Regional News

Truckee-Tahoe Region Sends Six Athletes to 2026 Winter Olympics

Local skiers and snowboarders from Truckee-Tahoe compete across multiple events in Italy’s Winter Games.

February 9, 2026

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Left to right, top row: AJ Hurt, Hahna Norman, Hanna Percy. Bottom row: Abby Winterberger, Bryce Bennett, JC Schoonmaker. Credit: Team USA.

Left to right, top row: AJ Hurt, Hahna Norman, Hanna Percy. Bottom row: Abby Winterberger, Bryce Bennett, JC Schoonmaker. Credit: Team USA.

MILAN, CORTINA — The 2026 Winter Olympic Games in Milan and Cortina, Italy, began with the Opening Ceremony on February 6 and will continue through February 22. The Sierra Nevada plays an important role in this year’s games, with six athletes from Nevada and Placer Counties named to the 2026 U.S. Olympic Team. All six local Olympians hail from the Truckee and North Lake Tahoe areas, regions renowned for world-class training facilities, including Palisades Tahoe, site of the 1960 Winter Olympics.

Nevada County’s three representatives, all from the Truckee area, are making their Olympic debuts. Abby Winterberger, age 15 and the youngest athlete on Team USA this Olympics, competes in women’s freeski halfpipe. Her qualification and final runs are scheduled for February 19 and 22, according to the official Olympic program. Hahna Norman represents the U.S. in women’s snowboard slopestyle, with her qualification and finals scheduled on February 16 and 17; she recently competed in women’s snowboard big air qualification but did not advance to the final. Hanna Percy, also a first-time Olympian, will race in women’s snowboard cross, an event set for February 13.

Placer County athletes bring a mix of experience to the team. Bryce Bennett, from the Tahoe City and Palisades Tahoe area, specializes in speed events and is competing in his third Olympics, having previously participated in 2018 and 2022. He raced in the men’s downhill on Saturday, finishing 13th, and is scheduled for the men’s super-G on February 11. AJ Hurt, based in Carnelian Bay, focuses on technical events and has prior World Cup experience; her women’s giant slalom and slalom competitions are upcoming on February 15 and 18. James Clinton Schoonmaker, known as JC, from Tahoe City, returns for his second Games after debuting in 2022; as a sprint specialist in cross-country skiing, his men’s sprint event is set for February 10.

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