After the giant slalom specialists, all winter athletes will soon be starting their World Cup seasons. The highlight will be the Olympic Games in Italy. They open in 100 days.
29.10.2025, 19:30
29.10.2025, 19:35
SDA
Winter is drawing ever closer - and with it the Olympic Games in Milan and Cortina d'Ampezzo. While athletes, fans and officials eagerly await the highlight of the season, the final preparations for the sporting spectacle are underway. Intensive work is still underway at a number of competition venues and tickets are still available for some events. An initial overview of current issues:
When does it start?
The opening ceremony at Milan's San Siro football stadium will officially kick off on Friday evening, February 6 - 100 days from today, Wednesday. However, preliminary and qualifying events are already scheduled for the two days beforehand, for example in curling or snowboarding on the big air hill. The Swiss women's ice hockey team will start the tournament against the Czech Republic on February 6, just a few hours before the Olympic flame is lit. The closing ceremony will take place on February 22 in the ancient arena in Verona. Almost 2900 athletes from all over the world are expected to take part in the Olympic Games.
What are likely to be the highlights of the Winter Games?
The men's ski races in Bormio and the women's races in Cortina d'Ampezzo are the first Olympic alpine events on traditional World Cup courses in two decades. The biathlon in the cult resort of Antholz and the Nordic events in Val di Fiemme are likely to be just as atmospheric. The indoor ice competitions will take place in Milan, including the ice hockey tournament. One sport will be taking part in the Olympics for the first time: the ski touring races in Bormio with good Swiss medal chances.
Which stars can the fans look forward to?
In ice hockey, the superstars from the North American NHL will be back on the ice for the first time since Sochi 2014. Roman Josi and Nino Niederreiter could return to Olympic ice after twelve years or Nico Hischier and Kevin Fiala could make their debut. Among the ski racers, long-time dominators Mikaela Shiffrin and Marco Odermatt will be looking to make their mark - but 41-year-old Lindsey Vonn could also be in the spotlight after her comeback last year.
The Swiss chances?
Four years ago at the Corona Games in Beijing, 167 Swiss athletes - 92 men and 75 women - competed. With 15 medals (7 gold), they achieved the best result in Olympic history - albeit in more competitions than in previous years. This resulted in 8th place in the medal table. Of the eleven medal winners, ten are still active, only Olympic downhill champion Beat Feuz has retired. Only one medal was not won on two skis (snowboarder Jan Scherrer). Once again, the biggest trump cards will be the skiers in all variations.
Are tickets still available for the various competitions?
The organizers are not officially revealing how many tickets have been sold. According to reports, 800,000 of a total of around 1.2 million tickets are gone. For some disciplines such as alpine skiing, bobsleigh, luge, ski jumping and curling, individual tickets are no longer available on the official portal, only expensive hospitality offers. Remaining tickets are available for events such as figure skating, speed skating, snowboarding and freestyle skiing; however, some of these are very expensive. According to the organizers, more than half of all tickets were available for less than 100 euros each - tickets in this price range are now only available for biathlon, cross-country skiing or Nordic combined, for example.
Are all venues ready for the Olympics?
"All competition venues will be ready in time," says Fabio Massimo Saldini, the special representative for Olympic construction, according to the Ansa news agency. In many places, final spurts are necessary: In Livigno, where the snowboarders and ski freestylers are competing, the spectacular finish stadium was still a shell just a few weeks ago. The greatest effort has already been made on the ice channel in Cortina. However, the luge and bobsleigh track was completed in a record time of less than a year - preventing the event from being moved abroad.
