A major sporting event has been cut from the 2026 Winter Olympic Games, as details of the final schedule emerge.
It's been just six months since the Paris 2024 Olympic Games finished, and after what was a thrilling season of sports, fans are eager for more.
Thankfully, fans of the global sporting event don't have long to wait, as the 2026 Winter Olympics are set to get underway in February next year in Milan.
But ahead of the Winter Games, one major sport has been cut from the schedule, with several others added to take its place.
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During the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Games, the alpine skiing team event was added to the Olympic schedule, seeing 15 teams consisting of two males and two females racing in a knock-out format including four duels in a parallel slalom.
However, after featuring at just two Games, the event has been cut from Milan 2026, with the combined events alpine skiing events currently at risk of being taken out of the 2026 program.
While a decision on the fate of the other alpine skiing events is not expected to arrive until April, it has been announced eight new events will be introduced at the 2026 Games.
Ski mountaineering was added to the 2026 program last year, and will have a a total of three different events in Milan, a men’s sprint, women’s sprint and a mixed-gender relay.
Meanwhile, men’s and women’s dual moguls have been added in freestyle skiing, a mixed-gender skeleton team event has been introduced alongside a women’s large hill event in ski jumping to add to the existing men’s individual ski jumping program.
Finally, the open luge doubles event has been split into men’s doubles and women’s double events.
The introduction of the new events and reconfiguration of several others led to the IOC confirming that the 2026 Winter Olympics will be the most gender-balanced Winter Games in history, with female participation rising from 45.4 percent in 2022 up to 47 percent.
Overall, the total number of athletes expected to compete in Milan will be around 2,900.
Ben McCrum