Sam Webb
BBC Sport in Milan

We’re waiting for the stars to arrive at the beautiful Teatro alla Scala in Milan, three miles from the San Siro. I’ve been told to please watch out for the enormous Giacomo Puccini statue I’ve been stationed in front of! Huge chandeliers are hanging from the high ceiling, with the Olympic torch on display next to some Olympic medals at the end of our row.

Richard Winton
BBC Sport Scotland in Cortina

Image source, BBC Sport

Pretty, ain't it?

This is the view from the end of the sliding track, which is almost as high as the start of it. Takes a while to wrap your head around that...

This is a properly high-end little resort high up in the Dolomites and one which was blanketed by a freakishly large dump on snow on Wednesday. Plenty of it is still lying around - although the busier parts of the town are now a slushy mess - which makes for a picturesque location for some fun on the ice.

Image source, Getty Images

Known as "The Pearl of the Dolomites", the mountain city of Cortina hosts multiple events at this year's Games and a chunk of the opening ceremony.

Unlike in Milan, where the ceremony is being held in a gigantic stadium, the festivities here will be held in the heart of the city, moving around its centre.

We'll be taking in the sights of Cortina's Corso Italia and Piazza Angelo Dibona - and very nice I'm sure they are too.

Image source, Getty Images

There are 53 athletes and two reserves in Italy to compete at the games.

Among them are world champions, X Games medallists and World Cup winners.

The most medals which Team GB has won at a Winter Olympics is five - which was achieved both at Sochi 2014 and Pyeongchang 2018.

You can find out more about the athletes hoping to beat that total in BBC Sport's guide

Emma Smith
BBC Sport at San Siro

Here's the current San Siro scene. We have a circular stage with four entrances, and replicas of classic Italian sculptures.

All mysteries will be revealed in a couple of hours.

Image source, BBC Sport

It's a stadium beloved by football fans around the world, but tonight it's in Winter Olympics mode.

The San Siro, the famous home of AC and Inter Milan, is the host of Milan's portion of the opening ceremony.

The venue isn't the host of any sporting events at the Games, but its 75,817 seats will be filled tonight for the opening festivities.

Built in 1926 and officially called the Giuseppe Meazza stadium, the ground is coming to the end of its life, with both Milan clubs planning for a new home in the early 2030s.

Tonight though, it gets to play a starring role.

The events at this Games are being held across four clusters.

The first, in Milan, plays host to the ice hockey, figure skating and both the speed skating disciplines.

Over in Cortina and Antholz/Anterselva, you've got alpine skiing, curling, bobsleigh, luge, skeleton and biathlon.

Valtellina, comprising Bormio and Livigno, also welcomes alpine skiing as well as snowboarding, freestyle skiing and the debut discipline of ski mountaineering.

Finally Val di Fiemme, comprising Predazzo and Tesero will stage cross-country skiing, ski jumping and Nordic combined.

For the first time, the opening ceremony is being in two locations - Milan and Cortina, while there will be athletes parades there and in Livigno and Bormio.

With the official opening set to start at 19:00 GMT - we want to hear from you!

Get involved and send us your thoughts on your favourite memories from past Games and what event you're most looking forward to watching.

You can get in touch by clicking the 'Get Involved' tab at the top of this page!

Around 2,900 athletes from more than 90 countries will compete on the ice and snow at Milan-Cortina 2026.

The world's biggest winter sports stars will descend on northern Italy from Friday, 6 February and there's certain to be thrills, drama and breakout performances.

From the veteran skiier who won't let an ACL injury come between her and her final games to the former teenage snowboard sensation seeking a three-peat, BBC Sport takes a look at some of the global stars and stories to look out for.

You can read the article by clicking here

Image source, Getty Images

Image source, Getty Images

At Milano-Cortina 2026, there are a huge 116 medal events to be contested - the most ever.

The events will take place across 16 different disciplines, of which eight are on snow and eight on ice.

Can you name all 16?

Test your knowledge in our quiz

As I mentioned below, we're already deep into curling action.

It's been a fantastic start for the Team GB mixed doubles pairing of Jen Dodds and Bruce Mouat.

The fancied Sweden - who beat them to bronze in 2022 - were beaten 7-4, before underdogs South Korea were more comfortably defeated 8-2 to leave Dodds and Mouat with five wins from five.

It leaves the Scottish duo top of the standings and within touching distance of the semi-finals and, with it, a shot at a medal.

And they managed to get a selfie with Snoop Dogg to boot - the rapper is in attendance in Cortina as a Team USA hype man and "honorary coach".

Meanwhile Team GB's teenage snowboarder Txema Mazet-Brown missed out on the big air final, finishing 21st in qualification.

Well, there's a question.

You are of course joining us for the opening ceremony, which kicks off at 19:00 GMT tonight.

Formally, day one of the games is tomorrow, with 10 of the 16 disciplines in action and our first five medal events.

However, curling and ice hockey feature a volume of group fixtures that can't all be staged after the opening ceremony, so they got underway on Wednesday and Thursday respectively, while snowboarding also held some qualifying yesterday.

Four years.

A long, long wait, or gone in the blink of an eye. Perhaps both.

Either way, we're back for the 22nd Winter Olympics in Milan Cortina, and it's the first for 12 years held on European time.

While winter sport addicts hunkered under blankets to catch the action in Pyeongchang and Beijing, fans in the UK will be able to tune in at more agreeable hours on this occasion.

We start today with the opening ceremony, which will take place from 19:00 BST.

And we've got plenty more to held you get in the Winter Olympics mood beforehand...