Over the past several years, Samsung has made a practice of tying its most visible devices to the Olympic Games. Each time the event comes around, the company releases a special version of a flagship phone and places it, without charge, in the hands of every competing athlete. The act is framed as generosity, though it also functions as a reminder of how closely modern sport and modern commerce now move together. For the Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games Milano Cortina 2026, this routine is repeated once more, this time with the Galaxy Z Flip 7.
Samsung confirms the Z Flip 7 Olympic Edition rollout for athletes
The company has confirmed the launch of the Galaxy Z Flip 7 Olympic Edition, which it intends to distribute to all athletes taking part in the Milano Cortina Games. Samsung estimates that nearly 3,800 Olympians and Paralympians, drawn from around 90 countries, will receive the device. The numbers are carefully stated, as numbers often are, to underline the scale of the gesture and the reach of the brand behind it.
Visually, the phone is altered to mark its special status. The edges, the hinge, and the rings surrounding the rear cameras are finished in gold, a color chosen to suggest victory, discipline, and the long effort that leads to a moment on the podium. The rear panel comes in blue, a shade Samsung associates with the identity of Milano Cortina 2026, and it bears both Olympic and company insignia. These changes are modest, but they are meant to distinguish the phone from its ordinary counterpart. Nor are these surface details the only ways in which the Olympic Edition sets itself apart from the standard model.
Special packaging built to match the theme
The Galaxy Z Flip 7 Olympic Edition is accompanied by packaging that makes its purpose immediately clear. The box is not merely a container but a statement, bearing the image of the special-edition phone along with Samsung and Olympic insignia. Inside, the presentation continues in the same carefully managed tone. Samsung includes a protective case fitted with a blue magnetic ring on its back, designed to work with magnetic accessories and to echo the color scheme of the device itself. Alongside this is a set of wallpapers created for the occasion, carrying the visual identity of the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Games.
Apps, services, and built-in athlete support features
The phone is also prepared in advance for its intended users. Samsung has equipped it with a selection of applications and services meant to assist athletes during the Games. These include official Olympic tools such as the Olympic Games app, Athlete365, Pinquest, and the IOC Hotline. Athlete365 is linked to Galaxy AI’s Now Brief feature, which presents Olympic-related updates directly on the FlexWindow, allowing information to be absorbed quickly and without effort. In addition, Samsung will supply the device with an eSIM that provides 100GB of 5G data, ensuring that connectivity is treated not as a luxury, but as a given.
Stephanie Choi, Samsung’s executive vice president and head of the Mobile Marketing Center within its Mobile Experience business, spoke of the company’s role in measured and assured terms. She said that athletes stand at the centre of the Olympic and Paralympic Games, and that for almost three decades Samsung has worked alongside them as a worldwide partner, using mobile technology as its chosen means of support.
Beginning with the Sochi Games in 2014, the company has provided athletes with special Olympic editions of its devices, and, she noted, it now intends to carry this practice forward to Milano Cortina 2026. Through the Olympic Edition, she added, athletes will have a way to stay connected with their families and supporters, recording and sharing moments that are personal to them, as they experience the Games in their own manner.
Final Words
Close to 4,000 athletes will arrive in Milano Cortina holding gold-hinged flip phones, all of them walking billboards covered in Olympic blue. Samsung is generous, to the point of generosity that does not entail any limits, except the limits of widespread brand placement. One visualizes the medal ceremonies today: gold on the neck, gold on the phone, and a Samsung logo is likely to be tattooed somewhere tasteful.
Still, let’s not be too cynical. The athletes receive a free flagship device with 100GB of data, which is actually helpful when you are attempting to FaceTime your family in the athletes village at 2 a.m. And Samsung gets to put its name on the most-watched sporting event on the planet. It is the type of win-win situation where everyone is fully aware of what is going on, no one is really bothered by it, and the phones will most likely be on eBay by March anyway.
