An commercial for the 2026 Winter Olympics stands close to Piazza Duomo within the co-host metropolis of Milan, Italy, within the lead-up to the opening ceremony.
Maja Hitij/Getty Pictures
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Maja Hitij/Getty Pictures
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It is the Winter Olympics, that particular season each 4 years through which everybody you realize is out of the blue an knowledgeable on luge technique and curling method from the consolation of their sofa.
There’s a lot to dive into this yr, on the unusually spread-out Milan Cortina Olympics.
Lots of of athletes from world wide — together with 232 from the U.S. — will descend on over two dozen venues throughout northern Italy to compete in 16 completely different sports activities. There are 116 medal occasions on the road all through the two-and-a-half weeks. And this time, not like the COVID-era 2022 Beijing Winter Video games, spectators will probably be allowed to observe in individual.
However you do not have to board a aircraft or sport hand heaters to get a very good view, because of NBC’s sturdy broadcasting rights and NPR’s scrappy workforce of journalists on the bottom. This is how one can observe the motion — and peek behind the scenes — from residence.
watch the opening ceremony
The Feb. 6 opening ceremony marks the official begin of the Video games (despite the fact that a number of sports activities, together with curling and ice hockey, begin competing two days earlier).
It is going to be held primarily on the historic San Siro Stadium in Milan, that includes performances by icons like Mariah Carey and Andrea Bocelli, in addition to conventional parts just like the Parade of Nations and the lighting of the Olympic cauldron.
However there will even be simultaneous ceremonies and athlete parades at a few of the opposite venues — scattered lots of of miles aside — and, for the primary time in historical past, a second Olympic cauldron will probably be lit within the co-host metropolis of Cortina d’Ampezzo.
NBC’s stay protection of the opening ceremony (additionally streaming on Peacock) will start at 2 p.m. ET on Friday, Feb. 6, with a primetime broadcast deliberate for 8 p.m. ET the identical day.
sustain as soon as the Video games start
There are 16 days of competitors between the opening and shutting ceremonies, with contests and medal occasions scattered all through, relying on the game. This is the full schedule (occasions are listed in native time in Italy, which is six hours forward of Japanese time).
NBC says it’ll broadcast occasions stay all through the day, with a nightly primetime highlights present at 8 p.m. ET, adopted by a late-night model.
U.S.-based viewers can watch on NBC, Peacock and a host of different platforms, together with the apps and web sites of each NBC and NBC Sports activities. Seasoned Olympic viewers will acknowledge Peacock viewing experiences like “Gold Zone” (which whips round between key moments, eliminating the necessity to channel surf) and “Multiview,” now out there on cell.
The Feb. 22 closing ceremony will probably be broadcast stay beginning at 2:30 p.m. ET, and once more on primetime at 9 p.m. ET.
It’s going to happen at a historic amphitheater in Verona, which will even host the opening ceremony of the Paralympics on March 6. Some 600 Para athletes will compete in 79 medal occasions throughout six sports activities — together with Para Alpine snowboarding, sled hockey and wheelchair curling — earlier than the closing ceremony in Cortina on March 15.
observe NPR’s protection
All of the whereas, you’ll be able to try NPR’s Olympics protection to raised perceive the important thing folks, context and moments that make up the Video games.
NPR’s five-person Olympics workforce will carry you information, recaps and colour from the bottom in Italy, on-line, on air and in your inbox. Plus, anticipate updates and the occasional deep dive from NPR’s journalists watching from D.C. and world wide.
You will discover all of NPR’s Winter Olympics tales (previous, current and upcoming) right here on our web site.
To take heed to our broadcast protection, tune to your native NPR station and stream our radio programming on npr.org or the NPR app.
Plus, subscribe to our publication, Rachel Goes to the Video games, for a day by day dose of what it is prefer to be there in individual.
We’ll even have a video podcast, Up First Winter Video games, to additional dissect the day’s largest Olympic tales and oddities. You will discover it on NPR’s YouTube web page.
