Every Stanford Athlete Competing in the 2026 Winter Olympics

The Winter Olympics are finally here. On Friday, Feb. 6, the 2026 Winter Olympics will begin in Milan, Italy, where the best winter sport athletes in the world will take center stage and compete for eternal glory, and a coveted gold medal. Over the span of two weeks, nearly 3,000 athletes from 92 nations will compete in 116 events in what will surely be a memorable spectacle.

But in the midst of all the international attention, the Stanford representation will be strong on the world stage. In this year's Olympics, four Stanford athletes will compete across multiple events, looking to bring another Olympic medal back to The Farm.

The Stanford athletes competing in Milan are Eileen Gu (China), Zoe Atkin (Great Britain), Brandon Kim (United States) and Sammy Smith (United States).

Gu, born in San Francisco but having a mother who is a first generation Chinese immigrant to the United States, will be competing for China in international competition and will take part in freeskiing slopestyle, freeskiing halfpipe and freeskiing big air.

This will mark Gu's second Olympic Games after winning two gold medals (big air and halfpipe) and a silver medal (slopestyle) in her first Olympics back in 2022 in Beijing. Gu is not only the athlete with the biggest name from Stanford to compete in this year's games, but she is also one of the biggest Winter Olympic superstars in the entire competition.

Atkin, born in Newton, Massachusetts, but holding dual citizenship in both the United States and Great Britain, will compete in her second Olympics, with her first being in 2022. Reaching the final in halfpipe in Beijing, Atkin finished ninth overall and failed to make the podium.

But her freestyle skiing career is very illustrious, winning a gold medal at the 2025 World Championships, a silver in the 2023 event and a bronze in the 2021 event. She also is a three-time medal winner at the Winter X Games, winning a gold in superpipe at the 2026 and '23 Games and a silver at the '24 Games.

Kim, a short track speed skater from Fairfax, Virginia, will make his Olympic debut this year after coming up short of qualification in 2022. But Kim has used these last four years to improve his craft, and is hungrier than ever to put his name on the map at the international level, winning national titles in the 500m, 1000m and 1500m events.

Earlier this year, Kim set the new national record in the 500m with a time of 39.83, breaking a record that stood for well over a decade. Coming in as one of the biggest name short track skaters from the US, Kim is a heavy favorite to end up on the podium.

Smith, a member of the Stanford Cardinal Women's Soccer team, will represent the United States in cross country skiing in her first ever Olympics. What is most impressive about her qualification for the Olympics is she did it while excelling on the soccer pitch for the Cardinal, where she played in 25 games (14 starts), scored a goal, and contributed two assists for the Cardinal in 2025.

She played a big role in Stanford winning its first ever ACC title (regular season and tournament) and reaching the final of the NCAA tournament.

A silver medal winner at the 2024 Nordic Junior World Ski Championships, Smith is eager to prove that just because she is a soccer player, does not mean she can't medal in Milan.

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