The U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Committee announced its 232-athlete roster this week for the 2026 Olympic Games kicking off in Milan and Cortina on Feb. 6 — and a few Mountain West states dominate the list.
Colorado is sending more athletes — 31 — than any other state, and Utah is sending 17. On the other hand, New Mexico and Nevada have no athletes represented on Team USA.
The numbers come from the hometowns that athletes submitted themselves to the U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Committee. There are even more athletes who train, attend school or play professionally in the Mountain West. The committee plans to announce the 2026 U.S. Paralympic Team in March.
Colorado has the most athletes going to the 2026 Winter Olympics
The group from the Mountain West includes Olympic stars like Mikaela Shiffrin (Edwards, Colo.), one of the most decorated alpine skiers and a three-time Olympic medalist, and hockey forward Hilary Knight (Sun Valley, Idaho), who will skate in her fifth and final Winter Olympics.
But it also includes several making their Olympic debuts, like 22-year-old Nordic combined skier Niklas Malacinski (Steamboat Springs, Colo.). He said he was feeling relieved about qualifying and excited to compete.
"I'm really looking forward to just going there and really kind of embracing the environment," Malacinski said while training in Austria. "Obviously, performance is at the top of my priority list, but I also feel like I need to remind myself that I need to take in the moment and realize the work that has gone into making it to this stage."
Malacinski was the 2024 U.S. Nordic combined champion and was the top-ranked American on the World Cup circuit this past season. His sister Annika also competes in Nordic combined on the world stage, but there's no women's competition at the Winter Olympics.
Shiffrin, who left the 2022 Beijing Games without a medal after several non-finishes, has been rebuilding momentum after injury, racking up World Cup slalom victories and returning to the giant slalom podium.
She reflected on her journey during a press call this week.
"I think the one thing you can expect from the Olympics is that things are just not really going to go according to your plan," Shiffrin said. "So, you got to roll with the punches and have a really good open mind."
Mountain West resort towns are key launchpads for winter athletes. Park City, Utah, with a population of just over 8,000 people, is the most common hometown for 2026 U.S. Olympians, with 11 athletes represented on the roster. Athletes train on ski jumps and bobsled tracks built for the 2002 Salt Lake City Olympics.
Six Olympic athletes call Steamboat Springs, Colo. home and nine have trained at the Steamboat Springs Winter Sports Club, where Dave Stewart is the athletic director.
"The support of the community is huge," he said. "You can't do this on your own. These sports take a lot of investment and time and energy. Here in Steamboat, that means the support of the school system, the support of Howelsen Hill, Steamboat Resort, local donors and businesses."
Stewart said young athletes are inspired by the history and legacy around them; Steamboat claims to have more winter Olympians than any other town, though there's no official list kept by the Olympic committee.
Mountain West athletes dominate in snow sports
Unsurprisingly, Mountain West states dominate in snow sports. Eleven snowboarders will compete as well as a host of skiers in events ranging from slopestyle to moguls to downhill. Alpine skier Breezy Johnon (Jackson Hole, Wyo.) is hoping for a medal after winning gold at the 2025 World Championships in a combined event with Shiffrin. Jaelin Kauf (Alta, Wyo.), a freestyle mogul silver medalist, is the defending world champion in that discipline.
Additionally, two Mountain West athletes were chosen as the sole duo to represent the U.S. in the brand-new Olympic sport of ski mountaineering. Also known as "Skimo," the sport combines climbing uphill on skis or foot and downhill skiing.
Teammates Cam Smith (Crested Butte, Colo.) and Anna Gibson (Teton Village, Wyo.) clinched their spots at the games by claiming gold in a December relay race at Solitude Mountain Resort in Utah. In Italy, they'll compete in individual sprints and a mixed relay.
This story was produced by the Mountain West News Bureau, a collaboration between Boise State Public Radio, Wyoming Public Media, Nevada Public Radio, KUNR in Nevada, KUNC in Northern Colorado, KANW in New Mexico, Colorado Public Radio and KJZZ in Arizona as well as NPR, with support from affiliate newsrooms across the region. Funding for the Mountain West News Bureau is provided in part by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and Eric and Wendy Schmidt.
