Posted February 06, 2026
The 2026 Winter Olympics officially kick off today in northern Italy. While a few of the events have already begun, the opening ceremonies start at 2:00 EST, and the games will stream across the NBC family of networks and on Peacock. The proceedings promise to be memorable—though hopefully for a better reason than the 2024 games—complete with two venues at Milan and Cortina, and even two Olympic cauldrons to mark the start of the action.
The games will end on February 22 as the athletes gather at the Roman amphitheater in Verona. Until then, they will be spread across nearly 9,000 square miles, making this year’s Olympics the most geographically widespread winter Games in history.
Once the competition kicks off in earnest, you’ll have sixteen different events to choose from over the next two and a half weeks. You can find the full schedule here, and chances are there’s something for everyone.
Don’t sleep on the stranger events, though, even if the descriptions sound like something you’d never think you might enjoy.
By now, you might be well aware of the majesty that is curling, for example. But if you were scrolling through descriptions or listening to someone talk about an event that revolves around pushing a rock and sweeping ice, it may not top your list. Give it a chance, though, and you might get hooked.
This year, I’m looking forward to following the Games’ only new event: Ski mountaineering (or “skimo” for short). The race revolves around athletes running up a mountain with skis on their backs, then quickly putting them on and racing back down the other side as fast as they can.
To be honest, I have no idea what to expect from skimo, and it could prove to be quite boring to watch. For now, though, I’m intrigued, and the opportunity to see a sport that I’m unlikely to ever think about again once it’s over—well, at least not for another four years—is part of what makes the Olympics so much fun.
As with most Olympic games, though, the events themselves will quickly take a back seat to the stories and drama. And there are quite a few storylines worth following over the next two weeks.
NPR has a solid rundown of some of the Games’ best storylines, from Lindsey Vonn competing in her final Olympics with a newly torn ACL to NHL players returning to the international ice for the first time in more than a decade. Norway, which often leads the medal count in these events, has been rocked by scandal for allegedly, um, “modifying” a rather private area of their ski-jumpers’ suits to help them catch more wind in flight.
On a more positive note, American skier Mikaela Shiffrin is also likely to be a name you’ll hear quite a bit over the course of the competition.
Shiffrin has recorded a record 108 World Cup wins, 12 season titles across three disciplines, and five overall titles. However, at the Beijing games four years ago, she missed the podium in every one of her events and then was sidelined two years ago after a freak accident left her with a severe puncture wound that could have ended her career. She’s back now, though, and heavily favored in most of her events.
However, the most noteworthy story belongs to Maxim Naumov, who qualified for the men’s figure skating competition. Naumov’s parents—both former Olympians—were killed in the tragic collision between an airplane and an Army helicopter near Washington, DC, in January of last year.
Naumov earned his spot on the team after winning bronze at the US Figure Skating Championships, telling reporters, “God is good” while holding onto a picture of his parents helping him learn how to skate as a child.
Naumov is one of many Christians taking part in the games, and a common thread in their testimonies is the desire for their time at the games to be about more than just competing. As bobsledder Elana Meyers Taylor put it, “At the end of the day, I’m in this sport to glorify God, so if that means I come in last place or I win the gold medal, that’s what I’m going to do.”
And that’s a perspective we could all stand to emulate today.
Whether in tragic loss or the ultimate highs of victory, remembering that God is good and that our lives make the most sense when they are lived for his glory is the best way to experience his peace and purpose. Paul spoke to that reality in his letter to the Philippians.
One of the verses you’re likely to hear most often over the next couple of weeks is Philippians 4:13: “I can do all things through him who strengthens me.” However, the larger context for that passage demonstrates that Paul was not talking about some spiritual superpower we get by claiming Christ’s presence in our lives. Rather, that declaration is the culmination of the verses that come before it.
Paul is able to say he can do all things through Christ because he has determined not to let his commitment to the Lord depend on his circumstances. His relationship with God is not a parachute that gives him peace if things get really bad because he can just pull the cord and be saved. Rather, his relationship with God is the defining lens through which he views his life, and his love for Jesus is such that he has learned to rely on the Lord’s constancy no matter what else is going on around him.
Even that contentment, however, is not simply the result of choosing to trust God. Rather, as Paul describes earlier in the chapter, it is a pattern he maintained every day of his life.
Taken together, these passages in Philippians 4 demonstrate that Paul was able to find contentment regardless of his circumstances because he had learned to approach every circumstance with rejoicing, prayer, supplication, and thanksgiving.
Moreover, he kept his mind set on the things that foster a closer walk with the Lord rather than on those that are more prone to lead us toward sin and temptation. As a result, he positioned himself to walk with “the God of peace” every day and allowed that peace to pervade every facet of his life.
Notice, though, that nothing about what Paul describes is the result of passive acceptance on his part. Everything he writes about in these verses requires us to take an active role in the process. The apostle reminds us that the kind of peace and contentment he describes cannot be found by giving up and simply accepting life as it comes. Rather, it happens when, in every circumstance, we choose to turn to the Lord.
When we do that, we can know God’s peace because we will have learned to abide in his will and rely on him as our source of strength for each day.
I’m praying that Maxim Naumov, Elana Meyers Taylor, and every other athlete competing at the Olympics over the next two weeks can learn to do just that. However, I also know that we need to be sure to start every day by asking God to help us do the same.
Will you join me in offering both prayers now?
“God cannot give us a happiness and peace apart from Himself, because it is not there. There is no such thing.” —C. S. Lewis
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