17 California High School Athletes Set to Chase 2026 Olympic Dreams at Milano Cortina

These members of Team USA competed for or graduated from high schools in California.

Chloe Kim wins gold during the medals ceremony for the women's snowboard halfpipe at the Beijing 2022 Olympic Winter Games at Zhangjiakou Medals Plaza. / Danielle Parhizkaran-Imagn Images

The 2026 Milano Cortina Winter Olympics begin in three days and over a dozen athletes of Team USA attended high schools in California.

The Golden State will be well represented with 17 athletes who attended high schools in California.

Several of those athletes competed in CIF sports in high school, while others trained and attended school.

California High School Athletes Headed to the 2026 Olympics

Kate Gray

• Mammoth Lakes

• Event: Freeski

Gray is a Mammoth High School FLEX student and played first and second base and shortstop on the varsity softball team for three seasons. She hit .329 in 34 games with 27 total hits. Gray also hit three triples, seven doubles, two home runs, drove in seven runs and scored 47 runs. On the field, she recorded 15 putouts and assisted in 17 outs. She started par skiing at the age of 9 with her three older brothers, according to mmcf.com.

She stated: "Riding with the guys made me want to do more, to be better than them."

James Schoonmaker

• Event: cross country skiing

Schoonmaker graduated from North Tahoe High School in 2018. He ran track as a freshman on North Tahoe's boys 4x800 relay team and helped the team to their second-place finish as a team with 73 points.

Hanna Percy

• Truckee

• Event: Snowboarding

A North Tahoe High School grad, Percy won a state championship in slalom in 2022 at the California-Nevada Interscholastic Ski and Snowboard Federation state championships. She was named to the girls all-state team.

Abby Winterberger

• Truckee

• Event: Freeski

Winterberger is a 15-year-old sophomore at North Tahoe. She played lacrosse as a freshman.

Joanne Reid

• Palo Alto

• Event: Biathlon

The two-time Olympian and Gunn grad competed at the CIF State Cross Country Championships from 2006-2008, recording times of 19 minutes, 36 seconds, 20:41 and 20:21.

Amelia Hurt

• Carnelian Bay

• Event: Alpine Skiing, Women's

Hurt graduated from North Tahoe High School and competed for the Squaw Valley Ski Team. She won the women's alpine combined face at the U.S. championships in 1 minute, 54.70 seconds.

Bryce Bennett

• Palisades Tahoe

• Event: alpine skiing

Bennett raced for Squaw's Mighty Mites program in grade school and on the Palisades Tahoe Ski Team.

Other Athletes With Connections to California High Schools

Cayla Barnes

• Eastvale

• Event: Ice Hockey, Women's

Barnes grew up playing on the boy's hockey teams in California before she moved to New Hampshire, where she attended school and trained at the New Hampton School. She was named the All-USA Girls Hockey Player of the Year for the 2015-16 season by USA Today High School Sports. She recorded 12 goals (23 assists) in 28 games and was named to the All-USA Preseason Team that season.

Alysa Liu

• Oakland

• Event: Figure Skating

Liu attended Oakland school for the Arts, emphasizing in figure skating. She also completed online schoolwork with California Connections Academy.

Maddie Mastro

• Wrightwood

• Event: Snowboarding

Mastro is a Wrightwood Elementary School alumni and was homeschooled for the majority of high school. She played club soccer until she was 16, Mastro said in a Q&A for the Victor Valley News Group.

"Soccer is a team sport so that is a big difference than snowboarding. The actual fitness portion of soccer really helps snowboarding - the quick movements and thinking quick on your feet translates

Madison Chock

• Redondo Beach

• Event: Figure Skating

Chock graduated in 2010 from Novi High School in Michigan.

Bea Kim

• Palos Verdes

• Event: Snowboarding

Kim was homeschooled to accommodate her schedule, according to oursouthbay.com.

Chloe Kim

• Torrance

• Event: Snowboarding

Kim graduated from Mammoth's FLEX program in northern California.

Hahna Norman

• Truckee

• Event: Snowboarding

Norman attended Truckee High School but moved to Colorado to focus on training at Vail Ski & Snowboard Academy.

Nina O'Brien

• San Francisco

• Event: Alpine Skiing, Women's

O'Brien started skiing at Palisades Tahoe on the Mighty Mite Program.

Spencer Howe

• Los Angeles

• Event: figure skating

Howe graduated from Connections Academy.

Anthony Ponomarenko

• San Jose

• Event: figure skating

Ponomarenko began skating at the age of 4 with the Skating Club of San Francisco. In January 2014, he then relocated to Novi, Michigan to train full-time.