International Winter Olympic athletes to watch: 26 top stars in Milan Cortina

The 2026 Olympics in Milan Cortina begin this week and will showcase the world’s best winter sports talent across 16 different disciplines, from Alpine skiing and biathlon to luge, figure skating, snowboarding, and the Olympic debut of ski mountaineering.

With 116 medal events on the line and nearly 3,000 athletes expected to compete, no list like this is ever complete, but we’ll try anyway. Below, The Athletic picked 26 international athletes to watch (with a few liberties taken on the total number), spotlighting at least one top contender in every sport before competition begins Wednesday. Also, check our top U.S. athletes to watch.

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Federica Brignone, Italy, Alpine skiing

The three-time Olympic medalist has recovered well from a major leg injury last April and will compete in Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy. Brignone, 35, returned to World Cup competition in January on home snow in Kronplatz, finishing sixth in a giant slalom. She’s the defending world champion in giant slalom and won the World Cup overall, giant slalom and downhill titles last season. The women’s Alpine skiing competition begins Feb. 8.

Canadian hockey teams

OK, we’re cheating a bit here, but it’s hard to pick just one player. Sidney Crosby, Cale Makar, Nathan MacKinnon and Connor McDavid headline a men’s team that will contend for gold in the first Olympic tournament to feature NHL stars since 2014, which is also the last time the Canadian men won gold. On the women’s side, captain Marie-Philip Poulin heads to her fifth Olympics and leads a team that has won five of seven Olympic golds since the women’s event debuted in 1998. The women’s tournament opens Thursday; the men begin Feb.