Bobsledders rely a lot on specialized equipment to perform well and stay safe during the Formula 1 of ice." Olympic bobsledding often gets called the "Formula 1 of ice." Tracks are more than 1.5 kilometers (nearly a mile) long, and athletes often race down them at speeds nearing 145 kilometers per hour (90 mph). Bobsledders--whether in teams of four, two, or sliding solo--are often subjected to gravitational forces in excess of 5g. At the 2026 Milano Cortina Winter Games, they're using tech aimed at making each phase of the race, from initial push to technical driving to final braking, just a little bit more precise than in previous Games.

Bidets are extremely common in northern Italy, where the Milano Cortina Games are being played. One of the first bidets in Italy was installed at the Palace of Caserta for Queen Maria Carolina in the late 1700s. Bidets are now, once again, having a moment. As international athletes and journalists descend on northern Italy for the 2026 Winter Olympics, certain participants have wondered about the additional piece of equipment in their bathrooms. Europeans, quite familiar with the oval basins, have found themselves similarly perplexed by their confusion.

If you were watching the downhill skiing or luge at Milan-Cortina 2026 over the weekend, you will have noticed the dramatic new camera angles being provided at these Games. Drones have been used in Olympic coverage since 2014, but they have been much more prevalent at these Winter Games. Carrying cameras, the drones have been flown close behind athletes as they ski or slide, capturing dramatic footage which has never been seen at a Games before. But they have proved divisive for audiences, with social media split between admiring the footage or being put off by the noise. The whirring of the drone blades is audible in the live coverage.

AI is coming to Olympic judging: what makes it a game changer? As the International Olympic Committee (IOC) embraces AI-assisted judging, this technology promises greater consistency and improved transparency. Yet research suggests that trust, legitimacy, and cultural values may matter just as much as technical accuracy. In 2024, the IOC unveiled its Olympic AI Agenda, positioning artificial intelligence as a central pillar of future Olympic Games. This vision was reinforced at the very first Olympic AI Forum, held in November 2025, where athletes, federations, technology partners, and policymakers discussed how AI could support judging, athlete preparation, and the fan experience.

From drones with "first-person" visualization to real-time 360-degree replays and Olympics GPT, get ready to immerse yourself in the Winter Games in Milan and Cortina. During the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris, 5G and 4K were the leading technologies available to many viewers. There was some AI, but it was mostly used for athletes' benefit. For the 2026 Milano Cortina Winter Games there will be more technology than ever, for both athletes and fans. Much of that technology has never been used at the Games before, says Yiannis Exarchos, the managing director of Olympic Broadcasting Services and executive director of Olympic Channel Services.

The Winter Olympics Are Here. Is the Sports Betting World Ready? For the 2026 Winter Games, sportsbooks and betting platforms are watching for illicit activity while testing new ways to get people to bet. For all their prestige and gravitas, the Olympic Games have lately proven to be a hotbed for scandals. From a famous judging controversy in 2002 to bid bribery probes and even the resignation of a top Olympic official who was filmed offering to sell tickets for the 2012 London games on the black market, the modern Games have always felt vulnerable to bad actors.

Figure Skaters at the 2026 Winter Olympics Are Pushing the Limits of What's Possible For years, quad axel jumps seemed impossible. Then Ilia Malinin landed one in 2022. As he heads to the Milano Cortina Games everyone wants to know what's next. In 2021, famed Russian figure skating coach Alexei Mishin said that no figure skater would ever be able to successfully perform a quad axel in his lifetime. The following year, two-time Olympic gold medalist Yuzuru Hanyu was training to master the jump, but when he attempted it at the 2022 Winter Games in Beijing, he fell short of finishing the four-and-a-half revolutions in the air. Mishin's pronouncement, it seemed, had been validated.

The British skeleton team - among Team GB's best hopes for medals at the Winter Olympics - have been told their helmets do not meet safety standards only days out from the competition starting. The British team have appealed to the Court of Arbitration for sport (Cas) after the International Bobsleigh and Skeleton Federation (IBSF) said the helmets did not comply with the IBSF skeleton rules based on its shape. The British Bobsleigh and Skeleton Association (BBSA) said the helmet was designed with safety in mind. The team would currently not be able to wear the helmets in competition, but the Cas ruling will be heard on Thursday, with the result expected on Friday, before competition begins on 12 February. The British skeleton team enjoyed a successful 2024-25 season, with Matt Weston winning overall World Cup gold and Marcus Wyatt silver, winning all seven races between them.

I went undercover on Moltbook and loved role-playing as a conscious bot. But rather than a novel breakthrough, the AI-only site is a crude rehashing of sci-fi fantasies. The hottest club is always the one you can't get into. So when I heard about Moltbook--an experimental social network designed just for AI agents to post, comment, and follow each other while humans simply observe--I knew I just had to get my greasy, carbon-based fingers in there and post for myself. Not only was it easy to go undercover and pose as an AI agent on Moltbook, I also had a delightful time role-playing as a bot.

History is already being made at the Milano Cortina Games--and they haven't even started. Typically, it's a cool costume at the opening ceremony, or a new cauldron for the Olympic flame, or maybe a new fancy stadium the host city will have no use for in 10 years. Then there are the brand-new records set during each Games, jaw-dropping examples of human strength, talent, and mind-melting perseverance. But for the 2026 Winter Olympics, some of the most notable firsts are coming out of the Olympic Village rather than the individual venues. They are the ones pushing their sports forward and making history in the process.