About 30 Coloradans will compete in the Olympic Winter Games Milano Cortina 2026, and the state is sending more athletes than any other to the Games this year.
More than 230 people will represent Team USA.
The Opening Ceremony will start on Feb. 6 in Milan and Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy — this is the first year the Olympics will be co-hosted by two cities — and competitions will run from Feb. 4 to Feb. 22. Click here for a full schedule of events. The Closing Ceremony is set for Feb. 22.
Meet the Coloradans representing Team USA in the 2026 Winter Olympics below.
Editor's note: While some of the featured athletes below are currently training or temporarily living out of state, all of them have submitted Colorado locations as their hometown or consider the state their current home.
Annika Belshaw | Ski jumping | Steamboat Springs
Belshaw, 23, has been ski jumping since she was 9 years old.
She attended Steamboat Springs High School and grew up ski jumping at the Steamboat Springs Winter Sports Club.
In an interview with Steamboat Magazine, she described her career's trajectory, including her move to train in Norway.
This is Belshaw's first Olympics.
Results: Belshaw placed 7th in Mixed Team Ski Jumping and 21st in Women's Normal Hill Individual Ski Jumping.
Chase Blackwell | Snowboarding | Longmont
Blackwell nabbed third place at the FIS Junior World Championships in China in 2015 and has not looked back.
At the world cup, he has ended up in the top 10 finishes 11 times, including on the podium in 2023. In December, he placed fifth at the U.S. Grand Prix at Copper.
This is the 22-year-old's first Olympics.
Results: Blackwell placed 15th in Men's Snowboard Halfpipe.
Jake Canter | Snowboarding | Evergreen
This is Canter's first Olympics, an achievement that comes on the heels of a decade of work to rise in the ranks.
When he was just 15, he competed in his first X Games with a backside 1080 from the knuckle — earning him the silver medal, according to U.S. Ski and Snowboard team.
He also landed on the podium at the 2022 Laax Open, where he placed third in slopestyle amid tough competition.
Results: Canter won the bronze medal in Men's Snowboard Slopestyle and placed 15th in Men's Snowboard Big Air.
Jason Colby | Ski jumping | Steamboat Springs
Colby, 19, is headed to his first Olympics with the motto “Work until your idols become your rivals," according to the U.S. Ski Jumping team.
He is a 2024 and 2024 Junior World Championships Team Member and was selected for the 2024 Youth Olympic Games team.
Colby is part of the Steamboat Springs Winter Sports Club.
Results: Colby ranked 7th in Mixed Team Ski Jumping, 20th in Men's Normal Individual Ski Jumping and 31st in Men's Large Hill Individual Ski Jumping.
Lily Dhawornvej | Snowboarding | Frisco
The U.S. Ski and Snowboard team describes Dhawornvej, 16, as a "rising star in American snowboarding."
The teenager placed second in Next X and third in Street Style Pro at the Copper Mountain X Games in 2024, which earned her a spot at X Games Aspen in 2025. She secured the bronze medal in the women's snowboard Knuckle Huck there, the team said.
"Her father is a first-generation Thai American and Lily proudly represents the Asian American snowboarding community through her involvement with Soy Sauce Nation, which aims to promote diversity and inclusion in the sport," the team reported.
She trains often at Copper Mountain.
This is Dhawornvej's first Olympics.
Results: Dhawornvej placed 11th in the Women's Snowboard Slopestyle competition and 20th in Women's Snowboard Big Air.
Alex Ferreira | Freestyle skiing | Aspen
Ferreira, who specializes in the halfpipe, is returning for his third Olympics.
The 31-year-old started skiing when he was 3 years old and became competitive by the age of 10, according to Team USA. He comes from an athletic background: His father was a professional soccer player and his mother runs marathons.
He has won several medals, including gold, at the X Games in Aspen in 2019, 2020 and 2024.
Team USA reported that in the 2023-2024 season, he became the first halfpipe skier to win every competition he entered, which included five world cups, X Games Aspen, and the Dew Tour.
Ferreira competed in the 2018 and 2022 Olympics. He has won one silver and one bronze medal.
Results: Ferreira won a gold medal in the freeski halfpipe event.
Stacy Gaskill | Snowboarding | Golden
Gaskill grew up in Colorado and first started skiing when she was 2 years old. By the age of 8, she had learned how to snowboard and entered her first Boardercross race.
The 25-year-old attended the University of Colorado.
Gaskill competed in the 2022 Olympics, where she finished seventh in snowboardcross.
Results: Gaskill placed 14th in both Women's Snowboard Cross and Mixed Team Snowboard Cross competitions.
Red Gerard | Snowboarding | Silverthorne
Gerard is headed back to the Olympics after making history at the Olympic Winter Games PyeongChang in 2018 after he won the gold medal when he was 17 years old. Team USA said this made him the youngest American snowboarder to achieve this.
He has a nonprofit called Red's Backyard Foundation, which helps kids to enjoy outdoor sports at no cost.
Gerard, 25, completed in the 2018 and 2022 Olympics. In 2022, he placed fourth in slopestyle and fifth in big air.
Results: Gerard placed 6th in the Men's Snowboard Slopestyle competition and 20th in the Men's Snowboard Big Air competition.
Amber Glenn | Figure skating | Colorado Springs
The Texas native moved to Colorado Springs as she chased her Olympic dream.
She started ice skating when she was 5 years old. She is also only the sixth woman to successfully land the triple axel in a competition.
Glenn is an openly LGBTQ women’s single skater and a philanthropist, Team USA reported.
She most recently came in fifth at the world championships in 2025.
Results: Glenn won the gold medal in the figure skating team event.
Birk Irving | Freestyle skiing | Winter Park
Irving is part of a family that has dedicated much of their life to skiing — his father worked for ski patrol, his mother is a former alpine racing coach and his younger sister, Svea Irving, is also competing in the Olympics this year, Team USA said.
He was able to complete a 360 when he was 5 years old and signed with his first sponsor when he was 7, according to Team USA.
He listed Winter Park as his hometown and says he now resides in Steamboat Springs, according to U.S. Ski and Snowboard.
Irving, 26, previously completed in the 2022 Olympics. He finished fifth in the halfpipe.
Svea Irving | Freestyle skiing | Winter Park
This is the 23-year-old Irving's first Olympics. Her older brother, listed above, is also competing in the 2026 Games.
She finished every event in the 2024-2025 season in the top five.
Irving graduated from CU Boulder and is part of the Winter Park Freeski Team.
Irving most recently placed fifth in the halfpipe at the 2025 world championship.
Riley Jacobs | Freestyle skiing | Oak Creek
Jacobs grew up in a ski town. Loving the feeling of flying through the air, she pursued halfpipe skiing and has landed nine top 10 finishes on the World Cup circuit, according to U.S. Ski and Snowboard.
She has been a member of that team since 2021 and is currently with the Steamboat Springs Winter Sports Club. She attended the University of Colorado in Denver.
In 2024, she finished sixth at her first X Games.
This is Jacobs' first Olympics.
Tess Johnson | Freestyle skiing | Vail
Johnson began skiing when she was 2 years old and attended Vail Ski and Snowboard Academy.
Most recently, she won the silver medal for dual moguls at the world championship.
She competed in the 2018 Games as well, where she placed 12th in moguls.
Lauren Jortberg | Cross-country skiing | Boulder
This year marks Jortberg's first on the 2026 U.S. Olympic Cross Country Team.
She graduated from Dartmouth College in 2020, where she had an impressive career, where she finished on the podium five times and claimed two overall victories, according to the school.
This is her first time competing in the Olympics.
Results: Jortberg placed 30th in the Women's Spring Classic Cross-Country Skiing race.
Ellie Kam | Figure skating | Colorado Springs
Kam began skating when she was just 4 years old growing up in Alaska. After relocating to Colorado Springs, she qualified for the 2022 U.S. Junior Figure Skating Championships. After splitting ways with her skating partner, she started practicing with a new partner — Danny Shea, see below entry — and in their first season, they finished 12th at the 2023 World Figure Skating Championships, Team USA reported.
They finished seventh in the 2025 world championships.
This is her first time competing in the Olympics.
Results: Kam won a gold medal in the figure skating team event.
Elizabeth “Liz” Lemley | Freestyle skiing | Vail
Lemley is not only a dominant athlete — she has big dreams beyond skiing too. The U.S. Ski and Snowboard member hopes to join the Air Force and SpaceX in the future.
She made her debut in the World Cup when she was just 15 years old and recently won a Youth Olympic Games gold medal in the dual moguls competition.
Lemley, 20, won fifth in dual moguls and sixth in moguls at the 2023 world championships.
This is her first time competing in the Olympics.
Results: Lemley won the freestyle skiing women's moguls competition, bringing home a gold medal. She won bronze in the women's dual moguls.
Niklas Malacinski | Nordic combined | Steamboat Springs
Malacinski, 22, was named to the Olympic team on Jan. 22.
He had four top-20 finishes in the first four World Cups this year and is currently the only American man ranked within the top 30, according to NBC Olympics.
"Thank you to everyone who’s carried me to this moment: my supporters and sponsors who invested in the journey, the friends and strangers who cheered from far away and close to home, and the people who showed up in the small ways that mattered on the hard days," he wrote on his Instagram.
This is his first time competing in the Olympics.
Results: Malacinski placed 13th in the Nordic Combined Individual Gundersen Large Hill 10km race and 18th in the Nordic Combined Individual Gundersen Normal Hill 10km.
Oliver "Ollie" Martin | Snowboarding | Vail/Wolcott
Martin, a Colorado native, exploded onto the snowboarding scene in the 2024-2025 World Cup season, when he was just 16 years old.
He became the youngest snowboarder to ever land a 2160 and the only one ever to stomp both a frontside and a backside 2160, according to U.S. Ski and Snowboard.
At the 2025 Calgary Snow Rodeo, he stood on the podium and became the youngest male rider to a win a World Cup slopestyle event.
This is his first time competing in the Olympics.
Results: Martin placed 4th in the Men's Snowboard Big Air and 9th in the Men's Snowboard Slopestyle competitions.
Charlie Mickel | Freestyle skiing | Durango
A Durango native, Mickel grew up skiing at Purgatory Resort and trained with Durango Winter Sports Club. He is one of four men named to the U.S. men’s moguls team.
“Just to qualify is something that I’ve dedicated my whole life to,” Mickel said in a press release from Purgatory Resort. “I remember watching the Olympics in 2014 in Sochi, and I was like, ‘I want to be there one day.’ It’s a dream come true.”
For the past two years, he has been competing full-time on the World Cup circuit and achieved numerous top-10 results and secured his first World Cup podium in his career.
Results: Mickel placed 6th in Men's Dual Moguls Freestyle Skiing and 12th in the Men's Moguls Freestyle Skiing competitions.
Kyle Negomir | Alpine skiing | Littleton
"Nego," a 27-year-old Colorado native, most recently won 17th in the super-G at the world championship.
He attended Dartmouth College. He also works with SOS Outreach to mentor kids through exciting experiences in nature.
This marks Negomir's first Olympics.
Results: Negomir placed 10th in Men's Downhill Alpine Skiing, 26th in Men's Super-G Alpine Skiing and 19th in Men's Team Combined Alpine Skiing.
Brock Nelson | Hockey | Denver
Nelson recently moved with his family to Denver after he was traded away from the New York Islanders, according to the NHL.
He signed a three-year contracts with the Avs.
Nelson comes from a family of hockey players: His uncle won the gold medal with the U.S. at the Olympic Winter Games Lake Placid in 1980, and his grandfather and great uncle won gold at the Olympic Winter Games Squaw Valley in 1960. Plus, another great uncle won silver at the Olympic Winter Games Cortina d'Ampezzo in 1956.
"I mean, it gives me the chills," he told Team USA. "For me growing up, I didn't even really know any better; they were just family, it was just grandpa to me. Now obviously growing up and learning more about the game, playing and being involved, learning the history of USA Hockey and seeing what they did, it's all the more special."
He has played for five world championship teams for Team USA.
Results: The United States won gold in this championship for the first time in nearly half a century.
Nina O'Brien | Alpine skiing | Denver
O'Brien is back for her second Olympics after making her debut in Beijing, where she held onto the sixth-fastest run in the field in giant slalom before she crashed and broke her run, ending her first Olympic Games, Team USA says.
She ended up breaking the same leg 19 months later while training and missed the 2023-2024 season. By the World Cup in 2024-2025, she was itching to go and came away with back-to-back career high finishes in the giant slalom, the team said.
O'Brien, 28, splits her time between San Francisco and Denver.
She previously competed in the Games in 2022.
Results: O'Brien placed 20th in the Women's Giant Slalom Alpine Skiing race.
Danny O'Shea | Figure skating | Colorado Springs
O'Shea, 34, won the 2016 U.S. national title and the 2018 Four Continents Championship, and in 2020, he retired.
But in 2022, seeing that figure skater Ellie Kam needed a partner, he offered to practice with her, which led to an official partnership.
They won bronze together at the 2023 U.S. Figure Skating Championships and finished 12th at the 2023 world championships, Team USA says. They won the U.S. Figure Skating Championships the following year.
O'Shea is the oldest U.S. Olympic pairs skater since 1932 and the oldest from any country to make an Olympic debut since 1948.
Results: O'Shea won a gold medal in the figure skating team event.
Jake Pates | Snowboarding | Eagle
Pates picked up skateboarding when he was 8 years old. Skip ahead about a decade, and he had come in eighth in the halfpipe at the Pyeongchang Olympic Games.
The 27-year-old also skateboards and teaches lessons to inspire kids in his community, Team USA reports.
He previously competed in the Games in 2018.
Results: Pates placed 8th in the Men's Snowboard Halfpipe.
Hunter Powell | Bobsled | Fort Collins
Powell, 29, began his athlete endeavors with a focus on track, but then his passion turned toward the bobsled.
He is the second track athlete from Colorado State University to make an Olympic bobsled team, according to the school. He is the 23rd former CSU athlete to compete in the Olympic Games.
He is part of the four-man sled piloted by Kris Horn, along with Carsten Vissering and Caleb Furnell.
He is engaged to Kaysha Love of Utah, who is also headed to the Olympics in the bobsled.
River Radamus | Alpine skiing | Edwards
Radamus comes from a ski-loving family: His mother was a NCAA champion and decorated Pro Tour racer, as well as a coach, and his father is a former U.S. Ski Team coach and former director of the Ski and Snowboard Club in Vail.
He told Team USA his idol is Nikola Jokić.
He previously competed in the Games in 2022, where he finished fourth in the giant slalom and 15th in the super-G.
Results: Radamus placed 17th in Men's Giant Slalom Alpine Skiing and 19th in Men's Team Combined Alpine Skiing.
Joanne Reid | Biathlon | Grand Junction
Reid is the daughter of an Olympian — bronze medalist Beth (Heiden) Reid — and was an NCAA champion cross-country skier at the University of Colorado before she took up the biathlon.
The 33-year-old made her IBU World Championship debut for Team USA in 2017, according to Team USA, and debuted for the Olympics in 2018.
This will be her third Olympics.
Results: Reid placed 18th in the Women's 4 x 6km Biathlon Relay, 68th in the Womens' 15km Individual Biathlon and 72nd in the Women's 7.5km Biathlon Sprint.
Madeline "Maddy" Schaffrick | Snowboarding | Steamboat Springs
After nearly a decade away from competition, Schaffrick is returning to the U.S. Snowboard Halfpipe Team, according to Team USA.
She had retired at just 20 years old due to struggles with her mental health, she told Team USA in an article last October.
After some time away, she picked up coaching, ultimately joining the U.S. halfpipe team as a coach in 2022. A training trip reignited something in her and at age 29, she began to train again.
“I dealt with a lot of regret and self-doubt," Schaffrick told Team USA. "For a long time, I believed I couldn’t accomplish my goals. That I didn’t have what it took... (Now) I came back to reclaim my experience and do it differently.”
This marks Schaffrick's first Olympics.
Results: Schaffrick placed 15th in the Women's Snowboard Halfpipe competition.
Mikaela Shiffrin | Alpine skiing | Edwards
The most decorated alpine skier of all time is back for her fourth Olympic Games. She is 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 disciples, according to Team USA.
Recently, at the 2025 FIS Alpine Ski World Championships, she won gold in the team combined event after she had been sidelined for two months with an injury.
Last year, she announced that she would become part of the team ownership group of the new National Women's Soccer League in Denver, the Denver Summit. A few years prior, she launched the Jeff Shiffrin Athlete Resiliency Fund in honor of her father to help athletes who are struggling with financial to be able to train properly.
The 30-year-old competed in the Olympics in 2014, 2018 and 2022. She has won two gold medals and one silver.
Results: Shiffrin's turbulent, 12-year Olympic journey came full circle when she won the slalom by a massive 1.50 seconds to break her long medal drought at the Winter Games.
Jaccob Slavin | Ice hockey | Erie
Slavin grew up with his five siblings outside of Denver, playing hockey as kids, which sparked a passion and led him to play hockey for two seasons at Colorado College before he was drafted by the Carolina Hurricanes, Team USA reported.
The 31-year-old has played for the team for his entire professional career and holds the franchise records for postseason games played, goals, assists and points among other defensemen, Team USA says.
Results: The United States won gold in this championship for the first time in nearly half a century.
Cam Smith | Ski mountaineering | Crested Butte
Smith, a multi-sport athlete from southwest Colorado, is already an 11-time USA Ski Mountaineering national champion and a five-time North American Ski Mountaineering champion, according to Team USA. He also ready holds the course record for the three largest races for ski mountaineering: Power of Four, the Grand Traverse and the Gothic Mountain Tour.
Previously, he qualified for the Mountain and Trail Running World Championships to represent the United States
In December, he and Anna Gibson, of Wyoming, became the first USA Ski Mountaineering athletes ever to qualify for the Winter Olympics. This winter marks his first time competing on that stage.
Smith works as an instructor for the Adaptive Sports Center of Crested Butte, Team USA reported.
Hailey Swirbul | Cross-country skiing | El Jebel
What started as a way to stay fit in the winter for mountain biking grew into a much bigger passion for 27-year-old Swirbul.
In her spare time, she told Team USA that she lives to bake, paint and go fly fishing. She also participates with the Women Ski Coaches Association.
She also competed in the 2022 Olympics, where she finished fourth in the 4 x 5km relay for women.
Results: Swirbul placed 39th in the Women's 10km Interval Start Free Cross-Country Skiing race.
Lindsey Vonn | Alpine skiing | Vail
Vonn, the winningest speed skier in history, is ready for another go at the Olympic Games.
The 41-year-old specializes in the downhill and Super-G. She remains the only American woman to win Olympic gold in the downhill, according to Team USA.
She also holds the title for most victories by skier in those disciples: 43 in downhill and 28 in super-G.
In 2022, she published a memoir called "Rise: My Story."
Vonn is among a small group of American athletes that are making their fifth trip to the Olympics. She also competed in 2002, 2006, 2010 and 2018. Throughout those Games, she won one gold medal and two bronze medals.
Dylan Walczyk | Freestyle skiing | Summit County
Walczyk lists his hometown as Rochester, New York, but his family relocated to Summit County when he was 14 years old to support his skiing aspirations, according to Team USA.
He first earned a spot on the the U.S. Ski Team in 2013.
He is the first athlete to win the FIS NorAm Tour three times.
Walczyk competed at the Beijing 2022 Games, where he finished 16th.
Results: Walczyk placed 7th in Men's Dual Moguls Freestyle Skiing and 13th in Men's Moguls Freestyke Skiing competitions.
Landon Wendler | Freestyle skiing | Steamboat Springs
Wendler has been on the U.S. Ski and Snowboard team for five years. He is part of the Steamboat Springs Winter Sports Club.
According to the team, he has 10 podium finishes in the NorAm Cup, two podiums in the National Championships, three podiums in FIS competitions and three Open podiums.
When he is not skiing, he is playing hockey and DJing.
This is Wendler's first Olympics.
Results: Wendler placed 17th in the Men's Moguls Freestyle Skiing and 26th in the Men's Dual Moguls Freestyle Skiing competitions.
Cody Winters | Snowboarding | Steamboat Springs
Winters, 25, has been with the U.S. Ski and Snowboard team since 2022. He has become one of the few snowboarders in the world who has done well in both snowboard cross and alpine racing, according to the team.
Winters has earned several titles, including Nor-Am, Europa Cup, and junior competitions. In the 2024-2025 season, he claimed his first World Cup podium in parallel slalom and snowboard cross.
He attended Steamboat Springs High School and graduated in 2018. When he was 18 years old, he started his own company called Winters Window Washing to support his Olympic dreams.
Winters also competed at the 2022 Games. He ended up in 29th for giant slalom snowboarding.
Results: Winters placed 21st in the Men's Parallel Giant Slalom Snowboard race and 22nd in the Men's Snowboard Cross race.
Extras:
- Jakob Moch, a first-year student at the University of Colorado in Boulder, will ski for the German Olympic Team.
- Alvar Alev, a former CU Ski Team member, will represent Estonia at the Olympics.
- Several members of the Colorado Avalanche will compete in the Olympics for teams aside from Team USA, including Joel Kiviranta (Finland), Gabe Landeskog (Sweden), Artturi Lehkonen (Canada), Cale Makar (Canada), Martin Necas (Czech) and Devon Toews (Canada).
- Christian Soevik, a student-athlete at the University of Denver on the ski team, will compete for Team Brazil.