The Milano Cortina 2026 pre-Games program forms an integral part of the comprehensive anti-doping strategy for the Olympic Winter Games, which also includes Games-time testing as well as the long-term storage and potential re-analysis of samples after the event. The pre-Games phase aims to ensure that athletes are subject to a strategic and risk-based testing approach well before the start of the Games, regardless of where they train or are based.
During this preparatory period, which started in August 2025, it remained the shared responsibility of the respective International Olympic Winter Federations (IFs) and National Anti-Doping Organisations (NADOs) to implement robust testing programs for athletes preparing to participate in the Games. The ITA’s pre-Games program provided an additional layer of independent coordination, strategic support and monitoring, with the objective of reinforcing global testing efforts and reducing the risk of testing gaps.
As part of this approach, all disciplines were classified into defined risk categories, each of them linked to a minimum level of recommended testing. The recommendations combined quantitative and qualitative components and relied on data analysis frameworks and risk factors developed by the ITA over successive editions of the Olympic Games. The implementation of the targeted recommendations issued to IFs and NADOs since August 2025 was monitored throughout the past six months. In parallel, the ITA also contributed its operational expertise in winter sports through its year-round anti-doping programs for the International Bobsleigh and Skeleton Federation, the International Luge Federation, the International Ski Mountaineering Federation and the International Skating Union. For these federations, the ITA implemented the relevant pre-Games testing recommendations directly.
With the pre-Games phase concluding upon the opening of the Olympic Villages on 30 January 2026, the results demonstrate a high level of engagement across the global anti-doping community. Overall, the preliminary testing numbers show that at least 92% of athletes were tested a minimum of one time during the pre-Games period, through more than 7,100 doping controls conducted on over 2,900 athletes shortlisted for the event. This represents a testing increase of around 90% compared with the previous six-month period on the same athlete population. These results are in line with the outcomes of the pre-Games program for Beijing 2022, which at the time represented the most comprehensive pre-Games testing program ever implemented for an Olympic Winter Games.