The countdown to the 2026 Winter Olympics has begun, with just 100 days remaining until the world's greatest athletes compete for gold in the Italian Alps and venues across Milan and Cortina.
This week, dozens of American Olympic hopefuls gathered at the Olympic Media Summit in New York, sharing their dreams of making the team and bringing home medals for Team USA.
The quiet streets of Milan and the calm of Cortina will soon give way to the crowds and excitement of the 2026 Olympics.
"To know that we're 100 days away from it is incredibly exciting. It's a great moment," said Gene Sykes, president of the U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Committee.
These Winter Games are expected to be wide-open after COVID-19 restrictions limited the Beijing Olympics four years ago.
"I feel like Milan will be a completely different experience and kind of feel like a first Olympics, in a way," Team USA speed skater Corinne Stoddard said.
Finishing touches are underway on venues across the region, with Italian organizers saying everything will be completed on time. This includes the toboggan and bobsleigh runs, which Olympic officials had threatened to move to another country due to delayed construction concerns nearly a year ago.
This week, about 60 Olympic hopefuls attended a media summit in New York, all with hopes of representing Team USA in Italy.
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"It means everything to me," Team USA snowboarder Nick Baumgartner said.
For Lindsey Vonn, widely considered the greatest American skier of all time, the mountains of Cortina represent another shot at history. The 41-year-old is coming out of retirement after knee replacement surgery.
"I'm really excited," Vonn said. "I have a lot of work to do still, and I always try to focus on the work, but I'm a pretty competitive person and I have high expectations of myself."
Vonn won't be content with just making the team, setting her sights on medal contention along with the rest of America's Olympic hopefuls.
Team USA is eager to improve on its disappointing fifth-place finish in the medal count four years ago, when it earned just 25 podium spots with eight gold medals.
The games will be held from Friday, Feb. 6, 2026, to Sunday, Feb. 22, 2026.
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