BUDAPEST -- Short track speed skaters Maja Somodi and Bence Nogradi will serve as Hungary's flag bearers during the opening ceremony of the Milan-Cortina 2026 Winter Olympic Games.

The 2026 Winter Olympics will begin this week when competitors walk under the wave of their nation's flags at Friday's Opening Ceremony. The ceremony not only offers Olympians a chance to represent their country on the international stage,

Here's a full list of the countries in the 2026 Olympics.

The 2026 Winter Olympics in Milan and Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy, mark a historic moment for the Games. Not only because Italy is hosting for the first time since Torino 2006, but because these Olympics will be taking place in multiple locations, with venues scattered across the Italian Alps and Dolomites.

The Winter Olympics promise plenty of high adrenaline, fierce competition, historic firsts and emotional moments over 2 1/2 weeks. Here are some of the names and narratives to keep an eye on.

With the 2026 Winter Olympics just a few days away, here's the official medal count for each country heading into the Games.

Coubertin first created the iconic design in 1913, at a time when the amount of countries competing in the Games were significantly smaller than today. The widely believed notion is that the rings and the five individual colours - blue, black, yellow, green and red - represent five inhabited continents, with the Americas counting as one.