2026 Winter Olympics: What you need to know in six charts

Hosting the Olympics usually results in an increase in medals – but that’s not always the case, as Italy found out the last time it hosted the Winter Olympics in 2006.

They won 13 medals in 2002 in Salt Lake City but captured only 11 in Turin – although they had won five golds to four in the United States four years earlier.

The Italian Olympic Committee has set a minimum target of 19 medals, one short of its highest tally of 20 medals. This was achieved in 1994 – including a record seven gold medals – when her team included the likes of skating greats Alberto Tomba, Deborah Compagnoni and Stefania Belmondo.

Italy’s hopes of hosting the 2026 World Cup have already suffered some setbacks, with Federica Brignone the flag bearer., external and freestyle skier Flora Tapanelli, external They are both fighting fitness battles while another Alpine hope, Marta Passino,, external It has already been excluded.

But there are others with golden credentials, including speed skater Davide Giotto, figure skater Maurizio Bormolini, and curling pair Amos Mosaner and Stefania Constantini.

And there’s always Ariana Fontana – at 15, the short track skater won bronze in Turin in 2006. Now, 20 years later, she’s Italy’s most successful Winter Olympian, aiming to win a medal at her sixth consecutive Olympic Games.