Full-circle milestones. Bookends of history. And emerging young stars grabbing the spotlight on the biggest stage of their careers.
Now that the 2026 Winter Olympic results are in the books, anyone turning the pages can see that athletes with Vermont roots and connections left an indelible mark.
Where do you even start to put the enormity of what happened into perspective?
How about 50 years ago in Austria, when a Vermonter named Bill Koch became the first U.S. male skier to win a medal in cross-country sprint.
Half a century went by before another American male skier, also from Vermont, would follow suit.
Ben Ogden grew up in Landgrove and trained at the youth ski academy started by Bill Koch, breaking the U.S. men’s drought by also winning silver as Koch did.
Ogden would go on to another second-place finish this year in the team sprint with Gus Schumacher.
Then there’s the pride of Starksboro, Ryan Cochran-Siegle, who won his second career silver in the men’s super-G.
Like Ogden, RCS did it with historical symmetry.
Ryan’s mother Barbara Cochran took gold in the slalom at the 1972 Games in Japan, and Ryan’s silver in 2026 was won 54 years to the day after that victory.
Meanwhile, 24-year-old Mac Forehand from Winhall continued his ascension as a freeski star.
Competing in his second Olympic Games, Forehand grabbed the silver medal in the men’s big air final doing a “2160-degree nose butter triple cork,” a trick that left judges and commentators alike in awe.
Women athletes with Vermont ties were equally impressive. Former University of Vermont standout and NCAA champion Paula Moltzan will take the bronze in the women’s team combined back to her home in Waitsfield.
Jesse Diggins, the most accomplished cross-country skier in U.S. history and a Stratton Mountain School alum, competed in her last Olympics while picking up career medal number four, a bronze in the individual women’s 10K freestyle.
Mikaela Shiffrin, who trained at Burke Mountain Academy and has more first-place downhill finishes than any skier in history, added a gold to her collection in the women’s slalom.
That’s a total of seven medals won by athletes with Vermont connections, accounting for more than 20% of the 33 medals won by the U.S.
Vermont's Team USA Winter Olympians
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*Contingent on qualification.
Based on latest available data from Olympics.com. Schedules and event rosters are subject to change. Visualization by Vermont Public — bookmark this tool at vermontpublic.org/olympics.
