5:30 a.m. ET: Women’s Super G
- Preliminary event: Sunday, Feb. 15 at 4 a.m. ET: Women’s giant slalom Run 1
- Medal event: Sunday, Feb. 15 at 7:30 a.m. ET: Women’s giant slalom Run 2
- Preliminary event: Wednesday, Feb. 18 at 4 a.m. ET: Women’s slalom run 1
- Medal event: Wednesday, Feb. 18 at 7:30 a.m. ET: Women’s slalom run 2
