The 25th edition of the Winter Olympic Games
29 athletes will be representing Romania at the Winter Olympics due to kick off in Italy on Friday
Florin Orban, 04.02.2026, 13:45
The world’s best athletes on snow and ice are meeting for the Winter Olympics every four years. The competition is very appreciated by sports lovers although it is not as old as the summer Olympics inspired from the tales of the ancient world.
The first edition of the Winter Olympics was hosted by the French city of Chamonix back in 1924, three decades from the first edition of their summer counterparts held in Athens in 1896. However, the so-called winter sports became part of the Olympics as early as 1908. That London edition included figure skating contests, with British Madge Syers winning the women’s contest and Ulrich Salchow, a Swede of Danish descent, the men’s competition.
Then came the idea to include among the sporting events of the summer Olympics a series of winter sports events, such as figure skating, cross-country skiing and hockey. The initiative was supposed to be implemented in the 1916 Olympics due in Germany, an edition that was cancelled after WWI had broken out.
The 1920 summer Olympics held in Anvers, Belgium, included figure skating and ice hockey competitions. A year later, the International Olympic Committee took the decision that France, which was supposed to host the Summer Games of 1924 to stage an international winter sports week in Chamonix. That was how the Winter Olympics came into being.
The event brought together more than 250 athletes from 16 countries who competed in 16 events.
This year sees the 25th edition of the prestigious sporting event the first one officially hosted by two cities: Milan and Cortina d’Ampezzo.
In 2019, the International Olympic Committee designated the two Italian cities as venue against the other candidates, the Swedish cities Stockholm and Åre. This is the third Winter Olympic Games to be hosted by Italy after those in Cortina d’Ampezzo, in 1956, and Turin in 2006. Milan will this year be hosting the ice contests, whereas the snow competitions will be held in the mountainous areas of Cortina, Valtellina and Fiemme.
29 athletes will be representing Romania at the Olympics in Milan. Figure skater Julia Sauter will be holding the Romanian flag in the opening ceremony in Milan. While in Livigno the flag will be carried by snowboarder Kata Mandel and skier Alexandru Stefanescu. Ski jumper Daniela Toth and cross-country skier Paul Pepene will be carrying the Romanian flag in Predazzo, while veteran sleigh runner Raluca Strămăturaru, and bobsledder Mihai Tentea will be carrying the flag in Cortina d’Ampezzo.
(bill)
