The Milan Cortina Winter Olympics take shape, in photos

The 2026 Winter Olympics in Italy are fast approaching. As the torch relay nears completion, athletes are arriving, with some already making headlines. There are 16 sports in total, including some never before seen, with 116 gold medals to be awarded. Milan’s San Siro stadium is the venue for Friday’s opening ceremony, which is usually the most viewed moment of the Games, as millions around the world will watch on official broadcasters.

This is a photo gallery curated by AP photo editors.

AP Winter Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/milan-cortina-2026-winter-olympics

A person walks past Olympic rings on net covered fences at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Bormio, Italy, Wednesday, Feb. 4, 2026. (AP Photo/John Locher)

Houses perched on the mountain alongside Stelvio Ski Centre are seen past town lights in Bormio, Italy, at the 2026 Winter Olympics, Wednesday, Feb. 4, 2026. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell)

China's Zhang Xiaonan practices during a snowboard big air training session at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Livigno, Italy, Wednesday, Feb. 4, 2026. (AP Photo/Lindsey Wasson)

Canada's Brett Gallant, right, and Czech Republic's Vit Chabicovsky compete during a curling mixed doubles session at the 2026 Winter Olympics in Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy, Wednesday, Feb. 4, 2026. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip)

Vivienne Sykora, from Germany, poses with an ice sculpture of the Olympic rings at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Livigno, Italy, Wednesday, Feb. 4, 2026. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull)

Ilia Malinin, of the United States, practices during a figure skating training session ahead of the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Milan, Italy, Tuesday, Feb. 3, 2026. (AP Photo/Christophe Ena)

Italy's Flora Tabanelli practices during a slopestyle training session at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Livigno, Italy, Wednesday, Feb. 4, 2026. (AP Photo/Lindsey Wasson)

Norway's Adrian Smiseth Sejersted at the finish area, during the alpine ski, men's downhill first official training, at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Bormio, Italy, Wednesday, Feb. 4, 2026. (AP Photo/Pier Marco Tacca)

American artist Snoop Dogg stands on an ice resurfacer at the figure skating venue rink ahead of the 2026 Winter Olympics in Milan, Italy, on Tuesday, Feb. 3, 2026. (AP Photo/Christophe Ena)

Preparations for the first curling competition are made at the 2026 Winter Olympics in Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy, Wednesday, Feb. 4, 2026. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip)

The Olympic rings stand as snow falls at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Livigno, Italy, Wednesday, Feb. 4, 2026. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull)

Liechtenstein's Marco Pfiffner gets to the finish area, during the alpine ski, men's downhill first official training, at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Bormio, Italy, Wednesday, Feb. 4, 2026. (AP Photo/Pier Marco Tacca)

France's men hockey players take part in a training session ahead of the 2026 Winter Olympics in Milan, Italy, Tuesday, Feb. 3, 2026. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)

A speed skating athlete from the U.S. warms up at the 2026 Winter Olympics in Rho, Italy, Wednesday, Feb. 4, 2026. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)

Athletes from France walk inside the Olympic Village ahead of the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Milan, Italy, Tuesday, Feb. 3, 2026. (AP Photo/Antonio Calanni)

People walk along a main shopping street as snow falls ahead of the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy, Tuesday, Feb. 3, 2026. (AP Photo/Fatima Shbair)

A view shows houses and cars covered in snow ahead of the Olympic Winter Games Milano Cortina 2026, in Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy, Tuesday, Feb. 3, 2026. (AP Photo/Fatima Shbair)

United States' Lindsey Vonn grimaces during a press conference by the U.S. ski team at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy, Tuesday, Feb. 3, 2026. (AP Photo/Fatima Shbair)

Canada's Jeffrey Read reacts at the finish area during the alpine ski men's downhill first official training, at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Bormio, Italy, Wednesday, Feb. 4, 2026. (AP Photo/Pier Marco Tacca)

Workers set up fencing along the slopestyle course before a training session at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Livigno, Italy, Wednesday, Feb. 4, 2026. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull)

A skater practices on the speedskating rink at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Milan, Italy, Wednesday, Feb. 4, 2026. (AP Photo/Christophe Ena)

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — A new Tennessee law has eased up on two longstanding financial hurdles for people with felony sentences who want their voting rights back, including a unique requirement among states that they must have fully paid their child support costs.

The Republican-supermajority Legislature approved the Democratic-sponsored change, which now lets people prove they have complied for the last year with child support orders, such as payment plans. The legislation also unties the payment of all court costs from voting rights restoration.

Advocates for years have sought various changes to Tennessee’s voting rights restoration system at the statehouse and in court. They say loosening these two rules marks the biggest rollback of restrictions to voting rights restoration in decades.

“This is huge and this is history,” said Keeda Haynes, senior attorney for the advocacy group Free Hearts led by formerly incarcerated women like her.

Most Republicans voted for it and Democrats supported it unanimously. The law took effect immediately upon Republican Gov. Bill Lee's signature last week.

“I think people are at a point where they want to just remove the barriers out of the way and allow people to be fully functional members of society,” said Democratic House Minority Leader Karen Camper, a bill sponsor.

In 2023, the state decided gun rights were required to restore the right to vote, and shelved a paperwork process that didn't require going to court. Election officials said a court ruling made the changes necessary, though voting rights advocates said officials misinterpreted the order.

Last year, lawmakers untangled voting and gun rights. But voting rights advocates opposed some of the bill's other provisions, such as keeping the process in the courts, where costs can rack up if someone isn't ruled indigent.

Easing up on the financial requirements uncommonly split legislative Republicans. For instance, Senate Speaker Randy McNally voted against it, while House Speaker Cameron Sexton supported it, noting that people aren't getting forgiveness on making their payments.

“They need to continue paying that, and as long as they do, then there’s a possibility (to restore their voting rights)," Sexton said. "I really think that’s harder for people to argue against than maybe what something else was.”

Republican Rep. Johnny Garrett, who voted no, said in committee his vote would hinge on whether “there still can be an (child support) arrearage owed beyond that 12 months.”

For some, backed-up child support payments could reach hundreds or thousands of dollars, and court costs could be hundreds or thousands more, said Gicola Lane, Campaign Legal Center's Restore Your Vote community partnership senior manager.

Advocates credited their narrowed focus, omitting goals such as automatic restoration of rights, no longer tying restitution payments to voting rights, or offering a path for certain people to restore their right who are permanently disenfranchised, including those convicted of voter fraud or most murder charges.

The bill passed the Senate last year and the House this year.

Lawmakers gave the child support requirement final passage in 2006 within an overhaul bill that also created a voting rights restoration process outside of court. Critics said the child support rule penalized impoverished parents.

Democrats were then narrowly hanging onto legislative leadership in both chambers. Republicans held a slim Senate majority but GOP defectors voted for a Democratic speaker.

Last year marked the dismissal of a five-year-old federal lawsuit over Tennessee’s voting-rights restoration system. Free Hearts and the Campaign Legal Center represented plaintiffs in the long-delayed case, which saw some election policy changes along the way.

Roughly 184,000 people have completed supervision for felonies and their offenses don't preclude them from restoring their voting rights, according to a plaintiffs expert’s 2023 estimate in the lawsuit. About one in 10 were estimated to have outstanding child support payments, and more than six in 10 owed court courts, restitution or both, the expert said.

Both Republican and Democratic-led states have eased the voting rights restoration process in recent years. Some states have added complexities.

In Florida, after voters approved a constitutional amendment in 2018 restoring the right to vote for people with felony convictions, the Republican-controlled Legislature watered that down by requiring payment of fines, fees and court costs.

Voting rights are automatically restored upon release in nearly half of states. In 15 others, it occurs after parole, probation or a similar period and sometimes requires paying outstanding court costs, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. In Maine and Vermont, people with felonies keep their voting rights in prison, the NCSL says.

Ten other states including Tennessee require additional government action. Virginia ’s governor must intervene to restore voting rights of people convicted of felonies. In some states, including Tennessee, certain conviction types render someone ineligible.

However, Virginia lawmakers this year have passed a proposed state constitutional amendment to ask voters whether they want automatic voting rights restoration after someone is released from prison. Kentucky lawmakers have proposed a similar change for voters' consideration that would automatically restore voting rights after certain completed sentences, including probation.

FILE - The Tennessee Capitol is seen, Jan. 22, 2024, in Nashville, Tenn. (AP Photo/George Walker IV, File)