America’s top athletes will be chasing gold, silver and bronze while sporting red, white and blue this winter.
Team USA is gearing up for the 2026 Milan Cortina Olympics, which will be spread out across Northern Italy. The Winter Games will see the highly anticipated return of many American stars, and it will also set the stage for the next crop of U.S. Olympic champions.
After sending 224 athletes to the 2022 Beijing Olympics and coming away with 25 medals, Team USA will look to take things to new heights in Italy.
From reigning gold medalists to stars in the making, here are the top Team USA athletes to know for the 2026 Milan Cortina Olympics.
Mikaela Shiffrin, alpine skiing
Mikaela Shiffrin is the most decorated alpine skier in history, but she came away empty in Beijing.
At just 18 years old, Shiffrin earned her first Olympic gold in the slalom event at the 2014 Sochi Olympics. She returned to the Olympic stage four years later and earned a gold in giant slalom, as well as a bronze in the combined event, in PyeongChang. Beijing was a different story, though, as she failed to finish three of her best events and ultimately left without any medals.
Since Beijing, she has gone on to set records for World Cup wins and podiums. Now, she will look to stand atop the podium once again with an Olympic medal around her neck.
Lindsey Vonn, alpine skiing
Lindsey Vonn is out of retirement and trying to officially go out on top.
The 40-year-old alpine legend ended a five-year retirement in November 2024 with the goal of returning to the Olympics, where she is a three-time medalist. Should she make Team USA for Milan Cortina, she would be the oldest U.S. Olympic alpine skier of all time by five years.
Chloe Kim, snowboarding
Chloe Kim is aiming for a snowboarding three-peat.
The California kid flew onto the scene in PyeongChang when she won halfpipe gold at just 17 years old. She defended her title in Beijing before taking a full season off, only to return by winning consecutive X Games titles in 2024 and 2025.
Not even Shaun White won his three Olympic halfpipe golds consecutively, so Kim is chasing truly rarified air in Milan Cortina.
Madison Chock and Evan Bates, figure skating
Madison Chock and Evan Bates exchanged rings since the last time they skated together at the Olympics.
The couple got married in June 2024, two years after competing together in Beijing. Chock and Bates placed fourth in the ice dance event and seemingly earned silver in the team event. However, the International Olympic Committee disqualified the Russian Olympic Committee from the event, resulting in Team USA moving up to gold. Chock, Bates and the rest of the team received their gold medals during a ceremony at the Paris Olympics last August.
Chock and Bates won another gold at the 2025 World Figure Skating Championships in March and will be the returning faces of U.S. figure skating for Milan Cortina.
Ilia Malinin, figure skating
Meet the “Quad God.”
Ilia Malinin missed out on the 2022 Olympics as a 17-year-old, but he has since worked his way to the top of male figure skating. He has won nine straight events dating back to December 2023 and picked up back-to-back world championship titles, earning his nickname along the way by becoming the first skater to land a clean quadruple axel in competition.
Malinin will look to join Dick Button (1948) as the second American to win men’s singles gold in his Olympic debut.
Alysa Liu, figure skating
Team USA can send up to three women’s singles figure skaters to Milan Cortina, and their top three options could all contend for medals.
Alysa Liu is the headliner. The 19-year-old from Clovis, California, landed gold at this year’s world championships. She is also the youngest ever U.S. women’s singles champion after winning the national championships in 2019 at just 13 years old and was the youngest member of Team USA across any sport at the 2022 Olympics.
However, Liu isn’t the reigning U.S. champion …
Amber Glenn, figure skating
Instead, it was Amber Glenn that came out on top at the U.S. Championships in March, as she eked out gold over Liu by just 1.46 points.
It was the second straight national championship for Glenn, who earned her first gold in 2024 after collecting bronze in 2023 and silver in 2021.
Glenn was an alternate for the Beijing Games, and the stage is set for her to shine in Milan Cortina.
Isabeau Levito, figure skating
Isabeau Levito’s streak of three straight U.S. Championships medals came to an end this year due to a foot injury that kept her out of the competition. She was able to return to the ice in time for this year’s world championships and placed fourth, just ahead of fifth-place Glenn.
Between Liu, Glenn and Levito, there’s a possibility for an all-American podium in the women’s singles event at the 2026 Olympics.
Jordan Stolz, speed skating
Stolz is the new kid on the block for Team USA, and he has a chance to make American speed skating history.
The Wisconsin native was the youngest speed skater in Beijing, and he has since skated his way to the front of the pack. He is the two-time reigning world champion in the 500m, 1,000m and 1,500m while holding the world record in the 1,000m.
Stolz can join Apolo Ohno as a three-time medalist at a single Olympics, and based on his recent track record, there’s a chance he can come away with three golds.
Erin Jackson, speed skating
Erin Jackson made American history at the Beijing Games when she became the first Black woman to win gold in an individual event at the Winter Olympics.
She heads to her third Olympics looking to defend her title in the 500m.
Brittany Bowe, speed skating
While Jackson excels in the 500m, Brittany Bowe specializes in the 1,000m, earning bronze in Beijing after placing fourth in PyeongChang. The 1,000m bronze in 2022 was the second Olympic medal of her career, as she picked up a bronze in the team pursuit event four years earlier.
Bowe made her Olympic debut in Sochi by competing in four speed skating events.
Alex Ferreira, freestyle skiing
Alex Ferreira has medaled in the freestyle skiing halfpipe event at the last two Olympics, claiming bronze in Beijing after earning silver in PyeongChang.
He has dominated the sport since, completing a perfect 2023-24 season by winning every contest he entered. The Aspen, Colorado, native will look to carry that momentum into the halfpipe in Italy as he goes for gold.
Julia Marino, snowboarding
Julia Marino and her Prada snowboard are a perfect match for Milan.
The snowboarder earned silver in style during the snowboard slopestyle event at the 2022 Olympics, even though she had to cover up the logo on her board. She admitted the snowboard controversy played a role in her pulling out of the big air event.
Jessie Diggins, cross-country skiing
“Here comes Diggins!”
Jessie Diggins made history — and gave fans the iconic call from broadcaster Chad Salmela — when she clinched Team USA’s first ever cross-country skiing gold medal in PyeongChang.
She has an Olympic medal of every color, but she can become the first American cross-country skier to win an individual gold when she competes at her fourth Winter Games.
Elana Meyers Taylor, bobsled
American bobsled legend Elana Meyers Taylor is gearing up for her fifth Olympics.
Meyers Taylor medaled in each of her first four Olympic appearances: one bronze in 2010, one silver in 2014, one silver in 2018 and one silver to go along with one bronze in 2022. Her five medals make her the most decorated Black athlete in Winter Olympic history.
She capped off her trip to Beijing by stepping into the role as the Team USA flagbearer for the Closing Ceremony.
Kaillie Humphries, bobsled
After representing Canada at three straight Olympics, Kallie Humphries joined Team USA for Beijing and earned a gold medal in the process.
Humphries raced for Canada at the 2010, 2014 and 2018 Olympics, compiling two golds and one bronze in that span. She switched to representing the U.S. in 2019 over abuse and harassment she alleges she faced within Canadian bobsledding. She got her U.S. citizenship just months before the 2022 Olympics and she went on to win gold in the inaugural women’s monobob event.
Auston Matthews, ice hockey
Auston Matthews is expected to wear the “C” for Team USA when NHL stars return to the Olympic stage.
NHL players have not been at the Olympics since 2014. The top American pros will look to get the country back on the podium for the first time since 2010, when Team USA lost a overtime heartbreaker against Canada in Vancouver.
The Toronto Maple Leafs center has already captained Team USA on the international stage during the inaugural 4 Nations Face-Off, which also resulted in a championship loss to Canada.
Hilary Knight, ice hockey
Speaking of hockey captains, Hilary Knight will lead the charge for the U.S. women’s team in Milan Cortina after captaining the team to gold at the 2025 world championships.
Knight is suiting up for her fifth Olympics and chasing her fifth medal after collecting one gold and three silvers in her previous trips. She can become the third ice hockey player (men’s or women’s) to earn five Olympic medals should Team USA finish in a podium position.
Kendall Coyne Schofield, ice hockey
Like Knight, Coyne Schofield has become a cornerstone player for the U.S. women’s hockey team.
She wore the “C” patch as the captain for Team USA in Beijing and posted six points (three goals and three assists) across seven games en route to a silver medal. She has seven goals and eight assists in her Olympic career so far.
Laila Edwards, ice hockey
Laila Edwards is looking to add an Olympic gold medal to a trophy collection that already includes a world championship gold and two NCAA championships.
Edwards was one of three University of Wisconsin players up for the Patty Kazmaier Memorial Award, the highest individual honor in women’s college hockey, this spring. It marked the first time all three finalists came from the school, and it should come as no surprise that Edwards and the Badgers wound up winning a record eighth national title.
Matthew and Brady Tkachuk, ice hockey
Matthew and Brady Tkachuk bring a brotherly connection to Team USA.
The Tkachuk brothers were a force in the 4 Nations Face-Off. They each tallied three points during the tournament, and they also help set a physical tone that Team USA can build on for Milan Cortina.
from NBC Chicago https://ift.tt/kup2DT1
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