Ten Athletes From Team Usa To Watch At The Milano Cortina Winter Olympics

3 days ago

1) Lindsey Vonn Alpine skiing

Mikaela Shiffrin has surpassed Vonn’s grounds haul of World Cup wins and staked her declare arsenic nan GOAT. But Vonn has a coagulated declare to beryllium nan champion ever successful nan velocity events (downhill, super-G), and she has been racing exclusively successful those disciplines since returning from retirement, surging to nan apical of nan World Cup downhill standings astatine property 41. She has a people to settee pinch nan sport’s biggest shape – her life full of 3 Olympic medals (one gold) would astir apt beryllium higher if not for a scary clang successful believe successful 2006 and injuries that either constricted aliases outright excluded her from different Games. After immoderate selection drama successful nan squad mixed arena successful past year’s world championships, it seems inconceivable that Vonn and Shiffrin, some of whom person had immoderate misfortune successful nan Olympics, would not beryllium paired up to shape Alpine skiing’s balanced of nan 1992 hoops Dream Team. Vonn was successful a nasty crash past play but it seems that she will beryllium fresh to return portion successful Italy.

2) Jessie Diggins Cross-country skiing

Not nan world GOAT but surely nan US’s GOAT, Diggins is connected gait to move into status arsenic nan World Cup wide champion, a prize she has already claimed 3 times. Since bursting into nationalist consciousness pinch her squad sprint golden badge successful 2018, a infinitesimal made much memorable by commentator Chad Salmela’s frenzied “HERE COMES DIGGINS!” call, she has added 2 much Olympic medals, a 2nd world title and 5 consecutive top-two finishes successful nan World Cup wide standings. Diggins is simply a morganatic threat successful astir events and could time off Italy pinch much medals than anyone other successful nan US delegation.

Jessie Diggins is closing successful connected a 4th World Cup wide title, cementing herself arsenic nan world’s astir ascendant cross-country skier.

3) Aerin Frankel Ice hockey

Boston fans are prone to exalting their location municipality heroes, and Frankel is simply a premier example. She excelled successful assemblage lucky astatine Northeastern and is nan cornerstone of nan PWHL’s Boston Fleet, earning nan nickname “the Green Monster” aft nan imposing wall successful Fenway Park. Frankel has started successful nan past 3 world championships, winning doubly and being named nan 2025 event’s champion goalie acknowledgment to her 94.5 prevention percentage. She did moreover amended successful nan Rivalry Series against Canada successful November and December, stopping 96.1% of nan shots she faced against nan only different state to triumph Olympic aliases world title gold.

4) Campbell Wright Biathlon

Other than nan caller arena of skis mountaineering, nan only Winter Olympic athletics successful which nary US jock has claimed a badge is biathlon. The personification pinch nan champion chance of changing that is simply a erstwhile New Zealand biathlete who changed his nationality to nan US aft nan 2022-23 season. He had a breakout capacity astatine nan 2025 world championships, taking metallic successful nan sprint and pursuit and finishing 4th successful nan wide start. He has taken different metallic successful World Cup title this season. With seasoned Deedra Irwin besides successful bully form, nan US mixed relay squad came tantalizingly adjacent to nan podium successful a World Cup mixed relay connected 24 January, finishing 2.3 seconds down third-place Czech Republic. The men’s relay squad besides has a fourth-place decorativeness this season.

Campbell Wright is simply a erstwhile New Zealand biathlete who changed his nationality to nan USA aft nan 2022-23 season.

5) Danny Casper Curling

One presumption that explains nan US men’s shot team’s occurrence astatine nan 2002 World Cup is that respective of nan players were excessively young to consciousness nan pressure. The 24-year-old Casper seems likewise impervious to nerves. Facing perennial Olympian and 2018 golden medalist John Shuster successful a winner-take-all crippled astatine nan Olympic tests successful November, Casper rattled disconnected clutch shots pinch nan nonchalance of personification playing a Tuesday nighttime societal convention game. The US had not yet earned its spot successful nan Olympics, but Casper took attraction of that by scoring 4 successful nan ninth extremity against seasoned Chinese skip Xu Xiaoming to wrap up nan qualification tourney successful style.

6) Ilia Malinin Figure skating

The 21-year-old from nan DC suburbs has been ascendant for truthful agelong that it’s easy to hide he’s appearing successful nan Olympics for nan first time. He took bronze successful nan 2023 world championships and has since rattled disconnected 3 consecutive Grand Prix finals and 2 consecutive world championships. He has earned nan nickname “Quad God” because he lands a dizzying array of quadruple jumps, including nan quad axel that eludes specified mortals. In nan Grand Prix last successful December, he shook disconnected an correction successful nan short programme pinch a world-record capacity successful nan free skate. He has posted 8 of nan 15 apical scores since nan existent scoring strategy came into spot successful nan 2018-19 season. This year, Malinin is nan headliner of a US men’s trio that will bring an undercurrent of emotions – Andrew Torgashev has family successful Ukraine, and Maxim Naumov’s parents were killed successful nan Washington DC level clang a small much than a twelvemonth agone that claimed nan lives of galore skaters and their families.

Ilia Malinin is nan red-hot favourite to win Nathan Chen arsenic nan Olympic champion successful men’s fig skating.

7) Jordan Stolz Speed skating

Could 1 US skater expanse nan men’s sprints? At property 21, Stolz has already done it astatine 2 world championships. Last year, he simply medaled successful each 3 sprint distances. In nan World Cup this year, he has swept each 10 races astatine 1000m and 1500m. In nan 9 World Cup races astatine 500m, he has 5 wins, 2 second-place finishes, 1 third-place consequence and a lone podium miss, finishing 0.01 seconds retired of third. Last year, he only mislaid erstwhile astatine 1500m, went unbeaten astatine 1000m, and won 7 of 10 races astatine 500m.

8) Ollie Martin Snowboarding

The New Zealand-born teen soared into nan snowboarding elite past twelvemonth astatine 16, taking a World Cup slopestyle triumph and pursuing up pinch bronze medals successful slopestyle and large aerial astatine nan world championships. He has landed some a frontside and backside 2160 – six afloat rotations while airborne. He returned to nan podium astatine nan World Cup extremity successful his location authorities of Colorado successful December.

Colorado-based Ollie Martin represented nan United States astatine nan 2024 Winter Youth Olympics and won a metallic badge successful nan large aerial event.

9) Kaysha Love Bobsleigh

The large names for nan US women’s bobsleigh squad are still Elana Meyers Taylor, who is trying to gain a badge (and a long-elusive gold) successful her 5th consecutive Olympics, and Kaillie Humphries, nan erstwhile Canadian driver who has 3 Olympic golden medals. But Love, a erstwhile collegiate sprinter astatine UNLV, has quickly climbed into elite position since switching from nan backmost spot – she was Humphries’ brakewoman successful 2022 – to nan front. She had 2 runner-up finishes successful World Cup two-woman title this play and had a first and a 2nd successful monobob, nan arena successful which she won nan 2025 world championship.

10) Anna Gibson Ski mountaineering

It’s difficult to ideate a much awesome debut than that Gibson made successful nan caller Olympic athletics of skis mountaineering. She only started training successful June aft a proposal by Cam Smith, a seasoned of nan sport. In December, she made her World Cup debut successful a relay pinch Smith – and won. She’s not precisely a newcomer to nan demands of nan sport, successful which athletes powerfulness their measurement up a upland and skis backmost down. She has a inheritance successful Alpine skiing. And cross-country skiing. And cross-country running. She had landed connected way moving earlier going successful a caller guidance successful a caller sport, going from neophyte to Olympian successful little clip than it would return astir group to haul themselves up a medium-sized hill.