Vonn and Shiffrin among athletes to look out for on the road to 2026 Winter Olympics

MILAN (AP) — Coming out of retirement, switching allegiances or simply looking to continue their dominance of their sport. Here are eight athletes who, if they avoid mishaps along the way, could make a mark on the Milan-Cortina Olympics:

Lindsey Vonn

Lindsey Vonn made a shock comeback to ski racing in December at age 40 and she has the Olympics in her sights. Vonn, who has a new titanium knee, is planning to retire for the second — and final — time after next year’s Olympics, when women’s races will be held on one of her favorite courses in Cortina. Vonn specializes in the super-G and downhill and is the all-time leader in World Cup downhill victories with 43. The American has a total of 82 World Cup wins and clinched Olympic gold in the downhill in 2010 as well as bronze in both the super-G in 2010 and downhill in 2018. Vonn proved she can still be competitive when she finished sixth and fourth in a downhill and a super-G in St. Anton, Austria, last month.

Mikaela Shiffrin

Mikaela Shiffrin might be the winningest racer in World Cup history with 99 victories but the American standout will be targeting Olympic redemption at next year’s Games. Shiffrin won gold in the slalom in 2014 and also in the giant slalom four years later but she floundered spectacularly in Beijing in 2022, skiing out on the first run of both her signature events. Shiffrin recently returned to the circuit after two months out with injury and the 29-year-old finished 10th on her comeback World Cup slalom in Courchevel, France.

Ilia Malinin

The “Quad God” is coming to the Olympics. Ilia Malinin’s performances are built around high-risk, high-reward quadruple jumps. He landed six of them on his way to a third U.S. figure skating title in January, including the quad axel, which involves four-and-a-half turns in the air. Only Malinin has ever landed it in competition. The Olympic Games are a family tradition for the 20-year-old from Virginia, whose parents were both Olympians for Uzbekistan. Malinin will aim to carry on the legacy of Nathan Chen, whose “Rocket Man” skate won gold for the U.S. in 2022.

Eileen Gu

Multinational freeskiing sensation Eileen Gu burst onto the world stage at the Beijing Winter Olympics, aged just 18, as she became the first action-sports athlete to take three medals in one Games. Gu won two golds ( big air, halfpipe ) and one silver (slopestyle) in China. Born in California, Gu decided to ski for China to inspire girls in her mother’s homeland and show them what is possible on the snow. Gu has also won three golds and a bronze at the X Games as well as two world championship golds and a bronze. She is practically unbeatable on the halfpipe, emerging victorious on 14 of her 17 World Cup starts. The 21-year-old is also a model and a student at Stanford.

Chloe Kim

Chloe Kim is a pioneer of women’s snowboarding and has had an air of invincibility on the halfpipe ever since she burst onto the international scene at the 2018 Games, becoming the youngest woman to win an Olympic snowboarding gold medal — aged just 17. Kim doubled up in Beijing as she joined three-time Olympic champion Shaun White as the only snowboarder to win back-to-back titles on the halfpipe. The 24-year-old American is also an eight-time X Games gold medalist.

Nicolò Ernesto Canclini

An Olympic medal is the dream for any athlete. An Olympic medal on home snow in the sport’s debut in the Games, even more so. That is what Italian Nicolò Ernesto Canclini is aiming for when ski mountaineering — or “Skimo” — makes its debut at the Milan-Cortina Games. Moreover, Canclini lives just 300 meters from the Olympic slope in Bormio. The 28-year-old Canclini is a world-class athlete, one of the top in his sport, but nowhere near to a household name in Italy. That could all change next year.

Lucas Pinheiro Braathen

Brazil has a rare realistic shot at what would be its first-ever medal at the Winter Olympics. Lucas Pinheiro Braathen became the first Brazilian skier to finish on a World Cup podium when he placed second in a giant slalom in Beaver Creek, Colorado, in December. He was third in a slalom in Kitzbuehel last month. The 24-year-old Pinheiro Braathen’s mother is Brazilian and his father is Norwegian. He had raced for Norway until abruptly retiring in 2023, shortly after winning the slalom world cup title, after getting into a dispute with the Norwegian ski federation following modeling work for a rival brand of the federation’s clothing supplier. Pinheiro Braathen has five career World Cup race wins, three in slalom and two in giant slalom. He competed for Norway at the 2022 Beijing Olympics but did not complete either race.

Therese Johaug

It doesn't matter how many times the 36-year-old Norwegian cross-country skiing star says she will not compete at the Winter Games next year; everyone seems to be waiting for her to change her mind. Like Vonn, Johaug came out of retirement last year — and it is clear she is in top form even after two years away from the sport. Last month she claimed her fourth Tour de Ski victory at the Val di Fiemme venue that will host cross country skiing at next year’s Olympics. Johaug, who has four Olympic gold medals from Vancouver 2010 and Beijing 2022, plus one silver and one bronze from Sochi 2014, has insisted she will quit for good after this season. Nevertheless, Norway hopes she will postpone her retirement by just one more year.

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