The one-year countdown to the Milan Cortina Olympic Games is on. International Olympics Committee president Thomas Bach has proudly declared “Italy is ready.”

Italy began the one-year countdown to the Winter Olympics on Thursday with a series of events designed to fuel enthusiasm for the Games that will be co-hosted by Milan and the Alpine town of Cortina d'Ampezzo.

Swiss Alpine Skier Lara Gut-Behrami revealed she never thought she would make it to the 2026 Milano Cortina Winter Olympics after an injury-laden period.

Alpine skiing will be divided between Cortina (for the women’s events) and Bormio (for the men) — which are separated by a 5 ½-hour drive. Livigno will host freestyle skiing and snowboarding, biathlon will be in Anterselva, Nordic events will be in Val di Fiemme and ice sports in Milan.

Sochi’s media village was still under construction, and showers ran yellow when journalists arrived for the 2014 Winter Games. The 2016 Rio

Next year’s Olympics might be called the Milan Cortina Games but it will actually be staged across a large swath of northern Italy spread over five different venue clusters.

Worldwide Olympic and Paralympic Partner OMEGA has celebrated one year to go until the Olympic Winter Games Milano Cortina 2026 by unveiling a stunning new Countdown

Omega, the official timekeeper of the Olympics, presents a new Seamaster for the Winter Games in Milano Cortina 2026 ✓ Check it out! ✓

Olympic curling champion Eve Muirhead believes Milan-Cortina 2026 will be a mix of the Winter Games’ past and future as it combines alpine resort settings with a wide geographic spread of existing venues to keep costs down.

The Olympic rings adorn the Stadio Olimpico del Ghiaccio, which will be called Cortina Curling Olympic Stadium, the venue for the curling discipline at the Milan Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics, in Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy. (AP )