THE MILANO-CORTINA 2026 WINTER OLYMPICS

But first, something more about gold, a metal I featured yesterday in this blog.  Well, after hitting an all-time high of $5,594.82/ounce, settled at $5,149.99/oz, 4% lower today.  However, spot prices still up 19% for January and 3.6% this week.

I should add that silver is also jumping high, then similarly dropping 6% to $108.84/ounce, after reaching $121.64/oz.  This metal has surged more than 50% this year.  Finally, platinum, too, is following the same path, hitting a record high of $2,918.80/oz on Monday, then falling 1.7% to $2,650/oz.

We are 10 days to the start of the Milano-Cortina Winter Olympics in Italy. Everything you need to know about these Olympics:

• Will run from February 6 through 22.
• Venues will include Milan, Cortina d'Ampezzo, Valtellina, Val di Fiemme and Anterselva.
• Remember that Italy is 6 hours ahead of New York, 9 hours from Los Angeles and 11 hours from Honolulu.
• 
  Opening Ceremony.
• February 6.
• Milano San Siro Olympic Stadium.
• But like all Olympics to complete the full schedule, some events will occur before this beginning.

• 
  There will be two Olympic cauldrons:  Milano, at the Arco della Pace, and in the mountain town of of Piazza Dibona in Cortina.
• Like in the Summer Olympics, there will be Paralympic Games beginning on March 6, with the closing ceremony on March 15.
• 47% of the participants are women, a record high.
• The Closing Ceremony on February 22 will feature ballet star Roberto Bolle at the Arena  di Verona.

How to watch the events on TV and streaming.

• NBC, Peacock, and other NBC channels.
• Opening ceremonies on NBC and Peacock at 2PM ET for three hours.

• 
  Will feature 500 musicians and more than 1400 costumes.
• Performers will include Andrea Bocelli, Mariah Carey, Lang Lang, Cecilia Bartoli, Sabrina Impacciatore and others.
• General admission tickets range from $300 to $2400.
• Hospitality packages range from $1000 to $10,600.

• 
  Primetime encore presentations on NBC at 8PM ET, and streamed on Peacock.
• Savannah Guthrie of the Today show will cohost the opening ceremony with NBC Sports' Terry Gannon.
• Shaun White will provide commentary for the Parade of Nations.
• Mike Tirico will provide remote coverage of the Opening Ceremony from California.
• I asked Google AI who are the Gold Medal favorites:

Top 2026 Winter Olympic Gold Medal Favorites:

• Snowboarding: right, Chloe Kim (USA) is the heavy favorite for her third straight halfpipe gold.
• Figure Skating: Ilia Malinin (USA), the "Quad God," is the favorite in men's singles, along with ice dancers Madison Chock and Evan Bates (USA).

• 
  Alpine Skiing: Mikaela Shiffrin (USA) enters as the top contender in slalom and giant slalom, while 41-year-old comeback star Lindsey Vonn (USA) is also competing. Eileen Gu (China) is expected to dominate in freestyle skiing halfpipe and slopestyle.
• Speed Skating: Jordan Stolz (USA) is favored for multiple medals, while Erin Jackson (USA) seeks to defend her 500m title.
• 
  Freestyle Skiing: Alex Hall (USA) (slopestyle) and Mikael Kingsbury (Canada)(moguls) are top contenders.
• Bobsled: Francesco Friedrich (Germany) aims for a historic fifth gold.
• Ski Jumping: Kobayashi Ryoyu (Japan) is a top contender in the large hill.
• Hockey: Marie-Philip Poulin (Canada) leads the charge in women's hockey. 

• 
  Yahoo Sports:
• Picked 10 Americans who should win medals.  In these games, it's okay to be patriotic.
• Five most compelling events. 
• Figure skating?  Read this.
• Men and Women Hockey Teams should both win medals.
• According to Google AI:

For the 2026 Winter Olympics in Milan-Cortina, Norway is heavily favored to lead the total medal count, with approximately 73% probability, followed by Germany (15%) and the United States (13%). Other top contenders expected to secure high medal counts include France, Japan, and Canada. Official medal standings will commence after events begin in February 2026. 

2026 Medal Predictions 

Rank Country         Gold All Medals

#1      Norway            22     69

#2      Germany         22      60

#3      Netherlands    20      45

#4      USA                19      50

#5       Canada          15      57

Source: Predicted 2026 Winter Olympic Games Medal Tally - Topend Sports

Here is a Time magazine article on The Cost of Attending the 2026 Olympic Games.

• In late January, round trip flights between JFK Airport in New York to the Milan Malpensa Airport a few days before February 4 was only $440.
• The games are spread out over nearly 8500 square miles, so where you stay will depend on what you will want to see.
• Average room rates in Milan around February have doubled to around $600.  Did not say for one night. But....
• An Airbnb in Milan for three can  cost $2000 for five nights, or $129/person/night.
• Around 1.5 million tickets have been put on sale
• Start at $35/ticket for the average event, but half the availability costs more than $119/ticket.
• Most expensive are for the closing ceremony in the Verona Arena.  About $3500/seat, although the men's hockey final ticket ranged from $520 to $1600.
• My recommendation?  Stay home and watch these events on TV in warm comfort for free.

To end, a downer.  As of 27January2026, the Doomsday Clock is now at 85 seconds to midnight, the closest to doomsday ever.  

Founded in 1945 by Albert Einstein, J. Robert Oppenheimer, and University of Chicago scientists who helped develop the first atomic weapons in the Manhattan Project, the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists created the Doomsday Clock two years later, using the imagery of apocalypse (midnight) and the contemporary idiom of nuclear explosion (countdown to zero) to convey threats to humanity and the planet. The Doomsday Clock is set every year by the Bulletin’s Science and Security Board in consultation with its Board of Sponsors, which includes eight Nobel laureates. The Clock has become a universally recognized indicator of the world’s vulnerability to global catastrophe caused by man-made technologies.

That article describes we are so close to doom.  However, at the end, the authors offer hope for the future if:

• The United States and Russia can resume dialogue about limiting their nuclear arsenals. All nuclear-armed states can avoid destabilizing investments in missile defense and observe the existing moratorium on explosive nuclear testing.
• Through both multilateral agreements and national regulations, the international community can take all feasible steps to prevent the creation of mirror life and cooperate on meaningful measures to reduce the prospect that AI be used to create biological threats.
• 
  The United States Congress can repudiate President Trump’s war on renewable energy, instead providing incentives and investments that will enable rapid reduction in fossil fuel use.
• The United States, Russia, and China can engage in bilateral and multilateral dialogue on meaningful guidelines regarding the incorporation of artificial intelligence in their militaries, particularly in nuclear command and control systems.

By the way, also on NBC.

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