Here we are! The Milan-Cortina Winter Olympic Games begin this Friday, February 6 and will run until Sunday, February 22 in northern Italy.
Seventeen days of trials and beautiful emotions in perspective. Four years after Beijing, and its confined Olympics, all eyes of winter sports fans are on Italy where the public will be able to make their return.
Successful Games require memorable performances and great stories to tell. For this 25th edition of the Winter Games, we have selected seven big stars who will absolutely be followed during these two weeks of competition.
The return of the legend Sidney Crosby
Discipline : ice hockey. Age : 38 ans. Nationality : Canadian
Will we attend his farewell tour? No one knows it, but Sidney Crosby intends to win a third Olympic title with Canada, after those won in Vancouver in 2010 and Sochi in 2014.
The hockey player at number 87, deprived of the last two Olympics due to disputes linked to players’ insurance and marketing rights specific to the NHL (the major North American hockey league), is considered a living legend of his sport.
Captain of the Pittsburg Penguins since 2007, “Sid the Kid” continues to make his mark in the history of his discipline, becoming the first NHL player to chain 20 seasons with an average equal to or greater than one point per game. The expected final between Canada and the United States, on Sunday February 22, could be one of the great moments of these Games.
Lindsey Vonn, an incredible comeback
Discipline : alpine skiing. Age : 41 ans. Nationality : American
Without a doubt one of the strong stories of these Games. Already, because at 41 years old, Lindsey Vonn has been attempting an incredible comeback for a year, punctuated by several podiums this winter. Then, because a few days before the Games, she fell in Crans-Montana, seriously injuring her knee but she promised: she will be at the start of her fifth Games. In his conditions, a new Olympic podium after gold in Vancouver in 2010 and two bronze medals (2010, 2014) would be exceptional.
The downhiller has an incredible track record: 84 World Cup victories, including 43 in downhill (record) as well as 8 medals at the World Championships, including 2 gold. Former companion of golfer Tiger Woods, her fame has long gone beyond the scope of her discipline, as evidenced by her 2.7 million followers on Instagram.
Chloe Kim, the half-pipe ogress
Discipline : snowboard. Age : 25 ans. Nationality : American
If we talk to you about half-pipe snowboarding, maybe the name Chloe Kim means something to you. Already an Olympic gold medalist at age 17 in 2018, she retained her title four years later in Beijing. She is also a three-time reigning world champion and has won 12 World Cups during her career. In short, an ogress in her discipline.
To give you an idea of her popularity in the United States, Kim will appear in a beer commercial airing during the Super Bowl this Sunday, along with actors like Kurt Russell and Lewis Pullman.
Although hampered by a shoulder injury this season, she will be one of the favorites in the half-pipe final on February 12.
Eileen Gu, the “cash machine” from China
Discipline : freestyle skiing, Age : 22 ans, Nationality : Chinese
Eileen Gu is the queen of freestyle skiing: 3 Olympic medals in Beijing in 2022 (gold in big air and halfpipe, silver in slopestyle), 3 medals at the 2021 Worlds (2 gold in halfpipe and slopestyle, bronze in big air) and more than 20 World Cup victories.
A superstar with dual American-Chinese nationality (she competes for China), followed by 2.1 million followers on Instagram, she was the fourth highest paid athlete in 2025, only with her advertising revenue amounting to… $23 million! She recently made the cover of Time magazine after that of Vogue for example.
In great shape in this 2025-2026 season, she has already won two World Cup victories. For the Milan-Cortina 2026 Games she will be one of the favorites for gold in halfpipe, big air and slopestyle.
Johannes Klaebo, the scarecrow of cross-country skiing
Discipline : cross-country skiing, Age : 29 ans, Nationality : Norwegian
Five times winner of the general classification of the cross-country skiing World Cup over the last eight seasons, the Norwegian imposes his rule on all the events on the circuit. Undisputed leader of his discipline, Johannes Klaebo has more than 100 World Cup victories. He was also 5 times Olympic champion and 15 times world champion, including a Grand Slam last year at the Worlds, at home in Norway, with six gold medals.
Unbeatable on his skis, the Norwegian could well win everything during these Winter Games. The first race of the cross-country skiing phenomenon is scheduled for Sunday, February 8. However, his notoriety hardly extends beyond the borders of his country and Nordic skiing enthusiasts.
Mikaela Shiffrin, the Snow Queen
Discipline : alpine skiing, Age : 30 ans, Nationality : American
You have certainly already heard about her, her exploits or her dazzling performances between the slalom poles. Mikaela Shiffrin is quite simply the most successful World Cup athlete in the history of alpine skiing (108 victories). An exemplary journey which can be explained in particular by a precocity never seen before on the circuit.
At 17, the American was already the best slalom rider in the world, winning the world title in Schladming in February 2013, then the crystal globe of the specialty in the process.
Now a double Olympic champion, eight-time world champion, as well as five-time overall winner of the World Cup, Mikaela Shiffrin is making a comeback, after completely missing out on her last Winter Games in Beijing.
Like Lindsey Vonn, with whom she must once again share the spotlight within the American team, she also enjoys a notoriety in the United States which goes well beyond the great white circus. She is engaged to Norwegian skier Aleksander Aamodt Kilde.
Jutta Leerdam, skating and networking star
Discipline : speed skating, Age : 27 ans, Nationality : Hollandaise
Her name probably doesn’t mean anything to you, but the Dutchwoman is changing the dimension of her discipline. Social media superstar with five million subscribers on Instagram, the fiancée of American boxer YouTuber Jake Paul, has been featured on the front pages of magazines and commercial collaborations alongside her brilliant career as a speed skater.
Olympic vice-champion in the 1,000 m in Beijing in 2022, six-time world champion (1,000 m, team sprint and sprint), and European champion, Jutta Leerdam dreams of a first Olympic coronation at the age of 27. She will be entered in 500m and 1000m.
