01.03.2026
The Olympic Winter Games Milano Cortina 2026 marked a defining milestone in the International Skating Union’s (ISU) digital transformation - delivering the most powerful and far-reaching digital performance in the history of the federation.
Powered by the athlete-centered Olympic ShowTime campaign, the ISU achieved record-breaking growth across owned, earned and shared channels - significantly elevating the federation’s global digital footprint while amplifying the visibility and personal brands of participating skaters worldwide.
ISU Director General Colin Smith said: “These results represent more than just numbers - they reflect attention, relevance and sustained growth. Skating content is now connecting with global audiences at an unprecedented level. The #ISUShowtime campaign resonated strongly with fans worldwide and reflects Vision 2030 in action - placing athletes and their stories at the heart of everything we do.”
During the 25-day period spanning before, during, and immediately after the Games, skating enjoyed unprecedented global visibility through Milano Cortina 2026, making it the single most successful digital window in ISU history.
The federation generated 408 million video views - the strongest 25-day video performance ever, alongside 16.9 million social engagements and 632+ million social media impressions. Compared with Beijing 2022, impressions nearly tripled, engagements quadrupled, and video views grew 25-fold. During the same period, the ISU also gained 402,000 new followers, reaching 1 million on Meta Figure Skating platforms.
This record-breaking growth validates the ISU’s successful shift to dynamic, snackable and video-led storytelling, placing athletes and their personalities at the heart of the global conversation in a manner bespoke to individual platforms.
The ISU operates a strategically balanced global digital ecosystem, anchored in the USA - its top market across Facebook, Instagram and TikTok - while leveraging highly efficient growth in Asia, where views convert to followers at a 70% higher rate than in Europe. Skating also demonstrates strong urban appeal, with Mexico City and Bangkok ranking as the top two global cities for fan engagement.
The Games further demonstrated the growing reach and integration of the ISU’s content strategy:
While Milano Cortina 2026 provided a powerful global showcase of the ISU’s transformation under Vision 2030, this historic digital momentum now continues into the upcoming World Championships across the skating disciplines, starting with the ISU Speed Skating World Championships in Heerenveen (NED) from March 5-8, 2026.