There are only two days until the first game of the Winter Olympics and four days until the opening ceremony. There is a lot of excitement about the Olympics being held in Italy for the first time since 2006.
A list like this is never complete, but we’ve picked out the 26 favorite American athletes (and a few extras) to watch in northern Italy this month. Plus, watch our top international athletes.
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summer britcher, luge
The 31-year-old Britcher, a two-time World Cup Tour winner this season, has emerged as the U.S. luge team’s top medal hope. The women’s program will begin on February 9th.
Madison Chalk and Evan Bates, figure skating
The ice dance duo are five-time defending U.S. champions and have won the last three world figure skating championships. One thing missing from Jock, 33, and Bates, 36, though, is an Olympic champion in the sport. They hope to change that in Milan. Figure skating starts on Friday and ice dancing on February 9th.
Ryan Cochran-Siegel, alpine skiing
Cochrane-Siegel, 33, is the 2022 Beijing Olympics super-G silver medalist and was in strong form again ahead of Italy. He has been on the World Cup podium twice this season – including Sunday in the final downhill race before the Olympics – and was successful in the Italian town of Bormio, which hosts the men’s alpine race. His only World Cup win came in the 2020 super-G. The men’s events begin with the downhill race on Saturday.
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Jesse Diggins, cross-country skiing
The best American cross-country skier of all time will compete in her fourth and final Olympics and plans to retire after the World Cup season. Diggins, 34, won silver and bronze medals at the Beijing Olympics and won gold in the team sprint in 2018 with Kikkan Randall. Cross-country skiing begins Saturday.
Leila Edwards, field hockey
Edwards, 22, is a two-time national champion at Wisconsin and became the youngest-ever World Championship MVP in 2024 at age 20. She is the first black woman to play for a senior national team and was awarded the 2024 Bob Allen Award as the best American-born women’s hockey player. The U.S. women’s soccer team’s first game is Thursday against the Czech Republic.
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Alex Ferreira, freestyle skiing
After winning silver in 2018 and bronze in 2022, the ski halfpipe specialist is seeking his first career Olympic gold. The 31-year-old has won 12 times during his World Cup journey. The freestyle halfpipe competition will begin on February 19th.
Chevonne Chelsea Forgan and Sophia Kirkby, luge
The luge pair is third in the World Cup doubles standings and has bronze medals at the 2022 and 2024 World Championships. They will make their Olympic debut when the women’s doubles competition is introduced at the Games on February 11.
red gerald, snowboarding
Gerrard, 25, won slopestyle gold in 2018 and may be in his best form yet in the event, having won gold at the X Games in each of the past two years. The men’s slopestyle competition will begin on February 16th.
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Amber Glenn, figure skating
It took Glen a while to regain her form after sitting out for mental health reasons in 2015, but she has won the 2024 Grand Prix Final and the last three U.S. Championships. The 26-year-old will be a gold medal contender when the women’s singles competition begins on February 17.
Alex Hall, freestyle skiing
Hall’s Italian mother has a laid-back personality and lived near Zurich, Switzerland as a child. She is the 2022 slopestyle gold medalist. The 27-year-old freestyle skier has won a total of 14 medals at the X Games during his career. The men’s slopestyle competition begins on Saturday.
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Connor Helleback, field hockey
Team USA is lucky to have the best goaltender in the NHL. Last season, the 32-year-old Hellebuyck won the Vezina Trophy, awarded to the league’s top goaltender, for the third time and became the first goaltender since 2015 to win the Hart Trophy, awarded to the league’s MVP. The first U.S. men’s hockey game is against Latvia on February 12.
Kaillie Humphries and Elana Meyers Taylor, bobsledders
We’re going to play with the rules a little and combine these two stars of the bobsled track with working moms. Humphries, 40, won two gold medals while competing for Canada before becoming a U.S. citizen in late 2021 and winning gold in the solo cycling event at the Beijing Olympics. Meyers Taylor will compete in her fifth Olympics after winning medals at the previous four Olympics. The 41-year-old’s total of five medals is the most in women’s bobsled Olympic history. The women’s bobsled competition will begin on February 15th.
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Erin Jackson, speed skating
Jackson, 33, a 500-meter champion in Beijing who became the first African-American woman to win Olympic gold in speed skating, hopes to defend her title in Milan. The women’s 500m race is on February 15th.
Jaylin Kauf, freestyle skiing
Kauf, 29, is a Grand Slam silver medalist in Beijing and won a double Grand Slam gold medal at the 2025 World Championships in Switzerland, her first career world title. The Women’s Tycoon competition starts on February 10th.
chloe king, snowboarding
One of the best snowboarders of all time, King is hoping to win his third consecutive Olympic gold medal in the halfpipe competition. She is the 2024 Halfpipe World Champion and has won two consecutive Super Pool events at the X Games. The 25-year-old suffered an injury earlier this winter but is still expected to play. The women’s halfpipe competition will be held on February 11th and 12th.
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Hilary Knight, field hockey
Knight will become the first hockey player (male or female) to compete in five Olympic Games. Knight, 36, a four-time Olympic medalist and the all-time leader in goals, assists and points at the women’s world championships, is seeking her second gold medal behind Canada in 2022 as she looks to lead Team USA to its first gold since 2018.
Alyssa Liu, figure skating
A former U.S. junior skating champion, Liu Xiang initially retired in 2022 due to the demands of top-level figure skating competition. She returned in 2024 and won gold at last March’s world championships, making the 20-year-old one of the top contenders for the Olympic crown.
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Ilya Malinin, figure skating
Marinen was not named to the 2022 Olympic team, but the 20-year-old has won a total of nine gold medals at U.S. Championships, Grand Prix and World Championship events. Nicknamed the “Quad God” for his signature quadruple jump, he is the overwhelming favorite for the gold medal in men’s figure skating. The men’s singles competition will begin on February 10.
Auston Matthews, field hockey
Matthews, 28, is the 2022 Hart Trophy winner and has scored more than 400 goals in his career since the Toronto Maple Leafs drafted him No. 1 overall in 2016. He highlighted a U.S. Olympic team that will feature NHL players for the first time since 2014.
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Mystique, skeleton
In 2025, the 31-year-old Luo became the first American in 12 years to win a steel frame medal at the world championships, and also won a silver medal in the women’s event. She also won a gold medal in the mixed event with Austin Florian. The women’s competition at the Olympics will begin on February 13.
Mikaela Shiffrin, alpine skiing
Shiffrin, 30, the winningest alpine skier of all time, is seeking redemption in Italy. She was a gold medalist at the Sochi and Pyeongchang Winter Olympics, but at the 2022 Beijing Olympics she fell in three races and failed to finish on the podium in all six events she competed in. She is in top form in the slalom, and the women’s alpine event begins on February 8.
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Colleen Stoddard, short track speed skating
Stoddard, 24, is a three-event medal candidate and at the end of the World Tour season he finished in the top four in the 500m, 1000m and 1500m distances and was third overall. The women’s short track speed skating competition will begin on February 7.
Jordan Stoltz, speed skating
At the age of 17, Stoltz finished 13th in the 500-meter speed skating competition and 14th in the 1,000-meter speed skating competition at the Beijing Olympics. The 21-year-old is now the best speed skater in the world, having won World Cup titles in the 500m, 1,000m and 1,500m events. He is the gold medal favorite in all these events as well as the mass start. The men’s speed skating competition will begin on February 8.
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Corey Thiesse and Korey Dropkin, curling team
The mixed doubles pair may be the United States’ best hope for a curling medal. Together they won the 2023 World Championship and finished fifth last year. In men’s curling, Danny Casper skipped the new team after defeating U.S. Olympian John Shuster at the U.S. Trials. Mixed doubles curling is the first event of the Olympics, starting on Wednesday.
Lindsey Vonn, alpine skiing
Her form has been questioned after suffering an injury on Friday in her final downhill race before the Olympics, but she remains hopeful of being on the starting line on February 8. After retiring in 2019, the 41-year-old skier is now back in Milan in a final push for Olympic glory. In addition to being a three-time Olympic medalist, Vonn has 45 World Cup wins in the downhill and 28 World Cup wins in the super-G, both of which are the most of any men’s or women’s event.
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Campbell Wright, biathlon
Wright, 23, who was born and raised in New Zealand to American parents, has decided to compete for Team USA in 2023. He is a silver medalist at the 2025 Biathlon World Championships and hopes to become the first American to medal in the biathlon competition, which begins on February 8.
This article originally appeared in The Athletic.
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