2026 Winter Olympics Latest Odds for Top Superstars and Medal Favorites

It's less than one week until the 2026 Winter Olympics kick off with the Opening Ceremony on February 6. 

World Cup, world championship and national championship events are concluding as the largest contingent of Winter Olympics athletes ever begins to make its way to Italy for the Games, which also feature more sports (16) than any previous Winter Olympics. 

Which superstars are expected to land atop the podium in marquee events like figure skating, snowboarding and alpine skiing? Which nations are expected to win the most overall medals and the most gold medals? 

Here are the latest odds and predictions ahead of the 2026 Winter Olympics.

Medal Count Odds

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Most Overall Medals

Norway (-250)

Germany (+500)

United States (+750)

Most Gold Medals

Norway (-170)

Germany (+470)

United States (+500)

When it comes to both overall medal count and gold medal count, Norway is the odds-on favorite at the Winter Olympics. The nation has 405 medals overall, 148 of them gold. Compare that to the United States, which sits in second position in the all-time medal table, with 330 total, 114 gold. 

Norway's Olympic dominance comes in large part, of course, from its strength in Nordic sports, such as cross-country skiing, ski jumping, Nordic Combined (which blends the two) and biathlon. 

The United States excels in many different areas; the ones most people think of are speed skating and figure skating, alpine skiing and snowboarding. The NHL allowing its players to compete in the Milano Cortina 2026 Games for the first time since 2014 also gives the U.S. a strong chance to challenge Canada for ice hockey gold. 

Though Germany is third on the medal table (267 total, 105 gold), this is largely because the nation has competed in 13 Winter Olympics to Norway and the United States' 24 appearances. Germany excels in luge, biathlon and bobsled. 

Odds via OddsShark

Top Superstars Predictions

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Mikaela Shiffrin (USA), Alpine Skiing

Since the Beijing 2022 Games, Shiffrin has set and extended the record for World Cup wins to become the indisputable winningest alpine skier of all time. The Milano Cortina Games will mark Shiffrin's fourth consecutive Olympic appearance since Sochi 2014. There, she earned slalom gold. At Pyeongchang 2018, she would add giant slalom gold and super combined silver to her collection. Shiffrin competed at six events at Beijing 2022 but didn't land on any podiums. With a new mindset and a focus on her best events heading into Cortina, she will be the gold medal favorite in slalom.

Ilia Malinin (USA), Figure Skating

At only 21 years old, Ilia Malinin has redefined what is possible in figure skating, earning the nickname "Quad God" for being the only skater to have landed a quadruple axel, once thought to be impossible, in competition. It's somewhat shocking to contemplate that the four-time national champion and two-time world champion will be making his Olympic debut in Milan, but it would be even more shocking to see him walk away without at least one gold medal, in the men's singles event.

Scotty James (AUS), Snowboarding

There is a select group of riders who are progressing men's halfpipe to a level that may have seemed impossible just a few years ago, and the viewers are reaping the benefits. At Beijing 2022, it was Japan's Ayumu Hirano, who landed the first-ever triple cork in Olympic competition to win gold. This time around, Scotty James has a legitimate shot to prevent a title defense on Hirano's part. The Aussie snowboarder, who has already won Olympic bronze and silver, will be looking for his first gold with a triple cork of his own now in his arsenal. 

Francesco Friedrich (GER), Bobsled  

The word for what Francesco Friedrich has done in bobsled is dominant. In three previous Olympic appearances, he has earned four gold medals. On top of that, at 35, he's amassed 18 world titles. If Friedrich can win gold at Milano Cortina 2026 in just one of the two events he did so at Beijing 2022, two-man and four-man, he will become the first athlete in his sport to win five Olympic gold medals. Then he could become the first to win six. 

Eileen Gu (CHN): Freestyle Skiing 

It's extremely rare for a freestyle skier or snowboarder to excel enough at both halfpipe and slopestyle disciplines that she can qualify to compete in both at the Olympics. But Eileen Gu is an extremely rare talent. The all-around star can do anything on skis, as she proved at the Beijing 2022 Games, when she made history as the first freestyle skier to win three medals at a single Games: gold in big air and halfpipe and silver in slopestyle. As wild as it may sound, she's a favorite to take gold in all three in Livigno.