The road to the Winter Olympics runs through snow-covered mountains, frozen rinks and, for more than 240 Olympians, college campuses. These athletes represent 19 nations, span 86 colleges and bring 70 national championships, showcasing that Olympians are made here, in the NCAA.
College sports are not just a few years in these athletes' journeys, but a launching pad. With college athletics' influence stretching across divisions, conferences and eras, the 2026 Games showcase not only where Olympians come from, but how deeply the collegiate model contributes to the fabric of international sport.
Let's dive into some data on which Olympians have competed in college, the schools and countries they represent and more:
How many Winter Olympians played college sports?
There are 241 total NCAA-affiliated Olympians, with 157 (65%) international athletes and 84 (35%) Team USA athletes. These are the sports they played in college:
- Ice hockey: 171.
- Skiing: 43.
- Track and field/cross country: 20.
- Soccer: 3.
There are also athletes who competed in college football, softball, swimming and diving, basketball and lacrosse.
(Meet 10 Olympians who competed in a different college sport before landing on Team USA.)
Which Winter Olympians played college sports?
Here is the interactive dashboard and list of the 240-plus athletes who played a college sport. The dashboard shows each athlete's school, division, primary and sport-specific conference, college sport, Olympic sport and country.
What college sports are represented in the Olympics?
There are 171 ice hockey Olympians and 70 Olympians across other sports.
Women's ice hockey dominates this conversation. In total, 53% of all women's ice hockey Olympians (122 of 230) have NCAA experience, with Team USA being made up 100% of current or former student-athletes.
With 40 current NCAA student-athletes and 82 alums, including a number of national champions, Frozen Four veterans and major award winners, the Olympics showcase how NCAA women's ice hockey continues to shape athletes for the sport's biggest stage.
(NCAA women's ice hockey is powering the 2026 Milan Cortina Winter Olympics.)
What Olympians have won national championships?
Among these 241 athletes, there are a total of 29 individual and 41 team national championships. Here are the winningest national champions competing in the Olympics.
Five-time national champions:
- Madison Hoffman, Utah (skiing).
- Earned three team and two individual titles.
Four-time national champions:
- Amelia Smart, Denver (skiing).
- Earned one team and three individual titles.
Three-time national champions:
- Britta Curl-Salemme, Wisconsin (ice hockey).
- Novie McCabe, Utah (skiing).
- Jadin O'Brien, Notre Dame (track and field/cross country).
- Joanne Reid, Colorado (skiing).
- Lee Stecklein, Minnesota (ice hockey).
Two-time national champion:
- Joe Davies, Utah (skiing).
- Laila Edwards, Wisconsin (ice hockey).
- Jenn Gardiner, Ohio State (ice hockey).
- Johnny Hagenbuch, Dartmouth (skiing).
- Caroline Harvey, Wisconsin (ice hockey).
- Hilary Knight, Wisconsin (ice hockey).
- Jocelyne Larocque, Minnesota Duluth (ice hockey).
- Tanguy Nef, Dartmouth (skiing).
- Kelly Pannek, Minnesota (ice hockey).
- Michaela Pejzlová, Clarkson (ice hockey).
- Ella Shelton, Clarkson (ice hockey).
- Kirsten Simms, Wisconsin (ice hockey).
- Laurence St-Germain, Vermont (skiing).
What legendary Olympians played college sports?
There are four NCAA-affiliated athletes who are making their fifth Olympic appearance in Italy:
- Elana Meyers Taylor, George Washington (softball ? bobsled).
- Earned five medals for Team USA bobsled, three silver and two bronze.
- Hilary Knight, Wisconsin (ice hockey).
- Earned four medals for Team USA, one gold and three silver.
- Marie-Philip Poulin, Boston U. (ice hockey).
- Earned four medals for Team Canada, three gold and one silver.
- Nick Baumgartner, Northern Michigan (football ? snowboard).
- Earned one gold medal for Team USA.
What are the top countries that current and former college athletes represent?
In total, current and former NCAA student-athletes represent 19 countries. Here are the top 10 counties represented:
- United States: 84 (NCAA Team USA breakdown).
- Canada: 41.
- Italy: 16.
- Czechia: 15.
- Germany: 14.
- Finland: 13.
- Sweden: 13.
- Switzerland: 11.
- France: 10.
- Latvia: 6.
What divisions did these Olympians compete in?
- Division I: 179.
- Division II: 42.
- Division III: 27.
Note: Student-athletes who competed at schools in different divisions are counted for each division they competed in.
Where did these Olympians play in college?
In total, there are 86 NCAA schools represented in the 2026 Games. Here are the top 10 schools:
- Ohio State: 13.
- Boston U.: 12.
- Minnesota: 12.
- Wisconsin: 12.
- Clarkson: 10.
- St. Cloud State: 10.
- University of Maine: 10.
- Dartmouth: 9.
- Minnesota Duluth: 9.
- Northeastern: 9.
(Miracle on Ice to Milan Cortina: Wisconsin women's hockey pipeline runs through Mark Johnson.)
What conferences did these Olympians compete in?
Here are the top five conferences from the 36 primary conferences:
- Big Ten Conference: 51.
- Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference: 22.
- America East Conference: 20.
- The Ivy League: 20.
- Liberty League: 17.
Here are the top three conferences from the 11 sport-specific conferences:
- Western Collegiate Hockey Association: 54.
- Hockey East Association: 47.
- Eastern College Athletic Conference: 34.
(How NCAA men's ice hockey programs shape the 2026 Milan Cortina Winter Olympics.)
How to watch the Milan Cortina Games
Fans can follow the 2026 Winter Olympics across NBCUniversal's coverage, led by NBC and its affiliate networks. Every event will also be livestreamed and available on demand on Peacock. Daily broadcast schedules are available at nbcolympics.com/schedule.
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