Olympics Predictions 2026 Winter Medal History: Top Favorites at Milano Cortina

Team USA comes into the Milan Cortina Games with a handful of gold-medal hopefuls in both individual and team events.

The Americans are typically in, or around, the top three in the overall medal count at the Winter Olympics.

The United States earned the second-most medals in Winter Olympics history behind Norway, who won the medal count at the last two Winter Games.

Germany, Austria and Canada are the other three nations that have earned over 200 total medals at the Winter Olympics.

The Americans should be in the mix to top the medal table in Milan thanks to some incredible individuals that have won in their respective sports over the last three years in preparation for the Olympics.

Ilia Malinin

Qian Jun/MB Media/Getty Images

Ilia Malinin comes into Milan as one of the top gold-medal hopefuls among the American contingent.

Malinin is the two-time reigning world champion in men's figure skating. He also won four United States titles in a row.

The only thing missing from Malinin's resume at this point is an Olympic gold medal.

Malinin won the 2025 world championship 31 points. He outscored his competition by over 10 points in both the short program and the free skate.

Anything outside of a gold medal would be viewed as a disappointment for Malinin with the way he's been skating.

If he wins in Milan, Malinin would earn the second straight American victory in men's figure skating. The last time the Americans won back-to-back men's figure skating golds was in 1984 and 1988.

Jordan Stolz

Dean Mouhtaropoulos/Getty Images

Jordan Stolz captured six world championship gold medals over the last three years in speed skating.

The 21-year-old from Wisconsin captured gold in the 500, 1,000 and 1,500-meter events in both 2023 and 2024. He medaled in each event again in 2025.

The world championship pedigree makes Stolz one of the top individual Americans to watch in Milan.

Stolz will be after four gold medals in Milan. He'll compete in the three short-distance events, as well as the mass start event.

Chloe Kim

Sean M. Haffey/Getty Images

Chloe Kim won the women's snowboard halfpipe competition in 2018 and 2022.

The 25-year-old is also a three-time world champion in the women's halfpipe.

Kim is in search of the rare three-peat at the Olympic level. She'll face tough competition from fellow American Maddie Mastro and Japan's Sara Shimizu.

Snowboarding is one of the sports the Americans should win multiple medals in. The United States is the winningest country by a large margin in Olympic snowboarding.

The Americans have won 35 overall medals, including 17 golds, while the next most successful country is Switzerland with 14 total medals.

Madison Chock and Evan Bates

Jamie Squire/Getty Images

Madison Chock and Evan Bates have been the most dominant pair in ice dance for quite some time.

The American duo won the last three World Championships and it has seven total national titles.

Like Malinin, the only thing left for them to achieve is to win an Olympic gold medal in their event.

Chock and Bates won gold in the figure skating team event in Beijing, but they have yet to secure an Olympic gold in ice dance.

If everything goes right for the Americans, they could win four figure skating golds. Alysa Liu and Amber Glenn will contend in the women's event and Team USA is the reigning winner in the team event.