Olympic ice, ICE and The (rebranded) Ice House: Storylines to watch from Milan
While the opening ceremony officially takes place Friday evening in Milan, Italy, competition for the 2026 Milan Cortina Winter Olympics is well underway. Many have their eyes on the Olympic ice for curling, ice hockey and figure skating, but Italians and Americans are watching a different kind of ICE: U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
A few faces return to the Olympics for the first time in over a decade, while many gold-medal favorites are notably absent. And we know the athletes are physically tough, but are they mentally ready to take center stage for a global audience? Is Italy ready?
These are the storylines we’re watching heading into the next two weeks of Olympic competition across Italy.
Security at the Games: What role does ICE play?
Why was the United States sending the immigration agents that had been causing turmoil in Minnesota to Italy? That was one of the biggest questions following the American delegation to the Games, and it sparked days of protests across the host country. Simply put, they’re not, but the full answer is complicated.
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The United States sent 232 athletes to compete in the 2026 Milan Cortina Olympics, the largest winter delegation ever.
The United States Olympic and Paralympic Committee confirmed to Straight Arrow News that it was not working with anyone from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), including ICE, to provide security for athletes during the Milan Cortina Olympics. Italian officials are in charge of securing the Games, which includes security details for competitors and National Olympic committees.
However, DHS served as a partner and advised the Italians leading up to the Games. A branch of ICE, called Homeland Security Investigations, will be stationed in control rooms in Milan, according to Italian officials, to support security for the U.S.’s diplomatic contingent during the Games. This is typical and happens for most international events, including the recent 2024 Paris Olympics.
Another interesting note: Team USA’s hospitality center for the Winter Games is traditionally called “The Ice House,” and that was the plan for Milan. After public pushback on ICE’s presence in Italy, the center will now be known as “The Winter House.”
The (lack of) Russian athletes
At the Winter Olympics, we often hear about on-ice battles between the U.S. and Russia, or recently, the Olympic Athletes from Russia (who were cleared from a state-sponsored doping program). The International Olympic Committee (IOC) added a new hurdle for Russian athletes: have they shown support for Russia’s invasion of Ukraine?
Russia invaded Ukraine just four days after the 2022 Beijing Games ended, and the conflict does not appear close to winding down. The IOC suspended Russian and Belarusian National Teams from competing in the games shortly after.
Just 13 athletes from Russia and seven from Belarus have cleared the IOC’s Individual Neutral Athlete Eligibility Review Panel. In addition to passing the review, those athletes also had to sign a pledge that “contains a commitment to respect the Olympic Charter, including ‘the peace mission of the Olympic Movement.’”
Russian athletes haven’t competed under the Russian flag since the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Games.
US figure skaters’ resilience
The U.S. figure skating team heads into Milan with its best shot at medaling in recent history, but the squad will compete with a tragedy in its recent memory.
It’s been just over a year since a flight returning to Washington, D.C. from a skating competition was involved in a midair collision over the Potomac River. Among the passengers who died were six members of the Skating Club of Boston and two of its coaches, Evgenia Shishkova and Vadim Naumov.
Shishkova and Naumov were two-time Russian Olympians and the parents of Maxim Naumov, who qualified for his first Games last month. Emily Chan and Spencer Howe, ice dancers selected for the squad, trained with Naumov at the Skating Club of Boston.
Mixed expectations for Americans in the alpine
On the ski slopes, two of the greatest skiers of all time will attempt a comeback. Lindsey Vonn came out of retirement last year after a partial knee replacement with the goal of returning to the Olympics. Vonn had a strong start to this season, winning her first World Cup races since 2018, but “completely ruptured” her ACL in a crash last week in Crans Montana, Switzerland. Vonn said she still plans to compete in the downhill.
Mikaela Shiffrin is also off to one of the strongest starts to a World Cup season in recent history after paring down her schedule to focus on her best events: slalom and giant slalom. The winningest alpine skier of all-time does not have the strongest track record at the Olympics. Shiffrin walked away from Beijing empty-handed after skiing off course in the slalom, giant slalom and combined events. Shiffrin openly discussed struggling with severe performance anxiety during the Games, and said she suffered from panic attacks during her runs.
Both Vonn and Shiffrin are looking for their first Olympic medals since the 2018 Pyeongchang Games.
The NHL’s Olympic return thaws
Ice hockey remains one of the most-watched events during the Winter Games, and that will likely hold true when the world’s best players return to Olympic ice. The NHL is allowing players to participate for the first time since the 2014 Sochi Games. The Professional Women’s Hockey League (PWHL) is taking off, giving the U.S. and Canada significantly stronger competition for medals heading into the tournament.
While best-on-best hockey has many of the players and fans excited, the ice might not be ready for hockey’s biggest stars. Milan’s Santagiulia Arena, slated to host the men’s and women’s gold medal games, has about 3,000 fewer seats than planned because of construction issues. The ice is also a few feet shorter than planned, and the first test event did not take place until late January. Construction teams are still putting finishing touches on the arena.
When does it all start?
The opening ceremony takes place in Milan at 8 p.m. local time, or 2 p.m. ET. NBC will rebroadcast the ceremony in primetime in the U.S. at 8 p.m. ET. While most of NBC’s over-the-air coverage will be tape-delayed, live events will be streamed on Peacock.
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Ella Rae Greene, Editor In Chief
