Michigan athletes shine as the Winter Olympics begin
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Evan Bates and Madison Chock during a recent training session in Milan, Italy. Photo: Matthew Stockman/Getty Images
The 2026 Winter Olympics are here with Friday's opening ceremony at Milan's San Siro Stadium.
Why it matters: Fifteen athletes from Michigan, most of whom hail from Metro Detroit, will compete against thousands from around the world for sports' top honor — Olympic gold.
Driving the news: The opening ceremony begins at 2pm and will be broadcast on NBC and Peacock.
- NBC will broadcast an encore of the ceremony at 8pm.
Yes, but: Competition is underway. Early rounds for events including curling, snowboarding and women's hockey began Wednesday.
- The first medal event, men's downhill skiing, is Saturday.
⛸️ Zoom in: Ice dancer Evan Bates, an Ann Arbor native competing in his fifth Olympics, leads a contingent from Michigan that includes figure skating, hockey, skiing and snowboarding competitors.
- Bates and his skating partner and wife, Madison Chock, a California native and Novi High School graduate, are three-time world champions who are going for gold in ice dance.
- Emilea Zingas, of Grosse Pointe Farms, and Christina Carreira, of Saint Clair, are competing in figure skating.
🏒 Hockey: The men's hockey team is loaded with locals — Kyle Connor (Shelby Township, Winnipeg Jets), Connor Hellebuyck (Commerce, Jets), Jack Hughes (Canton, New Jersey Devils), Quinn Hughes (Canton, Minnesota Wild), Dylan Larkin (Waterford, Red Wings) and Zach Werenski (Grosse Pointe Woods, Columbus Blue Jackets).
- Megan Keller (Farmington Hills, Boston Fleet) and Kirsten Simms (Plymouth) are representing Metro Detroit on the women's team.
🏂 Snowboarding: Nick Baumgartner, a 44-year-old from the Upper Peninsula, is seeking his first individual gold medal after becoming the oldest medalist in Olympic snowboarding history in Beijing.
- Jake Vedder, 27, of Pinckney, picked up snowboarding at age 5 at Mt. Brighton.
🎿 Freestyle skiing: Kaila Kuhn, from Boyne City, and Winter Vinecki, of Gaylord.
The big picture: The Winter Games will feature 116 medal events across 16 sports, with the closing ceremony set for Feb. 22.