19 storylines to look at : NPR

[ad_1] <img src="https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims3/default/strip/false/crop/6000x3375+0+0/resize/1100/quality/50/format/jpeg/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fec%2F4b%2F07867a2d48d2b117f0ba4ff6bbaa%2Fdiptych-5.jpg" data-template="https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims3/default/strip/false/crop/6000x3375+0+0/resize/{width}/quality/{quality}/format/{format}/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fec%2F4b%2F07867a2d48d2b117f0ba4ff6bbaa%2Fdiptych-5.jpg" class="img" alt="Side-by-side photos of Alpine skiier Lindsey Vonn, NHL player Connor Hellebuyck and halfpipe snowboarder Chloe Kim." fetchpriority="high"/> The un-retirement of Alpine skier Lindsey Vonn, Olympic debut of NHL gamers together with like Connor Hellebuyck and return of halfpipe snowboarder Chloe Kim are amongst a number of the greatest storylines at these Winter Video games. Hans Bezard/Agence Zoom, Jonathan Kozub/NHLI , Maddie Meyer through Getty Pictures conceal caption

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Hans Bezard/Agence Zoom, Jonathan Kozub/NHLI , Maddie Meyer through Getty Pictures Need extra Olympics updates? Get our behind-the-scenes publication for what it is wish to be at these Video games.

There isn't any scarcity of Winter Olympics storylines to look at — and we're not simply speaking about sports activities.

A whole lot of athletes will vie for medals in 16 totally different sports activities over the course of a jam-packed 2 1/2 weeks within the Milan Cortina Video games. They are going to compete at venues spanning a virtually 9,000-square-mile swath of northern Italy, in entrance of in-person spectators (a welcome return after the COVID-19 restrictions in Beijing in 2022) and on a fair larger world stage.

Rising stars — and one new sport — are making their Olympic debuts, whereas acquainted fan favorites are returning, some in pursuit of a comeback after a few years away. Lifelong goals are on the road, however there are additionally geopolitical tensions, environmental questions and a lot extra.

Listed here are a number of the threads we're following:

1. Iconic American girls are chasing comebacks <img src="https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims3/default/strip/false/crop/5000x3333+0+0/resize/1100/quality/50/format/jpeg/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fa1%2F40%2Ff32723f746ea97d66fcc5f256b1b%2Fgettyimages-2258433734.jpg" data-template="https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims3/default/strip/false/crop/5000x3333+0+0/resize/{width}/quality/{quality}/format/{format}/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fa1%2F40%2Ff32723f746ea97d66fcc5f256b1b%2Fgettyimages-2258433734.jpg" class="img" alt="Lindsey Vonn grimaces after crashing in a women's downhill race in Switzerland on Friday." loading="lazy"/> Lindsey Vonn grimaces after crashing in a girls's downhill race in Switzerland on Friday. Fabrice Coffrini/AFP through Getty Pictures conceal caption

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Fabrice Coffrini/AFP through Getty Pictures Legendary American athletes — lots of them girls — throughout a number of sports activities are returning to the Olympic stage after years away. They could embody Lindsey Vonn, who retired because the winningest feminine skier in historical past in 2019 however returned to competitors after a partial knee substitute in 2024. She certified for the Video games at age 41 amid a triumphant World Cup season, however damage her knee in a crash only a week earlier than the opening ceremony. Determine skater Alysa Liu reversed her teenage retirement and now brings a 2025 world title and renewed love of the game to her second Olympics. One other former teenage phenom, halfpipe snowboarder Maddy Schaffrick, clinched a spot in her first Olympics at age 31, over a decade after retiring from burnout in 2015. And Alpine skier Breezy Johnson is aiming for redemption on the identical Cortina slopes that destroyed her knee and her final Olympic goals simply weeks earlier than she was set to compete in Beijing in 2022.

-Rachel Treisman

2. Worldwide tensions could also be uniquely excessive for U.S. athletes There's all the time a political dimension to the Olympic Video games, however this yr, U.S. athletes may face a uniquely tense environment. The Trump administration has sparred with European athletes over a variety of points, together with repeated threats towards Denmark's sovereign territory in Greenland. (The U.S. and Denmark males's hockey groups are scheduled to face off on the ice on Feb. 14.) Some Italian politicians have additionally voiced concern concerning the position of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) brokers who plan to assist with safety on the Winter Video games. Milan Mayor Giuseppe Sala advised native media that after the violence in Minneapolis, ICE brokers are "not welcome" in his metropolis. Vice President Vance, a frequent critic of European leaders, is anticipated to attend the opening ceremony on the Video games on Feb. 6.

-Brian Mann

3. NHL gamers return to the Olympics <img src="https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims3/default/strip/false/crop/4050x3000+0+0/resize/1100/quality/50/format/jpeg/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F6d%2F8c%2Fc821b43f4e7587cb5a2099234c5f%2Fgettyimages-2202569123.jpg" data-template="https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims3/default/strip/false/crop/4050x3000+0+0/resize/{width}/quality/{quality}/format/{format}/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F6d%2F8c%2Fc821b43f4e7587cb5a2099234c5f%2Fgettyimages-2202569123.jpg" class="img" alt="Brothers Brady and Matthew Tkachuk celebrate on the ice in 2025. " loading="lazy"/> Brothers Brady and Matthew Tkachuk are among the many NHL gamers set to make their Olympic debut for Workforce USA. Bruce Bennett/Getty Pictures conceal caption

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Bruce Bennett/Getty Pictures Olympic hockey hasn't included gamers from the world's prime skilled league for greater than a decade. Lastly, that period is over, and we get to see some unimaginable groups play in a best-on-best format (though the event will not embody a Russian group, as a consequence of Russia's invasion of Ukraine in 2022). Among the league's greatest stars, like Edmonton's Connor McDavid, Toronto's Auston Matthews and Colorado's Nathan MacKinnon, are properly into their careers with out having had the possibility to play for Olympic gold, and that adjustments subsequent month. The star energy on Workforce Canada alone runs from MacKinnon and McDavid to the legend Sidney Crosby and the San Jose Sharks' 19-year-old phenom Macklin Celebrini. The People aren't any slouches both, with Matthews, the Tkachuk brothers and a trio of gifted goaltenders led by Connor Hellebuyck, final yr's NHL MVP — they usually'll have their eyes set on the primary Workforce USA gold for the reason that "Miracle on Ice" in 1980.

-Becky Sullivan

4. Ski mountaineering makes its Olympic debut <img src="https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims3/default/strip/false/crop/6724x4483+0+0/resize/1100/quality/50/format/jpeg/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2Faa%2F74%2F900f87bb479986ec346cedb3514f%2Fap25054459587721.jpg" data-template="https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims3/default/strip/false/crop/6724x4483+0+0/resize/{width}/quality/{quality}/format/{format}/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2Faa%2F74%2F900f87bb479986ec346cedb3514f%2Fap25054459587721.jpg" class="img" alt="A 2025 Ski Mountaineering World Cup women's mixed relay event in Bormio, Italy." loading="lazy"/> A 2025 Ski Mountaineering World Cup girls's blended relay occasion in Bormio, Italy, the place the game will make its Olympic debut. Antonio Calanni/AP conceal caption

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Antonio Calanni/AP These Video games characteristic a number of new medal occasions and one totally new sport: ski mountaineering. In "skimo," because it's referred to as, athletes race each up and downhill, alternately carrying and carrying their skis in backpacks. Alpine nations like Italy, France and Switzerland are inclined to dominate in skimo (in spite of everything, that is the place the game has its roots), however there will likely be a pair of rising American stars to root for: Anna Gibson and Cameron Smith, who earned the U.S. its inaugural Olympic skimo spot with a historic World Cup mixed-relay win in December in Utah.

- Rachel Treisman

5. A brand new technology of U.S. curlers takes the rink For the primary time in 20 years, the U.S. won't be represented by curling legend John Shuster on the Olympics. Shuster competed in each winter Olympics from 2006 to 2022, and led the U.S. males's group to a shock gold medal on the 2018 Pyeongchang Video games. On the 2025 U.S. Olympic Trials, Shuster's group was defeated by a crew of Gen-Z curlers led by 24-year-old Danny Casper, whose group is presently ranked sixth on the earth. On the ladies's aspect, Workforce Peterson — led by sisters Tabitha and Tara Peterson — heads to the Olympics a second time. And Olympics newbies Korey Dropkin and Cory Thiesse, world champions in 2023, will symbolize the U.S. in blended doubles.

-Pien Huang

6. Mikaela Shiffrin needs to place her 2022 Olympic disappointment behind her <img src="https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims3/default/strip/false/crop/3391x2261+0+0/resize/1100/quality/50/format/jpeg/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F00%2Ffd%2Fb891d41b4467ae2a1067707b5dce%2Fgettyimages-2257580070.jpg" data-template="https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims3/default/strip/false/crop/3391x2261+0+0/resize/{width}/quality/{quality}/format/{format}/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F00%2Ffd%2Fb891d41b4467ae2a1067707b5dce%2Fgettyimages-2257580070.jpg" class="img" alt="Mikaela Shiffrin smiles after placing first in another World Cup slalom race in late January. " loading="lazy"/> Mikaela Shiffrin smiles after inserting first within the Audi FIS Alpine Ski World Cup Girls's Slalom in late January, simply days earlier than the beginning of the Olympics. Millo Moravski/Agence Zoom/Getty Pictures conceal caption

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Millo Moravski/Agence Zoom/Getty Pictures Mikaela Shiffrin is probably the most adorned skier ever, full cease. No one, man or girl, has gained extra races than Shiffrin, who has 108 World Cup wins, 12 season titles (in three totally different disciplines) and 5 total titles to her title. However Olympic success has proved extra elusive for Shiffrin. She has gained simply three medals in her three Olympic appearances — together with a shocking shutout in 2022 when she missed the rostrum in all 5 of her occasions. Then, in 2024, Shiffrin sustained a freak harm that might have derailed her profession. In a race that fall, she crashed and sustained a mysterious however extreme puncture wound that sidelined her for months. Now, although, Shiffrin has returned to prime type in her signature occasion, the slalom. She has competed in eight World Cup slalom races to date this winter and gained all however one (during which she completed second). You may must be affected person, although: The ladies's slalom is likely one of the final alpine snowboarding occasions of your complete Olympics.

-Becky Sullivan

7. The logistical feat of a widespread winter Video games Organizers are calling these probably the most geographically widespread winter Video games in historical past, spanning an space of roughly 8,495 sq. miles. They're co-hosted by metropolitan Milan and the Alpine resort city of Cortina d'Ampezzo, dispersed throughout 4 fundamental competitors clusters and 6 Olympic villages. Even the opening ceremony is unfold out, hosted primarily at Milan's historic San Siro Stadium with simultaneous athlete processions at venues in Predazzo, Livigno and Cortina. And, in a historic first, two Olympic cauldrons will ignite the motion: one in Milan and one in Cortina. The Feb. 22 closing ceremony will happen between the host cities, at a Roman amphitheater in Verona.

-Rachel Treisman

8. Might the U.S. win its first-ever biathlon medal? <img src="https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims3/default/strip/false/crop/4032x2688+0+0/resize/1100/quality/50/format/jpeg/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F51%2F4f%2Ff504ebb04f59bd42afd0b1f4c3de%2Fgettyimages-1801349216.jpg" data-template="https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims3/default/strip/false/crop/4032x2688+0+0/resize/{width}/quality/{quality}/format/{format}/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F51%2F4f%2Ff504ebb04f59bd42afd0b1f4c3de%2Fgettyimages-1801349216.jpg" class="img" alt="Deedra Irwin warms up before an event in 2023." loading="lazy"/> Deedra Irwin, pictured warming up earlier than an occasion in 2023, may very well be Workforce USA's finest hope for its first ever medal in biathlon, which mixes cross-country snowboarding with precision rifle capturing. Anders Wiklund/TT Information Company/AFP through Getty Pictures conceal caption

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Anders Wiklund/TT Information Company/AFP through Getty Pictures Biathlon is the one winter Olympic sport during which the U.S. has by no means gained a medal. Brutal! The game is approach larger in Europe, and athletes from nations like Norway and France have historically dominated. Then, on the 2022 Video games in Beijing, Deedra Irwin got here nearer than any American earlier than her when she completed in seventh place within the girls's particular person occasion. Now, she's again for a second strive. Like many American biathletes, Irwin took a winding path to the game. She did not even develop up round weapons — her first reminiscence of firing a gun was at a women' night time at her faculty's capturing vary — and he or she did not try the game till she was in her mid-20s, after pursuing a profession as a Nordic skier (and residing out of her automobile). In the meantime, the 23-year-old Campbell Wright simply scored his first ever podium end in a World Cup race. ("Not gonna lie, I have been wanting a podium fairly unhealthy. Perhaps an excessive amount of … however in the present day it labored out!" he wrote on his Instagram after.) It is the second Olympic look for Wright, who's ranked No. 10 on the earth, however his first for the U.S. after the twin nationwide switched his nationwide allegiance from New Zealand.

-Becky Sullivan

9. In-person spectators are again The COVID-19 pandemic restricted in-person spectators and required masks (with some exceptions) on the final Winter Olympics, in Beijing in 2022. Many athletes have shared that they are wanting ahead to competing in entrance of crowds, feeding off the power of a packed enviornment and getting to absorb the second with their family members by their aspect. Determine skater Alysa Liu, who competed in Beijing, advised reporters: "I had quite a lot of enjoyable at that one. Everybody's saying, 'Hear, that one's nothing in comparison with what an actual Olympics is like.'"

-Rachel Treisman

10. Environmentalists say the Video games are damaging a fragile ecosystem <img src="https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims3/default/strip/false/crop/4032x2688+0+0/resize/1100/quality/50/format/jpeg/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2Ff4%2F3f%2Fafa4bb5c45d4a2c1d6317a8a3fc5%2Fap26027581186693.jpg" data-template="https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims3/default/strip/false/crop/4032x2688+0+0/resize/{width}/quality/{quality}/format/{format}/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2Ff4%2F3f%2Fafa4bb5c45d4a2c1d6317a8a3fc5%2Fap26027581186693.jpg" class="img" alt="Clouds hang over the 'Seceda' Dolomites mountain in the northern Italian province of South Tyrol, which i" loading="lazy"/> Clouds grasp over the 'Seceda' Dolomites mountain within the northern Italian province of South Tyrol, which is internet hosting Olympic biathlon occasions. Matthias Schrader/AP conceal caption

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Matthias Schrader/AP The Italian Dolomites are a protected UNESCO World Heritage Web site, and organizers promised to make use of the Video games to "showcase the significance of defending delicate mountain ecosystems." However environmentalists say water sources are being strained, and building tasks have additional contributed to the "urbanization" of a mountain system already burdened by overtourism. Because the area faces hotter and shorter winters as a consequence of local weather change, most sporting occasions will happen on synthetic snow and ice. The organising committee estimates it's going to require 250 million gallons of water — the equal of almost 380 Olympic swimming swimming pools — taken from native rivers, streams and lakes, which environmental teams say may pressure the native ecosystem. Eight key environmental organizations in a joint assertion denounced the Video games' sustainability claims as "greenwashing" and identified that the organizing committee has didn't conduct in-depth environmental surveys of the affect of those adjustments on the Dolomite area.

-Ruth Sherlock

11. After doping scandals in Beijing and Paris, will Milan have clear competitors? The Milan Olympics open at a time of deep division amongst worldwide companies that police athletes to forestall the usage of performance-enhancing medicine. The World Anti Doping Company (WADA) has lengthy served as the worldwide chief defending clear sport. However critics say WADA didn't correctly examine doping scandals forward of the Beijing Winter Olympics, involving a Russian determine skater, and on the Paris Summer season Video games, involving a gaggle of Chinese language swimmers. "It essentially and sadly clouds the boldness heading into these [Milan] Video games," stated Travis Tygart, head of the U.S. Anti-Doping Company, in an interview with NPR. In a press release this month, WADA President Witold Bańka referred to as for unity. "We hope that, like us, you're feeling revitalized and desperate to work collectively to advance clear sport in 2026," he stated. However belief stays at a minimal, with the U.S. authorities withholding its WADA dues in an effort to press for reform.

-Brian Mann

12. U.S. determine skaters are poised to make the rostrum — and historical past <img src="https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims3/default/strip/false/crop/3854x2569+0+0/resize/1100/quality/50/format/jpeg/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F5c%2F66%2Fc6f8cbd640078c3ff113263efe42%2Fgettyimages-2255988293.jpg" data-template="https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims3/default/strip/false/crop/3854x2569+0+0/resize/{width}/quality/{quality}/format/{format}/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F5c%2F66%2Fc6f8cbd640078c3ff113263efe42%2Fgettyimages-2255988293.jpg" class="img" alt="(L to R) Alysa Liu, Amber Glenn and Isabeau Levito." loading="lazy"/> The lately nicknamed "Blade Angels" — Alysa Liu, Amber Glenn and Isabeau Levito — will symbolize Workforce USA in girls's determine skating. Jamie Squire/Getty Pictures North America conceal caption

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Jamie Squire/Getty Pictures North America That is arguably the strongest determine skating group the U.S. has despatched to an Olympics in years. The stacked roster of Alysa Liu, Amber Glenn and Isabeau Levito may win the U.S. its first girls's singles gold since 2002. On the lads's aspect, Ilia "Quad God" Malinin is favored for gold — and poised to turn into the primary particular person to land a quadruple axel (a bounce that solely he can do) at an Olympics. In ice dance, seven-time reigning nationwide champions Madison Chock and Evan Bates are in search of redemption after ending simply off the rostrum in Beijing in 2022. The U.S. can be in search of to defend its 2022 gold medal within the group occasion, with Japan now its fundamental rival in gentle of Russia's efficient exclusion from the Olympics.

-Rachel Treisman

13. Can the U.S. work its approach up the medal depend? The U.S. gained 25 medals in 2022, inserting fifth within the total medal depend behind Norway, the Russian Olympic Committee, Germany and Canada. Norway has lengthy dominated the Winter Olympics medal depend, going into this yr with a complete of 405 and a report 148 gold. The U.S. is hoping a few of that particular sauce would possibly rub off on its ski leaping group, which has gained just one medal ever, on the inaugural 1924 Olympics. After 2022, the ski leaping federations of the U.S. and Norway formally partnered to share coaches, coaching services and sports activities scientists. That has given the U.S. a lift and a minimum of one Olympic medal contender: 20-year-old Lake Placid, N.Y., native Tate Frantz, who moved to Norway to coach and work with Norwegian coaches and jumpers. "I might say it was extraordinarily necessary," Frantz advised NPR. "It pushes you astronomically." The U.S. can be hoping the return of NHL males's hockey gamers to Workforce USA will give the lads a shot at a gold medal for the primary time since 1980.

-Rachel Treisman

14. Workforce USA bobsled mothers may medal <img src="https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims3/default/strip/false/crop/6000x4000+0+0/resize/1100/quality/50/format/jpeg/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F65%2F7b%2F2001d21b4a408bab95c931597dc2%2Fgettyimages-2204222309.jpg" data-template="https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims3/default/strip/false/crop/6000x4000+0+0/resize/{width}/quality/{quality}/format/{format}/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F65%2F7b%2F2001d21b4a408bab95c931597dc2%2Fgettyimages-2204222309.jpg" class="img" alt="Kaillie Humphries holds her son, Aulden Armbruster, during the 2025 IBSF World Championships. She went through IVF treatments while competing." loading="lazy"/> Bobsledder Kaillie Humphries holds her son, Aulden Armbruster, throughout the 2025 IBSF World Championships. She went by IVF therapies whereas competing. Al Bello/Getty Pictures conceal caption

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Al Bello/Getty Pictures A number of elite athletes are again on the prime of their sport after giving start. Kaillie Humphries is again on competing in her fifth Olympic Video games (her second for Workforce USA; she represented Canada for her first three competitions — or 4, in the event you depend the yr she served as an alternate). She has a 1-year-old son, born after a number of IVF makes an attempt. "I obtained again within the bobsled 4 1/2 months postpartum, so it wasn't the best timeline," Humphries says, "I am not a spring rooster anymore." Nonetheless, Humphries is a prime contender in monobob, for which she gained a gold medal on the 2022 Beijing Olympics, and gained once more on the IBSF World Cup in January. She's joined by Elana Meyers-Taylor, probably the most adorned Black athlete in Winter Olympics historical past, and a fellow mother who's additionally again for her fifth Olympics. Meyers-Taylor returned to aggressive bobsledding after the start of every of her kids, now 3 and 6. "It has been fairly a bit on my physique," she says, citing years of breastfeeding, lack of sleep, again ache, and getting older, "I won't win each race and on daily basis would possibly look loopy and chaotic…However I would not commerce it for the world, clearly," she says.

-Pien Huang

15. U.S. males look to finish a 46-year medal drought in cross-country snowboarding <img src="https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims3/default/strip/false/crop/4869x3245+0+0/resize/1100/quality/50/format/jpeg/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F9d%2Fdd%2F8995fd584fa9af5b9cd0f523d67f%2Fgettyimages-2202659863.jpg" data-template="https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims3/default/strip/false/crop/4869x3245+0+0/resize/{width}/quality/{quality}/format/{format}/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F9d%2Fdd%2F8995fd584fa9af5b9cd0f523d67f%2Fgettyimages-2202659863.jpg" class="img" alt="Gus Schumacher, pictured at the FIS Nordic World Ski Championships Trondheim in 2025." loading="lazy"/> Gus Schumacher, pictured on the FIS Nordic World Ski Championships Trondheim in 2025, may earn U.S. males their first cross-country ski medal in virtually half a century. Lars Baron/Getty Pictures conceal caption

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Lars Baron/Getty Pictures Alaskan Gus Schumacher is the strongest medal contender for U.S. males, who've gained solely a single Olympic cross-country medal, Invoice Koch's silver within the 30K in 1976 in Innsbruck. American girls Jessie Diggins and Kikkan Randall took the first-ever U.S. gold in cross nation within the group dash in Pyeongchang 2018. Diggins gained a silver and bronze in Beijing in 2022. On the World Cup tour, Schumacher has proven he can beat the world's finest in middle-distance occasions within the skate snowboarding self-discipline. He is having his finest World Cup season ever, with two dash podiums on successive days within the final races earlier than the Olympics. Vermonter Ben Ogden is one other to look at. He has turned heads with daring ways within the extra conventional basic approach and has had good ends in skate snowboarding races, too. A tough reality, although, is the dominance of the Norwegian group and a powerful subject of Europeans. However do not depend the U.S. out for a medal within the four-man relay, it is a notoriously unpredictable occasion and Schumacher, Ogden and John Hagenbuch had been on the group that gained the occasion within the 2019 Junior World Championship.

-Eric Whitney

16. A number of snowboarders may land a historic three-peat U.S. snowboarder Chloe Kim turned the primary girl ever to win two Olympic gold medals in halfpipe in 2022. Since then, she's added jaw-dropping new methods to her repertoire, together with touchdown a cab 1260 (3 1/2 revolutions) in competitors — one other feminine first — and a 1440 in observe. She's aiming for gold once more, even after a last-minute shoulder harm saved her from coaching within the weeks main as much as the Video games. Two different girls are additionally hoping to turn into the primary snowboarders to three-peat in consecutive Winter Video games: The Czech Republic's Ester Ledecka in parallel large slalom and Austria's Anna Gasser in large air.

-Rachel Treisman

17. The U.S. sends its strongest lengthy observe speedskating group in a long time <img src="https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims3/default/strip/false/crop/4896x3264+0+0/resize/1100/quality/50/format/jpeg/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fee%2F13%2F6a07ad5a4ef3a529afe0162fedcf%2Fap26024500611015.jpg" data-template="https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims3/default/strip/false/crop/4896x3264+0+0/resize/{width}/quality/{quality}/format/{format}/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fee%2F13%2F6a07ad5a4ef3a529afe0162fedcf%2Fap26024500611015.jpg" class="img" alt="U.S. speedskater Erin Jackson, pictured in January." loading="lazy"/> U.S. speedskater Erin Jackson, pictured in January, is the defending Olympic gold medalist within the girls's 500-meter occasion. Matthias Schrader/AP conceal caption

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Matthias Schrader/AP The prolific Jordan Stolz — a favourite within the 500, 1000, 1500 meters and the mass begin occasion — is poised to make speedskating historical past unseen since U.S. speedskater Eric Heiden gained 5 gold medals within the 1980 Lake Placid Olympics. After a powerful end on the World Cup, Erin Jackson now heads to Milano Cortina to get able to defend her Olympic title at her third Video games, skating quick and turning left within the Girls's 500 and 1000. 4-time Olympian Brittany Bowe brings her a long time of inline speedskating expertise, explosive energy and approach to the Girls's Workforce Pursuit. The Girls's and Males's Workforce Pursuit — which includes two groups of three folks racing in tandem — goes to be scorching at these video games. Workforce USA has dominated this occasion over the previous 4 years, mastering the precision, approach and style that persistently yields prime outcomes. Skaters are a mirror picture of each other throughout each lap of the race. It's going to be very similar to watching synchronized swimming. Any slight misstep could be the distinction between coming in first or tenth.

-Rolando Arrieta

18. Some Russian athletes can compete, however not beneath their very own flag The Worldwide Olympic Committee (IOC) suspended Russia and its ally Belarus after the invasion of Ukraine in 2022. However it did permit a small variety of closely vetted athletes from these nations to compete as "Particular person Impartial Athletes" (AIN) in Paris in 2024, with none nationwide anthems, flags or colours (as an alternative represented by a turquoise brand). Comparable guidelines apply to those Video games, with impartial athletes' participation on the discretion of every worldwide sports activities federation. Russian athletes — even prime NHL gamers like Alex Ovechkin and Nikita Kucherov — will likely be noticeably absent from the hockey rink, whereas a choose handful will compete in sports activities together with determine skating, cross-country snowboarding and short-track speedskating.

-Rachel Treisman

19. Girls cross-country skiers will race on equal footing with males for the primary time Girls have lengthy struggled to attain parity on the Winter Olympics, and the 2026 Video games mark one other milestone. Feminine cross-country ski racers had been first allowed to compete in a single short-track occasion on the 1952 Winter Video games in Oslo. This yr, girls will compete in the identical variety of occasions — a complete of six — as their male counterparts. They're going to additionally ski the identical distances, together with the grueling 50k endurance race. "I am actually actually excited to have equal distance for women and men on the Olympics," three-time U.S. Olympic medal-winner Jessie Diggins advised NPR. Diggins plans to compete in all six occasions at Milan-Cortina. "I feel it is actually cool and an necessary option to present, particularly younger girls in sport, hey, you bought this," she stated.