when do the women skate in the olympics

Women’s figure skating at the 2026 Winter Olympics in Milan–Cortina runs in the second half of the Games, with both team and individual events on the schedule.

Key dates (women’s events)

All dates below are February 2026.

• Team event – Women’s short program: Friday, Feb 6 (during the figure skating team event session in the morning/early day, local time).

• Team event – Women’s free skate: Sunday, Feb 8 (afternoon session in Eastern Time; evening in Italy).

• Women’s singles short program: Tuesday, Feb 17 in the evening local time (listed around 18:45–19:00 in the official competition schedule).

• Women’s singles free skate (medal event): Thursday, Feb 19 in the evening local time (around 19:00; this is when medals are decided).

• Exhibition gala (top skaters from all events, including many of the women): Saturday, Feb 21 in the evening.

Quick timezone note

• Local time in Milan–Cortina is Central European Time (CET).

• U.S. broadcasts often list events in Eastern Time (ET) ; for women’s singles, that usually means early afternoon ET for the free skate and short program sessions that are in the evening in Italy.

Simple schedule table

Here’s the core women’s singles schedule in HTML, as requested:

html

<table>
  <thead>
    <tr>
      <th>Date (2026)</th>
      <th>Event</th>
      <th>Local time (approx.)</th>
      <th>Notes</th>
    </tr>
  </thead>
  <tbody>
    <tr>
      <td>Feb 6</td>
      <td>Team event – Women’s short program</td>
      <td>Morning–midday CET</td>
      <td>Part of mixed team competition</td>
    </tr>
    <tr>
      <td>Feb 8</td>
      <td>Team event – Women’s free skate</td>
      <td>Evening CET</td>
      <td>Team medals can be decided here</td>
    </tr>
    <tr>
      <td>Feb 17</td>
      <td>Women’s singles short program</td>
      <td>Evening CET (around 18:45–19:00)</td>
      <td>Qualifying round; top skaters advance</td>
    </tr>
    <tr>
      <td>Feb 19</td>
      <td>Women’s singles free skate</td>
      <td>Evening CET (around 19:00)</td>
      <td>Medal event for women’s singles</td>
    </tr>
    <tr>
      <td>Feb 21</td>
      <td>Exhibition gala</td>
      <td>Evening CET</td>
      <td>Showcase with many medalists and stars</td>
    </tr>
  </tbody>
</table>

Forum / “why these times?” flavor

On fan forums, people often note that women’s and men’s events usually get prime viewing slots (afternoon in North America, evening in Europe) because they draw the largest TV audiences, while pairs sometimes land in weekday evening or off-peak spots. Skating fans also talk a lot about late- night viewing, wrecked sleep schedules, and planning work breaks just to catch the women’s programs live.

“My sleep routine is wrecked during the Olympics.” is a pretty typical fan sentiment whenever the women’s events land at awkward hours for certain time zones.

TL;DR:
Women skate several times: first in the team event (Feb 6 and 8), then in the individual women’s short program on Feb 17 and the medal- deciding free skate on Feb 19 , plus many appear again in the exhibition gala on Feb 21.

Information gathered from public forums or data available on the internet and portrayed here.