The 2026 Milano Cortina Olympics kick off on Friday, Feb. 6, with opening ceremonies being televised by NBC at 8 p.m. EST. However, the Olympics actually start before, on Feb. 4, when the qualifying rounds for curling begin. Hockey kicks off on Feb. 5, and before the opening ceremony on Feb. 6, the figure skating team event gets underway.
I’ve been an Olympics junkie since 1994. That was the year of Nancy and Tonya. But while we were all distracted by Nancy’s attack and rehabilitation and Tonya’s blade and skate lace issues during the event, Oksana Baiul, a 15-year-old phenom, was making her case to be Olympic Champion. I watched with my grandma. I was 8 years old, and I was hooked.
The Olympics are a celebration of human exceptionalism, a time when we can see the limits people can push themselves to. It’s the time when we all become experts in niche sports for three weeks and then promptly forget that knowledge for the next four years. Team USA has several notable names to watch for in these games.
Lindsay Vonn is back. At 41 years old, Vonn is looking to add another gold to her name. Her first Olympic gold medal was won back in 2010. She last competed at an Olympic Games in 2018. She’s looking to add to her trophy case in the downhill and Super G events. A wreck the weekend before the Olympics doesn't seem to be keeping her out.
Alysa Liu is a 20-year-old figure skater and current world champion. She competed in Beijing in 2022, where she placed sixth overall. She competed at the World Championships that year, where she took third place. Liu’s career to that point had been on an upward trajectory. She had been national champion, she was the youngest female skater to land both a triple axel and a quad lutz in the same program. But after the World Championships in 2022, she decided to step away from the sport and she retired.
Liu decided she missed the adrenaline rush of competition, and she came back in the 2024-25 season. After a slow start, Liu made it to the top of the world at the World Championships in Boston in 2025. This season, Liu also won the Grand Prix Final, one of the most prestigious and difficult titles in figure skating. Liu is a favorite for the podium, but will be up against tough competition in teammates Amber Glenn and Isabeau Levito, and Japanese National Champion Kaori Sakamoto and her teammates Ami Nakai and Mone Chiba.
Jessie Diggins will be competing in her fourth Olympics, and searching for her second Olympic gold medal in the 10km freestyle cross-country event. Diggins is the most decorated cross-country skier in history.
Erin Jackson is back in her third Olympics. She became the first Black American to medal in speed skating, and the first Black woman to win an individual gold medal in Beijing. She will be competing in the 500m race.
Back to figure skating, we have the Quad God, Ilia Malinin. Malinin is the only person in the world to have landed a quad axel, a jump with four and a half revolutions. With 2 World Championship titles, three Grand Prix Final titles and four National Championship titles under his belt, Malinin is already quite the decorated skater. This will be his first Olympic appearance, and he is the heavy favorite for individual gold in the men’s event.
Team USA in men’s hockey is looking to make a splash, with a strong roster going to Milano Cortina. They will have to overcome the juggernaut of Canada and hope to finish higher than their previous Olympic outings. On the women’s side, the USA hasn’t finished lower than third place since women’s hockey was introduced to the Olympics in 1998. Women’s hockey has grown exponentially in the U.S. over the last several years with the creation of the Professional Women’s Hockey League.
The Olympics will be live-streamed throughout the entirety of the event on NBC’s streaming service, Peacock. The competition will be fierce, and we’ll be cheering on the athletes as they show us all what being exceptional means.