North Korea’s relationship with the Winter Olympics has been rocky over the past few years. They last participated in the 2018 Winter Olympics in PyeongChang and were absent from the 2020 Tokyo and 2022 Beijing Olympics due to travel restrictions and bans respectively.

However, their absence from the ongoing 2026 Winter Olympics is purely due to poor performance in the qualifying rounds. No athlete has qualified for the quadrennial games in Milan, Italy. Figure skating pair Yeom Tae-ok and Kim Joo-sik, who finished 10th out of 11 teams in the 2025 qualifying round, also missed this opportunity.

With the North Korean team not participating in the Winter Olympics, the government has declared the 2026 National Winter Olympics open, with the games opening on Wednesday at the Paektusan District Sports Village in Samjiyon. North Korean athletes will compete in 50 events in five winter sports including ice hockey, figure skating and skiing. North Korea has withdrawn from the Tokyo 2020 Olympics due to travel restrictions following the implementation of COVID-19 protocols.

The International Olympic Committee has since banned them from participating in the 2022 event. So far, the North Korean team has participated in nine Winter Olympics and won two medals. Speed ​​skater Han Feihua won the women’s 3,000-meter silver medal at the 1964 Innsbruck Winter Olympics, and short-track speed skater Huang Yushi won the women’s 500-meter bronze medal at the 1992 Albertville Winter Olympics.

Schedule for Day 3 of the 2026 Milan Cortina Winter Olympics

Alysa Liu of the United States at the 2026 Milan Cortina Winter Olympics in Milan, Italy. (Photo by Getty Images) Alysa Liu of the United States at the 2026 Milan Cortina Winter Olympics in Milan, Italy. (Photo by Getty Images)
Alysa Liu of the United States at the 2026 Milan Cortina Winter Olympics in Milan, Italy. (Photo by Getty Images)

Day 3 in Milan Cortina winter olympics There will be five gold medal events in 2026. The schedule for Day 3 is as follows:

Day 3 (Monday, February 9, 2026) – 5 Gold Medal Events

alpine skiing

  • 9.30am to 11.15am: Men’s Team Combined (Downhill)
  • 1pm – 2.20pm: Men’s Mixed Team (Slalom) 🏅

Curling

  • 9.05am to 11.05am: Mixed doubles round robin
  • 5.05 pm – 7.05 pm: Mixed Doubles Semi-finals

figure skating

  • 6.20 pm–9.55 pm: Ice Dance Rhythm Dance

freestyle skiing

  • 11.30am to 1.20pm: Women’s Freeski Slopestyle Finals 🏅

puck

  • 11.10am to 1.40pm: Women’s heats
  • 3.40 pm–6.10 pm: Women’s heats
  • 7.10 pm–9.40 pm: Women’s preliminary round
  • 8.10 pm–10.40 pm: Women’s preliminary round

sled

  • 4:00 p.m. to 6:20 p.m.: Women’s Singles Games 1 and 2

ski jumping

  • 6pm – 8.15pm: Men’s Normal Mountain Individual

snowboarding

  • 6.30 pm–8.05 pm: Women’s Snowboard Big Air Finals

speed skating

4.30 pm–6.05 pm: Women’s 1000m

All times are in GMT.