IOC Announces New Skiing Events to Debut at 2026 Olympics
Ski fans will have new events to watch at the 2026 Winter Olympics in Milano-Cortina, Italy.
If you thought the Olympics needed more skiing, you and the International Olympic Committee (IOC) were on the same page.
On June 24, the International Ski and Snowboard Federation (FIS) announced three new events coming to the 2026 Winter Olympics. The slopes of Milano-Cortina, Italy, will now see competitors vie for medals in the following categories:
- men’s freestyle skiing dual moguls
- women’s freestyle skiing dual moguls
- women’s ski jumping large hill
The IOC’s Executive Board also added several non-FIS events. A skeleton mixed-team event and luge doubles (men’s and women’s) now join ski mountaineering, which the committee looped in last summer.
The additions bring the total number of FIS events to 58, accounting for about half of the Winter Olympics medal events.
Freestyle Skiing Dual Moguls
In a subsequent explainer, FIS said that the addition of the two dual moguls events comes “hot on the heels” of the debut of freeski big and aerials in the 2022 Beijing Olympics.
“Moguls has been one of the most watched events at the past several games,” FIS wrote. “Taking into account a tremendous effort by the freestyle community to include the second mogul discipline into the Olympic programme, it was only a matter of time before dual moguls would also get the nod from the IOC.”
Check out the video below to see an example of the elegant acrobatics involved in the dual mogul event.
Women’s Ski Jumping: Large Hill Version
Professional women skiers will have more opportunities to defy the laws of physics. That’s because the IOC approved a large hill for women’s ski jumping. While a normal hill can rise to about 357 feet, the large hill can measure up to 604 feet.
For context, check out Sara Takanashi‘s winning jump at FIS’ 2022 Ski Jumping competition in Oslo, where she soared through the air for 426 feet.
The IOC gave the thumbs down to other proposed events. Those included ski cross mixed-team and snowboard mixed-team parallel slalom.
“Of particular disappointment was the fact that Women’s Nordic Combined was declined as an Olympic discipline on the 2026 Program,” FIS wrote. “FIS considered the discipline a strong candidate given that it would have brought full gender equality to the Olympic Winter Games Program.”
The organization said it will continue to push for the un-included events in future Olympic games.
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