5 Winter Olympic athletes who will become household names

The heart of the Olympic Games are about athletes you’ve almost never heard of becoming stars overnight. Both the summer and winter games are littered with people who went from being unrecognizable, to international sensations. Four years ago it was Chloe Kim that captured a nation, in 2002 it was Apolo Ohno — and these are the athletes in 2026 who will go from hopeful medalists in Milan, to names everyone knows at the end of the games.

With a mixture of athletes from the USA and abroad, here are the names to watch.

No. 1: Eileen Gu (Freestyle Skiing — China)

This is a complicated one because of the controversy behind Gu’s decision to compete for China. Born in San Francisco, Eileen Gu won gold at the 2022 games in Beijing in both skiing halfpipe and big air, taking silver in slopestyle.

Gu initially competed for the United States, but requested a change to represent China in 2019 to “inspire” more young people in China to ski. The nature of this change of heart went under intense scrutiny in February of 2025, when documents were released showing that China spent over $6M to “train” Gu and fellow athlete Zhu Yi, who was also born in the United States before switching to represent China.

Gu is the favorite to win gold, but her decision to switch nations will make her a household name.

No. 2: Joy Dunne (Ice Hockey — USA)

The future of U.S. women’s hockey, 20-year-old Jo Dunne is going to break out in a very big way in Milan. The forward has 44 points in 24 games this season for Ohio State, including 25 goals — showing unnatural finishing ability with a frame that can forecheck and outmuscle most other skaters on the ice.

Hockey circles have been buzzing about Dunne for two years now. The Milan games will represent the chance for her to make a name outside of the sport, depending on how much ice time she’s able to get on a stacked Team USA, who are favored for gold.

No. 3: Su Yiming (Snowboarding — China)

Snowboarding always gets a lot of attention stateside, and China’s Su Yiming is the king of a big air. Su won gold at the 2022 games with an 1800, and since then he’s become the first athlete to land a 198o-spin during competition. There’s a chance he can go even bigger at Milan.

With the potential for history to be made in a popular event, Su is pushing the sport forward at every step and could become a household name after these games.

No. 4: Matt Weston (Skeleton — UK)

Skeleton might be the most terrifying sport of earth, and Matt Weston is its king. After a disappointing 15th place finish in Beijing he regrouped to become the most dominant athlete in the sport. Winning the World Championship in 2023, and again in 2025 — he finished second in 2024 to be the most consistent athlete in the world over the last three years.

No. 5: Oriol Cardona (Ski Mountianeering — Spain)

This is the first year Ski Mountaineering will be an Olympic sport, which means there will be plenty of eyes on the event. There is one runaway favorite in 2026 with Spain’s Oriol Cardona mastering both the sport, and skyrunning — which is distance running at altitude.

One of the most gueling events we’ll see at the games, it will take a mammoth performance from a competitor to unseat Cardona, who has won gold at the last three World Championships.