One Year Out: Athletes to Watch
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by Team USA
Making history and breaking records
Chloe Kim is no stranger to making history. At the age of 17, she became the youngest woman in Olympic history to win gold in snowboarding. Now, at the age of 24 she is still landing new tricks and racking up the medals. Kim is a halfpipe specialist on the U.S. Ski and Snowboard team and has won back-to-back gold medals at the Olympics. If she wins again during the 2026 Milan-Cortina Olympic Games, she will become the first snowboarder in Olympic history to win three straight gold medals.
History 50 years in the making
Jordan Stolz found his love for speedskating after watching Apolo Ohno at the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics, now at the age of 20 Stolz is the youngest world all-around champion since 1978. Stolz is the current World Single Championships gold medalist in 500m, 1000m and 1500m, and, with the 2026 Milan Cortina Olympics around the corner Stolz has the potential to complete the monumental feat of competing in five events in eleven days. If he were to replicate these results at the 2026 Games, he would become just the second American in history to win three gold medals during a single Winter Olympics after fellow speed skater Eric Heiden.
Mikaela Shiffrin - Alpine
99 World Cup wins, one goal
After a short hiatus due to injury, Mikaela Shiffrin is back on the slopes for Team USA. The 29 year old from Vail, Colorado is the front-runner for the U.S. when it comes to medals won on the slopes. Shiffrin owns an impressive 99 world cup wins and is looking to secure the coveted 100th win at some point in the 2025 season, if she does so, she will become the first skier in history ever to reach that feat.
Nick Goepper & Alex Ferreira - Freeskiing
Only one can take the top prize
When it comes to halfpipe freestyle skiing, no one comes close to the male athletes from Team USA. The men’s team makes up six of the top ten in the world and Nick Goepper and Alex Ferreira are viciously competing for the title of world number one at every competition. Ferriera took home a silver in the 2018 Games and a bronze in the 2022 Games in halfpipe, while Goepper owns two silver medals from 2018 and 2022 and a bronze from 2014 in slopestyle. This season both men are competing in the halfpipe after Goepper made the switch 18 months ago.
Setting the standard
In 2023, Ilia Malinin became the first-ever figure skater in history to land a quadruple axel in an international competition. In 2024, he became the first athlete to win Skate America and Skate Canada in the same calendar year in 25 years. In 2025, Malinin became the first athlete to attempt seven quad jumps during a Grand Prix Final, with a backflip mixed in for good measure.
Jessie Diggins - XC Skiing
Finding individual Gold
Diggins’ history-making sprint to the finish line to secure the first-ever U.S. gold medal in an Olympic cross-country skiing event etched her and Kikkan Randall’s name into history. Now, the Minnesota native and 2024 world champion in the overall standings has her eyes set on an individual gold medal in 2026.
Jaelin Kauf - Moguls
10 World Cup wins and 1st overall
The women’s moguls silver medalist of the Beijing 2022 Olympic Winter Games is having a legendary season heading into selection season for Milan-Cortina. As of February 2025, the Alta, Wyoming, native leads the dual moguls standings on the FIS World Cup circuit and holds 10 career wins to her credit. She is widely known as one of the fastest women’s moguls skiers in the world.
Elana Meyers-Taylor - Bobsled
From motherhood to the podium
The bobsledding legend keeps finding different ways to become an inspiration to all women. Most recently, Elana Meyers Taylor just won her first world cup race since becoming a mother to her second son. The California native secured the win in late January at the track in St. Mortiz, Switzerland.
Going for six
With his name already etched in USA Curling history, John Shuster is eyeing an unprecedented sixth Olympic Games come 2026. The Minnesota native and Captain of the 2018 men’s curling squad, colloquially known as “The Rejects,” that won the U.S.’s first-ever gold medal in curling is looking to make the Milan-Cortina roster both for team and mixed doubles this time.
