Athletes to Watch at the 2026 Winter Olympics

Nine athletes from Oregon and Washington will participate in freestyle skiing, alpine skiing, snowboarding, speed skating, and curling.

The North Country of New York will be represented by at least nine athletes, primarily in luge and ice hockey.

Team USA and Canada will field the largest teams from the Americas, with over 200 athletes each.

Athletes from 15 countries across the Americas will compete in the games.

The Games will be held from February 6th to 22nd.

Freestyle Skiing: Hunter Hess from Bend, Oregon, will compete in freestyle skiing halfpipe.

Alpine Skiing: Jacqueline Wiles from Portland, Oregon, will participate in alpine skiing.

Snowboarding: Sean FitzSimons from Hood River and Alessandro Barbieri from Portland will compete in snowboarding.

Speed Skating: Corinne Stoddard (Federal Way, WA), Eunice Lee (Bellevue, WA), and Cooper McLeod (Mount Vernon, WA) will represent in speed skating.

Curling: Ben Richardson (Issaquah, WA) and Luc Violette (Granite Falls, WA) will compete in curling.

Tate Frantz (ski jumper), Sean Hollander and Sophia Kirby (doubles luge) all grew up in Lake Placid.

Emily Fischnaller (luge) has family in the Adirondacks.

Kaila Kuhn (aerial skier) trained in Lake Placid.

Jonny Gustafson (luge) is a native of Massena.

Rowan Tanguay (biathlon) is a student at Paul Smith’s College.

Haley Winn and Savannah Harmon (ice hockey) are Clarkson University graduates.

The United States will send 230 athletes, including stars like Mikael Shiffrin, Lindsey Vonn, Chloe Kim, and Jessie Diggins.

Canada will have 206 athletes, including its men’s and women’s ice hockey teams, Félix Roussel, and Katherine Stewart-Jones.

Other countries represented include Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Chile, Ecuador, Haiti, Jamaica, Mexico, Puerto Rico, Trinidad and Tobago, Uruguay, and Venezuela.

Q: When are the 2026 Winter Olympics?

Q: Which cities are hosting the 2026 Winter Olympics?

Q: How many athletes are expected to participate?

The 2026 Winter Olympics will showcase a diverse range of athletes from various regions.

Keep an eye on athletes from the Pacific Northwest and the North Country of New York.

Team USA and Canada are expected to be strong contenders, with large delegations and star athletes.

Athletes from across the Americas will be participating, representing a wide array of countries and sports.