MILAN, Feb 4 (Reuters) – Italy has thwarted a series of cyberattacks targeting its foreign ministry facilities, including an embassy in Washington, as well as websites linked to the Winter Olympics and hotels in Cortina d’Ampezzo, Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani said on Tuesday.
“These are actions of Russian origin,” Tajani said in remarks confirmed by a spokesperson.
“We prevented a series of cyberattacks against foreign ministry sites, starting with Washington and also involving some Winter Olympics sites, including hotels in Cortina,” he said.
(Reporting by Giselda Vagnoni and Cristina Carlevaro, editing by Ed Osmond)
Around 2,900 top athletes from around the world will converge on Italy to take part in the 2026 Milano Cortina Winter Olympics, hoping to bring home medals across 116 events.
Olympians from Team USA have won a total of 330 Winter Olympic medals through Beijing 2022 — second only to winter sports powerhouse Norway. This year, Team USA is expected to bring around 230 athletes to the Winter Olympics, which run from Feb. 6 to Feb. 22.
These are some of the American athletes to watch.
Alex Ferreira
This will be freestyle skier Alex Ferreira’s third trip to the Olympics. Ferreira took home silver at PyeongChang in 2018 and a bronze medal in Beijing in 2022.
“It’s awesome representing Team USA, because I look at us and I think we’re the best team in the world, and then it’s special,” Ferreira recently told CBS News. “It’s a big deal to Team USA, to bring home a medal for America and for your town, for your state, for your country. It’s huge.”
Alex Ferreira in the Men’s Ski Halfpipe Final at the Toyota US Grand Prix at Aspen Snowmass Ski Resort on Jan. 9, 2026 in Aspen, Colorado.
Dustin Satloff/U.S. Ski and Snowboard/Getty Images
If he couldn’t compete in his Olympic sport, Ferreira said he’d compete in either track and field or trampoline.
The 31-year-old athlete, who started skiing at age 3 and began competing at 10, specializes in the halfpipe. His first competition was an aerials event, which his mother enrolled him in without informing him, according to Team USA. He’s also medaled at the Winter X Games. During the 2023-2024 season, Ferreira swept five world cups, X Games Aspen and the Dew Tour. Ferreira also skis under his alter ego, an older man who goes by the name Hotdog Hans.
Alex Hall
Milano Cortina will be 27-year-old freestyle skier Alex Hall’s third trip to the Olympics. He made his debut at the PyeongChang Games in 2018. Hall said he has more confidence now and a different outlook than he did then.
“Going to enjoy some of the smaller things at the Olympics, not necessarily the grandiose things,” Hall told CBS News.
He won gold in slopestyle in Beijing in 2022, and earned gold in four different disciplines at the X Games: big air, slopestyle, knuckle huck and real ski.
Alex Hall of Team USA celebrates winning 2nd place of the Men’s Freeski Slopestyle Finals at the world championships on March 21, 2025 in Corvatsch, Switzerland.
David Ramos / Getty Images
Hall, who was born in Alaska to an Italian mom, spent more than half of his life in Europe. He grew up just a few hours away from where he’ll be competing.
The skier said he’s looking forward to meeting with athletes from around the world and hearing their stories, something which should be easy for him since he speaks several languages, including English, French, Italian and German.
Alysa Liu
Figure skater Alysa Liu, now 20 years old and back from a surprise retirement from the ice at 16, will be headed to the Olympics for her second time this year. She was the youngest U.S. figure skating national champion in history, winning the title at age 13. She won another national title at 14 before taking a break from skating after the 2022 Olympics.
Alysa Liu of Team USA trains ahead of the Winter Olympics at the Milano Ice Skating Arena on Feb. 2, 2026 in Milan, Italy.
Matthew Stockman / Getty Images
After her comeback to skating, Liu won the women’s singles world title at the 2025 World Championships. Olympic men’s skating gold medalist Brian Boitano called it “the biggest comeback in sports history.”
Liu recently told “60 Minutes” that as she prepares for the Olympics, she views herself as more of an artist than an athlete.
“I view competitions more as, like, a stage for performing,” she said.
Amber Glenn
Figure skater Amber Glenn, 26, is headed to her first Olympics, just weeks after winning her third straight U.S. title. She’s the first woman to do so since Michelle Kwan.
Glenn told CBS News that being an Olympian is “an incredible opportunity” because she’d “get to be on the biggest stage an athlete can be on, and I’d be able to voice my beliefs and my opinions and my message.”
Amber Glenn skates in an exhibition after the U.S. Figure Skating Championships on Jan. 11, 2026 in St Louis, Missouri.
Matthew Stockman / Getty Images
The skater has spent years advocating for mental health awareness and the LGBTQ+ community; Glenn came out as bisexual and pansexual in 2019.
“When I came out initially, I was terrified. I was scared it would affect my scores or something, but I didn’t care,” she said in a Team USA post from 2024. “It was worth it to see the amount of young people who felt more comfortable in their environments at the rink, who feel, ‘Oh, I’m represented by her, and she’s one of the top skaters.’”
Brittany Bowe
This will be Florida speedskater Brittany Bowe’s fourth trip to the Olympics. The 37-year-old two-time Olympic bronze medalist specializes in long track. She said her earlier experiences in the Olympics have taught her to focus on the process.
“In years past, it’s been really easy to be outcome-oriented, and I have found that that doesn’t work. That can be become really debilitating in your preparation,” Bowe told CBS News. “The cards will fall as they will, and for me to just stay focused in the moment, in the process and be ready to go when that gun goes off.”
Brittany Bowe of Team USA trains ahead of the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympic Games on Feb. 2, 2026 in Milan, Italy.
Sarah Stier / Getty Images
Bowe carried the American flag during the opening ceremony of the 2022 Olympics in Beijing.
“Being an Olympian is so important to me because it has given me the platform to inspire people, to encourage people, and it’s also given me an opportunity to live out my childhood dream,” Bowe said. “It’s given me an opportunity to bring a whole squad of people along, and being able to take my family all around the world, for them to be a part of it has been really, really meaningful.”
Caroline Harvey
As a 3-year-old newbie to ice hockey, Caroline Harvey told her aunt she’d make the 2022 U.S. Olympic team, according to Team USA. Her childhood prediction came true when she became the youngest member of the team and helped the U.S. earn a silver medal in Beijing.
“Anytime you get to wear that crest and represent your country, it’s the biggest honor, and being able to do it at an Olympic setting is just something that is unforgettable,” Harvey told CBS News.
Caroline Harvey #4 of Team USA in action against Team Canada on Dec. 13, 2025, in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada.
Leila Devlin / Getty Images
The 23-year-old athlete was named the best defender at the 2024 and 2025 IIHF Women’s World Championships. She’s also a two-time NCAA champion for the Wisconsin Badgers.
She’s hoping to take home gold in Milano Cortina, but said success is ultimately “knowing we did everything we could to be successful in playing our team game.”
Corinne Stoddard
Milano Cortina will be 24-year-old skater Corinne Stoddard’s second trip to the Olympics.
She went to Beijing in 2022, where she broke her nose during her very first race, according to Team USA. Stoddard competed in the rest of her races while unable to breathe out of one nostril.
Stoddard started roller skating in kindergarten, then switched to inline skating a year later. When she was 11, she began speed skating. While Stoddard does not yet have any Olympic medals, she’s a three-time world medalist in short track speedskating.
Corinne Stoddard of Team USA competing in the Women’s 1000m Semifinals at the ISU Short Track World Tour on Nov. 29, 2025 in Dordrecht, Netherlands.
Marcel ter Bals/DeFodi Images/DeFodi via Getty Images
The skater said she’s dreamed of the Olympics since she was a child, which required a lot of hard work along the way.
“I would always have training every day after school, so there wasn’t much time for like, play dates or sleepovers growing up,” she told CBS News. “There wasn’t much time as, like, a teenager, to go out with friends on the weekends. And then for my last two years of high school, I did online when I moved out to Salt Lake to start training with the national team, so I didn’t get to do any of, like the typical like, prom and stuff like that. But to me, that’s all worth it.”
Deedra Irwin
Deedra Irwin grew up wanting to be an Olympian, but she was thinking about the Summer Olympics, not the Winter Olympics.
“I wanted to be an Olympic track star. I had no idea the Winter Olympics were a thing,” Irwin told CBS News.
The 33-year-old athlete picked up skiing in high school as a way to stay in shape between the fall cross-country season and the spring track and field season, according to Team USA. It wasn’t until she was 25 that she started participating in biathlon.
Deedra Irwin of Team USA in action during the BMW IBU World Cup Biathlon on Jan. 25, 2026 in Nove Mesto na Morave, Czech Republic.
Kevin Voigt / GettyImages / Getty Images
She went to the 2022 Beijing Olympics, where she finished 7th, the best finish ever for an American in an individual biathlon event at the Olympics.
“We’ve trained so much throughout our lives to just get to this stage,” Irwin said. “And so I think for me, it means a lot of, like, community and family and friends. I don’t remember the last time I was home for Christmas in the past, like, eight years.”
Erin Jackson
Gold medalist speedskater Erin Jackson, 33, will be making her third Olympic appearance — and this year, along with bobsledder Frank Del Duca, she’ll lead Team USA as a flagbearer during the opening ceremony.
In 2022, Jackson became the first Black woman to win gold in an individual event at the Winter Olympics — after nearly failing to make the team that year.
Jackson slipped at the U.S. trials. Teammate Bowe, who qualified for the 500, 1,000 and 1,5000-meter races at trials, gave up her spot in the 500-meter race to ensure Jackson would get to skate in Beijing.
Erin Jackson of Team USA during training at Milano Speed Skating Stadium on Feb. 2, 2026 in Milan, Italy.
Sarah Stier / Getty Images
“Each of my Olympic appearances have been super different, just like coming in at all different stages of my career, and this one coming in as the reigning champion, there’s going to be a lot of pressure, but that’s what I’m looking forward to,” Jackson told CBS News.
Jackson first started ice skating shortly before her first trip to the Olympics. She first stepped onto an ice rink in 2016. Jackson spent years inline skating before that.
“I’m just super grateful to be able to skate in circles for a living, and I just want to keep doing it as long as I can,” she said.
Hilary Knight
Ice hockey player Hilary Knight, 36, has been to the Olympics four times and has medaled each time, taking home a gold and three silver medals. Milano Cortino will be her fifth Olympics.
“And never would I have imagined being able to compete in five Olympic Games,” she told CBS News. “I mean, that’s just, that’s crazy in the best way.”
Hilary Knight #21 of Team USA in action against Team Canada on Dec. 13, 2025, in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada.
Leila Devlin / Getty Images
Ice hockey play has become a lot faster over the years, Knight said.
“It’s a lot more technical, tactical. There’s more of a dynamic, skillful level to it as well, and the visibility is ever growing, which is really exciting,” she said.
Knight played a key role in creating the Professional Women’s Hockey League.
Ilia Malinin
Figure skater Ilia Malinin is headed to his first Olympics. The 21-year-old, known as the “Quad God,” is the first athlete to successfully land each of the six types of quadruple jumps in one program.
According to Team USA, Malinin eats a chocolate bar before each competition.
Ilia Malinin of Team USA trains at Milano Ice Skating Arena on Feb. 2, 2026 in Milan, Italy.
Joosep Martinson / Getty Images
Malinan, whose parents were Olympic figure skaters for Uzbekistan and whose grandfather was a figure skater for the USSR, started skating at 6.
He won gold at both the 2024 and 2025 ISU Figure Skating World Championships.
Read Malinan’s interview with “CBS Sunday Morning” here.
Jaelin Kauf
This will be freestyle skier Jaelin Kauf’s third trip to the Olympics. The 29-year-old silver medalist specializes in moguls and dual moguls, the latter of which will make its debut at the Olympics this year — something Kauf said she’s been waiting a long time for.
“It’s just such an exciting sport,” she told CBS News. “I’ve probably excelled in that historically more than singles, and so it’ll just be really cool to be a part of that on the Olympic stage, being a part of that debut.”
Jaelin Kauf of Team USA at Intermountain Health Freestyle Cup on Jan. 16, 2026 in Waterville Valley, New Hampshire.
Dustin Satloff/U.S. Ski and Snowboard/Getty Images
Both of Kauf’s parents were professional mogul skiers.
“My mom has always been my biggest hero and role model, just watching how she’s just gone at life and done what she’s done, pushing the boundaries,” Kauf said.
Jordan Stolz
Speed skater Jordan Stolz, 21, started skating on the pond behind his family’s home after watching Apolo Ohno and Shani Davis in the 2010 Vancouver Olympics, according to Team USA.
He made his Olympic debut in 2022. Stolz specializes in the 500-meter, 1,000meter and 1,500-meter. He became the world champion in all three categories at the ISU Single Distance World Championships in 2023 and again in 2024.
Jordan Stolz of Team USA trains during at Milano Speed Skating Stadium on Feb. 2, 2026 in Milan, Italy.
Sarah Stier / Getty Images
Stolz also skates professionally for the Dutch team, Albert Heijn Zaanlander. Speedskating is a widely-followed sport in the Netherlands, and Stolz said he hopes to bring more awareness to speed skating in the U.S.
“It’s obviously not going to be as much as it is in Holland. I wish it was but maybe someday it will be, but at least I can do a little bit,” Stolz told CBS News.
Kendall Coyne Schofield
Milano Cortina will be ice hockey player Kendall Coyne Schofield’s fourth trip to the Olympics. She previously took home a gold and two silvers.
“I’m just so excited to feel revived through these games with family, friends, fans, excitement, just energy, all the things that we weren’t able to experience in Beijing because [of] the pandemic,” Coyne Schofield told CBS News.
Kendall Coyne Schofield #26 of Team USA in action against Team Canada on Dec. 13, 2025, in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada.
Leila Devlin / Getty Images
This will also be the 33-year-old athlete’s first Olympics as a mom, something that she said has made her a better hockey player.
“It’s put my life into perspective,” she said. “It’s provided me with [an] abundance of patience that I didn’t have previously.”
Her son chants “USA, USA,” whether the team wins or loses, she said.
Off the ice, Coyne Schofield voiced a hockey announcer in the Pixar movie “Inside Out 2.”
Korey Dropkin
This will be 30-year-old curler Korey Dropkin’s first trip to the Olympics, though he’s been curling for most of his life.
“It’s a family sport. Honestly, it’s like religion to me,” Dropkin told CBS News. “I grew up at the curling club. My parents were super involved with a junior program at our curling club. My brother was five years older. He was already curling. I followed in his footsteps. I was like his shadow.”
Korey Dropkin delivers a stone during the U.S. Olympic Team Trials on Nov. 21, 2021 in Omaha, Nebraska.
Stacy Revere / Getty Images
After graduating from high school, Dropkin moved to Duluth, Minnesota, which has become the U.S. curling capital.
“I’ve dedicated my whole life to getting to the Olympics and hopefully medaling at the Olympics,” he said. “I moved myself and relocated and really dedicated a lot of blood, sweat and tears. So being an Olympian, finally, I’ve been close, and now finally realizing the Olympics is just a big dream come true.”
Kristen Santos-Griswold
Speedskater Kristen Santos-Griswold, 31, almost chose not to go to this year’s Olympics after heartbreak in 2022. She was in bronze medal position with just two laps to go in the 1,000-meter when a bump by an opponent caused her to fall. The bump was later ruled a penalty, but the disheartening finish had Santos-Griswold considering retirement.
“When I decided that I was going to keep going, I was like, ‘All right, I’m doing it for me. I’m going to make it all worth it. I’m going to enjoy the journey,” Santos-Griswold told CBS News. “I think that’s just helped to, like, catapult me into going into Olympic year with number one on my helmet.”
Kristen Santos-Griswold of Team USA at the ISU Short Track World Tour on Nov. 21, 2025 in Gdansk, Poland.
Christian Kaspar-Bartke – International Skating Union/International Skating Union via Getty Images
Santos-Griswold has been training for most of her life. She started figure skating at 3. When she was 9, Santos-Griswold saw speedskating in a commercial on TV, decided she wanted to try it, and fell in love.
“Being an Olympian means everything,” she said. “It’s something that I’ve been working towards my entire life. I started skating when I was 3 years old, and I’m 30 now, so solid 27 years of dreaming about this.”
Santos-Griswold is currently working on a doctorate, with plans to be a physical therapist once her skating career is over, according to Team USA.
Lindsey Vonn
Alpine skier Lindsey Vonn, who made a comeback several years after retiring, will be heading to her fifth Olympics — despite an injury on the slopes in late January that left her with a ruptured ACL.
The 41-year-old skier competed at the Olympics in 2002, 2006, 2010 and 2018, taking home gold and two silver medals.
She’s the only American woman to win Olympic gold in downhill, according to Team USA, and she also has the most victories by any skier — male or female — in a single discipline.
Lindsey Vonn of Team USA competes during the Audi FIS Alpine Ski World Cup Women’s Downhill on Jan. 30, 2026 in Crans Montana, Switzerland.
Michel Cottin / Agence Zoom / Getty Images
Vonn started skiing at 3. She learned with her father and grandfather, both of whom were competitive skiers, and made her Olympic debut at 17. She retired in 2019 amid severe knee damage. Vonn has since had knee surgery and told CBS News she’s now the strongest she’s been in her career.
“The only thing I think that’s maybe more challenging at 41 is just the grind of being away,” she said. “I kind of got used to being at home with my dogs and my family, and I got away from, you know, the routine of being on the road, which doesn’t necessarily change because of age, just, I think, more from being away from the sport for six years.”
In 2022, John Clarey, then 41, made history as the oldest alpine skier to medal at an Olympic Winter Games. Vonn said her age won’t stop her from competing at the coming Olympics.
“If I have the opportunity to compete, I’m going to,” Vonn said. “Just because I’m 41 doesn’t mean I can’t do that if I physically feel good, which I do, I feel better now than I did in my 20s. So you know, I don’t see there to be any reason why I can’t do it at 41.”
A week before the start of the Games, Vonn crashed in one of her final downhill tune-ups. While she was airlifted off the mountain to receive medical treatment after injuring her left knee, she assured her fans on social media that her Olympic dream was “not over.”
“This is a very difficult outcome one week before the Olympics… but if there’s one thing I know how to do, it’s a comeback,” she wrote.
Vonn is set to compete in the women’s downhill on Sunday, Feb. 8, and said she would wear a brace for the race.
“I’m not letting this slip through my fingers. I’m gonna do it. End of story,” she said.
Madison Chock and Evan Bates
Ice dancers Madison Chock and Evan Bates are headed back to the Olympics. Chock, 33, competed in 2014, 2018 and 2022, while Bates, 36, began his Olympic run in 2010.
Their partnership began in 2011, and they won Olympic gold during the team event at their third Olympic Games.
Madison Chock and Evan Bates of Team USA in a training session at Milano Ice Skating Arena on Feb. 2, 2026 in Milan, Italy.
Matthew Stockman / Getty Images
“There’s so much pride behind it,” Chock told CBS News. “I think growing up and seeing other athletes represent Team USA meant a lot and shaped a lot of how I view sport and athleticism, and there’s so much pride that comes with representing your country in the Olympic Games on the biggest stage for sports in the world. And it’s just been the greatest honor of my life to be a member of Team USA.”
Chock and Bates have also won three consecutive ISU World Figure Skating Championships, starting in 2023.
They’re partners off the ice, too. The couple got married in 2024.
Maxim Naumov
Figure skater Maxim Naumov will make his first appearance at the Olympics after a year marked by tragedy and an emotional comeback.
His trip to the Olympics comes a year after his parents, former world champions Vadim Naumov and Evgenia Shishkova, died when their plane collided with a military helicopter on approach to Washington, D.C. His parents, who were popular coaches at the Skating Club of Boston, were among 67 people killed in the crash.
Maxim Naumov performs during a Making the Team event of the 2026 United States Figure Skating Championships at on Jan. 11, 2026 in St Louis, Missouri.
Jamie Squire / Getty Images
Naumov held a photo of his parents as he waited for his scores after competing during the men’s short program at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships in January.
“Having role models be right there in the house, at the rink, just everywhere, they inspired me to want this dream and it would mean absolutely everything for me to be at the Olympics,” Naumov said in a social media post. “I’m working as hard as I possibly can and I’m doing everything in my power to do so. Doing it for them would be even more beautiful.”
Mikaela Shiffrin
Skier Mikaela Shiffrin, 30, will be headed to the Olympics for the fourth time. She first skied in the Olympics in 2013 and has earned two gold medals and a silver.
Shiffrin specializes in slalom, giant slalom, super-G and downhill. She’s the first alpine skier to record 100 FIS World Cup wins and the first athlete in FIS Ski World Cup history to win in all six disciplines.
Mikaela Shiffrin of Team USA in action during the Audi FIS Alpine Ski World Cup Women’s Slalom on Jan. 25, 2026 in the Czech Republic.
Millo Moravski / Agence Zoom / Getty Images
In 2024, Shiffrin crashed after losing control while on the course for the 2026 Milano Cortina Olympics. Then last year, she said she was dealing with post-traumatic stress disorder from another crash, during which she suffered a puncture wound and severe trauma to her oblique muscles.
Mystique Ro
Skeleton racer Mystique Ro, 31, will be headed to the Olympics for the first time, but she’s no stranger to competition.
Ro competed in track & field. Then, in 2016, she was invited to a rookie camp by USA Bobsled/Skeleton. Coaches there told her she was a little small for bobsled and pushed her to try skeleton.
During skeleton, racers on sleds — head first and face down — can reach speeds of around 80 miles per hour, using body shifts to guide the sled through the course.
Mystique Ro competes during the Bob & Skeleton IBSF World Cup at Eugenio Monti Sliding Center on Nov. 21, 2025 in Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy.
Ryan Pierse / Getty Images
“Once you get away from the fear, it starts to become a game,” Ro told CBS News. “So if you get past the fear, that’s the first step, and then you can kind of enjoy the sport for what it is.”
While plenty of kids ride sleds down hills, Row said this isn’t the same.
“The speed is significantly faster, and there’s a lot more peril involved if you’re not prepared for it,” she said.
She made her FIL World Cup debut in 2023 and, the following year, became the first American athlete to win a skeleton race on the World Cup circuit in eight years.
Nick Goepper
Milano Cortina will be skier Nick Goepper’s fourth trip to the Olympics. In 2014, he took bronze in Sochi, contributing to a U.S. podium sweep in men’s slopestyle skiing. Goepper won silver at the Olympics in 2018 and again in 2022.
“To me, being an Olympian has meant legacy,” he told CBS News. “I am a huge fan of history. I love reading about people who have done, you know, amazing things and family connections and just like, you know, people’s eyes always light up when you talk about the Olympics.”
Nick Goepper of Team USA reacts after completing his second run of the Aspen Snowmass Men’s Freeski Halfpipe Finals at Aspen Snowmass Ski Resort in Colorado on Jan. 10, 2026.
Michael Reaves / Getty Images
The 31-year-old athlete retired after Beijing, but then returned less than a year later to compete in halfpipe instead of slopestyle.
Goepper said his approach to competition and the Olympics has changed over the years.
“I can sit back and enjoy the little moments a little bit more. I can savor things a little more, which is nice,” he said.
Paula Moltzan
Alpine skier Paula Moltzan made her Olympic debut in 2022.
“I feel like I learned a lot in my first Olympics, and so to take all those lessons learned into another opportunity would mean a lot to me,” she told CBS News.
Moltzan, now 31, won the junior world slalom title when she was 20, becoming the first American woman to win the event at the junior world championships. She also won the NCAA women’s slalom title as a freshman at the University of Vermont.
Paula Moltzan of Team USA competes during the Audi FIS Alpine Ski World Cup Women’s Slalom on Jan. 25, 2026 in Spindleruv Mlyn, Czech Republic.
Millo Moravski / Agence Zoom / Getty Images
After her Olympics debut in Beijing at 27, Moltzan became a two-time world medalist. She won a title in the parallel team event in 2023 and her first individual world medal, a bronze, in giant slalom in 2025.
She said her family sacrificed a lot to support her skiing career.
“I think they took second mortgages out on my house to allow me to compete in sport. And then my siblings as well, I definitely had the priority because of my athletic ability. They gave up maybe smaller moments, like going to summer camp so I could go to ski camp,” she said. “But it all becomes worth it when you’re there with your team, representing Team USA.”
Red Gerard
This will be Red Gerard’s third trip to the Olympics. The 25-year-old snowboarder won gold in slopestyle in 2018 when he was just 17, becoming the youngest American snowboarder to achieve the feat, according to Team USA.
“I quickly learned that first Olympics how big it is and how cool it is,” Gerard told CBS News. “Ever since, you just kind of want to get back on that stage because there is no stage bigger than the Olympics.”
Redmond Gerard of Team USA during a practice session before competing in the Aspen Snowmass Men’s Snowboard Slopestyle Finals on Jan. 10, 2026 in Aspen, Colorado.
Michael Reaves / Getty Images
Gerard returned to the Olympics in 2022, finishing fourth in slopestyle and fifth in big air. The snowboarder won in slopestyle at the 2024 and 2025 X Games.
Gerard started snowboarding when he was just 2-years-old. In 2007, his family moved to Colorado, where they built a snowboarding park in their backyard to support Gerard’s passion.
Ryan Cochran-Siegle
Alpine skier Ryan Cochran-Siegle, 33, is headed to the Olympics for his third games. Cochran-Siegle, the son of an Olympian, started skiing at the age of 2.
He tore his ACL and lateral meniscus in 2013 at the FIS Alpine Ski World Championships, according to Team USA. Five years later, he made his Olympic debut in 2018 in PyeongChang. Cochran-Siegle won his first FIS World Cup Race in 2020, but missed the FIS Alpine Ski World Championships in 2021 with a fractured neck.
Ryan Cochran-Siegle competes in the men’s downhill race part of the FIS Alpine Ski World Cup in Crans Montana, Switzerland, on Feb. 1, 2026.
Fabrice COFFRINI /AFP via Getty Images
The skier came back in 2022, where he won silver in super-G at the Beijing Games. He was the only U.S. alpine skiing medalist at the Beijing Games.
Cochran-Siegle told CBS News that during his previous Olympic appearances, he learned to embrace the moment and to trust and believe in himself.
“Just going out there and doing what I love and putting myself out there is what’s important,” he said.
In 2018, Team USA made history when the men’s curling team won the gold medal at the PyeongChang Olympics. But, in women’s and mixed doubles – which premiered at the 2018 Olympics – Team USA has yet to clinch a medal spot.
So, who is competing for Team USA at the 2026 Olympics in curling? Here’s everything we know about the athletes and their unique sport.
Mixed Doubles curling was introduced at the PyeongChang Olympics in 2018. The United States has yet to medal in the sport. Competing in the category at the 2026 Olympics in Milan are Korey Dropkin and CoryThiesse.
Korey, 30, started curling when he was just five years old. He was inspired by his family’s involvement in the sport. Korey grew up in Wayland, Massachusetts before moving to Duluth, Minnesota to hone his curling skills. And his older brother, StephenDropkin, also competed for Team USA at the World University Games in 2015.
Korey’s teammate, also named Corey, 31, is a lifelong curler. She was born and raised in the unofficial curling capital of America – Duluth, Minnesota. In 2018, Corey competed in Pyeongchang for the women’s team and placed eighth. Outside of curling, she is married to SamThiesse and works as a lab technician.
Men’s Team Casper – Danny Casper, Luc Violette, Ben Richardson, Aidan Oldenburg, and Rich Ruohonen
The men’s team is USA’s best hope at medalling in curling. They last medaled in PyeongChang when they won the gold medal after defeating Sweden.
This year’s team is led by 24-year-old DannyCasper. He started curling when he was 11 after his dad got him into the sport. During the 2024-2025 season, Danny was diagnosed with autoimmune disease, Guillain-Barré Syndrome, which sometimes causes him to struggle at times to walk and use his hands. In Milan, his teammates will help him clean his rock on the ice if he has trouble with his hands.
Also on the men’s team is LucViolette, 26, who is the son of the two-time national champion, TomViolette. Off the ice, Luc is an engineer. He uses engineering in curling when he calculates the right shot.
BenRichardson, 27, is the team’s second. He was born in the tropical city of Miami, but was encouraged by his grandmother from Canada to get into curling. Outside of curling, Ben is a musician who plays the cello.
Joining Danny, Luc, and Ben is AidanOldenburg, 24. He started curling at 10 and was the captain of the Valorant esports team when he was a student at Minnesota State. Aidan also dreams of becoming an environmental scientist.
Women’s Team Peterson – Tabitha Peterson Lovick, Cory Thiesse, Tara Peterson, Taylor Anderson-Heide, and Aileen Geving
The best finish for Team USA’s women came in 2006 when they placed fourth at the Winter Games in Turin. Maybe Italy is their good luck charm!
This year’s team is led by Tabitha Peterson Lovick, 36. Like many other Olympic curlers, she started in the sport when she was young. Her career quickly took off. Tabitha won back-to-back junior national championships and a bronze medal in 2010 at the junior world championships. Milan will be Tabitha’s third Olympics – she competed in Beijing and PyeongChang.
Her younger sister, TaraPeterson, 34, is also competing in Milan. Tara made her Olympic debut in 2022 at the Beijing Games. Outside of curling, she is a dentist in Minnesota, is married to her husband Jon, and is mom to her son Edawrd.
Making her Olympic debut is TaylorAnderson-Heidi, 30. She began curling alongside her identical twin, SarahAnderson. She is a successful curler, finishing in the top three at two different U.S.Olympic Trials. In 2024, she tied the knot with her husband, RyanHeide.
Corey Thiesse is competing on the women’s team as well as the mixed doubles. And the team’s alternate is AileenGeving, 38, who also competed in Beijing and PyeongChang.
Curling, which first launched at the Olympics in 1924, is played on a sheet of ice between two teams of four players each. During the game, teams take turns throwing eight stones. After all the stones are thrown, the team with the stone closest to the center of the target scores points.
It’s called curling because the stones curl to the right or left as they glide down the ice. Curlers have brooms and sweep the ice to allow the stone to travel further.
While the U.S. dominates most Olympics, they have only won gold in curling once. The country who is typically most dominant in curling is Canada. They have won 12 Olympic medals. Another powerhouse is Sweden, who won gold in 2022.
Lindsey Vonn confirmed Tuesday that she plans to compete in the 2026 Winter Olympics in Italy despite rupturing her left anterior cruciate ligament, or ACL, in a crash last week.
Vonn, 41, said in a press briefing that she was still planning to compete, even though her chances at ending up on the podium were diminished. Vonn said she had done a gone skiing before the briefing and was happy that she was “in a position to even try” the exercise.
“I had a feeling it was bad, but I held out hope until I saw the MRI in front of me,” Vonn said. “But I haven’t cried. I haven’t deviated from my plan. Normally, in the past, there’s always a moment where you break down and you realize the severity of things and that your dreams are slipping through your fingers. But I didn’t have that this time. I’m not letting this slip through my fingers. I’m gonna do it. End of story.”
Vonn is set to compete in the women’s downhill on Sunday, February 8. She was also planning on competing in super-G and the new team combined event. If she wins a medal, she will be the oldest alpine skier to do so at the Winter Olympics. Previously, Vonn has won three Olympic medals: Gold in downhill and bronze in super-G in 2010, and bronze in downhill in 2018.
Vonn had been landing a jump in a World Cup race on Friday when she lost control and ended up tangled in safety nets on the upper portion of the course. She received medical attention and walked away from the crash site, but was seen avoiding putting weight on her left leg. Vonn confirmed the injury was in her left knee on Tuesday.
Two other racers crashed on the same course earlier in the day. The race was cancelled after Vonn’s crash. One racer said visibility was a problem and that the course was bumpy.
United States’ Lindsey Vonn smiles during a press conference by the U.S. ski team at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy, Tuesday, Feb. 3, 2026.
Fatima Shbair / AP
Vonn has been the circuit’s leading downhiller this season with two victories and three podium finishes.
Vonn’s races and Olympic participation come after a five-year retirement. She is skiing with titanium implants in her right knee. After her injury, she posted on Instagram that her “Olympic dream is not over.” Vonn echoed that sentiment again Tuesday.
“This isn’t my first rodeo. It’s hard for me to lose faith in myself and what I know I’m capable of. I know my body very well. I have a high degree of confidence in myself, and it doesn’t matter to me if everyone thinks maybe I can’t do this with no ACL, but I still believe in myself and that makes me smile. That makes me confident, that makes me happy.”
Women’s skiing at the Olympics will be held in Cortina d’Ampezzo, where Vonn holds the record of 12 World Cup wins.
Speedskater Erin Jackson and bobsledder Frank Del Duca have been chosen as the U.S. flagbearers for the Milan Cortina Olympics opening ceremony on Friday.
Jackson is the first Black woman to win an individual gold medal at a Winter Olympics. Del Duca, a sergeant in the Army, is the first bobsledder in 70 years to carry the U.S. flag. Jackson and Del Duca were selected by a vote of fellow Team USA athletes.
“Being chosen to represent the United States on the world stage is a tremendous honor,” Jackson said. “It’s a moment that reflects far more than one individual – it represents my family, my teammates, my hometown, and everyone across the country who believes in the power of sport.”
Erin Jackson of United States competes during the women’s 1000 meters at the World Cup speedskating event in Inzell Germany, on Jan. 24, 2026.
Matthias Schrader / AP
The U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee announced the names on Tuesday.
Del Duca, with deep Italian roots, finds the opportunity especially meaningful as the games are in Italy.
“With the Olympic Games being held in Italy, it means even more,” Del Duca said. “Nearly everyone in my family is of Italian descent. There is no greater honor than leading Team USA into the Opening Ceremony in Italy. It feels like a bridge between my family’s heritage, and the country I’m so proud to serve.”
Frank del Duca, pilot of the fourth-place United States team, waves to fans after the 4-man bobsled event at the bobsled world championships, March 15, 2025, in Lake Placid, N.Y.
Seth Wenig / AP
The opening ceremony will be unique, with events spread across several Italian cities.
U.S. bobsledder Elana Meyers Taylor was picked to carry the American flag into the opening ceremony at the 2022 Beijing Olympics but tested positive for COVID-19 – forcing the postponement of her flag-carrying chance until the closing ceremony of those Winter Games. She was replaced at the Beijing opening by speedskater Brittany Bowe, and this time, it’s Jackson’s turn to have that moment.
Jackson becomes the eighth U.S. speedskater in history to earn the honor of Team USA flag bearer, while Del Duca becomes the sixth bobsledder to carry the flag.
Margie Freed’s first biathlon race was three short years ago. She’s a newcomer among lifers.
“Some of the Europeans have been doing biathlon since the age I started skiing,” Freed said. “They’ve been doing biathlon forever and are really locked in on the shooting. So sometimes mine comes and goes, but if I have a good day, I can be with the top athletes. So, I’m surprised that it came together, especially this last year, seeing my improvement was pretty awesome.”
Twenty-eight-year-old Freed grew up in Apple Valley, Minnesota, and started cross-country skiing in sixth grade. She only began biathlon training full-time two years ago. Her shooting experience was limited.
“I had never even shot a gun,” she said. “I didn’t know anything about guns before doing biathlon. The intrigue of trying this whole new thing, being in this whole new world of biathlon, was intriguing to me, so that’s why I stuck with it.”
Despite that inexperience, Freed earned a spot on the United States Olympic team and will compete in the Milan Cortina Games in February.
“I definitely will be nervous for the first race,” said Freed. “I am already thinking about the loud crowds and everyone that will be cheering. I know that I’ll have fans, friends and family that are coming to support me. I’m looking forward to seeing them, especially because I know they’ll support me if I win or if I lose, they’ll be happy to see me there. So, I’m really looking forward to that.”
Unlike some Olympians’ lifelong dreams, Freed didn’t see herself pursuing a pro career in competitive sports. The version of her back at Eastview High School could never have seen this coming.
“I would definitely be surprised,” said Freed. “I would probably say, ‘Ah, you’re still at that?’ I had fun with skiing in high school and I want to thank all of my teammates there for making it fun and worthwhile. Because I don’t think if I (hadn’t had) strong teammates in high school, I would probably be like ‘This isn’t that fun for me, so I’ll just be done,’ even if I was finding success. So, it’s all about the people and the community.”
The countdown has begun. We are now just days away from the official opening of the Milan-Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics, scheduled for February 6 at Milan’s San Siro Stadium. For the first time, the ceremony will be spread across multiple locations, uniting Milan, Cortina, and other cities in a choral project involving more than 1,300 cast members from over 27 countries, managed by at least 950 operators and technical staff. The Milano Cortina Foundation calls it “an event of global scope, the result of a choral project involving thousands of people and artistic, technical and organizational skills of the highest level.”
At the center of the narrative is a simple but powerful concept: Harmony. According to Marco Balich, creative lead for the ceremony, “Harmony means transforming our values into images, sounds and shared emotions. It is a journey inside the colors of Italy, but it also speaks to the whole world.” The key word thus becomes the common thread of a show that unites cities and mountains, tradition and innovation, art and sport.
Tina and Milo, the mascots for the 2026 Winter Olympics. Both are stoats, a small carnivorous mammal native to parts of Eurpoe and Asia.
PIERO CRUCIATTI/Getty Images
“Fantasia Italiana,” the official theme of the Games, was composed Italian songwriter Dardust, who was tasked with creating an anthem that will evoke both the territories that will host the competitions and the Italian musical tradition. “I wanted to create a lasting emotion,” Dardust says, “a contemporary sound that pays homage to collective memory but also looks to the future.”
Over 500 musicians have engaged in more than 700 hours of rehearsals between Milan, Cortina, Livigno, Predazzo, and Arco della Pace for the opening ceremony, with special attention paid to costumes, makeup and hairstyles. Watch for 182 original designs, and more than 1,400 costumes, 1,500 pairs of shoes on the performers, who are supported by 110 make-up artists and 70 hair stylists.
Lindsey Vonn crashed in her final downhill race before the Winter Olympics on Friday and was airlifted from the course for medical checks, a troubling turn for the 41-year-old U.S. ski star just a week before the Milan Cortina Games.
Vonn — the third skier to crash in the World Cup race in Crans-Montana — lost control when landing a jump and ended up tangled in the safety nets on the upper portion of the course.
She got up after receiving medical attention for about five minutes, seemingly in pain and using her poles to steady herself. Vonn then skied slowly to the finish line, stopping a couple of times on the way down and clutching her left knee.
The race, which was held in difficult conditions with low visibility, was canceled after Vonn’s crash.
It wasn’t immediately clear how the crash would impact Vonn’s Olympic preparations. The American, who was expected to be one of the biggest stars of the Games, limped into a tent for medical attention before being airlifted away by helicopter, dangling from a hoist cable with two people attending her.
Before she entered the tent, Vonn had an anxious expression on her face and her eyes were closed during a long embrace with teammate Jacqueline Wiles, who was leading the race when it was canceled.
“I know she hurt her knee, I talked to her,” the International Ski and Snowboard Federation CEO Urs Lehmann told reporters in the finish area. “I don’t know if it’s really heavy and (if) she won’t miss the Olympics. Let’s wait for what the doctors are saying.”
Vonn made a stunning comeback last season at age 40 after nearly six years away from ski racing. Skiing with a partial titanium implant in her right knee, she has been the circuit’s leading downhiller this season with two victories and three other podium finishes in the five races.
Including super-G, Vonn had completed eight World Cup races this season and finished on the podium in seven of them. Her worst finish was fourth.
The crash occurred exactly a week before the Milan Cortina opening ceremony.
Vonn’s first Olympic race is the women’s downhill on Feb. 8. She was also planning on competing in the super-G and the new team combined event at the Games.
Women’s skiing at the Olympics will be held in Cortina d’Ampezzo, where Vonn holds the record of 12 World Cup wins.
Vonn was also planning on racing a super-G in Crans-Montana on Saturday in what would have been her final race before the Games.
Vonn was the sixth racer in Friday’s downhill and had registered the fastest time at the first checkpoint before landing a jump off-balance. She lifted her left arm and pole high into the air in an attempt to regain her balance. As she tried to brake, she got spun around and ended up in the nets.
Two other skiers had also crashed before her: Nina Ortlieb of Austria and Marte Monsen of Norway.
Ortlieb crashed on top in the same area as Vonn and Monsen hit the nets just before the finish area and had to be taken away in a sled. The race was delayed after both of those crashes. But then two racers — Wiles and Corinne Suter, the Olympic champion, completed their runs.
Wiles barely could make the tight final left-hand turn that had tricked Monsen.
Romane Miradoli of France, who did complete her run as the second to start, said visibility was an issue, with snow falling.
Asked if it was dangerous, Miradoli added, “We just couldn’t see well.”
Vonn has had numerous crashes in her career. One of her worst was at the 2013 world championships in Schladming, Austria, during a super-G that was also held in difficult conditions. Vonn then had to be airlifted off the course and tore apart her right knee. She returned the following season, got hurt again and missed the 2014 Sochi Olympics.
The race started Friday in a subdued mood in Crans-Montana which is coping with the trauma of a devastating fire in bar in the early hours of New Year’s Day that killed 40 people and injured more than 100. A minute’s silence was observed before racing.
The finish area stripped of color and the usual sponsor adverts. Instead, it was dressed with white and black banners featuring a ribbon with the words “Our thoughts are with you” written in French, German, Italian and English.
Crans-Montana, Switzerland — Lindsey Vonn crashed in her final downhill before the Milan Cortina Winter Olympics on Friday and was left limping and keeping weight off her left knee.
Vonn lost control when landing a jump in a World Cup race and ended up tangled in the safety nets on the upper portion of the course.
She eventually got up after receiving medical attention and walked away gingerly, taking weight off her left knee and using her poles to steady herself. She then clicked her skis back on but stopped to check her left knee.
Lindsey Vonn reacts after crashing as she competes in the women’s downhill race part of the FIS Alpine Ski World Cup 2025-2026 in Crans Montana, Switzerland, on Jan. 30, 2026.
Fabrice COFFRINI / AFP via Getty Images
Last month, Vonn raced to a stunningly fast win in a World Cup downhill at St. Moritz to earn her first victory in nearly eight years — and the first in her comeback with titanium implants in her right knee after a five-year retirement.
Vonn eventually made it to the finish area Friday and limped into a tent for medical attention. The race was later canceled after three of the first six racers crashed.
Before she entered the tent, Vonn had an anxious expression on her face and her eyes were closed during a long embrace with teammate Jacquelin Wiles, who was leading the race when it was canceled.
The 41-year-old Vonn has been the circuit’s leading downhiller this season with two victories and three other podium finishes, having returned last season after a partial right knee titanium replacement.
The crash occurred exactly a week before the Milan Cortina opening ceremony.
Vonn’s first Olympic race is the women’s downhill on Feb. 8. She was also planning on competing in the super-G and the new team combined event at the Games.
Women’s skiing at the Olympics will be held in Cortina d’Ampezzo, where Vonn holds the record of 12 World Cup wins.
Vonn was also planning on racing a super-G in Crans-Montana on Saturday in what would have been her final race before the Games.
Vonn had registered the fastest time at the first checkpoint and then landed a jump off balance, lifted her left arm and pole high into the air in an attempt to regain her balance. Then as she tried to brake, Vonn got spun around and ended up in the nets.
Vonn was the sixth racer to start and two other skiers had also crashed before her: Nina Ortlieb of Austria and Marte Monsen of Norway.
Ortlieb crashed on top in the same area as Vonn and Monsen hit the nets just before the finish area and had to be taken away in a sled. The race was delayed after both of those crashes. But then two racers – Wiles and Corrine Suter, the Olympic champion, completed their runs.
Romane Miradoli of France, who did complete her run, said visibility was an issue, with snow falling.
Asked if it was dangerous, Miradoli added, “We just couldn’t see well.”
Vonn has had numerous crashes in her career. One of her worst was at the 2013 world championships in Schladming, Austria, during a super-G that was also held in difficult conditions. Vonn then had to be airlifted off the course and tore apart her right knee. She returned the following season, got hurt again and missed the 2014 Sochi Olympics.
The Centennial State is fueling Team USA’s hopes for Olympic glory.
Colorado has the most representatives on the Team USA roster for the 2026 Milan Cortina Games that begin next week. Of the 232 athletes on Team USA, the largest American Winter Olympics team ever, 32 are from Colorado.
Colorado athletes comprise 13.8% of the total Team USA roster. The other states most heavily represented are Minnesota (26 athletes), California (21), Utah (17), Michigan (15), Massachusetts (15), New York (14) and Wisconsin (11). In total, Team USA draws from 32 states.
Notable local headliners for the Milano Cortina Games include record-setting Alpine skiers Mikaela Shiffrin and Lindsey Vonn, Carolina Hurricanes defenseman and Colorado College alum Jaccob Slavin, snowboarder Red Gerard, the figure skating pair of Danny O’Shea and Ellie Kam, and freestyle skiing siblings Birk Irving and Svea Irving.
Colorado is most well represented in skiing, with 18 skiers total: eight freestyle skiers, four Alpine skiers, two ski jumpers, two Nordic skiers, one Nordic combined skier and one ski mountaineer.
In addition to the 32 Coloradans on Team USA, the Avalanche also have eight representatives in the Olympics: Brock Nelson for the U.S., Nathan MacKinnon, Cale Makar and Devon Toews for Canada, Artturi Lehkonen and Joel Kiviranta for Finland, Martin Necas for Czechia and Gabriel Landeskog (who has been injured) for Sweden.
Here is the list of the Coloradans headed to the Olympics, according to Team USA’s official roster. This list includes a Paralympian, sled hockey player Malik Jones, though the U.S. Paralympic roster won’t be set until March 2. It also includes some athletes who are not native to Colorado but currently live here, and also does not include some Olympians who reside here but do not identify Colorado as their home state.
Coloradans in the 2026 Winter Olympics
Jaccob Slavin of the United States takes questions during media day ahead of the 2025 NHL 4 Nations Face-Off at the Bell Centre on February 11, 2025 in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. (Photo by Minas Panagiotakis/Getty Images)
This week, guest host Eric Boehm is joined by J.C. Bradbury, an economist at Kennesaw State University and one of the leading critics of taxpayer-funded sports stadiums. Bradbury is the author of a forthcoming book, This One Will be Different, on the “false promises and fiscal realities” of stadium subsidies.
Boehm and Bradbury discuss why stadiums rarely deliver on the economic benefits touted by team owners and local politicians, and how public officials, media outlets, and hired consultants help create the illusion that these projects pay for themselves. Bradbury explains why these deals often amount to a reallocation of existing local spending rather than genuine economic growth, and why taxpayers end up footing the bill for facilities that primarily benefit private sports franchises.
The conversation also touches on the Super Bowl, the Olympics, and the surge of new stadium proposals across the country. Bradbury makes the case that America is on the verge of another stadium building boom, driven by political incentives and public enthusiasm rather than sound economics, and argues that cities would be better stewards of tax dollars if they resisted the pressure to subsidize major sports projects.
The Reason Interview With Nick Gillespie goes deep with the artists, entrepreneurs, and scholars who are making the world a more libertarian—or at least a more interesting—place by championing free minds and free markets.
Every four years, the Winter Olympics remind us that athletic competition transcends the physical. It becomes a theater of national identity, where what athletes wear as they process into the stadium carries nearly as much symbolic weight as the medals they hope to bring home. The opening ceremony transforms some 3,000 competitors into walking embodiments of their countries, each delegation dressed by designers tasked with distilling centuries of cultural heritage into garments that must perform under scrutiny from billions of viewers worldwide.
The results have ranged from the triumphant to the peculiar. Lithuania’s 1992 appearance in Barcelona in Issey Miyake‘s radical pleated capes, donated free by the designer to the newly independent nation, remains among the most audacious statements ever made on Olympic grounds. Canada’s 1988 Calgary delegation arrived in fringed red trench coats and white cowboy hats, leaning hard into the host city’s Cowtown reputation. Then there’s the eternal question of how much nationalism is too much—how literally a flag should be rendered across a lapel or intarsia knit.
For Team USA, that question has had a consistent answer since 2008, when Ralph Lauren first partnered with the U.S. Olympic Committee for the Beijing Games. The brand’s preppy aesthetic, with navy blazers, white trousers, newsboy caps and rowing-club sensibilities, has become inextricably linked to American Olympic identity. The process begins roughly two and a half years before each Games, with the design team meeting athletes, researching host cities and building garments intended, as David Lauren puts it, to “become timeless.”
Milano Cortina 2026 presents what is perhaps the ultimate test: staging American athletes in one of the world’s undisputed fashion capitals, where sartorial scrutiny reaches its apex. The good news for spectators: many of these official outfitters—Ralph Lauren, Emporio Armani, Le Coq Sportif and others—make civilian versions of their Olympic gear available to the public. What follows is the best of it, from ceremony sweaters to alpine-ready puffers, for anyone who wants to channel the Winter Games from the stands or the sofa.
Williams and Storrie’s triumphant walk was closely followed and applauded by the watching crowds, with the two actors posing amid smiles and nods to fans.
The Olympics’ official Instagram account shared a carousel of photos from the day, borrowing a quote from the movie Mean Girls for the caption: “Get in, loser, we’re going to Milan Cortina 2026.”
Comments on the post include enthusiastic fans who pointed out that the choice of the two actors as torchbearers for the Olympics is an opportunity for representation for the LGBTQ+ community in the world of sports, one that “gives hope” for the future. One user wrote, “You guys are really iconic for this. You are really changing the world and having such a positive impact on it.” Others simply celebrated their Heated Rivalry fandom, like the show’s Canadian production company, Crave, which commented, “Call it seated rivalry because we were so sat watching this” on the post.
Connor Storrie, torchbearer for Milan Cortina 2026
Courtesy of Fondazione Milano Cortina 2026
Hudson Williams and Connor Storrie, torchbearers for Milan Cortina 2026
The Mayor of Milan, Giuseppe Sala, spoke out Tuesday amid reports that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents would have a security role during the upcoming Winter Olympic Games, which are set to begin in Milan on Feb. 6.
“This is a militia that kills,” Sala said in an interview with Italian media. “It’s a militia that enters people’s homes by signing permits for themselves … It’s clear that they’re not welcome in Milan, there’s no doubt about that.”
“At the Olympics, ICE’s Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) is supporting the U.S. Department of State’s Diplomatic Security Service and host nation to vet and mitigate risks from transnational criminal organizations. All security operations remain under Italian authority,” ICE said in a statement to the French news agency AFP.
People walk under Olympic illuminations representing winter sports, near Piazza Duomo, ahead of the Milano Cortina 2026 Olympic Games, in Milan, Italy, Jan. 26, 2026.
Piero CRUCIATTI/AFP/Getty
Sources at the U.S. Embassy in Rome told the AP that ICE would support U.S. diplomatic security details during the Olympics, but that it would not run any immigration enforcement operations in Milan.
A spokesperson at the U.S. embassy would neither confirm nor deny the reports to CBS News on Tuesday.
Despite his disapproval, Sala wondered aloud during the interview with Italy’s RTL Radio 102: “Could we ever say no to Trump?”
“I believe they shouldn’t come to Italy, because they don’t guarantee they’re aligned with our democratic security management methods,” Sala said. “We can take care of their security ourselves. We don’t need ICE.”
Milan Mayor Giuseppe Sala attends the Milan Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics cauldron lighting, in front of the Quirinale Presidential Palace, in Rome, Dec. 5, 2025.
Gregorio Borgia/AP
The reports of ICE’s planned role in U.S. security operations during the upcoming Winter Olympic Games came after Italian state television aired video on Sunday of ICE agents threatening to break the windows of a vehicle carrying a state TV crew as they reported on the events in Minneapolis, the AP reported.
The fatal shooting of Alex Pretti by Border Patrol agents in Minneapolis over the weekend, less than three weeks after Renee Good, another Minneapolis resident and U.S. citizen, was shot and killed by an ICE officer, have put the city at the center of America’s dispute over immigration enforcement and the tactics of its federal agencies.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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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