The 2026 Milano Cortina Winter Olympics are underway, with competitions running from Feb. 4 to Feb. 22. Winter Olympic sports are typically highlighted with figure skating, ice hockey, snowboarding and ski-related events such as alpine skiing and ski jumping. The Winter Olympics host much more though, including biathlon — a sport which combines cross-country skiing with rifle shooting, — bobsleigh, cross-country skiing, curling, luge, Nordic combined, short track speedskating, skeleton, ski mountaineering and speed skating.
This year’s games mark the debut of the women’s large hill ski jumping event and women’s doubles in open luge, and the first time the men and women will race the same distances in all cross-country skiing events. Women remain to not be included in the Nordic combined event — despite a fight to open the event to female candidates from Nordic combined professional Annika Malacinski.
Here’s my guide of what — and who — to watch in the upcoming weeks.
Opening Ceremony — Feb. 6 at 2:00 p.m. ET
The Opening Ceremony will mark the official start of the games, despite events starting on Feb. 4. Team USA has voted to have Erin Jackson, a gold medalist speedskater as a Flag Bearer. After only four months of speedskating, Jackson qualified for the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympics, where she placed 24 out of 31 in the 500-meter. She later competed in the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics 500-meter and became the first Black woman to win a gold medal in a Winter Olympic individual sport. This year, Jackson will be competing in the 500-meter and 1,000-meter speedskate.
Jessie Diggins — Feb. 7 at 7:00 a.m. ET, Feb. 10 at 5:45 a.m. ET, Feb. 12 at 7:00 a.m. ET, Feb. 14 at 6:00 a.m. ET, Feb. 18 at 5:45 a.m., Feb. 22 at 4:00 a.m. ET
Jessie Diggins has a long list of competitions lined up for cross-country skiing including the women’s 10km+10km skiathlon, the women’s sprint classic finals, the women’s 10k interval start free, the women’s 4x7.5km relay, the women’s team spring free finals, and the women’s 50k mass start classic. Diggins has announced she will be hanging up her skis after this season. She was one half of a duo to win Team USA’s first Olympic gold medal in cross-country skiing in 2018 before winning two more gold medals in 2022.
Deedra Irwin — Feb. 8 at 8:05 a.m. ET, Feb. 11 at 8:15 a.m. ET, Feb. 14 at 8 a.m. ET, Feb. 15 at 8:45 a.m. ET, Feb. 18 at 8:45 a.m. ET and Feb. 21 at 8:15 a.m. ET
Deedra Irwin looks to do the never-been-done and bring home Team USA’s first ever medal in the biathlon. She finished the 2022 Olympics in seventh place in the women’s individual 15k event and has continued to train in hopes of bringing home a historic medal. Jessie Diggins — Feb. 7 at 7:00 a.m. ET, Feb. 10 at 5:45 a.m. ET, Feb. 12 at 7:00 a.m. ET, Feb. 14 at 6:00 a.m. ET, Feb. 18 at 5:45 a.m., Feb. 22 at 4:00 a.m. ET
Jessie Diggins has a long list of competitions lined up for cross-country skiing including the women’s 10km+10km skiathlon, the women’s sprint classic finals, the women’s 10k interval start free, the women’s 4x7.5km relay, the women’s team spring free finals, and the women’s 50k mass start classic. Diggins has announced she will be hanging up her skis after this season. She was one half of a duo to win Team USA’s first Olympic gold medal in cross-country skiing in 2018 before winning two more gold medals in 2022.
Deedra Irwin — Feb. 8 at 8:05 a.m. ET, Feb. 11 at 8:15 a.m. ET, Feb. 14 at 8 a.m. ET, Feb. 15 at 8:45 a.m. ET, Feb. 18 at 8:45 a.m. ET and Feb. 21 at 8:15 a.m. ET
Deedra Irwin looks to do the never-been-done and bring home Team USA’s first ever medal in the biathlon. She finished the 2022 Olympics in seventh place in the women’s individual 15k event and has continued to train in hopes of bringing home a historic medal.
Cory Thiesse — Feb. 10 at 8:05 a.m. ET and Feb. 10 at 12:05 p.m. ET
Cory Thiesse is one half of a mixed curling duo looking to make history for Team USA. After a strong finish in the 2025 world championships and in the Olympic trials, the duo will make the first ever American appearance at the mixed event. They hope to take home the USA’s third Olympic curling medal and first for the mixed doubles match.
Chloe Kim — Feb. 12 at 12:30 p.m. ET
Chloe Kim is a two-time gold medalist in snowboarding’s halfpipe events. She’s made history twice, first in 2018 by becoming the youngest woman to win an Olympic snowboarding gold medal at just 17 years old, and then again in the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics when she became the first woman to win two gold medals in snowboarding halfpipe. This year, she looks to make history as the first snowboarder — man or woman — to win gold in three consecutive halfpipe events. Nerves wreck as Kim dislocated her shoulder during training just a few weeks ago and as it has been almost a year since her last major final competition.
Mystique Ro — Feb. 14 at 12:00 p.m. ET and Feb. 15 at 12:00 p.m. ET
Mystique Ro began her athletic career as a track and field athlete before trying to qualify for Team USA bobsleigh, who instead encouraged her to try out for skeleton. It was a good thing she did so, as she broke the USA’s 12 year medal-less run in the 2025 world championships. Ro looks to go for gold in her Olympic debut by competing in the women’s individual skeleton event and the mixed team event.
Mikaela Shiffrin — Feb. 15 at 4 a.m. ET and Feb. 18 at 7:30 a.m. ET
Mikaela Shiffrin is highly decorated and widely renowned as the greatest alpine skier of all time with disciplines in slalom, giant slalom, super-G, downhill and combined. At 16 years old, Shiffrin became the youngest American ski racer to win an Alpine National Championship. She has since won five Overall World Cups, two Olympic gold medals, and has 108 World Cup wins and 15 World Championship medals. In 2020, Shiffrin lost her father to an unexpected fall off the roof of their family home and struggled to bring herself to ski again. She later competed in the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics, where did not finish three of her four events. She credits this to severe mental fatigue and pressure. After persevering through these difficulties and continuing to compete, Shiffrin’s side was punctured by an unknown object after a serious crash during a giant slalom race on Nov. 30, 2024. The puncture caused severe trauma to her obliques and resulted in surgery and significant amounts of physical therapy to compete again. She has continued to prove herself time and time again, and looks to continue that this year in the women’s giant slalom and women’s slalom.
Brittany Bowe — Feb. 16 at 5 a.m. ET, Feb. 17 at 8:30 a.m. ET and Feb. 20 and 2:15 p.m. ET
If you’re thoroughly reading through this list, you’ll recognize the name of Brittany Bowe as the longtime partner of Hilary Knight. The speedskater herself will be competing in the women’s 1,000 meter, 5000 meter and the women’s team pursuit finals before hanging up her skates for good, so take advantage of the last time seeing her on the big stage.
Kaillie Humphries Armbruster — Feb. 16 at 1:00 p.m. ET and Feb 21. At 1:00 p.m. ET
Kaillie Humphries Armbruster has proved herself time and time again, with two gold and one bronze medal in the two-woman bobsled for Team Canada and a gold medal in monobob for Team USA. Humphries Armbruster has marked herself as the first and only woman to earn gold medals for two different countries after becoming a US citizen in 2021. As she looks to continue her gold streak, she has the opportunity to become the oldest woman to win a bobsled medal at age 40.
Amber Glenn — Feb. 17 at 12:45 p.m. ET and Feb. 19 at 1:00 p.m. ET
The individual figure skating events will host standout athlete Amber Glenn in their women’s short program and women’s free skate. Glenn is the oldest athlete to compete for Team USA in a singles figure skating competition in 98 years at 26 years old. This marks her first Olympic appearance after dominating in national and international competitions. She is known for being one of few American figure skaters to land a triple axel — a jump that involves a forward-facing takeoff and three and a half turns in the air. Glenn is also very vocal on her personal life, openly speaking about being the first openly LGBTQ+ Team USA women’s singles figure skater and her experience being a professional athlete with ADHD.
Ice Hockey — Varying Qualifying Events; Final on Feb. 19 at 1:10 p.m. ET
You may have missed Team USA’s game in Buffalo on Nov. 8, 2025 or their Olympic debut on Feb. 5, but there is still plenty of time to catch them before the gold medal final on Feb. 19. This team holds a list of athletes that deserve their own recognition with 11 returning from the 2022 Winter Olympic silver medal team. The roster includes six women who still play at the collegiate level, with Laila Edwards, Carolina Harvey and Kirsten Simms from the Wisconsin Badgers, Joy Dunne from the Ohio State Buckeyes, Tessa Janecke of Penn State, and Abbey Murphy of the Minnesota Golden Gophers. The team also includes many Professional Women’s Hockey League (PWHL) players including standout captains Hilary Knight and Kendall Coyne Schofield.
Edwards, the University of Wisconsin standout player is competing with the team in her first Olympic Games, and is making history as the first Black woman to play for the US Olympic hockey team. Edwards is known for her size, at 6-foot-1, and her ability to play as both a forward and defender. Edwards has also been the topic of many conversations after current and former National Football League (NFL) players Travis Kelce and Jason Kelce donated $10,000 to Edward’s GoFundMe to help send her family to Milan to watch the Olympic Games.
Knight is another key player as Captain of Team USA, and is often deemed one of the greatest women’s ice hockey players of all time. This will be her fifth Olympic appearance after winning one gold and three silver medals. She is also highly decorated in national and international professional and collegiate championships, notably receiving the inaugural International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) Female Player of the Year award in 2023. Knight is also one of many openly LGTBQ+ athletes on the women’s ice hockey team, and is notably dating Team USA speedskater Brittany Bowe who will also be competing in the 2026 Winter Games.
Coyne Schofield will be bringing her speed to her fourth Olympics with Team USA. Coyne Schofield is known for making history at the 2019 National Hockey League (NHL) All-Star Skills fastest-skater challenge as a replacement for a male player withdrawing due to an injury. She was the first ever female player to compete in an NHL skills competition, and while she finished in seventh place, she was only .948 of a second behind the top score and made history for women’s hockey. She is also one of nine founding members of the PWHL and served as the President of the Professional Women's Hockey Players Association (PWHPA).
Izabella Ducato is the Editor-in-Chief and can be reached at izabella.ducato@ubspectrum.com
Photo: Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons
Photo: Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons
