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The 2026 Milano Cortina Winter Olympics kicked off on Friday with an electric opening ceremony—and these games are shaping up to be historic.

With 47% of this year’s Olympians being women and a record-setting 50 events for women, we’re seeing steps toward gender parity at the world stage. But that’s not all that’s exciting about this year’s games.

Here’s the VIS breakdown of nine facts about this year’s Olympics that make it one of the most defining Games to date.

1. More Women’s Events. The 2026 Winter Olympics have a record of 50 women’s events out of 116 total medal events. With the addition of six events that women can compete in, women have more opportunities to compete in the Winter Olympics than ever before. Next time, we’d like to see a 50/50 event split for women athletes at the Winter Olympics.

2. Gender Balance Record. With 47% of Winter Olympians this year being women, the 2026 Milano Cortina Winter Games are the most gender-balanced Winter Games in history.

3. Distance Parity. Cross country skiing at the 2026 Winter Olympics not only offers more events for women, but also equalizes the competition distances across genders.