Team USA closed the 2026 Winter Olympic Games in Milan and Cortina d’Ampezzo ranked second behind Norway in both overall medals and gold medals. The Americans totaled 33 medals, 12 of them gold, before competition wrapped up last night.
Competitors connected to Pennsylvania and New Jersey contributed across several events, continuing a pattern seen during the Summer Games in Paris two years ago. Along with athletes who were born or raised in the region, others carried school or club ties to the area. Delaware did not have representation this year. The Paralympics follow next, opening Friday, March 6.
Before turning to that competition, several regional athletes completed their Olympic campaigns on the ice and snow in Italy.
Short track speedskater Andrew Heo, a native of Warrington Township in Bucks County, skated in his second Olympic Games. He placed eighth in the 2,000-meter mixed relay, 11th in the men’s 1,500 meters, and 13th in the men’s 500 meters. Heo also raced in three events at the Beijing Olympics. Throughout the Games, he shared updates on Instagram and wrote about the challenge of focusing only on podium finishes. He wrote, “As amazing as it would’ve been to bring home a medal, I believe that the memories, lessons, and experiences I’m taking with me are just as valuable. Because ultimately that’s what will get me to where I want to be in the future.”
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In snowboarding, Chloe Kim earned silver in the women’s halfpipe in Livigno. Kim, who briefly attended Princeton University in 2019, previously captured gold in the same event at the two prior Winter Olympics.
Figure skating featured 18-year-old Isabeau Levito, born in Philadelphia and now living in Mount Holly, New Jersey. Competing in her first Olympics, she finished 12th in the women’s singles. Her teammate Alysa Liu secured gold in that event.
On the curling sheet, Taylor Anderson-Heide helped the U.S. women’s team to a fourth-place result. She was born in Philadelphia, raised in Broomall in Delaware County, and attended Marple Newtown High School. Although she now resides in Minnesota, the Philadelphia Curling Club is listed as her home club on the USA Curling website. This was her first Olympic appearance. Prior to Milano Cortina, she won three U.S. Women’s Curling Championships, including two titles alongside her twin sister, Sarah.
In bobsled, Jasmine Jones reached the podium in her Olympic debut. The 29-year-old from Greensburg, Pennsylvania, near Pittsburgh, won bronze in the two-woman event with Kaillie Armbruster Humphries.
Luge competitor Summer Britcher, from Glen Rock, Pennsylvania, near York, appeared in her fourth straight Winter Olympics. She finished 14th in the women’s singles, her personal best in that discipline. Britcher first encountered the sport at age 11 at Liberty Mountain Resort in Fairfield, Pennsylvania.
Skeleton brought two more athletes with regional roots. Dan Barefoot of Johnstown, Pennsylvania, competed in his first Olympics at age 35. He placed 20th in the men’s individual race and 10th in the team event. Barefoot graduated from Penn State with a degree in landscape architecture and, according to the Team USA website, participated in club baseball and fly fishing while at PSU. He began pursuing skeleton in his mid-20s after searching online for “Olympic style sports people can pick up later in life.”
Kelly Curtis, from Princeton, also raced in skeleton. She finished 12th in the women’s individual competition and joined the team that placed 10th. Curtis made her Olympic debut in Beijing at the previous Winter Games, becoming the first Black athlete to compete for Team USA in skeleton. At Springfield College in Massachusetts, she competed in track and field and won the women’s heptathlon at the 2011 Penn Relays.
Hockey delivered two gold medals for the United States, with both the men’s and women’s teams defeating Canada in their respective finals. Pittsburgh native Vincent Trocheck, currently with the New York Rangers, won gold with the men’s team. Jack Hughes, a center for the New Jersey Devils from Canton, Michigan, also earned gold. On the women’s roster were Ava McNaughton, a University of Wisconsin goaltender from Seven Fields, Pennsylvania, and Tessa Janecke, who plays for the Penn State women’s team.
Players connected to Pennsylvania-based NHL teams also earned medals. Flyers defenseman Travis Sanheim claimed silver for Canada, while Flyers defenseman Rasmus Ristolainen took bronze with Finland. Pittsburgh Penguins captain Sidney Crosby secured silver representing Canada.
After the men’s final, members of the U.S. team paid tribute during their post-game celebration to Johnny and Matthew Gaudreau. The brothers were struck and killed by a suspected drunk driver while biking near their hometown in Salem County, New Jersey. Sean Higgins, identified as the driver, faces multiple charges carrying a possible sentence of up to 70 years in prison and is scheduled to return to court this week for a discretionary conference.
As the Olympic program concludes, attention turns to athletes preparing for the Paralympics.
Kelsey O’Driscoll of Caldwell, New Jersey, is set to compete in para alpine skiing at her first Games. She had been skiing since age 2 but relearned the sport after a sledding accident in 2021. O’Driscoll also works as a registered nurse, an asthma care coordinator, and a ski patroller.
On the men’s Paralympic sled hockey roster are Josh Pauls of Green Brook, New Jersey; Jack Wallace of Franklin Lakes, New Jersey; and Declan Farmer, a Tampa, Florida, native who graduated from Princeton University. Wallace enters the Games with two Paralympic gold medals in sled hockey, Farmer has three, and Pauls has four, dating back to the Vancouver 2010 Games.
