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13 athletes from Mass. to watch in the Winter Olympics
The 2026 Winter Olympics are almost here, and Bay Staters are ready to bring the heat.
At least 13 athletes from Massachusetts — not to mention a handful of athletes from Boston's pro hockey teams — are competing for Team USA at the Milan Cortina Games.
Here are the hometown athletes to cheer on while watching the Olympics this year:
Ice hockey
Who: Matt Boldy (Millis), Jack Eichel (North Chelmsford) and Noah Hanifin (Norwood)
Bonus Bostonians: Bruins goalie Jeremy Swayman and defenseman Charlie McAvoy will represent Team USA on the men's side.
Roots: Boldy and Hanifin played for Boston College, while Eichel skated for rival Boston University. All three men play in the NHL: Eichel and Hanifin for the Vegas Golden Knights and Boldy for the Minnesota Wild.
When: Team USA men first play against Latvia on Feb. 12 in a preliminary round. They play two more prelim games, facing Denmark on Feb. 14 and against Germany on Feb. 15. Their success in these games determines whether they will compete for medals.
Who: Alex Carpenter (North Reading)
Bonus Bostonians: Fleet goaltender Aerin Frankel, defender Megan Keller and defender Haley Winn will represent the Red, White and Blue for the women.
Roots: Carpenter is a two-time Olympic silver medalist for Team USA. She played at Boston College and currently competes in the PWHL for the Seattle Torrent. She's also happens to be the daughter of NHL hall-of-famer Bobby Carpenter.
When: Team USA women first take the ice on Feb. 5 against the Czech Republic in the preliminary round. They play three more prelim games, against Finland on Feb. 7, facing Switzerland on Feb. 9 and against Canada on Feb. 10. Their success in these games determines whether they will compete for podium placement.
Figure skating
Who: Maxim Naumov (Norwood)
Roots: Naumov trains at the Skating Club of Boston. His ascent to the Olympic level was an emotional experience after he lost his parents in a plane crash in Washington D.C. last year. Emily Chan and Spencer Akira Howe, who are competing in figure skating for Team USA alongside Naumov, also train at the Skating Club of Boston.
When: Naumov will take the ice to showcase his Short Program on Feb. 10, and Free Skate on Feb. 13.
Speedskating
Who: Julie Letai (Medfield)
Roots: Milan will be Letai's second Olympic appearance. She competed in short track speed skating at the 2022 Olympic Winter Games in Beijing.
When: Letai's races begin on Feb. 12 with the 500 meter race. On Feb. 14, she'll skate in the 1000 meter qualification rounds and race in the preliminary rounds of the women's 3000m relay with her teammates. If she advances past the qualifications, she'll skate in the Women's 1000 meter finals on Feb. 16 and with her team in the 3000 meter relay on Feb. 18.
Luge
Who: Chevonne Forgan (Chelmsford), Ansel Haugsjaa (Framingham) and Zachary DiGregorio (Medway)
Roots: This is the Olympic debut for Forgan and Haugsjaa. Forgan will compete in doubles luge along with her partner, New Yorker Sophia Kirkby, and Haugsjaa will race with Wisconsinite Marcus Mueller. This will be DiGregorio's second Olympics after he competed in Beijing in 2022. He will race with his partner Sean Hollander, of New York.
When: The women's and men's luge doubles runs are scheduled for Feb. 11.
Bobsled
Who: Kris Horn (Pembroke)
Roots: Horn earned a spot on Team USA despite a harrowing run in the Bobsled World Cup in mid-January, when he faced the track alone after his three teammates failed to hop in the sled.
This will be Horn's second Olympic Games after competing with his bobsled team in Beijing in 2022. Horn is a multi-sport athlete, and competed in the decathlon while at the University of Massachusetts Amherst.
When: Horn will compete in four-man bobsled beginning on Feb. 21. His team's performance will determine if they move forward to the medal round on Feb. 22
Curling
Who: Korey Dropkin (Southborough)
Roots: This will be Dropkin's first Olympic games. He grew up curling, practicing at Broomstones Curling Club in Wayland. He'll compete with his Minnesotan teammate Cory Thiesse in mixed doubles curling.
When: The pair begins by competing in mixed doubles round robin sessions, facing off against Norway and Switzerland on Feb. 5. They'll go on to compete against a series of nations over the following few days, and their success in these events determines whether they will contend for podium placement.
Cross-country skiing
Who: Jessie Diggins (Wakefield), Julia Kern (Waltham)
Roots: Diggins has won three Olympic medals — one of each. She won the gold in the 2018 Winter Games with Kikkan Randall in the team sprint. It was the first Olympic gold medal the U.S. ever won in cross-country skiing. Diggins lives in Massachusetts and trains in Vermont.
This will be Kern's second Olympics after competing in Beijing. The Dartmouth grad is a two-time world championship medalist in cross-country skiing.
When: Both Diggins and Kern will compete in the Women's Sprint Classic on Feb. 10.
This article was originally published on January 27, 2026.
