The home of America’s best-known ski resorts is sending the largest delegation to the Winter Olympics in Milan Cortina this month, as 32 Coloradans represent the United States in games kicking off this weekend.
The vast majority of those Colorado residents who will participate in the games are skiers and snowboarders. They include multiple gold medal winners like Lindsey Vonn and Mikaela Shiffrin, as well as non-skiers who will compete in figure skating, bobsled and ice hockey.
Minnesota is the home of the second-highest number of Olympians, 29. The Minnesota delegation includes Lee Stecklein and Kelly Pannek, members of the women’s ice hockey team who won gold in Pyeongchang in 2018, and Grace Zumwinkle, who joined Stecklein and Pannek on the team that won silver in Beijing in 2022.
Twenty-one Californians will represent the United States in Italy this month, including two-time snowboarding halfpipe gold medalist Chloe Kim and Madison Chock, half of the ice dancing team that took gold in Beijing in 2022.
Utah is sending 17 athletes to the games, along with 15 each from Michigan and Massachusetts, 14 from New York, 11 from Wisconsin and 10 from Illinois.
All told, the United States is sending 232 athletes from 32 states. The oldest member of the team is Minnesotan Rich Ruohonen, 54, an alternate on the men’s curling team. The youngest is Lily Dhawornvej, 16, a snowboarder from Copper Mountain, Colo.
The American delegation in Milan Cortina will be the largest of any nation, eclipsing host Italy’s 196 entrants, the 210 Canadian competitors and delegations of more than 100 from Austria, Czechia, Finland, France, Germany, Japan, Sweden and Switzerland.
The United States has won a total of 330 medals across 24 Winter Olympic Games and 114 gold medals, second only to Norway in both categories.