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Who are the global stars to follow at Milan-Cortina 2026?
Around 2,900 athletes from more than 90 countries will compete on the ice and snow at Milan-Cortina 2026.
The world’s biggest winter sports stars will descend on northern Italy from Friday 6 February and there’s certain to be thrills, drama and breakout performances.
BBC Sport takes a look at some of the global stars and stories to look out for.
Lindsey Vonn – alpine skiing
Age: 41 Nation: United States
Just five days before the women’s downhill event takes place in Cortina, Olympic champion Lindsey Vonn announced that she had ruptured her left anterior cruciate ligament but is still hopeful that she can compete on Sunday.
Vonn was airlifted to hospital in Switzerland after crashing in the final World Cup race of the season but remains determined to compete in her fifth Olympics, despite the serious injury.
The veteran skier is no stranger to a comeback having retired in 2019 because of injury before undergoing partial replacement knee surgery on her right knee and returning to the sport in 2024.
The four-time overall World Cup winner is unsure whether she will be able to compete in the super-G and team events but, as a heavy favourite for the downhill gold before suffering the injury, she is determined to make the start gate at what will likely be her last Olympics.
Mikaela Shiffrin – alpine skiing
Age: 30 Nation: United States
Mikaela Shiffrin is the greatest alpine skier of all time and, competing at her fourth Olympics, has said she wants to “make peace” with the Games following disappointment in Beijing along with serious injury and mental health struggles.
The five-time overall World Cup winner has 108 World Cup wins, securing victory in the opening five slalom events of the season which, when added to her victory in the final slalom of last season, equalled her own record of six consecutive wins in the discipline.
But the two-time Olympic champion will be targeting a return to the podium in Cortina while her fiance Aleksander Aamodt Kilde is also on the comeback trail from a bad injury.
Maxim Naumov – figure skating
Age: 24 Nation: United States
American figure skater Maxim Naumov’s participation in the Milan-Cortina Games could be emotional as he makes his Olympic debut after his parents were killed in a plane crash in Washington DC last year.
Naumov’s dream to make Team USA was one of the last things he spoke about with his parents before they were killed.
His parents, Vadim Naumov and Evgenia Shishkova, skated for Russia and were world champions in pairs figure skating in 1994.
Emily Harrop – skimo
Age: 28 Nation: France
Ski mountaineering, or ‘skimo’, is making its Olympic debut at Milan-Cortina and, while Great Britain have failed to qualify an athlete in the Games’ new sport, France’s Emily Harrop is the next best thing.
With English parents, Harrop could have competed for Team GB but having relocated to the French Alps as a child she opted to represent France.
Harrop is well placed for an Olympic medal having finished the 2025 season with seven wins out of seven races at the ski mountaineering World Cup, winning the sprint and overall crystal globe for the fourth consecutive season.
Jutta Leerdam – speed skating
Age: 28 Nation: Netherlands
Dutch speed skater Jutta Leerdam will compete in the 1,000m and 500m in Milan.
A former world sprint champion, Leerdam also won a silver medal in the 1,000m at the 2022 Beijing Olympics.
She is also engaged to YouTuber-turned-boxer Jake Paul, who can often be spotted at competitions and will be cheering her on from the sidelines in Italy.
Finley Melville Ives – freestyle skiing
Age: 19 Nation: New Zealand
Teenager Finley Melville Ives arrives in Italy as one of the most exciting prospects on the freestyle skiing circuit.
Ives’ parents are both snowboard instructors and his twin brother followed in their footsteps, but Ives opted instead for skis from a young age.
His breakout season came last year when he claimed his first World Cup victory in Calgary then weeks later became the halfpipe world champion in Engadin, Switzerland, beating Olympic greats Alex Ferreira and Nick Goepper along the way.
Eileen Gu – freestyle skiing
Age: 22 Nation: China
Born and raised in California, freestyle skier Eileen Gu was China’s poster girl for Beijing 2022, where – aged 18 – she won gold in the big air and freeski halfpipe competitions and silver in the slopestyle.
In addition to her Olympic triumphs, she is also a two-time world champion and three-time Winter X Games champion.
Away from the snow, Gu is one of the most famous winter sports athletes in the world and has modelled in New York, Barcelona, Paris and at Milan Fashion Week while also studying quantum physics at Stanford University.
NHL stars – ice hockey
For the first time since Sochi 2014, the National Hockey League is permitting its athletes to participate in the Winter Olympics.
NHL stars did not travel to the 2018 or 2022 Games because of financial disputes and pandemic-related complications but will return to the ice this year.
In their absence, the last two men’s titles have been won by Olympic teams from Russia and Finland while the United States failed to win a medal at both events, but this could be a huge boost to their hopes of returning to the podium.
Chloe Kim – snowboarding
Age: 25 Nation: United States
Eight years after winning gold as a 17-year-old in Pyeongchang, American halfpipe snowboarder Chloe Kim is going for a three-peat in Italy.
She successfully defended her title in Beijing four years ago but her preparations for Milan-Cortina have been disrupted after she dislocated her shoulder at the beginning of the year.
She said in an update on Instagram she was “good to go” for the Games, where she will aim to become the first woman to win three consecutive Olympic gold medals in the halfpipe.
Francesco Friedrich – Bobsleigh
Age: 35 Nation: Germany
Legendary German bobsleigh pilot Francesco Friedrich arrives in Italy hoping to become the first man do the treble double – winning two and four-man gold for the third Games in a row.
He is a 16-time world champion across the two and four-man events while he has well over 100 World Cup podium finishes, claiming a 50th victory in the two-man earlier this year.
Germany tend to dominate the Olympic bobsleigh events and the question is whether anyone can stop him from making history.
Arianna Fontana – speed skating
Age: 35 Nation: Italy
Competing at her sixth Games, Arianna Fontana is an 11-time Winter Olympic medallist and has won medals at her five previous appearances – including as a 15-year-old in Turin.
Twenty years later, the short track skater is also aiming to compete in long track speed skating.
Two-time Olympic champion Fontana will also be one of Italy’s flag bearers at the opening ceremony at the San Siro.
Lucas Pinheiro Braathen – alpine skiing
Age: 25 Nation: Brazil
Norwegian-born skier Lucas Pinheiro Braathen could make history in Italy by winning a first Winter Olympics medal for a South American country after he switched allegiance to compete for his mother’s home country of Brazil.
The slalom and giant slalom expert retired in 2023 having competed for Norway but returned in 2025 to represent Brazil and became the first Brazilian to finish on a World Cup podium last year before claiming the country’s first victory this season to add to his five for Norway.
A charismatic and deep-thinking character, Braathen says that people don’t believe him when he tells them he represents Brazil in alpine skiing.
Adeliia Petrosian – figure skating
Age: 18 Nation: Independent Neutral Athlete
Russian skater Adeliia Petrosian is one of around 20 Russian or Belarusian athletes competing under a neutral flag in Italy.
The teenager had not competed internationally at senior level until the Olympic qualifiers because of the ban on Russian athletes but is a genuine medal contender having won the qualifying event.
She is coached by the controversial Eteri Tutberidze, who coached Kamila Valieva during the Beijing 2022 Olympics. Valieva was given a four-year ban for doping after she helped Russia to win team gold before it was then revealed she had failed a drug test before the start of the Games.
Ilia Malinin – figure skating
Age: 21 Nation: United States
Ilia Malinin is the only skater to have successfully landed the quadruple Axel, skating’s most difficult jump, in competition, earning him the nickname the ‘Quad God’.
The American, born to Olympic figure skaters Tatiana Malinina and Roman Skorniakov, is the hot favourite for the men’s singles title in Italy with previous routines including seven quads and a back flip.
The reigning world champion will be competing at his first Olympics having controversially been left out of the US team in Beijing.
England’s netballers reached the Commonwealth Games semi-finals after producing a pulsating comeback to beat South Africa 58-54.
With both sides tied on six points but the Roses ahead of the Proteas on goal average in pool A’s second spot going into the game, England had to avoid defeat to progress.
Elmere van der Berg was in fine form early on to fire South Africa into a six-goal lead at the end of the first quarter with 16 of her nation’s 17 goals, leaving England facing an uphill task.
But some excellent and aggressive defensive work by second-quarter substitute Halimat Adio helped England spring multiple counter-attacks to claw their way back to just 29-28 down at the halfway stage.
The Roses started to take control in the third quarter, opening up a seven-goal lead at one stage before the Proteas netted three times in quick succession to go into the final 15 minutes 43-39 behind.
Both sides then went blow for blow in a compelling final quarter with 15 goals apiece, but 2018 champions England held on to ensure they maintained their record of qualifying for every Commonwealth Games semi-final since the inaugural netball event in 1998.
England will face New Zealand in the last four on Saturday, while South Africa’s wait for a first semi-final since 1998 goes on.
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Fifa World Cup: Uefa to boycott tournament if Gianni Infantino’s investment plans go through
In a statement released after Thursday’s meeting, which was held virtually and chaired by president Aleksander Ceferin, Uefa said it and its 55 member associations “stand as one”.
“We unanimously and unequivocally reject Fifa’s proposal to transfer ownership interests in the World Cup and other Fifa competitions to private investors,” it said.
On Wednesday, Uefa had accused Fifa of using football “to enrich themselves and their friends”.
Its statement on Thursday was even more damning, calling it “irresponsible and indefensible that a proposal of such significance for football was conceived in secret” and “without any meaningful consultation” with those who steward the game.
It added: “This is not merely a profound failure of leadership, but an abdication of Fifa’s duty as the custodian of world football.
“National associations around the world are now presented with an ultimatum: accept the irreversible capture of football’s greatest competitions or bear the consequences.
“This is not a ‘democratic decision’, but governance by intimidation – an act of coercion unworthy of an institution entrusted with the stewardship of the global game.”
While Uefa only accounts for a quarter of Fifa’s membership, it does include most of the world’s most successful teams.
Six of the eight quarter-finalists – including winners Spain – at this summer’s World Cup were European. In the 2022 and 2018 editions, the figures were five and six respectively.
Of the 23 World Cups to have taken place to date, 13 have been won by European countries.
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Stephen Fleming: England appoint former New Zealand captain as Test coach, with Joe Root captain
Former New Zealand captain Stephen Fleming has been appointed as England Test coach, with Joe Root returning as captain.
Fleming, 53, has never previously worked as head coach of a national team but he led Chennai Super Kings to a record five Indian Premier League titles during his 17-year tenure as head coach.
Previous Test coach Brendon McCullum was fired earlier this month following a string of poor results and several off-field incidents, but remains in charge of England’s white-ball sides.
Root, 35, whose first spell as Test captain was between 2017 and 2022, captained England to a record 27 Test wins in 65 matches.
Fleming said he was “incredibly excited” to be taking on the role as Test coach.
“It’s one of the most prestigious coaching positions in world cricket and I am honoured to be appointed,” he added.
Fleming will not be in charge for the Test series against Pakistan, which begins on 19 August. Assistant coach Marcus Trescothick will be the interim head coach.
Fleming will spend time with his family in New Zealand before flying to the UK later this summer to begin preparations for the South Africa Test tour in December.
Root said taking on the captain’s role alongside Fleming was a “huge motivator”.
He added: “[Fleming] has proved over a long period of time that he is an exceptional leader with a great knowledge of the game, and I am looking forward to working with him and helping to build a winning environment.”
Fleming called Root a “generational talent who has achieved so much already”, adding: “I’m excited to support him so he can enjoy and thrive in the role in what is a different context to his first stint.”
Fleming, who retired as a player in 2009, has a wealth of experience in Test cricket as a player, making 111 appearances for New Zealand, scoring 7,172 runs at 40.06, and remains the Black Caps’ most successful captain with 28 wins from 80 matches.
He also spent time in England in the county game, playing for Middlesex, Yorkshire and Nottinghamshire – where he won the County Championship in 2005.
“Of course, the ambition is always to win now. But equally, it’s about ensuring the team is well placed for the medium and long-term future,” said Fleming.
“There is a lot of young talent in and around the team and our aim is to help them fulfil their potential as world-class cricketers.”
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Stephen Fleming: England appoint former New Zealand captain as Test coach, with Joe Root captain
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CK Updates12 hours agoFifa World Cup: Uefa to boycott tournament if Gianni Infantino’s investment plans go through
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CK Updates6 hours agoCommonwealth Games 2026: England netball team beat South Africa to reach semi-finals
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CK Updates24 hours agoCommonwealth Games 2026: Aziz Abdul, grandson of Idi Amin, disqualified for headbutt in Glasgow
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CK Updates18 hours agoStephen Fleming: England appoint former New Zealand captain as Test coach, with Joe Root captain