Three athletes with connections to Maryland are set to compete in the 2026 Milan Cortina Olympic Games, which kicked off at Milan’s San Siro stadium. The games will run until February 22.
Athletes from Maryland are part of a larger group of 2,900 competitors from 93 nations vying for 116 gold medals across 16 different sports.
Here’s a closer look at the Maryland athletes:
Grove faced a significant challenge early in life when he was diagnosed with osteosarcoma, a type of bone cancer, at just four years old. Following the amputation of his left leg shortly after his fifth birthday, Grove adapted by playing soccer, baseball, and lacrosse using a prosthetic leg. At age 11, he discovered adaptive sports and began playing sled hockey. Within six years, he earned a spot on the U.S. national Sled Hockey team through the Bennett Blazers program in Baltimore.
Sosoo was a standout athlete in Maryland, winning state championships in both the 55-meter dash and the triple jump. He represented Ghana in international track and field competitions until 2024, when he transitioned to bobsled and joined the U.S. national team. This marks his Olympic debut.
Vissering hails from Bethesda and trained at the same swimming club as nine-time Olympic gold medalist Katie Ledecky. He secured a bronze medal at the 2013 world junior championships and later attended USC, where he won an NCAA relay title. He concluded his college swimming career with a second-place finish in the 100-yard breaststroke at the 2019 NCAA championships. His passion for strength training led him to switch from swimming to bobsledding. Just over three years after competing in swimming, Vissering made his IBSF World Cup debut in bobsled. In January 2026, he achieved a career-best fourth place in the two-man bobsled with pilot Kris Horn and was subsequently named to his first U.S. Olympic team.
Preliminary heats commenced on Wednesday. For a detailed schedule, check here: daily schedule.
Numerous countries will stream or broadcast daily events, with some opting for prime-time delays based on local time zones. NBC holds exclusive U.S. broadcasting rights and will air events during prime time, as Eastern Time is six hours behind Milan and Cortina. You can also stream live competitions on Peacock.
While Peacock does not offer a free trial, several other streaming services do: DirecTV offers a five-day free trial and includes channels like NBC, USA Network, CNBC, and NBCSN; and Hulu + Live TV has a three-day trial available.
This Winter Games will be the most geographically dispersed in history, with Milan and Cortina d’Ampezzo serving as the primary competition sites, located over 250 miles apart by road. Competitions will also take place in three additional mountain clusters, and the closing ceremony will be held in Verona, 100 miles east of Milan.
Key dates to remember include:
- Feb. 7: First gold medal events.
- Feb. 8: Gold medal in women’s Alpine skiing downhill.
- Feb. 13: Gold medal in men’s figure skating.
- Feb. 18: Gold medal in women’s Alpine skiing slalom.
- Feb. 19: Gold medals in women’s figure skating and women’s ice hockey, along with the first gold medals in ski mountaineering, a new Olympic sport.
- Feb. 22: Gold medal game in men’s ice hockey and the closing ceremony.
Two of the most celebrated Alpine skiers, 41-year-old Lindsey Vonn and Mikaela Shiffrin, kicked off the World Cup season with impressive performances. Vonn aims to compete despite suffering a ruptured ACL last week.
Freestyle skiing star Eileen Gu and snowboarding champion Chloe Kim are also making their return. NHL players are back on Olympic ice for the first time since 2014, featuring stars like Sidney Crosby and Connor McDavid.
This Olympics will see the debut of ski mountaineering, while skeleton has introduced a mixed team event, luge has added women’s doubles, and large hill ski jumping has introduced super team events for both men and women.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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