Thousands of the world’s best athletes will flock to Milan and Cortina d’Ampezzo in Italy in February 2026 for the 25th Winter Olympics. While sports fans are focused on the athletic feats of the Olympians,

The Winter Olympics are a bit of an enigma to most sports fans in the United States. The average person has seen hockey, the understand figure skating, and we get enough extreme sports through osmosis that the snowboard half pipe makes sense — but a lot of the events are more Euro-centric.

For many decades, Olympic Games included "demonstration sports." Some, like curling, became part of the permanent roster. But others, like skijoring, didn't stick around.

Unlike in the Summer Olympics where Americans often dominate the podium, Team USA has lagged behind a bit in recent Winter Games. In 2022, Team USA finished fifth in the medal count with 25 total medals -- although their nine gold medals was good for third.