If you’re gazing up at Leonardo Da Vinci’s “The Last Supper,”—held inside one of the United Nations World Heritage Sites—this must mean you’re in the land of the boot: Italy. Not only does Italy house famous works of Da Vinci, it’s also hosting the 2026 Winter Olympic Games. Milan and Cortina d’Ampezzo are the two main cities where the Games are set to take place, marking the 25 year of skiing, ice skating, hockey and other winter sports. Whether you watch the Games or not, the 206 competing countries and territories will definitely be flooding your screens all month.
For Lizzy Laird, senior, the Olympics won’t just be viewed through screens. Over winter break, her family found out they were going to Milan by piecing together an activity their cousins orchestrated.
“On Christmas morning, my family and I did a Zoom call with my aunt and my cousins,” Laird said. “We had to put a little puzzle together with five colored rings and we had to put them in the order of the Olympic rings. Then I [learned] we were going to the Olympics.”
Laird said she wants to fully immerse herself in Italian culture and cuisine alongside the Games. She said she’s looking forward to watching figure skating for the first time and making the most of the trip.
“I’m excited to experience the Olympics in person as opposed to on TV,” Laird said. “Since I’m going to be in the crowd, I’m going to feel all the hype, and maybe I’ll run into one of the Olympians while I’m there.”
Lucas Chaney, senior and long time skier, said he knows what it’s like to be flying down a ski slope, giving him a unique perspective on Alpine sports. He said seeing the motivation and accomplishments of the athletes is inspiring to him, but other students may not feel the same way.
“Here at KHS, the only cold weather sport we have is ice hockey, and everything else you have to travel either out west or up north to find,” Chaney said. “That’s sort of a disconnect that [we], as a community here, have from the Winter Olympics.”
Chaney said he finds that his friends and other students seem to place more value on the Summer Olympics, making it difficult to talk to people about the Winter Olympics. He said highlighting winter sports is crucial because it shows students that what you want to accomplish is possible.
“Especially for other people on the ski team, people on hockey teams [and] ice skating dancers, they always have someone to look up to,” Chaney said. “[It’s] something to look forward to, [watching] the best athletes in the world compete.”
Despite recognizing he may never make it to the Olympics, Chaney said he continues to learn from athletes and find his own community through skiing. He said the main message students should take away from watching the Games is perseverance.
“The Olympics teach you a lot about what people can do, what the boundaries of excellence are,” Chaney said. “We get to see what is [considered] peak human performance.”
