In January, American Jessie Diggins — the world’s top-ranked female cross-country skier — sprinted up the steep Val di Fiemme slopes to claim her third Tour de Ski win. She’s back at the nearby Tesero Cross-Country Skiing Stadium for the 2026 Winter Olympics, racing on terrain she knows intimately.
Although the Games are centered on Milan and Cortina, many Team USA athletes have spent years competing and training across northern Italy. “Our athletes compete there often. Many of them train there,” says Sarah Hirshland, CEO of the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee. “It’s a place where we know we can shine.”
Organizers have tweaked the cross-country course so veteran racers can’t rely solely on muscle memory — as Diggins puts it, “most of it isn’t the same; it’s quite literally running backwards for part of it.” Still, repeated races and long seasons in the region give some Americans a confidence edge.
Val di Fiemme will also host ski jumping and Nordic combined. About two hours north sits the Antholz-Anterselva Biathlon Arena, a longtime hub for elite skiing and shooting competitions. U.S. biathletes feel at home there: their head coach for the last eight years comes from the Antholz Valley, and much of the U.S. waxing staff grew up ski racing in the area. “We kind of are the locals,” says Deedra Irwin, the top U.S. female biathlete. The U.S. has never medaled in Olympic biathlon; Irwin believes this could be the team’s best chance yet.
Some 40 miles south, Cortina d’Ampezzo will host curling and sliding events, while Alpine racers will take on the storied Olympia delle Tofane run, first used at the 1956 Winter Games. For Lindsey Vonn, Cortina is deeply personal. “Every [skier] has their mountain where they feel most at home,” she says. “For me, it’s always been Cortina and Lake Louise.” The 41-year-old has come out of retirement for a fifth Olympics and says the town and mountain drew her back for one more run.
A week before the Games, Vonn suffered a major crash that ruptured a knee ligament, but she announced she will still compete, skiing with a brace over a torn ACL. “As long as there’s still a chance, I will try,” she says. Cortina has embraced her over the years — a local restaurant even named a pizza after her — and that warmth helped bring her back.
The Milan-Cortina 2026 Olympics open Feb. 6 at Milan’s San Siro Stadium and close Feb. 22 in Verona at a Roman amphitheater built in A.D. 30. For many U.S. athletes, northern Italy is familiar ground: years of training, racing and local ties have turned these mountains into something close to home turf.