Cross-country skiing: Norway to skip Olympic Villages and stay in hotels

Norway will not use the Olympic Villages for a significant portion of its delegation at the Milano–Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics. Instead, Norwegian athletes and support staff in cross‑country skiing, alpine skiing, and biathlon will stay in hotels.

According to the Norwegian news agency NTB, the decision is driven by the unusually dispersed nature of the Games, with events hosted across seven locations. Norway’s Olympic high‑performance director Tore Øvrebø explained that the team anticipated there would be little to no classic “village feeling” and chose to optimize logistics and recovery sport‑by‑sport, while building team cohesion in other ways ahead of time.

The additional accommodation costs are expected to total approximately 9.3 million SEK, which NTB reports amounts to about 60 percent of Norway’s total Olympic expenditures. The 2026 Winter Olympics will feature two main hubs in Milan and Cortina d’Ampezzo, with competitions also in Livigno, Val di Fiemme, and Antholz/Anterselva, among others. Ice hockey will be played in Milan, cross‑country skiing in Val di Fiemme, and biathlon in Antholz/Anterselva. In total, there will be six Olympic Villages for the Games, scheduled for 6–22 February.

The article notes that Sweden’s cross‑country team has similarly considered hotel accommodation for 2026, and highlights that Norwegian star Johannes Høsflot Klæbo will be chasing more Olympic medals under this new logistical setup. Coverage of the Games will be broadcast by SVT and TV4 in Sweden.