Olympic curling champion Eve Muirhead believes Milan-Cortina 2026 will be a mix of the Winter Games’ past and future as it combines alpine resort settings with a wide geographic spread of existing venues to keep costs down.

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.

The Olympic rings adorn the Stadio Olimpico del Ghiaccio, which will be called Cortina Curling Olympic Stadium, the venue for the curling discipline at the Milan Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics, in Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy. (AP )