The Milano-Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics: Team Norway Hopefuls

79 days until the start of the 2026 Winter Olympics.

Last week: Italy. This week: Norway.

The king of the Winter Olympic mountain.

Norway And The Winter Olympics

TOPSHOT – Norway’s Therese Johaug celebrates winning the gold medal in the women’s 30km mass start free cross-country event during the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympic Games at the Zhangjiakou National Cross-Country Skiing Centre in Zhangjiakou on February 20, 2022. (Photo by Christof STACHE / AFP) (Photo by CHRISTOF STACHE/AFP via Getty Images)

AFP via Getty Images

Norway has a long and highly successful history at the Winter Olympics, winning more medals than any other nation in Winter Olympic history. The country has hosted the Games twice: in Oslo in 1952 and in Lillehammer in 1994. Norway has won 405 total medals at the Winter Olympics, including 148 gold medals, surpassing any other country. It is one of only three nations to have won more medals at the Winter Games than at the Summer Games. Norway’s success comes despite its small population of just over 5.6 million people (Globally, over 70 cities exceed the population of Norway).

In PyeongChang in 2018, Norway set a new Winter Olympics record for the most medals won at a single Games, with 39 total medals. And in Beijing in 2022, Norway broke the record for the most gold medals at a single Winter Olympics, winning 16.

So who then, from this powerhouse nation, are the Olympic hopefuls for the 2026 Winter Olympics?

Cross-Country Skier Johannes Høsflot Klæbo

Johannes Klaebo is on track to become the Winter Games’ winningest athlete ever. He is such a rock star in Norway that he chooses to train in Park City, Utah to avoid distractions. Klaebo won three gold medals in Pyeongchang in 2018 ( the most of any athlete) and two more gold medals in Beijing in 2022. But this year in March he performed a feat without precedent at the World Championships winning six gold medals in six events: The Sprint, 20km Skiathlon, 10km Classic interval start, Team Sprint, Team Relay, and 50km Mass Start freestyle. He is therefore likely to be the star of the 2026 Winter Olympic Games.

Cross-Country Skier Heidi Weng

Weng has been a world-class cross country skier for over ten years and a member of Norway’s national team for 15 years. She won overall World Cup championships in both 2017 and 2018 and a bronze medal in the Sochi Games in 2014 in the 15 km Skiathlon. She would miss the 2022 Games in Beijing due to a positive Covid-19 test. After Beijing Weng would also suffer a severe concussion from a fall on ice and spend two years recovering from symptoms including vertigo. Weng, like Klaebo, took some time off in part to escape the intense pressure from the media in Norway but has managed to finish second second in several World Cup races in 2025 as she aims for her final Olympics in Milano-Cortina in 2026.

Tiril Udnes Weng

Weng, who is also a third cousin of Heidi Weng, competed in Beijing in 2022 and while she did not medal, went on to win the overall World Cup Championship in 2023. She has been competing on the World Cup circuit for ten years and is likely to be a member of the 2026 Olympic team.

Biathlete Sturla Holm Lægreid

Holm Lægreid made the Norwegian national team in 2020 and quickly rose to the top finishing second overall in the World Cup standings in 2022 and winning a gold medal in the men’s relay in the 2022 Beijing Games. He has sustained that success since Beijing, winning several individual World Cup races and finishing first in the overall World Cup standings in 2025. He will be a top contender for individual medals in 2026.

Speed Skater Hallgeir Engebråten

Engebråten competed in the 2022 Beijing Games winning a gold medal in the men’s pursuit and a bronze medal in the 5000 meters. He is expected to be a member of the men’s pursuit team again in 2026.

Skier Aleksander Aamodt Kilde

Despite a serious crash and a complicated recovery, Kilde is hoping to compete in the 2026 Winter Olympics in Milano Cortina in the Giant Slalom and Downhill events. In January 2024 Kilde suffered a severe crash during a downhill race in Wengen, Switzerland, resulting in a deep cut on his leg with nerve damage and a dislocated shoulder. Then in the summer of 2024 he returned to skiing but had a setback when a shoulder infection led to sepsis, requiring a second surgery in February 2025 and causing him to miss the entire 2024–2025 season. In spite of these recent setbacks Kilde is still quite serious about making the 2026 Games.

Kilde has competed in the 2014, 2018 and 2022 Olympics winning a silver medal and a bronze medal in the Combined and Super G events respectively in Beijing. Kilde also happens to be the fiancee of American Olympic star Mikaela Shiffrin.

Mixed Doubles Curlers Kristin Skaslien and Martin Nedregotten

Skaslien and Nedregotten have competed together in curling on the world stage since 2013. They have represented Norway in seventeen European National Championships since 2006 and eight out of the last twelve years in the World Mixed Doubles Curling Championships. Skaslien and Nedregotten won a bronze medal in Pyeonchange in 2018 and a silver medal in Beijing in 2022. Perhaps 2026 will finally be the year they finally win gold.

Hope Springs Eternal

Norway has unfortunately had several huge Winter Olympic stars retire recently for various reasons leaving many gaps in their 2026 Olympic roster. Olympic medalists like Nordic Combined star Jarl Magnus Riiber (the most decorated Nordic combined athlete of all time), cross-country skier Therese Johaug and Biathletes Johannes Thingnes Bø and Tarjei Bø have all recently retired, to name many but not all those who are moving on. Yet somehow little Norway always seems to have a new generation of champions in their pipeline of Olympic talent.

Expect the 2026 Games to be no different.