The one-year countdown to the Milan Cortina Olympic Games is on. International Olympics Committee president Thomas Bach has proudly declared “Italy is ready.”

Milan Cortina Winter Games, which open one year from today, feature the Olympic debuts of one sport and five new events within existing sports. The Opening Ceremony is next Feb. 6 at the San Siro Stadium in Milan.

Italy began the one-year countdown to the Winter Olympics on Thursday with a series of events designed to fuel enthusiasm for the Games that will be co-hosted by Milan and the Alpine town of Cortina d'Ampezzo.

Alpine skiing will be divided between Cortina (for the women’s events) and Bormio (for the men) — which are separated by a 5 ½-hour drive. Livigno will host freestyle skiing and snowboarding, biathlon will be in Anterselva, Nordic events will be in Val di Fiemme and ice sports in Milan.

Next year's Olympics might be called the Milan Cortina Games but it will actually be staged across a large swath of northern Italy spread over five different venue clusters.

With a year to go to the Winter Olympics, why could sliding events move to the United States, what is skimo and what are Team GB's medal chances in Milan 2026?