Washington Post pulls plug on Winter Olympics coverage two weeks before games

Two weeks before the Winter Olympics begin in Italy, the Washington Post decided it wouldn’t be there.

Managing editor Kimi Yoshino sent a terse email to more than a dozen Post journalists on Friday informing them their coverage plans for the 2026 games in Milan-Cortina were being scrapped.

“As we assess our priorities for 2026, we have decided not to send a contingent to the Winter Olympics,” Yoshino wrote in an email obtained by The New York Times. “We realize this decision and its timing will be disappointing to many of you, so please reach out to me if you want to talk further.”

Here’s the memo, from Managing Editor Kimi Yoshino, just weeks before the Winter Olympics are set to begin: “We realize this decision and its timing will be disappointing to many of you…” https://t.co/CLWmy2OodL pic.twitter.com/IdJi0GqB4w

— Ben Mullin (@BenMullin) January 24, 2026

The decision came after the Post had already spent most of the money to cover the games. The paper secured 14 credentials for Milano Cortina and paid for flights, housing, and office space at the Olympic site, the New York Times reported on Saturday. Multiple journalists had already booked their own travel, while management approved all spending along the way, including $80,000 in housing costs.

Whatever the Post saves by backing out now is whatever was left to spend, which apparently justifies scrapping coverage of an event that consistently draws strong readership.

This fits with where the Post’s sports section has been headed. Sally Jenkins left for The Atlantic last summer after 20 years. Dan Steinberg went to The Athletic after spending 23 years at the Post and creating the D.C. Sports Bog. Steven Goff took a buyout after covering soccer for 40 years, going back to before the 1994 World Cup made soccer mainstream in America.

More layoffs are expected in the coming weeks, according to Semafor’s Max Tani.