Just days before the start of the Milan Cortina 2026 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games, scheduled for 6-22 February and 6-15 March, we share with you a few titbits about one of the most beloved sporting events of all time, taken from the book "It’s Snowing! In art, fashion, design", by Vittorio Linfante, Simona Segre Reinach, and Massimo Zanella.

There are many interesting facts and so much information within the pages of It’s Snowing! In art, fashion, design, the volume by Vittorio Linfante, Simona Segre Reinach, and Massimo Zanella, recently published by Marsilio Arte. In addition to outlining the connection between snowy settings and creative language, the book features a valuable infographic on the Winter Olympics in numbers. Here are some facts.

The first city to host the Winter Olympics was Chamonix, France, in 1924. 260 athletes participated in nine disciplines.

The first edition of the Winter Paralympic Games was held in Örnsköldsvik, Sweden, in 1976, with the participation of 196 athletes in two disciplines.

To date, the Winter Olympic Games with the largest number of athletes was held in Beijing, China, in 2022: 2,834 athletes competed in fourteen disciplines. The 1998 Winter Paralympic Games in Nagano, Japan, had 571 athletes competing in five disciplines.

On top of the upcoming Milan Cortina 2026 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games, Italy has hosted two editions of the event: the Cortina d’Ampezzo Winter Olympics in 1956 and the Turin Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games in 2006.

Norway has won the most medals, appearing in the top three positions in the Winter Olympic medal table a total of twenty times in the history of the Olympic and Paralympic Games.

The poster for the 1956 Cortina d’Ampezzo Winter Olympics was created by Franco Rondinelli, while the medals were designed by Costantino Affer. For the 2006 Winter Olympics and Paralympics held in Turin, the poster was designed by Armando Testa, the medals were designed by Dario Quatrini, and the Olympic torch was designed by Pininfarina.