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Tag: Olympics

  • The Trojan Horse Before the Supreme Court

    Photo: Sarah L. Voisin/The Washington Post/Getty Images

    Sometime in 2018, Republican legislators became obsessed with fair play in youth sports. It started when a trans high-school student won a track-and-field championship in Connecticut and Idaho legislator Barbara Ehardt decided she couldn’t let the same thing happen in her state. Claiming that trans girls, whom she referred to as “biological boys,” had a competitive advantage in girls’ sports, she drafted a bill that would bar them from “interscholastic, intercollegiate, intramural, or club athletic teams.”
    The so-called Fairness in Women’s Sports Act passed the Idaho state legislature in 2020 and quickly became a national model for the right. Republicans proposed nearly identical laws in 30 states, and Ehardt went on a national tour bankrolled by “pro-family” groups. One of her biggest backers was the Alliance Defending Freedom, the conservative Christian legal group that helped write Ehardt’s law and is best known for its work to overturn Roe v. Wade, ban gay marriage, and bar trans people from using bathrooms that match their gender. Conjuring images of innocent children being cheated out of trophies and ribbons, the ADF helped legislators pass bans in 29 states.

    The truth is that as complex as the task of making sports truly gender–inclusive — or “fair” — might seem, there is limited evidence that trans girls possess any athletic performance advantages. A review of scientific literature published between 2011 and 2021, commissioned by the Canadian Centre for Ethics in Sport, found that to be the case even for girls who are not actively taking testosterone suppressants. Republicans are not pushing for more research (or, tellingly, advocating for any documented equity issues in women’s sports, such as those surrounding funding or pay). Instead, the bluster about fairness in sports has taken on a life of its own and become an obsession of the current administration. This past February, President Donald Trump issued an executive order revoking funding from schools where trans women and girls compete in women’s sports, making Ehardt’s law perhaps one of the most consequential pieces of legislation of the decade.

    But the argument that these actions protect the integrity of sports has always been a convenient mirage, and the façade of “fairness” finally slipped this month when the Supreme Court heard challenges to two statewide bans on trans athletes.

    One case, West Virginia v. B.P.J., was brought by a 15-year-old trans girl named Becky Pepper-Jackson, who runs high-school track and field and transitioned before hitting puberty. Instead of addressing how she could possibly have an athletic advantage under those circumstances, the appellate lawyer Hashim Mooppan, representing the government, called any argument about a level playing field “irrelevant.” The question of whether “taking testosterone suppression eliminates any physical advantage doesn’t matter,” he said. The issue at hand was the definition of sex in Title IX, the rule governing equal gender access in education. He argued that the Court should agree that sex in that law refers not to gender but only to sex assigned at birth, a move that would allow states to separate sports teams by sex assigned at birth.

    That the Trump administration openly dismissed its own stated concerns underscores the disingenuous nature of the right-wing furor about fairness in sports and reveals the scope of the government’s aim and how wide-ranging a Court ruling on this could be.

    Legal commentators largely agree that the Court seems inclined to uphold the bans on trans girls and women in sports when it issues its decision, likely in June. It’s possible a ruling that favors the government’s definition of sex and Title IX could allow legislatures and courts “to use this kind of ban toward trans women and girls in other areas of society, well beyond sports,” says Sydney Bauer, who writes about Olympic sports through the lens of gender identity.

    If the Supreme Court can be made to say “a trans woman is a man on the sports field,” the Court can extend that same logic to trans women “applying for jobs or applying for houses and whether or not they can access gender-specific spaces in terms of rape counseling or hospitals,” Bauer says. “If you can get legal discrimination toward trans people in some aspect of society, it will be easier to expand to other areas, even if it contradicts existing civil-rights law.” Already, 27 states have used the precedent of sports laws to restrict trans kids from accessing health care.

    The Trump administration isn’t waiting for the Court’s decision. With an eye toward the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles, the State Department has said it will deny visas to trans women athletes seeking to enter the U.S., and on January 14, the Trump administration launched a probe of 15 school districts and three colleges that it says violate “women’s rights, dignity, and fairness” by allowing trans girls to compete in sports. Under pressure from Trump, both the NCAA and the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee have already caved and banned trans women athletes from participating.

    In doing so, the administration has seeded precedents that advance a right-wing feedback loop: During oral arguments, Justice Brett Kavanaugh pointed to the fact that the NCAA and the USOPC now bar trans women from competing as evidence that “allowing transgender women and girls to participate will undermine or reverse that amazing success” — omitting any mention that these groups were pressured to do so. The mere existence of anti-trans laws and policies, passed at the behest of right-wing groups, are now being offered as proof of their own legitimacy.

    Female athletes have always been the subject of intense scrutiny, and sports are so interlaced with confused ideas of gender and sex that, at the beginning of the 20th century, newspapers like the Daily Herald insisted that athletic competition would turn women intolerably “masculine,” creating a “new type of human being, neither male nor female.” But perhaps the modern era of scrutinizing women’s bodies in sports started in 1936, after Helen Stephens, a cis American sprinter, won gold at the Berlin Olympics. European newspapers accused her of being a man, pointing to her biceps and deep voice as proof that she had transgressed the boundaries of femininity. Stephens’s gold medal stood, but a group of sports officials successfully whipped the controversy over her victory into the first policy requiring medical examinations of women athletes. Thereafter, track-and-field officials could strip test any woman about whom there were “questions of a physical nature.”

    What followed were decades of criticism from doctors, including from the American Medical Association, that led elite sports bodies to largely phase out sex tests by around 2000. Now, because of the current anti-trans panic, they are embracing bodily surveillance once again. Next month, at the Winter Olympics in Italy, all women skiers and snowboarders will be forced to sit for DNA tests that would effectively exclude anyone with a Y chromosome from competition. The tests have also received endorsements from World Athletics and World Boxing; Kirsty Coventry, the new leader of the International Olympic Committee, has promoted a “scientific approach” to “protect the female category.”

    The downwind effects seem imminent. Conservative activists in Washington State have submitted more than 400,000 signatures supporting a ballot measure that would require verification of a student’s biological sex, including genital inspections, to participate in school sports. A similar policy was included in the original version of Ohio’s bill to ban trans women and girls from school sports, though it was eventually spiked. While advocates frame these sex-testing policies as a way to safeguard women’s access to sports, increasingly, the opposite seems to be true. In Edmonton, Canada, a recent requirement that the parents of girls ages 12 and up present a form attesting that their child is “of the female sex at birth” led to a decline in enrollment. Rather than deal with constant scrutiny of their bodies, many girls may just opt to abandon sports entirely.

    Michael Waters

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  • The Winter Olympics Face an Existential Chill From Climate Change

    Olympic Rings are seen above the Cortina Curling Olympic Stadium ahead of the Olympic Winter Games Milano Cortina 2026. Photo by Emmanuele Ciancaglini/Getty Images

    There are currently 93 cities in the world with the infrastructure needed to host the Winter Olympics and Paralympics. But as the planet continues to warm, that pool of options is dwindling rapidly. By 2050, only four cities would be able to support the Olympics without the aid of artificial snow, according to a study published this week.

    “Hockey, figure skating, curling, etc., are all indoors; you can do that in Miami if you want,” Daniel Scott, a professor of geography and environmental management at the University of Waterloo and one of the study’s authors, told Observer. “It’s really the snow sports that we’re talking about as vulnerable—how do you maintain that as part of the Winter Games?”

    This question is top of mind for the International Olympic Committee (IOC), which is preparing to kick off the 2026 Milano Cortina Winter Olympics in Italy next month. The governing body is weighing a range of options to address rising temperatures, from combining the Olympic and Paralympic games to hosting them in different cities, or even shifting their traditional start dates to take advantage of the coldest months of the year.

    “Our ambition is to protect the Olympic Winter Games and the winter sports that so many people love; to minimize the impact on the environment; and to help safeguard the winter economies that so many people rely on,” an IOC spokesperson told Observer over email.

    It isn’t just the IOC that’s worried about warming winters. A 2022 survey of professional and Olympic winter athletes and coaches from 20 countries found that 90 percent were concerned about climate change’s impacts on their sport. Those impacts can include serious safety risks: eight years earlier, during the Sochi Winter Games, higher crash and injury rates among snow sport athletes were linked to warmer temperatures and lower-quality snow.

    The ramifications of global warming will only get worse as the years go by. Of the 93 past and potential hosts for the Winter Olympics—which traditionally take place in February—between 45 and 55 are expected to be climate-reliable by the 2050s, with that figure falling to between 30 and 54 by the 2080s, according to the study.

    The Winter Paralympics, which are held the month after the Olympics, face an even steeper challenge. Only 17 to 31 cities will be able to host the games by mid-century, with just four to 31 cities remaining viable three decades later. “How do you get the Paralympics out of March?” said Scott.

    Aerial view of snowy venue in mountainsAerial view of snowy venue in mountains
    This aerial view shows the Biathlon venue in Antholz, northern Italy, prior to the Milano Cortina 2026 Olympic Games. Photo by Odd Anderson/AFP via Getty Images

    How can the Olympics adapt to rising temperatures?

    One proposal from Scott and his co-authors is to merge the Olympics and Paralympics so that both games take place in February. The solution would increase visibility for the Paralympics—but, on the other hand, might risk them being overshadowed. The logistics of unifying the two games, too, would be a mammoth undertaking for the host city.

    Another option could be to get rid of the “One Bid, One City” partnership, established in 2001, which requires host cities to stage the Olympics and Paralympics at the same venues. Instead, the games could be held in different locations at the same time. But doing so would end a successful collaboration that has helped the IOC and International Paralympic Committee (IPC) support each other and their athletes over the past 25 years.

    The most promising solution, Scott said, would be to shift both games back by two to three weeks. While that would slightly reduce the number of climate-reliable Olympic hosts, it would substantially expand options for the Paralympics, adding 14 more climate-reliable cities by the 2080s. The IOC “were grateful to get that new analysis, because that was something they were actually considering,” said Scott.

    The future of snow itself is another critical concern. Artificial snow will play an increasingly central role in future Winter Games—and already does today. Currently, just seven of the 93 possible host locations could stage the Olympics without artificial snow, with only five able to do so for the Paralympics. That number is expected to fall even further as emissions continue to rise.

    Artificial snow is nothing new, Scott noted. “I think some people lose sight of the fact that snowmaking has been part of the Olympics since Lake Placid, 40 years ago,” he said. “So, it’s not a question of, ‘Can you do without it?’ It’s, ‘How do you make it as sustainable as possible?’”

    While machine-made snow has drawn criticisms for its energy and water use, newer systems are becoming more efficient and vary widely by location. “That’s for the IOC to select,” said Scott. The 2026 Games in Milan and the 2034 Games in Salt Lake City, Utah, for example, will produce six and 16 times more emissions, respectively, than the 2030 Games in the French Alps, which will rely on an electricity grid that is almost entirely nuclear and renewable.

    Rising heat won’t just affect the Winter Olympics. The Summer Olympics are already feeling the strain: during the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, marathons were moved to Sapporo to escape extreme heat. And the 2032 Summer Olympics in Brisbane will be held during Australia’s winter rather than summer to take advantage of cooler weather. “Heat risk is a growing concern,” said Scott.

    The Winter Olympics Face an Existential Chill From Climate Change

    Alexandra Tremayne-Pengelly

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  • Ryan Wedding, Former Olympic Snowboarder On The FBI’s ‘Most Wanted’ List, Has Been Arrested – KXL

    FILE – An image of former Canadian Olympic snowboarder Ryan Wedding, who is a fugitive and been charged with allegedly running and participating in a transnational drug trafficking operation, is displayed on a video monitor along with bricks of cocaine, foreground, during a news conference at the FBI offices in Los Angeles, Oct. 17, 2024. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes, File)

    ONTARIO, Calif. (AP) — Ryan Wedding, a former Canadian Olympic snowboarder who was among the FBI’s top fugitives and faces charges related to multinational drug trafficking and the killing of a federal witness, has been arrested in Mexico, top Justice Department officials said Friday.

    Wedding, 44, is accused of running a drug trafficking operation, and officials say he orchestrated several killings to further the drug crimes. He was on the FBI’s Ten Most Wanted Fugitives list, and authorities had offered a $15 million reward for information leading to his arrest and conviction.

    U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi and FBI Director Kash Patel confirmed Wedding’s arrest in social media posts. Patel said Wedding was being transported to the U.S. after being apprehended Thursday night in Mexico, where U.S. authorities believe the former Olympian been hiding for more than a decade.

    “This is a huge day for a safer North America, and the world,” Patel wrote on the social platform X, “and a message that those who break our laws and harm our citizens will be brought to justice.”

    At a news conference in California on Friday morning, Patel said Wedding’s arrest was the result of international cooperation and praised Mexico’s government and “global partnerships” for their roles in the operation.

    “When you go after a guy like Ryan Wedding, it takes a united front, and that’s what you’re seeing here,” he said, describing him a “modern day El Chapo” who “thought he could evade justice.

    Patel held meetings in Mexico on Thursday and left Friday with two detainees, Mexico’s Security Secretary Omar García Harfuch wrote on X. He said the two detainees were a Canadian citizen who turned himself in at the U.S. embassy, as well as someone else who was among the FBI’s most-wanted and had been detained by Mexican authorities.

    A member of Mexico’s Security Cabinet, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly, told The Associated Press that Wedding was the Canadian citizen who turned himself in.

    Wedding competed for his home country in the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City. Olympic records show he participated in a single men’s snowboarding event, parallel giant slalom, finishing 24th.

    Wedding was charged in 2024 with running a drug ring that used semitrucks to move cocaine between Colombia, Mexico, Southern California and Canada. Authorities said his aliases included “El Jefe,” “Public Enemy” and “James Conrad Kin.”

    In November, Bondi announced that he had also been indicted on charges of orchestrating the killing of a witness in Colombia to help him avoid extradition to the U.S.

    Authorities said Wedding and co-conspirators used a Canadian website called “The Dirty News” to post a photograph of the witness so he could be identified and killed. The witness was then followed to a restaurant in Medellín in January and shot in the head.

    Wedding faces separate drug trafficking charges in Canada that date back to 2015, according to the Royal Canadian Mounted Police.

    Wedding was previously convicted in the U.S. of conspiracy to distribute cocaine and was sentenced to prison in 2010, federal records show. Federal prosecutors in 2024 said they believed Wedding, after his release from prison, had resumed drug trafficking under the protection of the Sinaloa Cartel in Mexico.

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    Grant McHill

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  • ‘Heated Rivalry’: How to Mint Two Stars in 60 Days or Less

    Connor Storrie and Hudson Williams, the stars of Heated Rivalry, have seen their public profiles skyrocket from obscurity to global obsession in the scant two months since the show premiered.

    Kase Wickman

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  • 2028 Olympics could bring big wins for Los Angeles labor unions

    LOS ANGELES — As Los Angeles ramps up for the 2028 Olympics, local unions are drawing inspiration from the Paris Games when hotel workers went on strike a day before opening ceremonies.

    The French workers waved signs at the five-star hotel where members of the International Olympic Committee were staying, threatening “No Olympics!” if their demands were not met. A slew of labor union strikes surrounding those Games netted gains from higher salaries to better retirement benefits.

    Los Angeles labor leaders representing tens of thousands of workers across Southern California hope to employ similar strategies as the city prepares to host the Summer Games in 2028.

    Unite Here Local 11 co-President Kurt Petersen said his union has aligned more than 100 contracts that cover roughly 25,000 workers at hotels, airports, sports arenas and convention centers to expire in January 2028, mere months before the opening ceremony. The idea is to maximize bargaining power.

    United Food and Commercial Workers Local 770, which represents workers in the health care, grocery and packing industries; and Service Employees International Union Local 721, which represents more than 100,000 county employees, also plan to leverage contracts that expire in the first half of 2028.

    “We are going to have a force … of working people to do whatever it takes, including striking if we have to during the Olympics in 2028,” Petersen said. “The Olympics can’t happen without the workers.”

    A coalition of labor groups, community organizations and religious institutions are pushing for the Los Angeles Olympics organizing committee — known as LA28 — and the city to pay for building 50,000 housing units, pass a moratorium on short-term rentals like Airbnb, and protect immigrant workers.

    Jules Boykoff, a professor at Pacific University who has studied worker gains from past Olympics, called the Games a “once-in-a-generation opportunity” for organized labor.

    “These sports mega events are yet another social moment that helps us see with greater clarity, people who’ve been there working all along, who actually are essential workers,” Boykoff said.

    He pointed to wins by transportation workers and garbage collectors ahead of the Paris Games as examples.

    Who benefits from the Olympics

    Most of the economic benefits tied to the Olympics are short-lived, according to Robert Baumann, a professor at College of the Holy Cross who has examined data from several Games.

    Tourism and hospitality industries see a boost during the time period, while all other industries tend to suffer due to the general disruption to the host cities, Baumann said.

    But the Olympics still represent a powerful bargaining chip for workers.

    Axel Persson, general secretary of the CGT Rail Workers Union in France, said on the Real News Network podcast that his organization won several concessions ahead of the 2024 Paris Olympics, such as an earlier retirement with full pension and doubled pay for transportation workers during the Games.

    In Rio de Janeiro, more than 2,000 workers went on strike at venue construction sites two years ahead of 2016 Summer Olympics over benefits and working conditions. They parlayed the walkout into higher pay and an increase in workers’ lunch vouchers.

    City approves $30 per hour minimum wage for hospitality workers

    In Los Angeles, labor groups have been vocal about the Olympics benefitting workers critical to the Games’ success.

    The city recently approved a minimum wage of $30 per hour by July 2028 for workers at hotels with 60 or more rooms, an increase that’s set to be phased in over the next few years. The employees’ current minimum wage is $22.50.

    Business groups have said the increase will be a blow to the city’s tourism industry, which never quite recovered from the COVID-19 pandemic. Opponents are still trying to delay the wage hike until after the Summer Games.

    On the other side, local unions are collecting signatures for several proposed ballot measures, including one that would penalize corporations with CEOs who earn more than 100 times the company’s median employee. Another proposal would require the public to vote on developing major event and hotel projects, and a third would expand the $30 minimum wage to all workers.

    “We need to make the Olympics and the CEOs who are gonna make money off the Olympics pay for things that our city and citizens need,” Petersen said.

    Business groups push back

    Los Angeles-area chambers of commerce are also using the fight over the Olympics to target a source of long-standing frustration in the business community — the gross receipts tax. Business leaders proposed a ballot measure to repeal the tax shortly after city council passed the hospitality worker minimum wage.

    The tax is levied on businesses’ total revenue before operating costs and accounts for more than $700 million in annual tax revenue, according to the city clerk’s office.

    The money makes up a key part of LA’s general fund, which pays for police, firefighters, homeless assistance and other core services.

    “Businesses continue to get hammered in this city,” said Stuart Waldman, president of the Valley Industry and Commerce Association, one of the groups gathering signatures to repeal the tax.

    On the workers’ side of the ledger, employees like Thelma Cortez, a cook for the airline catering company Flying Food Group, say they are getting hammered by the cost of living. All of Cortez’s primary paycheck now goes toward rent for her and her three daughters. She works overtime or side jobs to make ends meet.

    She was excited when she heard LA would be hosting the 2028 Olympics.

    “I thought that, ‘Well there will be more work, and maybe all airport and hotel workers can earn a little more,’” she said.

    Jaimie Ding

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  • Wild defenseman Jonas Brodin has surgery on lower body injury that will keep him out of Olympics


    Minnesota Wild defenseman Jonas Brodin underwent surgery for a lingering lower body injury that will prevent him from playing for Sweden in the Olympics next month, coach John Hynes confirmed on Thursday.

    Brodin was out for the fifth straight game when the Wild hosted the Detroit Red Wings on Thursday. He also missed four games in December. Hynes had no timetable for Brodin’s return, but he said the 14th-year veteran will be back on the ice this season.

    “He got it done at a good time,” Hynes said. “He will be back, for sure, with more than enough time in the season.”

    The Wild are banged up with the Olympic break approaching, all with unspecified lower body injuries. Leading goal scorer Matt Boldy was sidelined for a fourth consecutive game and defenseman Zach Bogosian was out for the ninth game in a row on Thursday. Center Joel Eriksson Ek and forward Marcus Johansson, however, were on track to return against the Red Wings after absences of six games and three games, respectively.

    The Wild will still have Eriksson Ek and goalies Filip Gustavsson and Jesper Wallstedt representing Sweden next month at the Winter Games in Italy. Boldy and defensemen Brock Faber and Quinn Hughes are on the U.S. team.

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    CBS Minnesota

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  • ‘Heated Rivalry’ stars Hudson Williams and Connor Storrie to be torchbearers for Winter Olympics | Globalnews.ca

    By Staff

    The Canadian Press

    Posted January 22, 2026 5:28 pm

    Updated January 22, 2026 5:31 pm

    1 min read

    The stars of the popular Canadian hockey drama “Heated Rivalry” are headed to the Olympics.

    Hudson Williams and Connor Storrie will be among the torchbearers carrying the Olympic flame for the Milan Cortina Games in February.

    Williams plays Shane Hollander and Storrie plays Ilya Rozanov in the Crave-produced show. Williams is from Kelowna, B.C., and Storrie is American.

    Hollander and Rozanov are two of the best hockey players in the world and rivals on the ice who struggle to contain their feelings for each other off it.


    Click to play video: '‘Heated Rivalry’ sparks conversation on identity, inclusion in sports'


    ‘Heated Rivalry’ sparks conversation on identity, inclusion in sports


    “​​Heated Rivalry” will start airing in Italy on Feb. 1 on HBO Max, which is also one of the official Olympic rights holders for the Milan Cortina Games. Viewers in Canada can continue to watch it on Crave.

    Story continues below advertisement

    There are 16 more days left in the torch’s journey to the Olympic opening ceremony on Feb. 6.

    For news impacting Canada and around the world, sign up for breaking news alerts delivered directly to you when they happen.

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    “Heated Rivalry” has already been renewed for a second season after its runaway success on streaming platforms in Canada and the United States.

    Trending Now

    The six-episode series is based on a gay hockey romance series called “Game Changers” by Rachel Reid. The screen adaptation was written by Jacob Tierney for Crave.

    Tierney is the co-writer, director, and executive producer of the sitcom “Letterkenny” and an executive producer and director on the hockey comedy “Shoresy.”

    This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 22, 2026.


    Click to play video: 'Which Canadian city can claim ‘Heated Rivalry’ star Conner Storrie?'


    Which Canadian city can claim ‘Heated Rivalry’ star Conner Storrie?


    © 2026 The Canadian Press

    Alessia Simona Maratta

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  • Multiple Tahoe athletes, including a 15-year-old, are named to US Olympic ski and snowboard team

    2026 MILAN-CORTINA OLYMPICS. AND THIS MORNING, THE U.S. SKI AND SNOWBOARD TEAM HAS ANNOUNCED THE 97 ATHLETES WHO ARE GOING TO BE REPRESENTING THE U.S. IN NORTHERN ITALY. AND WE HAVE QUITE A FEW FROM THE NORTHERN CALIFORNIA AREA. SO WE’LL START WITH THE ALPINE TEAM. THREE WOMEN AND ONE MAN, ALL FROM TEAM PALISADES TAHOE. KEELY CASHMAN FROM STRAWBERRY HEADING BACK TO THE OLYMPICS. SO IS AJ HURT FROM CARNELIAN BAY AND NINA O’BRIEN OF SAN FRANCISCO. THOSE THREE GREW UP TOGETHER AND NOW WILL GO TO AN OLYMPICS TOGETHER. AS FOR THE MEN, BRYCE BENNETT OF TAHOE CITY ALSO GOING TO ANOTHER OLYMPICS IN CROSS COUNTRY. JAKE SCHOONMAKER OF TAHOE CITY IS AN OLYMPIAN ONCE AGAIN IN FREESKI WOMEN’S HALFPIPE. KATE GRAY OF CROWLEY LAKE AND THE MAMMOTH MOUNTAIN SKI TEAM, NOW AN OLYMPIAN AND SO IS 15 YEAR OLD ABBIE WINTERBERGER FROM TRUCKEE. SHE’S ON THE OLYMPIC FREESTYLE FREERIDE, AND SHE’S ALREADY BEING CALLED ONE OF THE RISING STARS OF THE SPORT. NOW LET’S GO TO THE SNOWBOARDERS. THREE MAMMOTH RIDERS ARE ON THE WOMEN’S HALFPIPE TEAM. THEY’RE LED BY TWO TIME OLYMPIC GOLD MEDALIST CHLOE KIM OF TORRANCE, ALONG WITH B KIM OUT OF PALOS VERDES AND OUR OWN MADDIE MASTRO OUT OF WRIGHTWOOD IN SLOPESTYLE. WELCOME TO THE OLYMPICS, HANNAH NORMAN OUT OF TRUCKEE JUST TURNED 2020, I THINK. AND IN SNOWBOARD CROSS. HANNAH PERCY OUT OF TRUCKEE AS WELL. SHE’S 18 AND THERE ARE A COUPLE OF VERY NOTABLE NAMES THAT ARE NOT ON THE LIST THIS MORNING. JAMIE ANDERSON, THE TWO TIME GOLD MEDALIST AT A SOUTH LAKE TAHOE TRYING TO COME BACK OUT OF AFTER A THREE YEAR BREAK, TRYING TO QUALIFY FOR A FOURTH OLYMPICS. HER NAME NOT ON THE LIST THIS MORNING. AND THEN ALSO DAVID WISE OF RENO, WHO HAD TWO GOLDS AND A SILVER AND WAS GOING FOR HIS FOURTH GAMES IN FREE SKI SLOPESTYLE. SO 97 ATHLETES, ROUGHLY 220 ATHLETES WILL GO. SO IT’S A HUGE NUMBER OF ATHLETES FROM SKI AND SNOWBOARD, AND FOUR OUT OF TEN TEAM USA ATHLETES TOTAL ARE SKIERS AND SNOWBOARDERS. SO THIS IS A HUGE LIST MAKING IT OFFICIAL TODAY. SO NOW IMAGINE BEING THE PARENTS OF THESE ATHLETES, THOSE WHO HAVE NOT TRIED TO BOOK ANYTHING YET, TRYING TO SCRAMBLE TO GO SEE THEIR KIDS. A LOT OF EMOTIONS FOR SURE. A LOT OF EMOTIONS. AND IF YOU GO BACK FOUR YEARS AGO, WE WERE STILL IN PANDEMIC RESTRICTIONS AND THOSE FAMILIES DIDN’T GET TO GO TO BEIJING. SO IT’S FOR THE FOR THESE ATHLETES, VERY JOYOUS, BUT ALSO

    Multiple Tahoe athletes, including a 15-year-old rising star, are named to US ski and snowboard team for the Milan Cortina Olympics

    Updated: 8:25 AM PST Jan 22, 2026

    Editorial Standards ⓘ

    Northern California will be well-represented on the slopes for the Milan Cortina Olympics with multiple athletes from the Tahoe area competing. They include returning Olympians and rising stars. U.S. Ski & Snowboard on Thursday announced the full roster of 97 athletes who will represent Team USA in Northern Italy. Returning Olympians from the 2022 Beijing Olympics include Alpine skiers Keely Cashman from Strawberry, AJ Hurt from Carnelian Bay, and Bryce Bennett from Tahoe City. All are from the club Palisades Tahoe, along with Nina O’Brien, who is from San Francisco. The team also includes returning Olympic cross-county skier James “JC” Schoonmaker, who is from Lake Tahoe. For the women’s halfpipe in freeski, Kate Gray of Crowley Lake, representing the Mammoth Mountain Ski Team, and 15-year-old Abby Winterberger of Truckee, a member of the Olympic Valley Freestyle Free-Ride, have been named Olympians. Ahead of her Olympic debut, Winterberger is already being called one of the rising stars of the sport.Other first-time Olympians from Truckee are snowboarder Hahna Norman competing in slopestyle and Hanna Percy in snowboard cross. The women’s halfpipe snowboarding team includes three Mammoth riders: two-time gold medalist Chloe Kim from Torrance, Bea Kim from Palos Verdes, and Maddie Mastro from Wrightwood.Meanwhile, a decorated Olympian who grew up in Lake Tahoe, Jamie Anderson, did not make the cut. The snowboarder won two gold medals and a silver in previous Olympics and was aiming for a comeback after taking three years off from her sport to have two children.Another Olympian, David Wise of Reno, who has two gold medals and a silver, also failed to make the team. Outside of California competitors, this year’s Olympic team will feature skier Lindsay Vonn returning to racing at age 41 after a partial knee replacement, and Mikaela Shiffrin competing in her fourth Olympics. Shiffrin failed to win a medal in Beijing.Overall, the team has 50 women and 47 men who range in age from 15-year-old Winterberger to 44-year-old snowboardcross rider Nick Baumgartner. See the full list of athletes named to Team USA below, along with their hometowns, clubs, colleges, birthdates and past Olympic teams.2026 U.S. Olympic Alpine Team(Hometown; Club; College; Birthdate; Past Olympic Teams)Women*Mary Bocock (Salt Lake City, UT; Rowmark Ski Academy; Dartmouth College; 10/7/2003)Keely Cashman (Strawberry, CA; Team Palisades Tahoe; Montana State University; 4/4/1999; 2022)Katie Hensien (Redmond, WA; Rowmark Ski Academy; University of Denver; 12/1/1999; 2022)AJ Hurt (Carnelian Bay, CA; Team Palisades Tahoe; Dartmouth College; 12/5/2000; 2022)Breezy Johnson (Victor, ID; Rowmark Ski Academy; 1/19/1996; 2018, 2022)Paula Moltzan (Prior Lake, MN; Buck Hill Ski Team/Ski & Snowboard Club Vail; University of Vermont; 4/7/1994; 2022)Nina O’Brien (Denver, CO; Burke Mountain Academy/Team Palisades Tahoe; Dartmouth College; 11/29/1997; 2022)Mikaela Shiffrin (Edwards, CO; Burke Mountain Academy/Ski & Snowboard Club Vail; 3/13/1995; 2014, 2018, 2022)Lindsey Vonn (Vail, CO; Ski & Snowboard Club Vail/Buck Hill Ski Team; 10/18/1984; 2002, 2006, 2010, 2018)Jacqueline Wiles (Aurora, OR; White Pass Ski Club; 7/13/1992; 2014, 2018, 2022)Isabella Wright (Salt Lake City, UT; Snowbird Sports Education Foundation; 2/10/1997; 2022)MenBryce Bennett (Tahoe City, CA; Team Palisades Tahoe; 7/14/1992; 2018, 2022)Ryan Cochran-Siegle (Starksboro, VT; Cochran’s/Mount Mansfield Ski & Snowboard Club; 3/27/1992; 2018, 2022) *Sam Morse (Carrabassett Valley, ME; Carrabassett Valley Academy; Dartmouth College; 5/27/1996) *Kyle Negomir (Littleton, CO; Ski & Snowboard Club Vail; Dartmouth College; 10/3/1998)River Radamus (Edwards, CO; Ski & Snowboard Club Vail; 2/12/1998; 2022)*Ryder Sarchett (Sun Valley, ID; Sun Valley Ski Education Foundation; University of Colorado Boulder; 7/28/2003)2026 U.S. Olympic Cross Country Team(Hometown; Club; College; Birthdate; Past Olympic Teams)WomenRosie Brennan (Anchorage, AK; Alaska Pacific University; Dartmouth College; 12/2/1988; 2018, 2022)Jessie Diggins (Afton, MN; Stratton Mountain School; 8/26/1991; 2014, 2018, 2022)*Lauren Jortberg (Boulder, CO; Mansfield Nordic Pro Team; Centre National d’entraînement Pierre-Harvey Team; Dartmouth College; 4/12/1997)*Kendall Kramer (Fairbanks, AK; Alaska Pacific University; University of Alaska Fairbanks; 6/26/2002)Julia Kern (Waltham, MA; Stratton Mountain School; Dartmouth College; 9/12/1997; 2022)Novie McCabe (Winthrop, WA; Alaska Pacific University; University of Utah; 12/15/2001; 2022)*Samantha “Sammy” Smith (Boise, ID; Sun Valley Ski Education Foundation; Stanford University; 9/22/2005)Hailey Swirbul (El Jebel, CO; Alaska Pacific University; University of Alaska Anchorage; 7/10/1998; 2022)Men*John Steel Hagenbuch (Ketchum, ID; Sun Valley Ski Education Foundation; Dartmouth College; 10/1/2001)*Zak Ketterson (Minneapolis, MN; Team Birkie; Northern Michigan University; 4/2/1997)*Zanden McMullen (Anchorage, AK; Alaska Pacific University; 5/31/2001)Ben Ogden (Burlington, VT; Stratton Mountain School; University of Vermont; 2/13/2000; 2022)James “JC” Schoonmaker (Lake Tahoe, CA; Alaska Pacific University; University of Alaska Anchorage; 8/12/2000; 2022)Gus Schumacher (Anchorage, AK; Alaska Pacific University; University of Alaska Anchorage; 7/25/2000; 2022)*Hunter Wonders (Anchorage, AK; Alaska Pacific University; 8/7/1998)*Jack Young (Jay, VT; Green Racing Project; Colby College; 12/17/2002)2026 U.S. Olympic Freeski Team(Hometown; Club; College; Birthdate; Past Olympic Teams)HalfpipeWomen*Kate Gray (Crowley Lake, CA; Mammoth Mountain Freeski Team; 6/29/2006)*Svea Irving (Winter Park, CO; Winter Park Freeski Team; University of Colorado Boulder; 2/27/2002)*Riley Jacobs (Oak Creek, CO; Steamboat Springs Winter Sports Club; University of Colorado Denver; 8/14/2003) *Abby Winterberger (Truckee, CA; Olympic Valley Freestyle Freeride Team; 5/1/2010)MenAlex Ferreira (Aspen, CO; Aspen Valley Ski & Snowboard Club; 8/14/1994; 2018, 2022)Nick Goepper (Lawrenceburg, IN; Cork Tech Freeski; 3/14/1994; 2014, 2018, 2022)*Hunter Hess (Bend, OR; Mt. Bachelor Sports Education Foundation; Salt Lake Community College; 10/1/1998)Birk Irving (Winter Park, CO; Winter Park Freeski Team; 7/26/1999; 2022)Slopestyle & Big AirWomenMarin Hamill (Park City, UT; Park City Ski & Snowboard; University of Utah; 4/5/2001; 2022)*Rell Harwood (Park City, UT; Park City Ski & Snowboard; University of Utah; 6/1/2001)*Grace Henderson (Madbury, NH; Waterville Valley BBTS; University of Utah; 4/28/2001)*Avery Krumme (Squamish, British Columbia; BC Freestyle Team; 8/23/2008)MenMac Forehand (Winhall, VT; Stratton Mountain School; 8/4/2001; 2022)Alex Hall (Salt Lake City, UT; Park City Ski & Snowboard; University of Utah; 9/21/1998; 2018, 2022)*Troy Podmilsak (Park City, UT; Park City Ski & Snowboard; 8/23/2004)*Konnor Ralph (Helena, MT; Wy’East Mountain Academy; Salt Lake Community College; 1/27/2003)2026 U.S. Olympic Freestyle Ski Team, Moguls & Aerials(Hometown; Club; College; Birthdate; Past Olympic Teams)AerialsWomen*Kyra Dossa (Cleveland, OH; Park City Ski & Snowboard; University of Utah; 1/24/2004)Kaila Kuhn (Boyne City, MI; University of Utah; 4/8/2003; 2022)*Tasia Tanner (Park City, UT; Park City Ski & Snowboard/Fly Freestyle; University of Utah; 7/26/2002)Winter Vinecki (Gaylord, MI; Park City Ski & Snowboard; University of Utah/St. Mary’s University School of Law; 12/18/1998; 2022)Men*Connor Curran (Cincinnati, OH; Park City Ski & Snowboard/Elite Aerial Development Program; Utah Valley University; 9/23/2004)*Quinn Dehlinger (Cincinnati, OH; Elite Aerial Development Program; Salt Lake Community College; 6/8/2002)*Derek Krueger (Cleveland, OH; Elite Aerial Development Program; University of Utah; 6/2/2003)Chris Lillis (Rochester, NY; Bristol Mountain Freestyle Team; University of Utah; 10/4/1998; 2018, 2022)MogulsWomenOlivia Giaccio (Redding, CT; Steamboat Springs Winter Sports Club; Columbia University; 8/15/2000; 2022)Tess Johnson (Vail, CO; Ski & Snowboard Club Vail; Harvard Extension School; 6/19/2000; 2018)Jaelin Kauf (Alta, WY; Grand Targhee Ski & Snowboard Foundation/Steamboat Springs Winter Sports Club; University of Utah; 9/26/1996; Olympic Teams: 2018, 2022)*Elizabeth “Liz” Lemley (Vail, CO; Ski & Snowboard Club Vail; Oberlin College; 1/22/2006) Men*Charlie Mickel (Durango, CO; Wasatch Freestyle/Durango Winter Sports Club; University of Utah; 7/6/2004)Nick Page (Park City, UT; Wasatch Freestyle; 8/1/2002; 2022)Dylan Walczyk (Rochester, NY; Ski & Snowboard Club Vail; 6/25/1993; 2022)*Landon Wendler (Steamboat Springs, CO; Steamboat Springs Winter Sports Club; Los Angeles Film School; 10/12/2000)2026 U.S. Olympic Nordic Combined Team(Hometown; Club; College; Birthdate; Past Olympic Teams)MenBen Loomis (Eau Claire, WI; Flying Eagles Ski Club; DeVry University; 6/9/1998; 2018, 2022)*Niklas Malacinski (Steamboat Springs, CO; Steamboat Springs Winter Sports Club; Colorado Mountain College; 12/7/2003)2026 U.S. Olympic Ski Jumping Team(Hometown; Club; College; Birthdate; Past Olympic Teams)Women*Annika Belshaw (Steamboat Springs, CO; Steamboat Springs Winter Sports Club; University of Utah; 6/13/2002)*Josie Johnson (Park City, UT; Park City Ski & Snowboard; 10/3/2006)*Paige Jones (Park City, UT; Park City Ski & Snowboard; University of North Dakota; 8/30/2002)MenKevin Bickner (Wauconda, IL; Norge Ski Club; 9/23/1996; 2018, 2022)*Jason Colby (Steamboat Springs, CO; Steamboat Springs Winter Sports Club; 3/30/2006)*Tate Frantz (Lake Placid, NY; New York Ski Education Foundation; 3/28/2005)2026 U.S. Olympic Snowboard Team(Hometown; Club; College; Birthdate; Past Olympic Teams)HalfpipeWomen*Bea Kim (Palos Verdes, CA; Mammoth Snowboard Team; 1/25/2007)Chloe Kim (Torrance, CA; Mammoth Snowboard Team; 4/23/2000; 2018, 2022)Maddie Mastro (Wrightwood, CA; Mammoth Snowboard Team; 2/22/2000; 2018, 2022)*Maddy Schaffrick (Steamboat Springs, CO; Steamboat Springs Winter Sports Club; 4/29/1994)Men*Alessandro Barbieri (Portland, OR; Tahoe Select Snowboard Team; 10/5/2008)*Chase Blackwell (Longmont, CO; Summer Action Sports Club; 2/27/1999)Chase Josey (Hailey, ID; Sun Valley Ski Education Foundation; 3/31/1995; 2018, 2022)Jake Pates (Eagle, CO; Aspen Valley Ski & Snowboard Club; 7/30/1998; 2018)Parallel Giant SlalomWomen*Iris Pflum (Minneapolis, MN; G Team; 7/13/2003)MenCody Winters (Steamboat Springs, CO; Steamboat Springs Winter Sports Club; 4/20/2000; 2022)SlopestyleWomen*Lily Dhawornvej (Frisco, CO; Ski & Snowboard Club Vail; 8/14/2009)*Hahna Norman (Truckee, CA; Ski & Snowboard Club Vail; 10/26/2004)*Jess Perlmutter (Millburn, NJ; Killington Mountain School; 12/2/2009)Men*Jake Canter (Evergreen, CO; Aspen Valley Ski & Snowboard Club; 7/19/2003)Sean FitzSimons (Hood River, OR; Mt. Bachelor Sports Education Foundation; 9/22/2000; 2022)Red Gerard (Silverthorne, CO; 6/29/2000; 2018, 2022)*Ollie Martin (Wolcott, CO; Ski & Snowboard Club Vail; 6/15/2008)Snowboard CrossWomenStacy Gaskill (Golden, CO; International Snowboard Training Center; University of Colorado Boulder; 5/21/2000; 2022)*Hanna Percy (Truckee, CA; Gould Academy Competition Program; 7/7/2007)*Brianna Schnorrbusch (Monroe Township, NJ; Gould Academy; University of Utah; 1/30/2006)Faye Thelen (Salt Lake City, UT; Ski & Snowboard Club Vail; Westminster College; 3/24/1992; 2010, 2014, 2018, 2022)MenNick Baumgartner (Iron River, MI; 12/17/1981; 2010, 2014, 2018, 2022)*Nathan Pare (Bethel, ME; Gould Academy; 2/1/2005)Jake Vedder (Pinckney, MI; International Snowboard Training Center; 4/16/1998; 2022)Cody Winters (Steamboat Springs, CO; Steamboat Springs Winter Sports Club; 4/20/2000; 2022)*Denotes first-time Olympian See more coverage of top California stories here | Download our app | Subscribe to our morning newsletter | Find us on YouTube here and subscribe to our channel

    Northern California will be well-represented on the slopes for the Milan Cortina Olympics with multiple athletes from the Tahoe area competing. They include returning Olympians and rising stars.

    U.S. Ski & Snowboard on Thursday announced the full roster of 97 athletes who will represent Team USA in Northern Italy.

    Returning Olympians from the 2022 Beijing Olympics include Alpine skiers Keely Cashman from Strawberry, AJ Hurt from Carnelian Bay, and Bryce Bennett from Tahoe City. All are from the club Palisades Tahoe, along with Nina O’Brien, who is from San Francisco.

    The team also includes returning Olympic cross-county skier James “JC” Schoonmaker, who is from Lake Tahoe.

    For the women’s halfpipe in freeski, Kate Gray of Crowley Lake, representing the Mammoth Mountain Ski Team, and 15-year-old Abby Winterberger of Truckee, a member of the Olympic Valley Freestyle Free-Ride, have been named Olympians. Ahead of her Olympic debut, Winterberger is already being called one of the rising stars of the sport.

    Other first-time Olympians from Truckee are snowboarder Hahna Norman competing in slopestyle and Hanna Percy in snowboard cross.

    The women’s halfpipe snowboarding team includes three Mammoth riders: two-time gold medalist Chloe Kim from Torrance, Bea Kim from Palos Verdes, and Maddie Mastro from Wrightwood.

    Meanwhile, a decorated Olympian who grew up in Lake Tahoe, Jamie Anderson, did not make the cut. The snowboarder won two gold medals and a silver in previous Olympics and was aiming for a comeback after taking three years off from her sport to have two children.

    Another Olympian, David Wise of Reno, who has two gold medals and a silver, also failed to make the team.

    Outside of California competitors, this year’s Olympic team will feature skier Lindsay Vonn returning to racing at age 41 after a partial knee replacement, and Mikaela Shiffrin competing in her fourth Olympics. Shiffrin failed to win a medal in Beijing.

    Overall, the team has 50 women and 47 men who range in age from 15-year-old Winterberger to 44-year-old snowboardcross rider Nick Baumgartner.

    See the full list of athletes named to Team USA below, along with their hometowns, clubs, colleges, birthdates and past Olympic teams.

    2026 U.S. Olympic Alpine Team
    (Hometown; Club; College; Birthdate; Past Olympic Teams)

    Women

    • *Mary Bocock (Salt Lake City, UT; Rowmark Ski Academy; Dartmouth College; 10/7/2003)
    • Keely Cashman (Strawberry, CA; Team Palisades Tahoe; Montana State University; 4/4/1999; 2022)
    • Katie Hensien (Redmond, WA; Rowmark Ski Academy; University of Denver; 12/1/1999; 2022)
    • AJ Hurt (Carnelian Bay, CA; Team Palisades Tahoe; Dartmouth College; 12/5/2000; 2022)
    • Breezy Johnson (Victor, ID; Rowmark Ski Academy; 1/19/1996; 2018, 2022)
    • Paula Moltzan (Prior Lake, MN; Buck Hill Ski Team/Ski & Snowboard Club Vail; University of Vermont; 4/7/1994; 2022)
    • Nina O’Brien (Denver, CO; Burke Mountain Academy/Team Palisades Tahoe; Dartmouth College; 11/29/1997; 2022)
    • Mikaela Shiffrin (Edwards, CO; Burke Mountain Academy/Ski & Snowboard Club Vail; 3/13/1995; 2014, 2018, 2022)
    • Lindsey Vonn (Vail, CO; Ski & Snowboard Club Vail/Buck Hill Ski Team; 10/18/1984; 2002, 2006, 2010, 2018)
    • Jacqueline Wiles (Aurora, OR; White Pass Ski Club; 7/13/1992; 2014, 2018, 2022)
    • Isabella Wright (Salt Lake City, UT; Snowbird Sports Education Foundation; 2/10/1997; 2022)

    Men

    • Bryce Bennett (Tahoe City, CA; Team Palisades Tahoe; 7/14/1992; 2018, 2022)
    • Ryan Cochran-Siegle (Starksboro, VT; Cochran’s/Mount Mansfield Ski & Snowboard Club; 3/27/1992; 2018, 2022)
    • *Sam Morse (Carrabassett Valley, ME; Carrabassett Valley Academy; Dartmouth College; 5/27/1996)
    • *Kyle Negomir (Littleton, CO; Ski & Snowboard Club Vail; Dartmouth College; 10/3/1998)
    • River Radamus (Edwards, CO; Ski & Snowboard Club Vail; 2/12/1998; 2022)
    • *Ryder Sarchett (Sun Valley, ID; Sun Valley Ski Education Foundation; University of Colorado Boulder; 7/28/2003)

    2026 U.S. Olympic Cross Country Team
    (Hometown; Club; College; Birthdate; Past Olympic Teams)
    Women

    • Rosie Brennan (Anchorage, AK; Alaska Pacific University; Dartmouth College; 12/2/1988; 2018, 2022)
    • Jessie Diggins (Afton, MN; Stratton Mountain School; 8/26/1991; 2014, 2018, 2022)
    • *Lauren Jortberg (Boulder, CO; Mansfield Nordic Pro Team; Centre National d’entraînement Pierre-Harvey Team; Dartmouth College; 4/12/1997)
    • *Kendall Kramer (Fairbanks, AK; Alaska Pacific University; University of Alaska Fairbanks; 6/26/2002)
    • Julia Kern (Waltham, MA; Stratton Mountain School; Dartmouth College; 9/12/1997; 2022)
    • Novie McCabe (Winthrop, WA; Alaska Pacific University; University of Utah; 12/15/2001; 2022)
    • *Samantha “Sammy” Smith (Boise, ID; Sun Valley Ski Education Foundation; Stanford University; 9/22/2005)
    • Hailey Swirbul (El Jebel, CO; Alaska Pacific University; University of Alaska Anchorage; 7/10/1998; 2022)

    Men

    • *John Steel Hagenbuch (Ketchum, ID; Sun Valley Ski Education Foundation; Dartmouth College; 10/1/2001)
    • *Zak Ketterson (Minneapolis, MN; Team Birkie; Northern Michigan University; 4/2/1997)
    • *Zanden McMullen (Anchorage, AK; Alaska Pacific University; 5/31/2001)
    • Ben Ogden (Burlington, VT; Stratton Mountain School; University of Vermont; 2/13/2000; 2022)
    • James “JC” Schoonmaker (Lake Tahoe, CA; Alaska Pacific University; University of Alaska Anchorage; 8/12/2000; 2022)
    • Gus Schumacher (Anchorage, AK; Alaska Pacific University; University of Alaska Anchorage; 7/25/2000; 2022)
    • *Hunter Wonders (Anchorage, AK; Alaska Pacific University; 8/7/1998)
    • *Jack Young (Jay, VT; Green Racing Project; Colby College; 12/17/2002)

    2026 U.S. Olympic Freeski Team
    (Hometown; Club; College; Birthdate; Past Olympic Teams)

    Halfpipe
    Women

    • *Kate Gray (Crowley Lake, CA; Mammoth Mountain Freeski Team; 6/29/2006)
    • *Svea Irving (Winter Park, CO; Winter Park Freeski Team; University of Colorado Boulder; 2/27/2002)
    • *Riley Jacobs (Oak Creek, CO; Steamboat Springs Winter Sports Club; University of Colorado Denver; 8/14/2003)
    • *Abby Winterberger (Truckee, CA; Olympic Valley Freestyle Freeride Team; 5/1/2010)

    Men

    • Alex Ferreira (Aspen, CO; Aspen Valley Ski & Snowboard Club; 8/14/1994; 2018, 2022)
    • Nick Goepper (Lawrenceburg, IN; Cork Tech Freeski; 3/14/1994; 2014, 2018, 2022)
    • *Hunter Hess (Bend, OR; Mt. Bachelor Sports Education Foundation; Salt Lake Community College; 10/1/1998)
    • Birk Irving (Winter Park, CO; Winter Park Freeski Team; 7/26/1999; 2022)

    Slopestyle & Big Air
    Women

    • Marin Hamill (Park City, UT; Park City Ski & Snowboard; University of Utah; 4/5/2001; 2022)
    • *Rell Harwood (Park City, UT; Park City Ski & Snowboard; University of Utah; 6/1/2001)
    • *Grace Henderson (Madbury, NH; Waterville Valley BBTS; University of Utah; 4/28/2001)
    • *Avery Krumme (Squamish, British Columbia; BC Freestyle Team; 8/23/2008)

    Men

    • Mac Forehand (Winhall, VT; Stratton Mountain School; 8/4/2001; 2022)
    • Alex Hall (Salt Lake City, UT; Park City Ski & Snowboard; University of Utah; 9/21/1998; 2018, 2022)
    • *Troy Podmilsak (Park City, UT; Park City Ski & Snowboard; 8/23/2004)
    • *Konnor Ralph (Helena, MT; Wy’East Mountain Academy; Salt Lake Community College; 1/27/2003)

    2026 U.S. Olympic Freestyle Ski Team, Moguls & Aerials

    (Hometown; Club; College; Birthdate; Past Olympic Teams)

    Aerials
    Women

    • *Kyra Dossa (Cleveland, OH; Park City Ski & Snowboard; University of Utah; 1/24/2004)
    • Kaila Kuhn (Boyne City, MI; University of Utah; 4/8/2003; 2022)
    • *Tasia Tanner (Park City, UT; Park City Ski & Snowboard/Fly Freestyle; University of Utah; 7/26/2002)
    • Winter Vinecki (Gaylord, MI; Park City Ski & Snowboard; University of Utah/St. Mary’s University School of Law; 12/18/1998; 2022)

    Men

    • *Connor Curran (Cincinnati, OH; Park City Ski & Snowboard/Elite Aerial Development Program; Utah Valley University; 9/23/2004)
    • *Quinn Dehlinger (Cincinnati, OH; Elite Aerial Development Program; Salt Lake Community College; 6/8/2002)
    • *Derek Krueger (Cleveland, OH; Elite Aerial Development Program; University of Utah; 6/2/2003)
    • Chris Lillis (Rochester, NY; Bristol Mountain Freestyle Team; University of Utah; 10/4/1998; 2018, 2022)

    Moguls
    Women

    • Olivia Giaccio (Redding, CT; Steamboat Springs Winter Sports Club; Columbia University; 8/15/2000; 2022)
    • Tess Johnson (Vail, CO; Ski & Snowboard Club Vail; Harvard Extension School; 6/19/2000; 2018)
    • Jaelin Kauf (Alta, WY; Grand Targhee Ski & Snowboard Foundation/Steamboat Springs Winter Sports Club; University of Utah; 9/26/1996; Olympic Teams: 2018, 2022)
    • *Elizabeth “Liz” Lemley (Vail, CO; Ski & Snowboard Club Vail; Oberlin College; 1/22/2006)

    Men

    • *Charlie Mickel (Durango, CO; Wasatch Freestyle/Durango Winter Sports Club; University of Utah; 7/6/2004)
    • Nick Page (Park City, UT; Wasatch Freestyle; 8/1/2002; 2022)
    • Dylan Walczyk (Rochester, NY; Ski & Snowboard Club Vail; 6/25/1993; 2022)
    • *Landon Wendler (Steamboat Springs, CO; Steamboat Springs Winter Sports Club; Los Angeles Film School; 10/12/2000)

    2026 U.S. Olympic Nordic Combined Team
    (Hometown; Club; College; Birthdate; Past Olympic Teams)

    Men

    • Ben Loomis (Eau Claire, WI; Flying Eagles Ski Club; DeVry University; 6/9/1998; 2018, 2022)
    • *Niklas Malacinski (Steamboat Springs, CO; Steamboat Springs Winter Sports Club; Colorado Mountain College; 12/7/2003)

    2026 U.S. Olympic Ski Jumping Team

    (Hometown; Club; College; Birthdate; Past Olympic Teams)

    Women

    • *Annika Belshaw (Steamboat Springs, CO; Steamboat Springs Winter Sports Club; University of Utah; 6/13/2002)
    • *Josie Johnson (Park City, UT; Park City Ski & Snowboard; 10/3/2006)
    • *Paige Jones (Park City, UT; Park City Ski & Snowboard; University of North Dakota; 8/30/2002)

    Men

    • Kevin Bickner (Wauconda, IL; Norge Ski Club; 9/23/1996; 2018, 2022)
    • *Jason Colby (Steamboat Springs, CO; Steamboat Springs Winter Sports Club; 3/30/2006)
    • *Tate Frantz (Lake Placid, NY; New York Ski Education Foundation; 3/28/2005)

    2026 U.S. Olympic Snowboard Team
    (Hometown; Club; College; Birthdate; Past Olympic Teams)

    Halfpipe
    Women

    • *Bea Kim (Palos Verdes, CA; Mammoth Snowboard Team; 1/25/2007)
    • Chloe Kim (Torrance, CA; Mammoth Snowboard Team; 4/23/2000; 2018, 2022)
    • Maddie Mastro (Wrightwood, CA; Mammoth Snowboard Team; 2/22/2000; 2018, 2022)
    • *Maddy Schaffrick (Steamboat Springs, CO; Steamboat Springs Winter Sports Club; 4/29/1994)

    Men

    • *Alessandro Barbieri (Portland, OR; Tahoe Select Snowboard Team; 10/5/2008)
    • *Chase Blackwell (Longmont, CO; Summer Action Sports Club; 2/27/1999)
    • Chase Josey (Hailey, ID; Sun Valley Ski Education Foundation; 3/31/1995; 2018, 2022)
    • Jake Pates (Eagle, CO; Aspen Valley Ski & Snowboard Club; 7/30/1998; 2018)

    Parallel Giant Slalom
    Women

    • *Iris Pflum (Minneapolis, MN; G Team; 7/13/2003)

    Men

    • Cody Winters (Steamboat Springs, CO; Steamboat Springs Winter Sports Club; 4/20/2000; 2022)

    Slopestyle
    Women

    • *Lily Dhawornvej (Frisco, CO; Ski & Snowboard Club Vail; 8/14/2009)
    • *Hahna Norman (Truckee, CA; Ski & Snowboard Club Vail; 10/26/2004)
    • *Jess Perlmutter (Millburn, NJ; Killington Mountain School; 12/2/2009)

    Men

    • *Jake Canter (Evergreen, CO; Aspen Valley Ski & Snowboard Club; 7/19/2003)
    • Sean FitzSimons (Hood River, OR; Mt. Bachelor Sports Education Foundation; 9/22/2000; 2022)
    • Red Gerard (Silverthorne, CO; 6/29/2000; 2018, 2022)
    • *Ollie Martin (Wolcott, CO; Ski & Snowboard Club Vail; 6/15/2008)

    Snowboard Cross
    Women

    • Stacy Gaskill (Golden, CO; International Snowboard Training Center; University of Colorado Boulder; 5/21/2000; 2022)
    • *Hanna Percy (Truckee, CA; Gould Academy Competition Program; 7/7/2007)
    • *Brianna Schnorrbusch (Monroe Township, NJ; Gould Academy; University of Utah; 1/30/2006)
    • Faye Thelen (Salt Lake City, UT; Ski & Snowboard Club Vail; Westminster College; 3/24/1992; 2010, 2014, 2018, 2022)

    Men

    • Nick Baumgartner (Iron River, MI; 12/17/1981; 2010, 2014, 2018, 2022)
    • *Nathan Pare (Bethel, ME; Gould Academy; 2/1/2005)
    • Jake Vedder (Pinckney, MI; International Snowboard Training Center; 4/16/1998; 2022)
    • Cody Winters (Steamboat Springs, CO; Steamboat Springs Winter Sports Club; 4/20/2000; 2022)

    *Denotes first-time Olympian

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  • Avalanche finally solve Lukas Dostal late, but Ducks prevail in shootout

    The Avalanche avoided being shutout for the first time this season, but Anaheim Ducks goalie Lukas Dostal prevented them from claiming two points.

    Anaheim defeated Colorado, 2-1, in a shootout Wednesday night at Ball Arena. The Avs are now 3-1-2 on this season-long, seven-game homestand that wraps up Friday night against the Philadelphia Flyers.

    “End of the day, their goalie had a big night and we had a tough time some of our execution early, so it wasn’t sustained for 60 minutes,” Avs coach Jared Bednar said. “Then (we) got a lot of good looks and just couldn’t put them in the back of the net.”

    Dostal finished with 40 saves, including 19 in the third period and overtime. Scott Wedgewood made 16, including a pair of breakaway stops in extra time.

    It took 34 shots and more than 56 minutes for the Avalanche to solve Dostal. Artturi Lehkonen buried a one-timer on a pass from Brock Nelson with 3:39 remaining in the third period to make this a 1-1 hockey game.

    “I thought we were pretty all over it,” Nelson said. “Didn’t really give them a whole lot. They maybe had one or two little flurries, but I thought we had a fair share of good looks. Just couldn’t get one earlier to kind of crack it and get momentum.”

    While the Avs had a 20-10 lead in shots on goal through two periods, the scoring chances were pretty even. Colorado did pour on the pressure in the third, racking up an 18-3 advantage in scoring chances, per Natural Stat Trick.

    Anaheim nearly stole a late winner in regulation, but after Wedgewood stopped the initial shot, both he and Victor Olofsson dove into the blue paint to keep the puck from crossing the goal line.

    The Avalanche tried out a new-look top line in this contest. Olofsson joined Nathan MacKinnon and Martin Necas on the first unit. Olofsson also joined the top power-play unit.

    Colorado’s typical top line, MacKinnon between Necas and Lehkonen, has logged the second-most minutes together at 5-on-5 of any forward trio in the NHL this season (460.8 minutes), trailing only Winnipeg’s top unit of Mark Scheifele between Kyle Connor and Gabe Vilardi (491.9 minutes), per MoneyPuck.

    “I liked (Olofsson) a lot,” Bednar said. “Victor has been playing a real good, solid 200-foot game. He started to chip in a little bit here offensively and I wanted to make a switch.

    “Sometimes it’s just good to change the mix of that top six. I want them all to be able to play with each other at different times.”

    Anaheim scored the lone goal of the opening 40 minutes on a counterattack early in the second period. Sam Malinski tried to poke the puck ahead along the left wall in the offensive zone, but Ducks captain Radko Gudas intercepted it and sent the visitors in the other direction.

    Corey Masisak

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  • Olympic games a long time coming for Team USA curler Korey Dropkin

    I was born and grew up and raised at the Curling Club. That club, Broomstones in Wayland, Massachusetts, *** place with *** down to earth approach to the sport. It was so nice growing up there. Some curling clubs have more of *** commercial business feel, and then there’s curling clubs that have *** real homey feel, and Brimstones is top of the list in terms of. That home club feel, um, and that’s like one of the things, probably the thing I appreciate most about Brimstones. Dropkin learned precision, teamwork, and strategy there. Three core principles he mastered, resulting in early success, *** bronze medal at the Junior Olympics. You know, it was that moment where I was like, wow, this is incredible. Like look at this medal. Now I want some more of this. Unfortunately, international success eluded him until now. With his mixed doubles partner Corey Thiessen, he’s headed to his first Olympic Games, something he visualized would happen for *** very long time. It’s just knowing that if I keep my head down, if I keep working hard, and if I keep dreaming big, that one day I can get there, and it might not be smooth because it hasn’t been smooth sailing, but if I don’t, if I don’t let up, if I don’t. You know, if I keep going, I can get there. And now he’s there. Dropkin and Thiessen playfully use the nickname Corey and Corey to reference their team. On the road to Milan Cortina, I’m Fletcher Mackle.

    Olympic games a long time coming for Team USA curler Korey Dropkin

    Updated: 6:00 AM EST Jan 22, 2026

    Editorial Standards ⓘ

    The first curling club was founded in Scotland in 1716, but curling didn’t become an Olympic medal sport until the 1998 games in Nagano.As a child, Korey Dropkin watched Olympic curling on TV, and it was love at first sight. “I was born and raised growing up at the curling club,” Dropkin said.That club, Broomstones in Wayland, Massachusetts, a place with a down-to-earth approach to the sport.”It was so nice growing up there, you know, some clubs have a commercial, business-like feel, and then there’s curling clubs that have a real homey feel, and Broomstones is top of the list in having that home club feel,” Dropkin said.Dropkin learned precision, teamwork and strategy there, three core principles he mastered, resulting in early success, a bronze medal at the Junior Olympics.”It was that moment when I was like, this is incredible, like look at this medal, now I want some more of this,” Dropkin said.Unfortunately, international success eluded him until now. Teaming with mixed doubles partner Cory Thiesse, he’s headed to his first Olympic Games, something he visualized for a long time.”Just knowing that if I keep my head down and I keep working hard and dreaming big, I could get there, and it might not be smooth because it hasn’t been smooth sailing, but if I don’t let up, if I keep going i can get there,” Dropkin said. And now he’s there. Dropkin and Thiesse use the playful nickname “Cory and Korey” for their team.

    The first curling club was founded in Scotland in 1716, but curling didn’t become an Olympic medal sport until the 1998 games in Nagano.

    As a child, Korey Dropkin watched Olympic curling on TV, and it was love at first sight.

    “I was born and raised growing up at the curling club,” Dropkin said.

    That club, Broomstones in Wayland, Massachusetts, a place with a down-to-earth approach to the sport.

    “It was so nice growing up there, you know, some clubs have a commercial, business-like feel, and then there’s curling clubs that have a real homey feel, and Broomstones is top of the list in having that home club feel,” Dropkin said.

    Dropkin learned precision, teamwork and strategy there, three core principles he mastered, resulting in early success, a bronze medal at the Junior Olympics.

    “It was that moment when I was like, this is incredible, like look at this medal, now I want some more of this,” Dropkin said.

    Unfortunately, international success eluded him until now. Teaming with mixed doubles partner Cory Thiesse, he’s headed to his first Olympic Games, something he visualized for a long time.

    “Just knowing that if I keep my head down and I keep working hard and dreaming big, I could get there, and it might not be smooth because it hasn’t been smooth sailing, but if I don’t let up, if I keep going i can get there,” Dropkin said.

    And now he’s there. Dropkin and Thiesse use the playful nickname “Cory and Korey” for their team.

    Source link

  • Olympic games a long time coming for Team USA curler Korey Dropkin

    I was born and grew up and raised at the Curling Club. That club, Broomstones in Wayland, Massachusetts, *** place with *** down to earth approach to the sport. It was so nice growing up there. Some curling clubs have more of *** commercial business feel, and then there’s curling clubs that have *** real homey feel, and Brimstones is top of the list in terms of. That home club feel, um, and that’s like one of the things, probably the thing I appreciate most about Brimstones. Dropkin learned precision, teamwork, and strategy there. Three core principles he mastered, resulting in early success, *** bronze medal at the Junior Olympics. You know, it was that moment where I was like, wow, this is incredible. Like look at this medal. Now I want some more of this. Unfortunately, international success eluded him until now. With his mixed doubles partner Corey Thiessen, he’s headed to his first Olympic Games, something he visualized would happen for *** very long time. It’s just knowing that if I keep my head down, if I keep working hard, and if I keep dreaming big, that one day I can get there, and it might not be smooth because it hasn’t been smooth sailing, but if I don’t, if I don’t let up, if I don’t. You know, if I keep going, I can get there. And now he’s there. Dropkin and Thiessen playfully use the nickname Corey and Corey to reference their team. On the road to Milan Cortina, I’m Fletcher Mackle.

    Olympic games a long time coming for Team USA curler Korey Dropkin

    Updated: 3:00 AM PST Jan 22, 2026

    Editorial Standards ⓘ

    The first curling club was founded in Scotland in 1716, but curling didn’t become an Olympic medal sport until the 1998 games in Nagano.As a child, Korey Dropkin watched Olympic curling on TV, and it was love at first sight. “I was born and raised growing up at the curling club,” Dropkin said.That club, Broomstones in Wayland, Massachusetts, a place with a down-to-earth approach to the sport.”It was so nice growing up there, you know, some clubs have a commercial, business-like feel, and then there’s curling clubs that have a real homey feel, and Broomstones is top of the list in having that home club feel,” Dropkin said.Dropkin learned precision, teamwork and strategy there, three core principles he mastered, resulting in early success, a bronze medal at the Junior Olympics.”It was that moment when I was like, this is incredible, like look at this medal, now I want some more of this,” Dropkin said.Unfortunately, international success eluded him until now. Teaming with mixed doubles partner Cory Thiesse, he’s headed to his first Olympic Games, something he visualized for a long time.”Just knowing that if I keep my head down and I keep working hard and dreaming big, I could get there, and it might not be smooth because it hasn’t been smooth sailing, but if I don’t let up, if I keep going i can get there,” Dropkin said. And now he’s there. Dropkin and Thiesse use the playful nickname “Cory and Korey” for their team.

    The first curling club was founded in Scotland in 1716, but curling didn’t become an Olympic medal sport until the 1998 games in Nagano.

    As a child, Korey Dropkin watched Olympic curling on TV, and it was love at first sight.

    “I was born and raised growing up at the curling club,” Dropkin said.

    That club, Broomstones in Wayland, Massachusetts, a place with a down-to-earth approach to the sport.

    “It was so nice growing up there, you know, some clubs have a commercial, business-like feel, and then there’s curling clubs that have a real homey feel, and Broomstones is top of the list in having that home club feel,” Dropkin said.

    Dropkin learned precision, teamwork and strategy there, three core principles he mastered, resulting in early success, a bronze medal at the Junior Olympics.

    “It was that moment when I was like, this is incredible, like look at this medal, now I want some more of this,” Dropkin said.

    Unfortunately, international success eluded him until now. Teaming with mixed doubles partner Cory Thiesse, he’s headed to his first Olympic Games, something he visualized for a long time.

    “Just knowing that if I keep my head down and I keep working hard and dreaming big, I could get there, and it might not be smooth because it hasn’t been smooth sailing, but if I don’t let up, if I keep going i can get there,” Dropkin said.

    And now he’s there. Dropkin and Thiesse use the playful nickname “Cory and Korey” for their team.

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  • Olympics-Passion and Debts: the Mixed Legacy of the 2006 Turin Games

    TURIN, Italy, Jan 19 (Reuters) – When Turin hosted the Winter Olympics 20 years ago, it transformed the city’s image from grey industrial home of ‌the ​troubled Fiat car-making empire to smart Mecca for food, culture and sport.

    But the ‌event – remembered in the north-western Italian metropolis for its “Passion lives here” slogan – left a legacy of large debts and unused infrastructure that offers a cautionary tale for Milano Cortina 2026. 

    “The ​2006 Games were very positive in terms of Turin’s morale and international visibility, but less so in terms of long-term infrastructure legacy,” said renowned Turinese architect Carlo Ratti.

    Marco Boglione, founder and chairman of Turin-based Basicnet , which controls apparel and sportswear brands including Kappa and Superga, recalls the 2006 Olympics ‍as a collective civic effort that reawakened his city. 

    “There was an incredible ​participation from everyone, public and private bodies, Olympic committee, everyone. That was our secret … Turin was the first Olympic city to do something I’d call popular, collective, and it went very well,” he said.

    Milan, Italy’s financial capital, and the Alpine resort of Cortina d’Ampezzo will co-host the ​2026 Winter Games from February 6-22.

    Turin’s Olympic candidacy was dreamed up in the 1990s as part of efforts to reinvent the city and reduce its dependency on Fiat, the once-mighty Italian auto giant that is now a part of the global Stellantis group. 

    The late Fiat boss Giovanni Agnelli, a towering business leader of postwar Italy and the grandfather of Stellantis Chairman John Elkann, was one of the main backers of the Olympics idea.    

    The Games gave Turin new or upgraded sporting venues, its first metro line, pedestrianised squares, better motorway connections to Alpine resorts that hosted part of the Olympics – and a new sense of local self-confidence.

    “It put us on the map,” said Marco Gay, head of local business lobby Unione Industriali. “It gave us the impetus to change, not to be a one-company ‌city but a city that knows how to excel and does well in many sectors.”

    Boglione, who enlivened the 2006 Olympics with night-time side events, said Turin was the first Winter Games host that embraced the Summer Olympics format, with “a ​big ‌city, a big event, lots of fun and entertainment ‍for people in town”.

    EUROVISION, TENNIS AND ABANDONED FACILITIES

    Tourism has flourished, ⁠thanks to top-notch museums – including the world’s oldest Egyptian museum – and a spruced-up city centre that bears witness to Turin’s past as home to the royal Savoy family and as unified Italy’s first capital.

    In recent years Turin, home city of soccer clubs Juventus and Torino, hosted the Eurovision Song Contest and the ATP tennis finals, with both events staged at the Inalpi Arena, a venue originally built for the Olympics. 

    Another Olympic site, the Oval, is a candidate to host speed skating races for the French Alps 2030 Winter Olympics. 

    But other facilities have been abandoned, with the most egregious examples in mountain valleys near Turin: the bobsleigh track in Cesana, closed since 2011, and ski jumps in Pragelato, also closed and abandoned.

    In Turin itself, one of the Olympic Villages has had a troubled history, with parts vandalised and occupied by migrants and drug addicts, until the area was cleared and turned into student and social housing.

    “It took a month just to clear out all the garbage and debris. They did a great job, after the previous administration had literally forgotten about us. Now the neighbourhood is liveable,” said Gilberto, a pensioner who lives in ​the area.  

    Another part of the village, the so-called “arcate” (arches) – near Fiat’s historic Lingotto factory, now a shopping mall and museum venue – is abandoned, with draft plans to turn them into a biotech park and a sports centre.

    “The area … as it is now is a real waste, a real shame, it would be perfect for cultural initiatives,” said Aurora, a 21-year-old nursery student. “I was born and raised here, it’s my neighbourhood, but there is nothing here”. 

    Francesco Ramella, a transport policy expert at the University of Turin and a fellow at the free-market Istituto Bruno Leoni think tank, has estimated that the Turin Olympics cost 3.3 billion euros ($3.8 billion).

    They brought long-term benefits worth 2.5 billion euros, factoring in additional tourism and upgraded infrastructure, meaning a net economic loss of 1.3 billion euros, the professor said.

    Milano Cortina is currently budgeted at 5.2 billion euros, including 3.5 billion euros of public money for infrastructure, and 1.7 billion euros in private funds to organise and hold the Games.

    According to a study by Italian lender Banca Ifis, they should generate a 5.3-billion-euro “Olympic windfall”, including 1.2 billion euros in extra tourism revenue and 3 billion euros from upgraded infrastructure.

    Turin had offered to host the Games again in 2026, saying it would have been a low-cost alternative, re-using the 2006 infrastructure. Once that was rejected, the city turned down the chance to co-host along with Milan and Cortina.

    “We did Turin a favour by not participating in the three-way Olympics,” Antonino Iaria, urban planning councillor in 2019-2021 for the anti-establishment Five Star Movement (M5S), told Reuters. 

    He said the city would have seen little benefit from hosting “just ​two or three competitions”.

    TURIN’S OLYMPIC DEBT HANGOVER

    Turin is today one of Italy’s most indebted cities, largely due to the cost of investments made from the 1990s to prepare the city for the Games, even if the financial situation is easing. 

    Debt fell to 3.3 billion euros at the end of 2025 from 3.5 billion euros in 2024. Nevertheless, debt-servicing costs, standing at nearly 240 million euros, took up nearly a fifth of current cash expenditure. 

    Architecture Professor Guido Montanari, deputy mayor for the M5S in 2016-2019, said the post-Olympics financial hangover forced the city into harsh budget austerity, with social and welfare spending particularly affected. 

    Having seen what happened in Turin, he said he was “against any kind of Olympics, I ​think they are really something that should be avoided”.

    Needless to say, Milano Cortina backers are confident theirs will be a different story. 

    “Every euro (for the Olympics) is a euro well spent,” Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini, who hails from Milan, said in November.

    (Reporting by Alvise Armellini and Giulio Piovaccari, editing by Keith Weir)

    Copyright 2026 Thomson Reuters.

    Photos You Should See – January 2026

    Reuters

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  • Trump announces U.S. delegation to the 2026 Olympic Winter Games in Milan

    President Trump announced on Saturday that a presidential delegation, headed by Vice President JD Vance and his wife, will travel to Italy for the opening ceremony of the 2026 Olympic Winter Games. 

    The Milan-Cortina Olympics are scheduled to open on Feb. 6 and will take place in Milan and the surrounding areas. 

    Joining the vice president and his wife will be Secretary of State Marco Rubio; U.S. Ambassador to Italy, Tilman Feritta; 2018 Olympic medalist Monique Lamoureux-Morando; 2002 and 2006 Olympic gold medalist, Short Track Speed Skating and 2010 Olympic gold medalist Evan Lysacek, a statement released by the White House said. 

    The competition is scheduled to run through February 22 and competition sports include bobsledding, skiing and figure skating. 

    Maxim Naumov, a Massachusetts figure skater whose parents were killed almost one year ago in a plane crash near Washington, D.C, is headed to the 2026 Olympics as part of Team USA.

    Figure skater Alysa Liu will also be headed to the games. Liu shocked the skating world last year when she took home the World Championship just a few years after announcing her retirement from the sport at the age of 16. She told 60Minutes: “I view competitions more as, like, a stage for performing.”

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  • LA 2028 Olympics Ticket Registration Opens Today: What to Know

    2028 LA Olympic Registration begins today, giving people the chance to enter a ticket draw to watch the games live

    One of the largest and most talked about sports events in history, occurring every four years, once felt like a ways away, but has finally come into action. With two years to go, LA has started a ticketing raffle for the Golden Ticket today, Wednesday, January 14. This opens availability to citizens all over the world! This allows for a more accessible and diverse audience.

    The registration window is as follows: opening January 14 and closing March 18. Those selected will be sent an email from March 31 to April 7 with a time slot to purchase. They are set to be priced under $100 for all events. It is completely free to register, although you are not guaranteed tickets. The opportunity to buy is still an exciting and incredible opportunity. The Olympics have only occurred two other times in Los Angeles, previously in 1932 and 1984, but the third times a charm!

    Events will be held over 17 days in locations such as Dodger Stadium, the Universal Studios Lot and the Galen Center. What a unique experience to be able to combine the most talked about sports games in the world with the Hollywood culture that exists in LA.

    The Paralympic events will be held August 15-27. Featuring incredible athletes and events from para swimming, wheelchair basketball and Para Track and Field. These events will take place in venues such as Exposition Park and Venice Beach.

    There will be an advantage to LA locals with presale eligibility access for choosing events.

    If you register with a billing zip code in regions like Southern California or the Oklahoma City region, this gives locals an early access window. Therefore, they will be able to choose specific events before they get released or sell out to the general public on April 6. This does not guarantee you a ticket, but it makes you eligible for that draw pool.

    Here are some tips if you choose to register:

    Firstly, you can only register one time.

    Scroll to continue reading

    Use the right zip code.

    Be sure to check your email, even in spam or junk folders, it may just be the Golden Ticket.

    Remember not to worry if you did not get selected. Thousands of people apply and there is always the 2032 Olympics. Good luck!

    You can find more information on their website: https://la28.org/en/ticketing.html.

    Samantha Edelman

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  • Born on the slopes, moguls skier Jaelin Kauf favorite to win gold medal at Milan Cortina Olympics

    Jalen Gough was born on the slopes. The oldest child of professional mogul skiers, her mother Patty is *** 3-time X Games champion. One of the first Americans to qualify for the games in Italy, Jalen is one of the favorites to win gold. But before we talk about her skiing, let’s talk about her dancing. Last year, Cough and her US mogul’s teammates went viral after performing the Dallas Cowboys cheerleader’s famed thunderstruck routine. Impressed by her moves in ski boots, America’s sweethearts invited her to dance with them pregame last fall. I was very nervous. I was like shaking, meeting the cowgirls and dancing with them. Um, I mean, I feel like the nervous competing is, you know, you get the jitters, but like. I know that run. I know how to ski it. I’m nervous to like dance with professional dancers is like I don’t know how to dance. This is like not so out of my comfort zone, but um it was really cool to be able to do that. Something else that’s. Last March, she won the Mogul’s World Championship, conquering the course in Lavino, where she’ll be skiing during the Olympics. Like I feel really great with where my skiing is at right now. Prepared, focused, and ready to earn her first Olympic gold. And to indulge *** bit on some of the food at the games. I’m going to be eating *** lot of pizza and pasta the whole time. I could never get sick of either of those foods. So Kough’s longtime boyfriend Bradley Wilson is also *** mogul skier, *** three-time Olympian. He retired from the sport after the 2022 games in Beijing. On the road to Milan Cortina, I’m Fletcher Mackle.

    Born on the slopes, moguls skier Jaelin Kauf favorite to win gold medal at Milan Cortina Olympics

    Updated: 3:00 AM PST Jan 14, 2026

    Editorial Standards ⓘ

    Originally called “hot dogging,” freestyle skiing became an Olympic sport at the Calgary games in 1988, and for one American skier, freestyle is a family affair.Jaelin Kauf was born on the slopes, the oldest child of professional mogul skiers. Her mother, Patti, is a three-time X-Games champion.One of the first American athletes to qualify for the games in Italy, Jaelin is one of the favorites to win gold, but before we tell you about her skiing, let’s talk about her dancing.Last year, Kauf and her U.S. moguls teammates went viral after performing the Dallas Cowboys cheerleaders’ famed thunderstruck routine.Impressed by her moves in ski boots, America’s Sweethearts invited her to dance with them pregame last fall. “I was very nervous. I was, like, shaking, meeting the cowgirls, dancing with them. I mean, I feel like skiing, I get nervous competing, you know, you get the jitters, but, like, I know that? I know how to see it. I’m nervous to, like, dance with professional dancers, I don’t know how to dance, so it’s like, so out of my comfort zone, but it was really cool to be able to do that,” Kauf said. Something else that’s cool, last March she won the moguls World Championship, conquering the course in Livigno where she’ll be skiing during the Olympics. “I feel really great with where my seeing is out right now,” Kauf said.Prepared, focused, and ready to earn her first Olympic gold, and to indulge a bit in some of the food at the games.”I’m going to be eating a lot of pizza and pasta the whole time. I could never get sick from either of those foods,” Kauf said. Kauf’s longtime boyfriend, Bradley Wilson, was also a moguls skier. A three-time Olympian, he retired from the sport after the 2022 Games in Beijing.

    Originally called “hot dogging,” freestyle skiing became an Olympic sport at the Calgary games in 1988, and for one American skier, freestyle is a family affair.

    Jaelin Kauf was born on the slopes, the oldest child of professional mogul skiers. Her mother, Patti, is a three-time X-Games champion.

    One of the first American athletes to qualify for the games in Italy, Jaelin is one of the favorites to win gold, but before we tell you about her skiing, let’s talk about her dancing.

    Last year, Kauf and her U.S. moguls teammates went viral after performing the Dallas Cowboys cheerleaders’ famed thunderstruck routine.

    Impressed by her moves in ski boots, America’s Sweethearts invited her to dance with them pregame last fall.

    “I was very nervous. I was, like, shaking, meeting the cowgirls, dancing with them. I mean, I feel like skiing, I get nervous competing, you know, you get the jitters, but, like, I know that? I know how to see it. I’m nervous to, like, dance with professional dancers, I don’t know how to dance, so it’s like, so out of my comfort zone, but it was really cool to be able to do that,” Kauf said.

    Something else that’s cool, last March she won the moguls World Championship, conquering the course in Livigno where she’ll be skiing during the Olympics.

    “I feel really great with where my seeing is out right now,” Kauf said.

    Prepared, focused, and ready to earn her first Olympic gold, and to indulge a bit in some of the food at the games.

    “I’m going to be eating a lot of pizza and pasta the whole time. I could never get sick from either of those foods,” Kauf said.

    Kauf’s longtime boyfriend, Bradley Wilson, was also a moguls skier. A three-time Olympian, he retired from the sport after the 2022 Games in Beijing.

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  • Massachusetts figure skater Maxim Naumov makes U.S. Olympic team 1 year after parents killed in plane crash

    Maxim Naumov, a Massachusetts figure skater whose parents were killed almost one year ago in a plane crash near Washington, D.C, is headed to the 2026 Olympics as part of Team USA.

    Naumov made the team along with world champions Ilia Malinin and the ice dance duo of Madison Chock and Evan Bates, who willl anchor one of the strongest U.S. Figure Skating teams in history when they head to Italy for the Milan Cortina Olympics in less than a month.

    Malinin, fresh off his fourth straight national title, will be the prohibitive favorite to follow in the footsteps of Nathan Chen by delivering another men’s gold medal for the American squad when he steps on the ice at the Milano Ice Skating Arena.

    Chock and Bates, who won their record-setting seventh U.S. title Saturday night, also will be among the Olympic favorites, as will world champion Alysa Liu and women’s teammate Amber Glenn, fresh off her third consecutive national title.

    U.S. Figure Skating announced its full squad of 16 athletes for the Winter Games during a made-for-TV celebration Sunday.

    “I’m just so excited for the Olympic spirit, the Olympic environment,” Malinin said. “Hopefully go for that Olympic gold.”

    Maxim Naumov’s triumph after tragedy  

    Malinin will be joined on the men’s side by Andrew Torgashev, the all-or-nothing 24-year-old from Coral Springs, Florida, and Maxim Naumov, the 24-year-old from Simsbury, Connecticut, who fulfilled the hopes of his late parents by making the Olympic team.

    Vadim Naumov and Evgenia Shishkova, who became successful skating coaches after winning a world championship in pairs skating in 1994 and competing in two Olympics for their native Russia, were returning from a talent camp in Kansas when their American Airlines flight collided with a military helicopter and crashed into the icy Potomac River in January 2025. 

    One of the last conversations they had with their son was about what it would take for him to follow in their footsteps by becoming an Olympian.

    “We absolutely did it,” Naumov said. “Every day, year after year, we talked about the Olympics. It means so much in our family. It’s what I’ve been thinking about since I was 5 years old, before I even know what to think. I can’t put this into words.”

    Maxim Naumov celebrates after skating in an exhibition after the 2026 United States Figure Skating Championships on Jan. 11, 2026 in St Louis, Missouri. 

    Matthew Stockman / Getty Images


    U.S. Figure Skating Olympic team

    Chock and Bates helped the Americans win team gold at the Beijing Games four years ago, but they finished fourth — one spot out of the medals — in the ice dance competition. They have hardly finished anywhere but first in the years since, winning three consecutive world championships and the gold medal at three straight Grand Prix Finals.

    U.S. silver medalists Emilea Zingas and Vadym Koklesnik also made the dance team, as did the Canadian-born Christina Carreira and Anthony Ponomarenko, who became eligible for the Olympics in November when her American citizenship came through.

    Liu was picked for her second Olympic team after briefly retiring following the Beijing Games. She had been burned out by years of practice and competing, but stepping away seemed to rejuvenate the 20-year-old from Clovis, California, and she returned to win the first world title by an American since Kimmie Meissner stood atop the podium two decades ago.

    Now, the avant-garde Liu will be trying to help the U.S. win its first women’s medal since Sasha Cohen in Turin in 2006, and perhaps the first gold medal since Sarah Hughes triumphed four years earlier at the Salt Lake City Games.

    Her biggest competition, besides a powerful Japanese contingent, could come from her own teammates: Glenn, a first-time Olympian, has been nearly unbeatable the past two years, while 18-year-old Isabeau Levito is a former world silver medalist.

    “This was my goal and my dream and it just feels so special that it came true,” said Levito, whose mother is originally from Milan.

    The two pairs spots went to Ellie Kam and Danny O’Shea, the U.S. silver medalists, and the team of Emily Chan and Spencer Howe.

    The top American pairs team, two-time reigning U.S. champions Alisa Efimova and Misha Mitrofanov, were hoping that the Finnish-born Efimova would get her citizenship approved in time to compete in Italy. But despite efforts by the Skating Club of Boston, where they train, and the help of their U.S. senators, she did not receive her passport by the selection deadline.

    “The importance and magnitude of selecting an Olympic team is one of the most important milestones in an athlete’s life,” U.S. Figure Skating CEO Matt Farrell said, “and it has such an impact, and while there are sometimes rules, there is also a human element to this that we really have to take into account as we make decisions and what’s best going forward from a selection process.

    “Sometimes these aren’t easy,” Farrell said, “and this is not the fun part.”

    The fun is just beginning, though, for the 16 athletes picked for the powerful American team.

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  • How Olympians think about success and failure, and what we can learn from them

    If winning gold medals were the only standard, almost all Olympic athletes would be considered failures.Video above: Amber Glenn opens up about mental health, coming out and her figure skating journeyA clinical psychologist with the United States Olympic and Paralympic Committee, Emily Clark’s job when the Winter Games open in Italy on Feb. 6 is to help athletes interpret what it means to be successful. Should gold medals be the only measure?Part of a 15-member staff providing psychological services, Clark nurtures athletes accustomed to triumph but who invariably risk failure.The staff deals with matters termed “mental health and mental performance.” They include topics such as motivation, anger management, anxiety, eating disorders, family issues, trauma, depression, sleep, handling pressure, travel and so forth.Clark’s area includes stress management, the importance of sleep and getting high achievers to perform at their best and avoid the temptation of looking only at results.”A lot of athletes these days are aware of the mental health component of, not just sport, but of life,” Clark said in an interview with The Associated Press. “This is an area where athletes can develop skills that can extend a career, or make it more enjoyable.” The United States is expected to take about 235 athletes to the Winter Olympics, and about 70 more to the Paralympics. But here’s the truth.”Most of the athletes who come through Team USA will not win a gold medal,” Clark said. “That’s the reality of elite sport.”Here are the numbers. The United States won gold medals in nine events in the last Winter Games in Beijing in 2022. According to Dr. Bill Mallon, an esteemed shoulder surgeon and Olympic historian, 70.8% of Winter and Summer Olympic athletes go to only one Olympics.Few are famous and successful like swimmer Michael Phelps, or skiers Mikaela Shiffrin or Lindsey Vonn.Clark said she often delivers the following message to Olympians and Paralympians: This is a once-in-a-lifetime chance. Focus on the process. Savor the moment.”Your job is not to win a gold medal, your job is to do the thing, and the gold medal is what happens when you do your job,” she said.”Some of this might be realigning what success looks like,” she added. “And some of this is developing resilience in the face of setbacks and failure.”Clark preaches staying on task under pressure and improving through defeat.”We get stronger by pushing ourselves to a limit where we’re at our maximum capacity — and then recovering,” she said. “When we get stressed, it impacts our attention. Staying on task or staying in line with what’s important is what we try to train for.” Kendall Gretsch has won four gold medals at the Summer and Winter Paralympics. She credits some of her success to the USOPC’s mental health services, and she described the value this way.”We have a sports psychologist who travels with us for most our season,” she said. “Just being able to touch base with them … and getting that reminder of why are you here? What is that experience you’re looking for?”American figure skater Alysa Liu is the 2025 world champion and was sixth in the 2022 Olympics. She’s a big believer in sports psychology and should be among the favorites in Italy.”I work with a sport psychologist,” she said without giving a name. “She’s incredible — like the MVP.”Of course, MVP stands — not for Most Valuable Person or Most Valuable Player — for “Most Valuable Psychologist.””I mean, she’s very helpful,” Liu added. American downhill skier Vonn will race in Italy in her sixth Olympics. At 41, she’s coming off nearly six years in retirement and will be racing on a knee made of titanium.Two-time Olympic champion Michaela Dorfmeister has suggested in jest that Vonn “should see a psychologist” for attempting such a thing in a very dangerous sport where downhill skiers reach speeds of 80 mph.Vonn shrugged off the comments and joked a few months ago that she didn’t grow up using a sport psychologist. She said her counseling came from taping messages on the tips of her skis that read: “stay forward or hands up.””I just did it myself,” she said. “I do a lot of self-talk in the starting gate.” “Sleep is an area where athletes tend to struggle for a number of reasons,” Clark said, listing issues such as travel schedules, late practices, injuries and life-related stress.”We have a lot of athletes who are parents, and lot of sleep is going to be disrupted in the early stages of parenting,” she said. “We approach sleep as a real part of performance. But it can be something that gets de-prioritized when days get busy.”Clark suggests the following for her athletes — and the rest of us: no caffeine after 3 p.m., mitigate stress before bedtime, schedule sleep at about the same time daily, sleep in a dark room and get 7-9 hours.Dani Aravich is a two-time Paralympian — she’s been in both the Summer and Winter Games — and will be skiing in the upcoming Paralympics. She said in a recent interview that she avails herself of many psychological services provided by the USOPC.”I’ve started tracking my sleep,” she said, naming Clark as a counselor. “Especially being an athlete who has multiple jobs, sleep is going to be your No. 1 savior at all times. It’s the thing that, you know, helps mental clarity.” Clark agreed.”Sleep is the cornerstone of healthy performance,” she added.

    If winning gold medals were the only standard, almost all Olympic athletes would be considered failures.

    Video above: Amber Glenn opens up about mental health, coming out and her figure skating journey

    A clinical psychologist with the United States Olympic and Paralympic Committee, Emily Clark’s job when the Winter Games open in Italy on Feb. 6 is to help athletes interpret what it means to be successful.

    Should gold medals be the only measure?

    Part of a 15-member staff providing psychological services, Clark nurtures athletes accustomed to triumph but who invariably risk failure.

    The staff deals with matters termed “mental health and mental performance.” They include topics such as motivation, anger management, anxiety, eating disorders, family issues, trauma, depression, sleep, handling pressure, travel and so forth.

    Clark’s area includes stress management, the importance of sleep and getting high achievers to perform at their best and avoid the temptation of looking only at results.

    “A lot of athletes these days are aware of the mental health component of, not just sport, but of life,” Clark said in an interview with The Associated Press. “This is an area where athletes can develop skills that can extend a career, or make it more enjoyable.”

    The United States is expected to take about 235 athletes to the Winter Olympics, and about 70 more to the Paralympics. But here’s the truth.

    “Most of the athletes who come through Team USA will not win a gold medal,” Clark said. “That’s the reality of elite sport.”

    Here are the numbers. The United States won gold medals in nine events in the last Winter Games in Beijing in 2022. According to Dr. Bill Mallon, an esteemed shoulder surgeon and Olympic historian, 70.8% of Winter and Summer Olympic athletes go to only one Olympics.

    Few are famous and successful like swimmer Michael Phelps, or skiers Mikaela Shiffrin or Lindsey Vonn.

    Clark said she often delivers the following message to Olympians and Paralympians: This is a once-in-a-lifetime chance. Focus on the process. Savor the moment.

    “Your job is not to win a gold medal, your job is to do the thing, and the gold medal is what happens when you do your job,” she said.

    “Some of this might be realigning what success looks like,” she added. “And some of this is developing resilience in the face of setbacks and failure.”

    Clark preaches staying on task under pressure and improving through defeat.

    “We get stronger by pushing ourselves to a limit where we’re at our maximum capacity — and then recovering,” she said. “When we get stressed, it impacts our attention. Staying on task or staying in line with what’s important is what we try to train for.”

    Kendall Gretsch has won four gold medals at the Summer and Winter Paralympics. She credits some of her success to the USOPC’s mental health services, and she described the value this way.

    “We have a sports psychologist who travels with us for most our season,” she said. “Just being able to touch base with them … and getting that reminder of why are you here? What is that experience you’re looking for?”

    American figure skater Alysa Liu is the 2025 world champion and was sixth in the 2022 Olympics. She’s a big believer in sports psychology and should be among the favorites in Italy.

    “I work with a sport psychologist,” she said without giving a name. “She’s incredible — like the MVP.”

    Of course, MVP stands — not for Most Valuable Person or Most Valuable Player — for “Most Valuable Psychologist.”

    “I mean, she’s very helpful,” Liu added.

    American downhill skier Vonn will race in Italy in her sixth Olympics. At 41, she’s coming off nearly six years in retirement and will be racing on a knee made of titanium.

    Two-time Olympic champion Michaela Dorfmeister has suggested in jest that Vonn “should see a psychologist” for attempting such a thing in a very dangerous sport where downhill skiers reach speeds of 80 mph.

    Vonn shrugged off the comments and joked a few months ago that she didn’t grow up using a sport psychologist. She said her counseling came from taping messages on the tips of her skis that read: “stay forward or hands up.”

    “I just did it myself,” she said. “I do a lot of self-talk in the starting gate.”

    “Sleep is an area where athletes tend to struggle for a number of reasons,” Clark said, listing issues such as travel schedules, late practices, injuries and life-related stress.

    “We have a lot of athletes who are parents, and lot of sleep is going to be disrupted in the early stages of parenting,” she said. “We approach sleep as a real part of performance. But it can be something that gets de-prioritized when days get busy.”

    Clark suggests the following for her athletes — and the rest of us: no caffeine after 3 p.m., mitigate stress before bedtime, schedule sleep at about the same time daily, sleep in a dark room and get 7-9 hours.

    Dani Aravich is a two-time Paralympian — she’s been in both the Summer and Winter Games — and will be skiing in the upcoming Paralympics. She said in a recent interview that she avails herself of many psychological services provided by the USOPC.

    “I’ve started tracking my sleep,” she said, naming Clark as a counselor. “Especially being an athlete who has multiple jobs, sleep is going to be your No. 1 savior at all times. It’s the thing that, you know, helps mental clarity.”

    Clark agreed.

    “Sleep is the cornerstone of healthy performance,” she added.

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  • How Olympians think about success and failure and what we can learn from them

    If winning gold medals were the only standard, almost all Olympic athletes would be considered failures.

    A clinical psychologist with the United States Olympic and Paralympic Committee, Emily Clark’s job when the Winter Games open in Italy on Feb. 6 is to help athletes interpret what it means to be successful.

    Should gold medals be the only measure?

    Part of a 15-member staff providing psychological services, Clark nurtures athletes accustomed to triumph but who invariably risk failure.

    The staff deals with matters termed “mental health and mental performance.” They include topics such as motivation, anger management, anxiety, eating disorders, family issues, trauma, depression, sleep, handling pressure, travel and so forth.

    Clark’s area includes stress management, the importance of sleep and getting high achievers to perform at their best and avoid the temptation of looking only at results.

    “A lot of athletes these days are aware of the mental health component of, not just sport, but of life,” Clark said in an interview with The Associated Press. “This is an area where athletes can develop skills that can extend a career, or make it more enjoyable.”

    Redefining success

    The United States is expected to take about 235 athletes to the Winter Olympics, and about 70 more to the Paralympics. But here’s the truth.

    “Most of the athletes who come through Team USA will not win a gold medal,” Clark said. “That’s the reality of elite sport.”

    Here are the numbers. The United States won gold medals in nine events in the last Winter Games in Beijing in 2022. According to Dr. Bill Mallon, an esteemed shoulder surgeon and Olympic historian, 70.8% of Winter and Summer Olympic athletes go to only one Olympics.

    Few are famous and successful like swimmer Michael Phelps, or skiers Mikaela Shiffrin or Lindsey Vonn.

    Clark said she often delivers the following message to Olympians and Paralympians: This is a once-in-a-lifetime chance. Focus on the process. Savor the moment.

    “You’re job is not to win a gold medal, your job it to do the thing and the gold medal is what happens when you do your job,” she said.

    “Some of this might be realigning what success looks like,” she added. “And some of this is developing resilience in the face of setbacks and failure.”

    Clark preaches staying on task under pressure and improving through defeat.

    “We get stronger by pushing ourselves to a limit where we’re at our maximum capacity — and then recovering,” she said. “When we get stressed, it impacts our attention. Staying on task or staying in line with what’s important is what we try to train for.”

    A few testimonials

    Kendall Gretsch has won four gold medals at the Summer and Winter Paralympics. She credits some of her success to the USOPC’s mental health services, and she described the value this way.

    “We have a sports psychologist who travels with us for most our season,” she said. “Just being able to touch base with them … and getting that reminder of why are you here. What is that experience you’re looking for?”

    American figure skater Alysa Liu is the 2025 world champion and was sixth in the 2022 Olympics. She’s a big believer in sports psychology and should be among the favorites in Italy.

    “I work with a sport psychologist,” she said without giving a name. “She’s incredible — like the MVP.”

    Of course, MVP stands — not for Most Valuable Person or Most Valuable Player — for “Most Valuable Psychologist.”

    “I mean, she’s very helpful,” Liu added.

    Vonn: “I just did it myself”

    American downhill skier Vonn will race in Italy in her sixth Olympics. At 41, she’s coming off nearly six years in retirement and will be racing on a knee made of titanium.

    Two-time Olympic champion Michaela Dorfmeister has suggested in jest that Vonn “should see a psychologist” for attempting such a thing in a very dangerous sport where downhill skiers reach speeds of 80 mph (130 kph).

    Vonn shrugged off the comments and joked a few months ago that she didn’t grow up using a sport psychologist. She said her counseling came from taping messages on the tips of her skis that read: “stay forward or hands up.”

    “I just did it myself,” she said. “I do a lot of self-talk in the starting gate.”

    The Olympic gold medalist and Minnesota native reveals why she ditched winter weather for life in Miami.

    On sleep

    “Sleep is an area where athletes tend to struggle for a number of reasons,” Clark said, listing issues such as travel schedules, late practices, injuries and life-related stress.

    “We have a lot of athletes who are parents, and lot of sleep is going to be disrupted in the early stages of parenting,” she said. “We approach sleep as a real part of performance. But it can be something that gets de-prioritized when days get busy.”

    Clark suggests the following for her athletes — and the rest of us: no caffeine after 3 p.m., mitigate stress before bedtime, schedule sleep at about the same time daily, sleep in a dark room and get 7-9 hours.

    Dani Aravich is a two-time Paralympian — she’s been in both the Summer and Winter Games — will be skiing in the upcoming Paralympics. She said in a recent interview that she avails herself of many psychological services provided by the USOPC.

    “I’ve started tracking my sleep,” she said, naming Clark as a counselor. “Especially being an athlete who has multiple jobs, sleep is going to be your No. 1 savior at all times. It’s the thing that — you know — helps mental clarity.”

    Ditto Clark.

    “Sleep is the cornerstone of healthy performance,” she added.

    My New Favorite Olympian will introduce you to Team USA’s most inspiring athletes and the causes they champion. New episodes hosted by Olympic figure skating medalist Adam Rippon and NBC’s Chase Cain will drop January 15. And don’t miss My New Favorite Paralympian beginning March 5!

    Stephen Wade | The Associated Press

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  • Guard at Winter Olympics construction site dies in sub-freezing temperatures

    A guard at a 2026 Winter Olympic venue construction site in the mountain resort of Cortina died during a frigid overnight shift, authorities confirmed on Saturday.

    Italy’s infrastructure minister, Matteo Salvini, called for a full investigation into the circumstances of the 55-year-old worker’s death.

    Italian media reported that the death occurred on Jan. 8, while the worker was on duty at a construction site outside of Cortina’s ice arena. Temperatures the night of the death plunged to 10.4 degrees Fahrenheit.

    The death occurred less than a month before the opening of the Feb. 6-22 Milan Cortina Winter Olympics.

    Cortina city officials said they were “deeply saddened and troubled by the death.”

    Cortina will host curling, sliding and women’s Alpine skiing.

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  • 2-Time Olympic Champion Chloe Kim Injures Shoulder, ‘Trying To Stay Optimistic’ For Italy – KXL

    United States’ Chloe Kim celebrates during the venue ceremony for the women’s halfpipe at the 2022 Winter Olympics, Feb. 10, 2022, in Zhangjiakou, China. (AP Photo/Francisco Seco, File)

    (AP) – American snowboarding star Chloe Kim said Thursday that she took “the silliest fall” in training and dislocated her shoulder, threatening her chance to win a third straight gold medal at nex month’s Winter Olympics in Italy.

    Kim posted video of the accident in Laax, Switzerland, earlier this week week as she practiced for a key Olympic tune-up there next weekend. She tumbled to the snow and went skittering across the halfpipe.

    She did not say which shoulder she hurt and that she was ““trying to stay optimistic” about competing at the Olympics but “I don’t have much clarity now.” The 25-year-old said she has an MRI scheduled for Friday that will reveal the extent of the damage.

    “The positive thing is, I have range, I’m not in that much pain, I just don’t want it to keep popping out, which has happened,” she said. “I’m just trying to stay really optimistic. I feel really good about where my snowboarding is at right now, so I know the minute I get cleared and I’m good to go, I should be fine.”

    Kim’s absence would deprive the Winter Games of one of its biggest names and one of its best storylines.

    She is trying to become the first action-sports athelte to win three straight gold medals. Shaun White took three halfpipe golds, but they were spread out over five games.

    Kim was the breakout star of the 2018 Olympics, a bubbly teenager taking gold in her parents’ home country of South Korea. Four years ago in China, she won again, with that victory puncutated by her messages about the ups and downs of success and fame.

    Through it all, nobody has come close to beating her.

    Two years ago at the Winter X Games, Kim became the first woman to pull off a 1260-degree spin in competition. Before that, she was the first woman to land a double-cork 1080 — two flips and one spin — and the first to land back-to-back 1080s.

    She was working on adding to that repertoire for the Milan Cortina Games and, if healthy, would be the heavy favorite to win again. This injury throws all that in question. The Olympic qualifying round in women’s halfpipe is Feb. 11.

    The Laax Open is scheduled for next weekend, and even if Kim were to get a clean bill of health, there is a chance she would head into the Olympics without having competed in the final of a contest this season.

    Kim qualified for the U.S. team by winning a contest last year and has kept a light schedule in ’25-26. She fell during warmups for the final in Copper Mountain, Colorado, last month and pulled out after hurting her shoulder then, as well. That injury was not believed serious.

    Regarding her latest shoulder injury, she said: “It should be fine. I’m just hoping that it doesn’t take too long, but I’m going to be chilling for the next little while.”

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    Jordan Vawter

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