US Paralympic Stars to Watch at 2026 Winter Games in Italy
The United States finished fifth in the medal table at the 2022 Winter Paralympics, but a formidable team is poised to improve that record in Italy over the coming days. With a mix of veteran champions and emerging talents, American athletes are set to showcase their prowess across various disciplines.
Alpine Skiing: Audrey Crowley
Audrey Crowley, a first-time Paralympian who turned 19 in early March, has been in the spotlight for her skiing skills since second grade. Born without her lower right arm, she was an honorable mention All-State softball player in Colorado. Crowley heads to Italy on a strong note, having reached the podium in two World Cup downhill races in early February. During the 2024-25 season, she secured two World Cup podium finishes in giant slalom and earned bronze in giant slalom and fifth in slalom at the world championships, where other events were canceled.
Biathlon and Cross-Country Skiing
Jake Adicoff, a visually impaired athlete, graduated from Bowdoin in 2018, where he competed alongside able-bodied skiers. He won silver at the Paralympics that same year, retired briefly, and returned in 2022 to claim two more silvers and a relay gold with a dramatic anchor leg. As the 2024 World Cup overall champion, Adicoff boasts an impressive record: nine individual world championship races, nine medals, including four golds.
Oksana Masters, a Ukraine-born athlete, has been a fixture in both summer and winter Paralympics for 14 years. She aims for her 20th Paralympic medal and 10th gold, with summer achievements including four cycling golds and one rowing bronze. After missing the 2024-25 season due to a bone infection, Masters dominated this season, finishing no lower than second in cross-country and winning five of her last seven biathlon World Cup races. Her fiancé, Aaron Pike, is also competing, seeking his first Paralympic medal.
Kendall Gretsch made history in 2018 by winning the first US biathlon medal at the Paralympics, taking gold in the 6km event. She also won gold in cross-country and a triathlon gold in the Summer Paralympics. In 2022, she secured a full set of biathlon medals. This season, she placed second to Masters in cross-country and fourth in biathlon World Cups. Gretsch has an astounding 34 world championship medals, including 19 golds.
Sydney Peterson, a neuroscience graduate student, earned a complete set of medals in her 2022 Paralympic debut. After surgeries to manage dystonia, she won individual bronze and relay silver in cross-country in 2025.
Snowboarding
Noah Elliott, the 2024-25 World Cup champion and double medalist from 2018, won an ESPY award last year. After meeting Brenna Huckaby during his battle with osteosarcoma, he took up snowboarding post-amputation. He won gold and bronze in 2018, missed the podium in 2022 due to injuries, but rebounded with medals at the 2023 and 2025 world championships.
Brenna Huckaby has three Paralympic golds and one bronze, plus five world championships. After her class was excluded in 2022, she won a legal battle to compete, securing gold and bronze. She won her second ESPY in 2024.
Mike Schultz, known as "Monster Mike," developed his own prosthetics after a 2008 accident. He has Paralympic gold and silver medals, four world championship medals, and won an ESPY in 2018.
Curling and Ice Hockey
Steve Emt and Laura Dwyer aim for a breakthrough in mixed doubles curling, having missed playoffs in the 2025 world championships on tiebreakers. Emt is the oldest US athlete at 56.
In ice hockey, Declan Farmer leads the US team in the open category, with the USA and Canada dominating recent finals. Farmer, who debuted at age 15, has helped secure multiple Paralympic and world championship titles, becoming the first US player to score 200 career goals.
