Jaelin Kauf of Team USA in action during the Women’s Moguls Practice Session of the 2025 FIS Freestyle Ski World Cup Finals Aerials & Moguls on March 09, 2025 in Livigno, Italy.
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This week marks 100 days to go to the 2026 Winter Olympics in Milan and Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy.
Between now and the Opening Ceremony on February 6, more than 250 athletes will be selected to represent the U.S. at the Games, where about 2,900 athletes from more than 90 nations will compete in 116 events, comprising eight sports and 16 disciplines.
Each of those eight sports is represented by a national governing body (NGB)—for example, U.S. Ski & Snowboard—which selects athletes to compete on the U.S. Olympic team based on its own criteria.
Across all sports, 14 U.S. athletes have already earned their spot on Team USA, including six skiers and/or snowboarders.
Freestyle Skiing
In freestyle skiing, the U.S. roster could include up to 32 athletes across all disciplines. At the conclusion of the 2024–25 season, one athlete per event could clinch an Olympic spot by finishing in the top three of the 2026 International Ski Federation (FIS) points list.
Four skiers have already met that criteria: Alex Ferreira (halfpipe), Alex Hall (slopestyle/big air), Jaelin Kauf (moguls) and Quinn Dehlinger (aerials).
Gold medallist Alex Hall of Team United States poses with their medal during the Men’s Freestyle Skiing Freeski Slopestyle medal ceremony on Day 12 of the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympic Games at Zhangjiakou Medal Plaza on February 16, 2022 in Beijing, China.
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Three of the freestyle skiers have four Olympic medals between them. Hall, who made his Olympic debut at Pyeongchang 2018, is the defending men’s slopestyle gold medalist from Beijing 2022.
Two-time Olympic medalist Ferreira began his ski career in moguls, but you wouldn’t know that from his dominance in the halfpipe. He owns a silver medal from Pyeongchang 2018 and a bronze medal from Beijing 2022.
Kauf, who does compete in moguls, is, in fact, the fastest woman on the moguls World Cup circuit, having taken silver at Beijing 2022.
Dehlinger, meanwhile, started out in slopestyle, losing the rails but keeping the jumps when he shifted his focus to aerials. Still looking for his first Olympic medal, he has four World Championships medals (two gold, two silver).
Snowboard
In snowboarding, each nation can name a maximum of 13 men and 13 women to its Olympic snowboarding roster and is limited to a maximum of four athletes per event.
Chloe Kim (halfpipe) and Red Gerard (slopestyle/big air) have already secured their spots by ranking as the top American among the top three athletes on their respective World Snowboard Points Lists (WSPL) as of May 1, 2025.
Gold medalist US Chloe Kim celebrates during the podium ceremony of the Women’s Snowboard Halfpipe Final at the FIS Snowboard, Freestyle and Freeski World Championships 2025 in St. Moritz, on March 29, 2025.
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Kim ranked No. 1 in women’s halfpipe, and Gerard was second overall in men’s slopestyle.
The U.S. halfpipe women, led by Kim, could have a strong showing in Italy; three other women join her in the top 10, and overall there are six women in the top 12 who will battle it out for the limited remaining spots on the U.S. Olympic team.
Snowboarder Red Gerard of the United States poses for a photo during a Team USA Photo Shoot at Sunset Glenoaks Studios on May 21, 2025 in Sun Valley, California.
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Heading into his third Olympics—and first with new major sponsors Arbor Snowboards and Rockstar Energy—this is the earliest in the season Gerard has ever officially clinched his spot. It has changed his calculus for the events heading into Milano Cortina 2026, but only slightly.
“I’m treating the contests the same and just trying to focus on training and doing it the safest way I can,” Gerard told me.
“The tricks that need to be learned, I’m trying to be smooth with it and not rush getting back to things, taking my time and doing the tricks when it’s appropriate. That’s the nice part about having that early qualification; otherwise it’s a lot more rushed and a little more dangerous at times.”
Slopestyle is unquestionably the United States’ strongest men’s snowboarding discipline; four men are ranked in the world top 10, compared to two for halfpipe.
There are no women ranked in the World top 10 in slopestyle, but there are plenty of points up for grabs at upcoming events.
Three-time Olympic medalist Jamie Anderson (Sochi 2014 slopestyle gold; Pyeongchang 2018 slopestyle gold and big air silver) has not competed in a slopestyle event since the Beijing 2022 Olympics after taking time off to recover from injury and raise her two daughters, Misty Rose and Nova Sky, who were born in March 2023 and April 2025, respectively.
Now, six months postpartum, Anderson has announced her return to competitive snowboarding. She’ll attempt to earn enough points at the upcoming slopestyle and big air qualification events to compete in what would be her fourth Games.
The women’s slopestyle and big air landscape has kicked into a higher gear in the last few years, with the first triples in ski and snowboard competition being landed at X Games in 2023.
“I definitely all see the young women I’m competing with doing triple corks and 1440s and I know I’m not in a place to go do those myself,” Anderson told me.
“That being said, snowboarding is so unpredictable—course conditions, weather, time of day, how you’re feeling in general. I try to remind myself it’s one day, don’t compare myself to everyone else, take care of myself, get as healthy and strong and confident as I can. At the end of the day, the fact I’m here and doing something I really love and that has given me so much in my life, I feel like I’m already winning.”
Alpine Skiing, Cross Country Skiing, Nordic Combined, Ski Jumping
No U.S. alpine skiers, cross country skiers, Nordic combined skiers or ski jumpers have yet clinched their spot in the Games.
But there are plenty of names vying for the points to do so you’ll recognize.
Alpine skier Mikaela Shiffrin of the United States poses for a photo during a Team USA Photo Shoot at Sunset Glenoaks Studios on May 21, 2025 in Sun Valley, California.
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Mikaela Shiffrin, the winningest alpine skier of all time, is looking to return to the podium in Cortina d’Ampezzo after missing it in all six events at Beijing 2022.
This time around, Shiffrin will pare down her focus to slalom and giant slalom, events in which she won gold in Sochi and Pyeongchang, respectively.
One of the buzziest storylines leading into this year’s Olympics is that ski racing veteran Lindsey Vonn has unretired after a partial knee replacement in the spring of 2024 allowed her to relocate the aggression and physicality that defined her career. The 41-year-old will attempt to earn crucial qualifying points in St. Moritz, Switzerland, in December. If she can earn enough, she plans to compete in the downhill, super-G and team combined races at Milano Cortina 2026.
One name you’ll need to know ahead of this year’s ski events is Macuga, because there could be up to three Macuga siblings at this year’s Games. Lauren, a ski racer, is a 23-year-old rising star who finished fourth in the World Cup standings in downhill and had her first World Cup win, in super-G, in January 2025.
Elder sister Sam competes in ski jumping, while younger sister Alli is a moguls specialist. All are hoping to make their Olympic debut together—and to welcome younger brother Daniel, a ski racer, into the fold in 2030 or even 2034, when the Games will be in their home of Park City.
“To have all four of us at the Olympics has been the dream for so long,” Lauren told me. “To have three of us here right now, it’s the craziest thing to look around like, ‘How did we get here?’ It’s magical.”
(L-R) US skier Lauren Macuga, US skier Sam Macuga and US skier Alli Macuga talk on stage during the Team USA Media Summit ahead of the Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games Milano Cortina 2026 at the Javits Center, in New York City on October 28, 2025.
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And with friends, family and spectators once again able to return to the stands and the finish corral after the closed Beijing 2022 Games during the pandemic, what a potential wild ride in store for the Macuga family in February.
“Everybody’s really excited to get the whole world back on the stage, to have spectators back, the families; those are some of the best moments from the Olympics, the people in the finish,” Sam told me. “Whether I qualify or not, I’m gonna be there for my siblings and my friends.”
Follow along in the coming months as the Team USA roster for the 2026 Winter Olympics takes shape.
Source: https://www.forbes.com/sites/michellebruton/2025/10/30/us-skiers-snowboarders-begin-to-qualify-for-2026-winter-olympics/
