2026 Milan Winter Olympics: Team USA's Athletes to Watch
Team USA is ready to break some records at these Olympics.
The 232 American athletes in Milan include veterans we may recognize from past Olympics, some of whom are among the best athletes in the history of their sport. There are some new faces mixed in as well — rookies who are ready to make a splash on the world's stage, and repeat Olympians who have come back hungry for their first podium finish.
Most of the athletes with medal potential are women. They dominated the last Olympics for Team USA, winning 13 of their 25 medals (men brought in eight, and four were awarded to mixed teams). Milan will be the most gender-balanced Olympic Winter Games in history, and the women of this team will certainly take advantage of having more opportunities to get hardware.
How will they size up as a team against other countries? The U.S. record for gold medals at one Winter Olympics is 10, from the 2002 Olympics in Salt Lake City. Meanwhile, the record for total medal count is 37, from the 2010 Olympics in Vancouver, where they also won the overall medal count.
If any team can beat these records, it's this uber-talented group. Here are the Team USA athletes to watch in Milan.
Women's Bobsleigh Team
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With a ton of experience under their belts, the American women's bobsleigh team is expected to do very well in Milan. Elana Meyers Taylor will compete at her fifth Olympics. She has five medals — the most for any woman in bobsleigh — but none of them are gold, so there's still something to prove going into what might be her final Games.
Behind the scenes, she's struggling with added stress at the worst possible time. Meyers Taylor shared on Instagram that she's engaged in an arbitration over the selection of her brakeman for the two-woman event, and that she's hired a lawyer.
Kaillie Humphries is another veteran of the sport with a strong history in bobsleigh. She medaled in three Olympics for Canada before switching to Team USA in 2021. She won the first-ever women's monobob event in Beijing, making her the first woman to win Olympic gold for two countries.
Humphries comes to these Olympics with a son, born via in-vitro fertilization after a long fertility struggle. Meyers Taylor has two children, so we can look forward to some enthusiastic hugs at the finish lines for both of these incredible moms.
Figure Skating Team
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Team USA's figure skating team is packed with talent, making them the favorite to win gold in the team event in Milan.
They're led by singles skater Alysa Liu, the 2025 world champion. After a disappointing Olympics in 2022, Liu shocked the skating world when she announced her retirement from the sport. She made a comeback in March 2024, and will compete in singles with teammates Isabeau Levito and Amber Glenn. They'll face Russia's Adelina Petrosian, who will compete as a neutral athlete, and a talented Team Japan.
Ice dancers Madison Chock and Evan Bates return for their fourth Olympics. They've won the past three world titles, so this could be their year to grab their first non-team medal.
But all eyes are on Quad God Ilia Malinin coming into these Games. At just 21, he already has four national titles and two world championship golds, thanks in part to his incredible quad jumps. The first person in history to land a quad axel, he's already known for pushing the boundaries of the sport.
Chloe Kim, Snowboarding
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Chloe Kim is after her third gold medal in a row in women's halfpipe.
She won her first gold at the 2018 Games at just 17, and repeated her success in Beijing in 2022. Now 25 and a veteran of the sport, Kim comes to Milan as the reigning world champion on halfpipe.
She also has a new trick up her sleeve: the cab 1260, which she competed at the 2024 X Games Aspen, becoming the first woman to do so.
But this Olympics might be her most challenging yet: Kim tore her labrum during a training run last month. The injury has restricted her training leading up to the Olympics. She said on Instagram that she's "good to go" for the Olympics.
Meanwhile, the 17-year-old phenom Choi Ga-on of the Republic of Korea will be right on her tail. At the Winter X Games XXVII in 2023, the then-14-year-old beat Kim's record for youngest gold medalist on SuperPipe.
Jessie Diggins, Cross Country Skiing
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This will be cross country skier Jessie Diggins' fourth Olympics, and also her last, as the gold, silver, and bronze medalist has announced she will retire at the end of the season.
Her rest will be well deserved. Cross-country skiing is already a grueling sport that requires incredible endurance and pain tolerance. But Diggins has also overcome food poisoning, brutal weather, a foot injury, and much more to make podiums, in turn becoming the most successful American in the sport's history.
When she's not competing, Diggins has become a staunch advocate for the issues that matter to her. She's been open about her struggles with bulimia, and is not afraid to speak about her values.
"I want to make sure you know who I'm racing for when I get to the start line at the Olympics," wrote Diggins on Instragram, who was born in St. Paul, Minnesota.
"I'm racing for [the] American people who stand for love, for acceptance, for compassion, honesty and respect for others. I do not stand for hate or violence or discrimination."
Ice Hockey Team
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Team USA's women's ice hockey team is a no-brainer: they've medaled at every Olympics since the women's event was introduced in 1998. They took the gold in a shootout in 2018, but settled for silver behind rivals Canada in 2022.
With Hilary Knight as captain for her fifth and final Olympics, the U.S. women have the chance to take back the title from Canada. Also watch out for 22-year-old standout Laila Edwards, who will make history as the first Black woman to compete for Team USA in ice hockey.
The men, meanwhile, are hoping for their first gold since the Miracle on Ice in 1980. With the reintroduction of NHL players — a first since 2014 — Team USA has a strong team that could rival Canada, its biggest threat.
Mikaela Shiffrin, Alpine skiing
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Mikaela Shiffrin's record is unmatched: with two Olympic golds and one silver, and 108 World Cup wins, the slalom specialist comes to Milan as the most decorated Alpine skier of all time and a favorite to pick up some hardware.
She surprised the world at the 2022 Beijing Olympics, where she failed to finish two events and underperformed in the other four. She's also struggled with post-traumatic stress disorder after a crash at a World Cup event left her with a stab wound.
But if we know anything about Shiffrin, it's that she knows how to rebound. This season alone, she's added seven world cup wins to her resume.
Erin Jackson, Speed Skating
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After becoming the first Black woman to win a Winter Olympics gold medal in 2022, Erin Jackson is back for more.
Now a 13-time world medalist, Jackson will race in the 1000 meters and will defend her 500-meter title in Milan. With three herniated discs in her back, she's learned to train smarter, with hopes that it will pay off with more medals.
She has a powerful ally by her side in teammate Brittany Bowe, who famously gave Jackson her 500-meter spot on the U.S. Olympic team after Jackson slipped at trials. Jackson would go on to win gold by .08 seconds.
Look out for her at the opening ceremonies, where she'll serve as Team USA's flagbearer.
Jordan Stolz, Speed Skating
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Jordan Stolz was inspired to take up skating after watching Apolo Anton Ohno's performance at the 2010 Olympics.
Now, he's on his way to becoming a speed skating legend himself. At 21, he holds the world record in the 1000m and big combination. At the 2023 World Single Distances Speed Skating Championships, Stolz won three events, becoming the first man to do so. He did the same at the 2024 Championships, winning the 500m, 1000m, and 1500m races. And in the most recent world cup series, he won 16 races and 20 medals.
Stolz didn't make the podium at the 2022 Beijing Olympics. But things have only gone up from there, and he's expected to bring home some hardware this time around.
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