Winter Olympics 2026: Top storylines include Chloe Kim's shoulder, Lindsey Vonn's comeback and Mikaela Shiffrin's redemption Jay Hart January 26, 2026 at 10:22 PM 0 (Mallory Bielecki/Yahoo Sports illustration) A legend coming out of retirement, a legend in her prime trying to erase bitter memories from four years ago and a future legend's health in doubt — these are just some of the storylines heading into the 2026 MilanCortina Olympics.
- - Winter Olympics 2026: Top storylines include Chloe Kim's shoulder, Lindsey Vonn's comeback and Mikaela Shiffrin's redemption
Jay Hart January 26, 2026 at 10:22 PM
0
(Mallory Bielecki/Yahoo Sports illustration)
A legend coming out of retirement, a legend in her prime trying to erase bitter memories from four years ago and a future legend's health in doubt — these are just some of the storylines heading into the 2026 Milan-Cortina Olympics.
What's that you ask — Milan Cortina? Yes, these Games will be held in multiple sites, with the city of Milan hosting some of the arena events — hockey, figure skating and speed skating — while Cortina (some five hours northeast) is where women's skiing, as well as the nordic, sliding and curling events will be held. There's also Bormio for men's skiing and Livigno for freestyle skiing and snowboarding where …
COPPER MOUNTAIN, COLORADO - DECEMBER 19: Chloe Kim of the United States in action during training prior to competing in the Snowboard Halfpipe Finals during the Toyota US Grand Prix 2025 at Copper Mountain on December 19, 2025 in Copper Mountain, Colorado. (Photo by Sean M. Haffey/Getty Images) (Sean M. Haffey via Getty Images)The U.S. hopes Chloe Kim will be healthy …
She won gold in the women's snowboarding halfpipe in 2018 … as a 17-year-old, then again in 2022 and now, at the elderly age of 25, Kim is expected to be one of the biggest stars on the U.S. team, going for a third-straight top-of-the-podium finish. But after separating her shoulder during a training run in early January, Kim's status for these Olympics was thrown up in the air. A week later, though, she said she's good to go, "just" having torn the labrum in her shoulder, and Team USA (and NBC) breathed a collective sigh. A three-peat would solidify Kim as the greatest her sport has ever seen, if she's not there already, but still there will be questions about her health — maybe the biggest question ahead of these Olympic Games. The second-biggest question is …
US' Lindsey Vonn reacts after competing in the Women's Downhill event of the FIS Alpine Ski World Cup in Altenmarkt Zauchensee, Austria, on January 10, 2026. (Photo by BARBARA GINDL / APA / AFP via Getty Images) / Austria OUT (BARBARA GINDL via Getty Images)Is Lindsey Vonn really a contender?
She's 41, eight years removed from her last Olympic Games, 16 years from her one and only Olympic gold and yet … Lindsey Vonn, on a replaced knee, is coming out of her 2019 retirement for one last go. Why? Well for starters, Cortina, where the women's skiing events will take place, is maybe her favorite mountain in the world. Is she a medal contender? Well, she's won two World Cup downhills this year, so there's that. Plus, as mentioned before, Cortina is a place she loves, having recorded 12 of her 82 World Cup victories there. And Vonn isn't the only one who's back …
The NHL is back, too
After a 12-year hiatus, the NHL is back to allowing its players to compete for gold. NHL players first competed in the Olympics back in 1998, and did so until 2014 when, essentially, the NHL got sick of going on hiatus for a few weeks to make room for Olympic competition. Alas, the league is back to "grow the game" and to appease players who want to wrap a gold medal around their necks. While players such as Connor McDavid (Canada), Sidney Crosby (Canada) and Auston Matthews (USA) will be there, newly minted NHL goal king Alex Ovechkin will not. Why not?
Because Russia is still banned from team competition
While no Russian teams will be allowed to compete, Russian athletes will be allowed to compete individually under the "Individual Neutral Athlete" flag … though don't expect many of those. The latest ban, in the wake of Russia's invasion of Ukraine, came via an IOC decree in 2023 that disallows any Russian or Belarusian athlete who "actively" supports the Russian war effort. What will this mean for the medal table? Well, back at the 2022 Winter Games, when Russia competed under the "Russian Olympic Committee" moniker, a designation aimed at penalizing the country for its 2016 state-run doping operation, Russians took home 32 medals, including five golds. By comparison, the USA won 25 medals at those 2022 Games, none of which were won by ....
YANQING, CHINA - FEBRUARY 20: Mikaela Shiffrin of Team United States exits the ski area following the Mixed Team Parallel Small Final on day 16 of the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympic Games at National Alpine Ski Centre on February 20, 2022 in Yanqing, China. (Photo by Sean M. Haffey/Getty Images) (Sean M. Haffey via Getty Images)Mikaela Shiffrin, who is looking to redeem herself
She's the winningest skier in history, man or woman, having won 104 World Cup races … and yet, Mikaela Shiffrin's Olympic experience has produced just two gold medals. While that may be enough for 99.999% of the world, it's an underperformance for someone as great as Shiffrin, who failed to win anything at the 2022 Games in Beijing. Those Olympics were a disaster for the GOAT: a DNF in slalom, giant slalom and combined; a 9th in Super G; an 18th in downhill. She's battled injuries and may not be in top form at Cortina, but she can still dominate the slalom — her best event. She's not the only one looking for redemption …
ST LOUIS, MISSOURI - JANUARY 11: Alysa Liu, Amber Glenn, and Isabeau Levito pose for a portrait after making the United States Figure Skating Olympic Team at the Enterprise Center on January 11, 2026 in St Louis, Missouri. (Photo by Matthew Stockman/Getty Images) (Matthew Stockman via Getty Images)Can the U.S. recapture figure skating gold?
Between 1992 and 2002, U.S. women won three gold medals. But since Sarah Hughes won at Salt Lake in 2002, the U.S. women have but one silver medal — via Sasha Cohen in 2006. That could (should?) change in Milan, as the U.S. features a trio of medal contenders in Amber Glenn, Alysa Liu and Isabeau Levito. Glenn just won her third straight U.S. national championship; Liu is the reigning world champion after coming out of a two-year retirement; and while Levito may be the quietest of the three, she is the last woman not named Glenn to have won a national championship. While this trio of American women looks to rise to the top of the podium …
Gu Ailing of China celebrates after the women's freeski halfpipe final of FIS Freeski World Cup 2025 in Zhangjiakou, north China's Hebei Province, Dec. 13, 2025. (Photo by Wang Peng/Xinhua via Getty Images) (Xinhua News Agency via Getty Images)Will Eileen Gu's star rise even higher?
She won three medals in Beijing, including gold in women's freestyle skiing big air competition, and with more than 2 million following her on Instagram, Eileen Gu is one of the few Winter Olympic crossover stars. Now she's back, still born and raised in the United States but competing for China, and she's among the favorites in three disciplines: halfpipe, freestyle and big air. Speaking of big air …
Will a ski jumping partnership with Norway pay off for the U.S.?
If you can't beat 'em, join 'em, and that's what the U.S. has done with Norway, which has dominated Olympic ski jumping to the tune of 36 medals to the United States' one (at the 1924 Games). Four years ago, after yet another medal-less performance at the Beijing Games, the U.S. teamed up with Norway, sharing coaches and training camps. One of those Americans who moved to Norway to train was a teenager named Tate Frantz, who took silver at last February's junior world championships in his hometown of Lake Placid, New York. Then, he scored more points in World Cup competition than any American in history. Now 20, can Frantz be the United States ski jumper to win a medal in over a century? As for another first …
Anna Gibson puts skins on the bottom of her skis, which is all part of the only new sport at the Milano Cortina Olympics, ski mountaineering. (Courtesy of Owen Crandall)What's new? How about Ski Mountaineering
The lone newcomer at this year's Olympics, Ski Mountaineering — or Skimo — is pretty much what it sounds like — a combination of climbing up a mountain (on skis using skins), hiking on the mountain (in boots) and descending down a mountain (on skis without skins) through gates. The duo of Cam Smith and Anna Gibson just demolished a world-class field in December. In February, Skimo will be a must-see event, as will …
Big air, which is getting even bigger
Two big-air competitors — one on skis, one on a snowboard — have completed 2340s in competition. (That's 6.5 times around, in case you were wondering.) Will Italian skier Miro Tabanelli and/or Japanese snowboarder Hiroto Ogiwara go that big in Itlay? And will anyone else try to match them? It's dizzying to watch, but if you can stomach it, it's absolutely must see TV.
Source: "AOL Sports"
Source: Sports
Published: January 26, 2026 at 09:27PM on Source: RED MAG
#ShowBiz#Sports#Celebrities#Lifestyle