Vonn, Gu and Malinin – global stars to follow at Milan-Cortina 2026

Around 2,900 athletes from more than 90 countries will compete on the ice and snow at Milan-Cortina 2026.

The world’s biggest winter sports stars will descend on northern Italy from Friday 6 February and there’s certain to be thrills, drama and breakout performances.

Age: 41 Nation: United States

Just five days before the women’s downhill event takes place in Cortina, Olympic champion Lindsey Vonn announced that she had ruptured her left anterior cruciate ligament but is still hopeful that she can compete on Sunday.

Vonn was airlifted to hospital in Switzerland after crashing in the final World Cup race of the season but remains determined to compete in her fifth Olympics, despite the serious injury.

The veteran skier is no stranger to a comeback having retired in 2019 because of injury before undergoing partial replacement knee surgery on her right knee and returning to the sport in 2024.

Age: 30 Nation: United States

Mikaela Shiffrin is the greatest alpine skier of all time and, competing at her fourth Olympics, has said she wants to “make peace” with the Games following disappointment in Beijing along with serious injury and mental health struggles.

The five-time overall World Cup winner has 108 World Cup wins, securing victory in the opening five slalom events of the season which, when added to her victory in the final slalom of last season, equalled her own record of six consecutive wins in the discipline.

Age: 24 Nation: United States

American figure skater Maxim Naumov’s participation in the Milan-Cortina Games could be emotional as he makes his Olympic debut after his parents were killed in a plane crash in Washington DC last year.

Naumov’s dream to make Team USA was one of the last things he spoke about with his parents before they were killed.

Age: 28 Nation: France

Ski mountaineering, or ‘skimo’, is making its Olympic debut at Milan-Cortina and, while Great Britain have failed to qualify an athlete in the Games’ new sport, France’s Emily Harrop is the next best thing.

With English parents, Harrop could have competed for Team GB but having relocated to the French Alps as a child she opted to represent France.

Age: 28 Nation: Netherlands

Dutch speed skater Jutta Leerdam will compete in the 1,000m and 500m in Milan.

A former world sprint champion, Leerdam also won a silver medal in the 1,000m at the 2022 Beijing Olympics.

Age: 19 Nation: New Zealand

Teenager Finley Melville Ives arrives in Italy as one of the most exciting prospects on the freestyle skiing circuit.

Ives’ parents are both snowboard instructors and his twin brother followed in their footsteps, but Ives opted instead for skis from a young age.

Age: 22 Nation: China

Born and raised in California, freestyle skier Eileen Gu was China’s poster girl for Beijing 2022, where – aged 18 – she won gold in the big air and freeski halfpipe competitions and silver in the slopestyle.

In addition to her Olympic triumphs, she is also a two-time world champion and three-time Winter X Games champion.

For the first time since Sochi 2014, the National Hockey League is permitting its athletes to participate in the Winter Olympics.

NHL stars did not travel to the 2018 or 2022 Games because of financial disputes and pandemic-related complications but will return to the ice this year.

Age: 25 Nation: United States

Eight years after winning gold as a 17-year-old in Pyeongchang, American halfpipe snowboarder Chloe Kim is going for a three-peat in Italy.

She successfully defended her title in Beijing four years ago but her preparations for Milan-Cortina have been disrupted after she dislocated her shoulder at the beginning of the year.

Age: 35 Nation: Germany

Legendary German bobsleigh pilot Francesco Friedrich arrives in Italy hoping to become the first man do the treble double – winning two and four-man gold for the third Games in a row.

He is a 16-time world champion across the two and four-man events while he has well over 100 World Cup podium finishes, claiming a 50th victory in the two-man earlier this year.

Age: 35 Nation: Italy

Competing at her sixth Games, Arianna Fontana is an 11-time Winter Olympic medallist and has won medals at her five previous appearances – including as a 15-year-old in Turin.

Twenty years later, the short track skater is also aiming to compete in long track speed skating.

Age: 25 Nation: Brazil

Norwegian-born skier Lucas Pinheiro Braathen could make history in Italy by winning a first Winter Olympics medal for a South American country after he switched allegiance to compete for his mother’s home country of Brazil.

The slalom and giant slalom expert retired in 2023 having competed for Norway but returned in 2025 to represent Brazil and became the first Brazilian to finish on a World Cup podium last year before claiming the country’s first victory this season to add to his five for Norway.

Age: 18 Nation: Independent Neutral Athlete

Russian skater Adeliia Petrosian is one of around 20 Russian or Belarusian athletes competing under a neutral flag in Italy.

The teenager had not competed internationally at senior level until the Olympic qualifiers because of the ban on Russian athletes but is a genuine medal contender having won the qualifying event.

Age: 21 Nation: United States

Ilia Malinin is the only skater to have successfully landed the quadruple Axel, skating’s most difficult jump, in competition, earning him the nickname the ‘Quad God’.

The American, born to Olympic figure skaters Tatiana Malinina and Roman Skorniakov, is the hot favourite for the men’s singles title in Italy with previous routines including seven quads and a back flip.