Eight soldier-athletes and three coaches, including several Olympic veterans, will represent Team USA at the 2026 Milan Cortina Winter Olympics in Italy.

Opening ceremonies are set to begin at 2 p.m. EST on Feb. 6.

As many as 232 athletes will represent the U.S. and compete across 16 sports between Feb. 6–22, according to an NBC Los Angeles article. Through the Army’s World Class Athlete Program, soldiers compete in their respective sport at the international level while serving as they strive for the Olympic or Paralympic Games, according to the World Class Athlete Program website.

Three World Class Athlete Program coaches, Lt. Cols. Christopher Fogt and Garrett Hines and Sgt. 1st Class Shauna Rohbock, will guide and mentor the U.S. Olympic bobsled team, according to the Army World Class Athlete Program webpage.

Two soldier-athletes were named as alternates for the Winter Games. They are Cpl. Hakeem Abdul-Saboor for bobsled and Spc. Dana Kellogg for luge.

Olympic veteran Sgt. Ben Loomis, from Eau Clair, Wisconsin, will compete in Nordic combined, which blends cross-country skiing and ski jumping.

Olympic rookie Pvt. Spencer Howe will compete in pairs figure skating. Howe, from Los Angeles, California, enlisted in the Army in October 2024 and completed basic training in February 2025, according to a U.S. Figure Skating news release.

Howe and his partner, Emily Chan, were behind after their short program, but they clinched the Olympic qualification after redeeming themselves in their free skate routine. “We just felt like this whole competition for us has been one big miracle,” Howe told a local NBC affiliate in a post-skate interview. After Chan felt discouraged, Howe told her, “Listen, it’s not over yet. You can feel all of those feelings after Friday, which was our free skate. I said, ‘Right now, the job’s not finished.’... And then we kept pushing.”   

Two soldier-athletes will compete in bobsled, where athletes navigate a winding ice racetrack in high-tech sleds. Sgt. Frank Del Duca, an Olympic veteran who competed in the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing, leads the way as a bobsled driver. Del Duca, who is from Bethel, Maine, “loves racing anything with a motor,” according to his Team USA biography.

Racing is “what makes me feel the most alive,” Del Duca said in a USA bobsled and skeleton Instagram reel. “I used to say it’s just a direct link to my soul. I’m just a racer to my core.”

Spc. Azaria Hill, who is from Santa Clarita, California, will compete in the two-woman bobsled event. The daughter of two Olympians, Hill was encouraged to try bobsled by Kaysha Love, her former track teammate from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, according to Team USA.

“Carrying forward a legacy while forging my own path. I am officially a WINTER OLYMPIAN!!” Hill wrote in an Instagram post. “Little Azaria would be so so proud that I never gave up on this dream.”

Two soldier-athletes will compete in the biathlon, which combines cross-country skiing and shooting a rifle.

Staff Sgt. Deedra Irwin, an Olympic veteran who competed in the 2022 Winter Olympic Games, will compete in the women’s biathlon. The Pulaski, Wisconsin, native holds the best finish for an American in an individual biathlon Olympic event, placing seventh in 2022, according to Team USA.

Spc. Sean Doherty, a three-time Olympic veteran from Center Conway, New Hampshire, will compete in biathlon. Doherty is the first U.S. biathlon athlete to reach the podium three times at any International Biathlon Union World Championship event, according to Team USA.

“Being a soldier is something that I am very proud of,” Doherty said. “It is a powerful feeling to know that you represent your country and the legacy of excellence the U.S. Army stands for.”