The Milan-Cortina 2026 Winter Olympic Games begin on February 6 and will run until February 22, turning northern Italy into the global center of winter sport. This year’s edition is the 25th Winter Olympics since the inaugural Games in Chamonix in 1924. More than 2,900 athletes from a record 94 countries are taking part, marking the largest international participation in the history of the Winter Games. The official opening ceremony is scheduled for Friday evening at 9:00 p.m. Bulgarian time.

Competitions will be split between Milan and the Alpine resort of Cortina d’Ampezzo, with additional events hosted in Livigno and Predazzo. Despite international sanctions imposed after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022, athletes from Russia and Belarus will be allowed to compete, though only under a neutral flag. The Olympic family is also expanding, with Benin, Guinea-Bissau and the United Arab Emirates making their Winter Olympics debut. The United States will field the largest team, sending 232 athletes.

The Milan-Cortina Games feature a program of 16 sports and 116 medal events. Of these, 54 are men’s competitions, 50 are women’s events, a record number, and 12 are team disciplines. Ski mountaineering will appear at the Winter Olympics for the first time, including sprint and mixed relay formats. Other additions include a mixed team event in skeleton, women’s pair sled, new freestyle skiing starts and women’s large hill ski jumping. A major highlight is the return of National Hockey League players to the men’s ice hockey tournament, something not seen since the 2014 Games in Sochi.

After a journey of more than 12,000 kilometers over the past two months, the Olympic flame has now arrived in Italy. At the invitation of International Olympic Committee President Kirsty Coventry, Bulgarian Vice President Iliana Yotova will attend the opening events in Milan. She will be received by Italian President Sergio Mattarella at the Royal Palace during an official reception marking the opening of the Games, before taking part in the ceremony at San Siro Stadium, where the Olympic flame will be lit. The President of the Bulgarian Olympic Committee, Vessela Lecheva, will also be present. Yotova is also expected to visit the Olympic Village to meet Bulgaria’s athletes.

Bulgaria is participating with a delegation of 51 people, including 20 competitors and their coaches, managers, medical staff and technical specialists. The athletes will compete in six winter sports: biathlon, alpine skiing, cross-country skiing, ski jumping, snowboarding and figure skating. Biathlon accounts for the largest share of quotas, with eight competitors, evenly split between men and women. Snowboarding follows with four athletes, while alpine skiing and cross-country skiing each have three representatives. Bulgaria will also be represented by one athlete in women’s figure skating and one in men’s ski jumping.

The Bulgarian team will be symbolically represented at the opening ceremonies by two flag bearers. Figure skater Alexandra Feigin will carry the national flag at the ceremony in Milan, while biathlete Vladimir Iliev will perform the same role in Cortina d’Ampezzo. Additional ceremonies will be held in Livigno and Predazzo, where Bulgaria’s snowboarding and cross-country skiing teams are based.

Sporting expectations for Bulgaria are focused on several established names and emerging talents. In snowboarding, world champion Tervel Zamfirov, former World Cup winner Radoslav Yankov, and young competitors Alexander Krashnjak and 16-year-old Malena Zamfirova will compete on February 8 with hopes of high placements. Zamfirova has also been nominated for the Piotr Nurowski Prize and won the vote of Europe’s national Olympic committees. In ski jumping, Vladimir Zografski’s strong recent World Cup performances make a top-10 finish a realistic target, while alpine skier Albert Popov is also expected to challenge for leading positions. Veteran biathletes Vladimir Iliev and Milena Todorova will aim to guide the team toward standout results.

The Bulgarian delegation will be easily recognizable on the slopes thanks to specially designed outfits by the Italian company VIST. The uniforms are dominated by red, while also incorporating white and green, reflecting the national flag and blending functionality with national identity. The Bulgarian Olympic Committee has also published a 48-page guide detailing the team’s preparation, athlete biographies, coaching staff and Bulgaria’s winter Olympic history, which dates back to 1936. The full competition schedule is accessible via a QR code included in the publication.

In a message to the athletes, Bulgarian Olympic Committee President Vessela Lecheva urged them to uphold Olympic values, compete with integrity and continue to pursue their ambitions with determination. With its participation in Milan-Cortina 2026, Bulgaria enters another Olympic cycle aiming not only for strong results, but also to reaffirm its presence among the active and recognizable nations in winter sports.