Cortina and Bormio are back on Olympic duty in 2026, unlocking a vault of wild stories: Tiger Woods’ lost tooth, Bode Miller’s one-ski miracle, and Lindsey Vonn’s record-smashing 63rd win.
Why These Two Hills Matter Again
The 2026 Milano-Cortina Games are ripping up the recent Olympic playbook of building new slopes and instead returning to two classic World Cup mountains steeped in carnage, champagne, and celluloid glory. Women will charge the sun-splashed Olympia delle Tofane in Cortina; men will tackle the leg-burning Stelvio in Bormio. Both venues have staged global showdowns for decades, but never on an Olympic stage together—until now.
Cortina: Where a Tooth Stole the Headlines
Lindsey Vonn hammered the Cortina snow on January 19, 2015, to snag her 63rd World Cup win, toppling Annemarie Moser-Pröll’s 35-year benchmark. The milestone should’ve dominated every front page. Instead, boyfriend Tiger Woods became the story when photographers captured him mask-down, front tooth missing. Woods’ camp blamed a rogue camera at the podium scrum; Vonn blamed the distraction. “It definitely took away from the fact I broke the win record,” she admitted to AP. The tooth was never found—rumor places it somewhere under the Tofane ice, a permanent relic of sporting chaos.
Bormio: The One-Ski Epic
Three Olympic cycles earlier, the Stelvio served up its own legend. During the 2005 World Championships combined downhill, Bode Miller lost his left ski less than 20 seconds into a 2-minute, 3-kilometer plunge. Rather than bail, he balanced on a single plank, absorbing 60 mph bumps and 1,010 meters of vert. The ride ended with Miller pumping his pole in triumph and the crowd roaring at the borderline-impossible. He still placed sixth, then pocketed super-G and downhill golds later that week. “It’s always nice to make the Austrians cry,” U.S. men’s coach Johno McBride laughed after the downhill 1-2 of Miller and Daron Rahlves shoved Austria’s favorites off the podium.
Shiffrin’s Perfect 4-for-4
Cortina’s roll call of greatness continued at the 2021 World Championships when Mikaela Shiffrin entered four events and left with four medals—gold in combined, silvers in giant slalom and super-G, bronze in slalom. No other athlete has medaled in every discipline at a single worlds. The haul cemented her status as the winningest skier in World Cup history and added another layer of lore to a piste already immortalized by James Bond’s 1981 chase scene in For Your Eyes Only.
Italian Home-Fire Hopes
- Sofia Goggia owns the Cortina speed track; she swept back-to-back downhills here last season.
- Federica Brignone, defending overall World Cup champion, is racing the clock to return from injury before February.
- Dominik Paris rules Bormio like no one else—seven World Cup wins on the Stelvio, a record that may never be matched.
What the Athletes Say
“The Stelvio is like a constant fight for survival,” warned Olympic giant-slalom champion Marco Odermatt. Retired U.S. star Ted Ligety, who claimed a Bormio giant-slalom victory in 2008, told NBC: “It’s so unique that we’re actually in a classic Alpine space for both of these events. It’s going to be cool.”
Crash, Champagne, Repeat
The courses demand different skills. Cortina’s rolling Tofane tempts racers to top 80 mph but punishes the slightest mis-timed compression. Bormio’s Stelvio, carved into a shadowy north face, dishes out sheet ice, blind rolls, and a final schuss so steep athletes call it “the wall.” Expect carnage, expect courage, and—if history repeats—expect a story no scriptwriter would dare pitch.
Bottom Line
By recycling two fabled hills instead of bulldozing new ones, the 2026 Games instantly tap into decades of highlight-reel moments. A single tooth, a single ski, a record 63rd win, and a perfect four-medal sweep are now part of the Olympic fabric. When the starter’s gate cracks open next February, Cortina and Bormio won’t just host races—they’ll continue sagas written in ice, blood, and champagne spray.
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