A mix of athletes from triple Olympians to newcomers striving to make their first Games took part in the major Olympic milestone, which involved being measured up for Olympic uniforms by Karbon, XTM, Volley and Sportscraft, team building activities, information sessions and connecting with their winter teammates.
Held at worldwide Olympic Partner Deloitte’s Melbourne Headquarters, the event provided a platform for Chef de Mission Alisa Camplin to announce dual ski-cross winter Olympian Katya Crema as the Team’s Deputy Chef de Mission.
Today also marked the launch of the Australian Olympic Committee’s Team campaign – #ForzaTeamAUS. Forza means both ‘Force’ and ‘Come on’ in Italian, with the retro-style creative campaign, featuring our winter stars, set to drive support for Australian athletes in the lead up to and during the Games in Italy.
Ms Camplin said with only 281 days until the Olympic cauldron is lit, and the Orientation session complete, the Australian athletes will now focus on a series of qualification events in the hopes of securing their place in the Team for Milano Cortina.
“It was fantastic to experience the energy and excitement of our winter athletes coming together today in Melbourne,” Ms Camplin said.
“We have such breadth and depth in this group, and the optimism of what they want to achieve together is electric.
“There have been less than 300 Australians in our history who have competed at a Winter Olympics; every athlete here today is striving to add to our proud Winter Olympic story.
“I am also thrilled to have Katya Crema join our leadership team for the Games as Deputy Chef de Mission. Katya brings incredible experience both from her sporting career and in her professional work since retiring from competition.
“Australia has grown into a true winter sport force and I look forward to seeing millions of Australians get behind our athletes through the #ForzaTeamAUS campaign in the coming months,” she said.
An expected Australian Team of around 60 athletes from 12 winter sports will face off with 2900 athletes from more than 90 nations from 6 – 22 February 2026, with the Games hosting 116 medal events across 16 sports.
A Vancouver 2010 and Sochi 2014 Olympian and fluent in Italian, Crema said she was looking forward to using her experience to help Australian winter athletes in Milano Cortina.
“I’m incredibly excited to accept this role, working alongside Alisa Camplin and the whole Olympic Team,” Ms Crema said.
“It’s such an honour to be a part of it and to hopefully share my knowledge and experience, bringing those learnings back into this Team environment.”
Twenty-year-old mogul skier Charlotte Wilson is aiming to make her Olympic debut in Italy, after winning the Olympic test event at the World Cup in Livigno in March.
“It’s actually sinking in now that this is what my life could look like in in 10 months and I can’t wait,” Ms Wilson said.
“It definitely helped to be so successful on the Olympic course, I’m looking forward to going back there.
“I’m very lucky to be able to train with so many successful mogul athletes. We’ve got a few Olympic medallists in the team and I try my best to learn as much as I can from them, I’m really looking forward to being a part of the team’s Olympic Journey.”
World number one ranked aerial skier and triple Olympian Laura Peel won the 2025 World Cup event at Livigno, which will host the Olympic aerials competition in 2026.
“Livigno has such a nice feel, it feels like what you imagine a Winter Olympics would look like with beautiful alps, cute little chalets, it’s a great place,” Ms Peel said.
“I’m excited to get back there and I’ve got a lot of steps ahead of that, but it’s a really exciting day. I’m looking forward to getting back to work and back to training.”
Milano Cortina 2026 Fast Facts
The Games
- This is the third time Italy will host a winter Games – following Torino in 2006 and returning to Cortina which hosted in 1956 (Cortina D’Amprezzo)
- The Games will run from 6 – 22 February 2026
- First competition will commence two days before the Opening Ceremony – with Mixed Curling on 4 December
- Around 2900 athletes from 93 nations will compete across 116 medal events – across 16 winter sports – Alpine Skiing, Biathlon, Bobsleigh, Cross-Country Skiing, Curling, Figure Skating, Freestyle Skiing (includes Aerials, Moguls, Ski Cross and Freeski), Ice Hockey, Luge, Nordic Combined, Short Track Speed Skating, Skeleton, Ski Jumping, Ski Mountaineering, Snowboarding (Includes Snowboard Cross, Halfpipe, Big Air), Speed Skating
- This is the first time two cities will jointly host an Olympic Games. Cortina is around 350km northeast of Milano – From the Opening Ceremony in Milan’s famed San Siro stadium to alpine events in the Dolomite mountains and freestyle skiing and snowboarding in Livigno, athletes will compete across eight separate competition hubs
- It will be the most geographically widespread Winter Olympics ever – with eight different competition venues across the region – a total area of 22,000 km2
- Event gender split of 1538 men, 1362 women (Approx 53/47% gender split – closest in Winter Olympic history)
- The Games mascots are Tina (Olympic mascot) and Milo (Paralympic mascot).
- The Olympic torch relay will take place with 10,000 torchbearers transporting the Olympic flame through 110 provinces in Italy, from 6 December 2025 to arrive at the Opening Ceremony in Milan on 6 February.
The Australian Team
- Australia is expected to send a team of around 60 athletes from 12 sports
- In contrast, the Australian Team at the Cortina D’Amprezzo Games in 1956 had only 10 competitors – eight men and two women.
- Olympic champion aerial skier Alisa Camplin is the Australian Olympic Team Chef de Mission
- Australian athletes are in their qualification phase – qualifying for the Games for majority of sports is based on World Ranking in December 2025 and January 2026 – meaning the fight to qualify and compete will go right up until the Games
The Events
- 116 medal events across 16 winter sports
- Ski Mountaineering (Ski Mo) will make its Olympic debut – with men’s sprint, women’s sprint and mixed team relay.
- An additional eight events across other sports – Skeleton Mixed Team, Luge Women’s Doubles, Men’s & Women’s Dual Moguls, Women’s Large Hill Ski Jumping, Mixed Team Aerials
- Some iconic locations will host Olympic events including Opening Ceremony at San Siro – home ground of AC Milan and Inter Milan football clubs, the Closing Ceremony will be at the Verona Arena – built almost 2000 years ago, and the impressive slopes of the Dolomites will host various outdoor events.
