By: Natalie Rosen
Every four years, the Winter Olympic Games turn snow and ice into the world’s biggest stage, featuring elite athletes in sports like skiing, snowboarding, figure skating, ice hockey, and bobsledding. In 2026, the Games head to Milan and Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy, for three weeks of high speed competition, history making moments, and unforgettable performances. As the 2026 Winter Olympic Games in Milan kick off, TLS students might be wondering, who should I be watching? While many incredibly talented athletes from all over the world will be taking the slopes and the ice, here are a few big stories to keep an eye on over the next three weeks.
One big name to look out for is Mikaela Shiffrin, an American alpine skier, specializing in Slalom and Giant slalom events. Slalom is an alpine event where the skier navigates between poles that are spaced closely together, requiring tight turns and sharp technique, while giant slalom is a slightly wider version of slalom. Born in Vail, Colorado and growing up in New Hampshire, Shiffrin continued her passion for skiing and even attended the elite ski academy in Vermont, Burke Mountain Academy. In 2011, at just 16 years old, she won the slalom event at the US National Championships and took home her first World Cup win the following year as the second youngest person to do so. Since 2012, Shiffrin has won 108 World Cup events making her the most successful alpine skier in history for both males and females. These Olympics will be Shiffrin’s fourth games, having won gold in 2014 and 2018. Unfortunately, at the 2022 Beijing Olympics, she did not finish in either of her events as she experienced a mental block causing her to return home with no medals, but still determined to bounce back until she hit another road block in November of 2024. Shiffrin crashed at an event in Killington, Vermont, sustaining a serious puncture wound to her abdominal muscles requiring two surgeries. Over the past year she has been working her way back into full health, battling through PTSD to win nine more world cup races. She is going into these Olympic games with her eye on redemption, hoping to add another medal to her collection.
Next up, with Milan being both of their third Olympic games, are snowboarders Red Gerard and Chloe Kim. Red Gerard, originally born in Ohio, moved to Silverthorne, Colorado where he experienced an unusual upbringing in which he primarily snowboarded in a backyard park that his parents built for him. He made his Olympic debut at the age of 17 in the 2018 Olympics where he took home a gold medal in the slopestyle snowboarding event, an event full of jumps, rails and other features. He unfortunately did not medal in Beijing in 2022 but in 2024 and 2025 he took home back to back golds in the winter X Games: a competition created to highlight young athletes with a focus on tricks and flips in skiing and snowboarding. Gerard has stated that he is riding better than he ever has and is looking forward to these Olympics. Like Gerard, native Californian Chloe Kim also started boarding at a very young age, quickly excelling to high level competition. By 14, she became the youngest to win a gold medal at the X games in the superpipe event, an event where athletes launch themselves over the walls of a 22 foot high half pipe structure, performing flips and tricks as they land and fly back to go over the other side. The following year, she again won the superpipe event, making her the first person to win back to back golds at the X games. Since then, she has won eight gold medals in the X games, setting a record as the most decorated women in the X games. At age 17, at the Pyeongchang Olympics, Kim became the youngest woman to win gold in the halfpipe event and came back to win it in Beijing four years later. Now, at age 25, she is chasing what would be a historic third Olympic gold.
Next is the star-studded American figure skating team. Young star Ilia Malinin will make his Olympic debut while veterans like Madison Chock and Evan Bates compete in their fourth and fifth games. Born in Fairfax, Virginia to two former Olympic skaters, Ilia Malinin began skating at the young age of six. He made his junior international debut in 2019 and just two years later, he won two gold medals in the Junior Grand Prix circuit. Since 2021, Malinin has become well known for his incredible technical abilities including his impressive quadruple jumps, earning the nickname “Quad God”. In 2022, he became the first skater to land a quadruple axel in competition: a jump considered the most difficult in figure skating. Malinin has won two world championships and is now looking forward to his first Olympic games.
Finding herself in the spotlight is American skater, Alysa Liu. The 20 year old skater from California was once a young rising star, winning a national championship at just 14 years old and making her Olympic debut in Beijing at 16. However, shortly after the games, she shocked the skating world by announcing her retirement from the sport. Just two years later, she shocked the world yet again by announcing her spontaneous return to the sport, this time truly happy to be skating again. In her first season back, she made a quick rise back to the top, winning the 2025 World Championships after just a year back on the ice. These Olympics are a true testament to Liu’s hard work and pure love of the sport, bringing her personality and smile to the ice and to team USA.
Finally, for some bonus highlights, American downhill skier Lindsay Vonn made a shocking return to skiing at the age of 41 after six years in retirement and a partial knee replacement. This season she became the oldest skier to win a world cup race, but with the Olympics just around the corner, she devastatingly crashed and tore her ACL. Still determined to compete, Vonn took to the slopes Sunday morning, pushing through every roadblock, and unfortunately crashed just seconds into her race: a shocking, unexpected crash that will bring her comeback to a heartbreaking end. Another unique story is that of the first ever Israeli Bobsled team, led by 2018 Olympian AJ Edelman. Alongside Edelman, Menachem Chen, Ward Fawarseh and Omer Katz will head to Italy to make history for Israel and represent the nation with pride.
To say these Games are stacked would be an understatement. From comeback stories and Olympic redemption arcs to historic firsts and record-breaking talent, these Games are shaping up to be unforgettable. Whether you’re a die-hard winter sports fan or just tuning in between classes, keep these names in mind as you might just witness history being made in Milan.