The first beneficiaries will be the athletes competing at the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympic Games, who will have access to this fund created by the IOC. The initiative covers approximately 14,000 athletes across both Summer and Winter editions and represents an investment of nearly $140 million. The payment will be made six months after competition, provided that athletes have not violated anti-doping regulations or the Olympic Charter.

A historic change in the relationship between the IOC and athletes

The decision represents a significant transformation in the relationship with athletes. For decades, competitors have participated primarily to represent their countries, win medals, and become part of sporting history, but this new measure places the focus on the journey that takes place before reaching the Olympic stage. The organization aims to recognize that behind every participant there are years of preparation, personal investment, and sacrifices that often go unsupported.

Pau Gasol, chair of the IOC Athletes’ Commission and Spanish Olympic basketball medalist, emphasized that the grant will be available to all competitors, regardless of whether they are renowned champions or athletes facing greater financial challenges. According to Gasol, the goal is to value all Olympians equally, acknowledging that each athlete has a different story, but all share the same commitment and dedication required to reach that level of competition.

A new strategy under the leadership of Kirsty Coventry

The financial support fund is part of a series of reforms promoted by IOC President Kirsty Coventry, who aims to modernize the organization and keep the Olympic Games at the forefront of world sport. Coventry explained that this initiative represents only the beginning of a broader period of change, designed to strengthen the relationship between the IOC and the athletes who are at the heart of Olympic competition.

The measure has also received support from prominent figures in international sport, including Sebastian Coe, Olympic champion and IOC member, who described the announcement as a historic moment for the Olympic Movement. Although the organization clarified that the grant should not be considered prize money for performance, the new model opens a broader discussion about financial recognition for athletes and the role they play in the development and global projection of the Olympic Games.

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The injury dated back to 2019, when she was serving as a military lawyer in the United States Army and suffered spinal damage during an advising mission. She continued serving for three more years despite the pain and three failed operations, until in 2023, just months after marrying Danielle, emergency surgery failed to reverse the deterioration. One morning in October that year, she could not get out of bed; from the belly button down, her body had stopped responding. “I remember lying in the bed just thinking, things are eventually gonna wake up,” she later said. After two weeks in hospital, the diagnosis was definitive: paraplegia. “I was distraught, devastated, angry,” she admitted of those first days.

Afghanistan, spinal injury and the end of a previous life

Born in a small town in Montana, Verderber left her surroundings to study law at Syracuse University College of Law, a decision she has described as one of the most transformative stages of her life. There, she found her way into the JAG Corps, was assigned to Fort Hood and eventually deployed to Kandahar, where she advised military commanders on operational decisions. After injuring her back on a mission, her mobility began to deteriorate, but she continued working as a defence attorney for soldiers and went on to represent more than 140 clients. “I put everything into my clients,” she later said, “and not into my health.”

The physical blow came into a life that had already known another loss. Her father died in 2015, before she graduated from Syracuse and before her deployment to Afghanistan, but he remained an intimate presence during her recovery and her Paralympic journey. Verderber has said that her late father, Danielle and her three siblings were part of the motivation that sustained her when the injury changed everything. “He definitely inspires me and I know he’s proud,” she said of her father during the Games, in a week she described as emotional and in which she also spoke about her siblings: “I’m doing this for them and, hopefully, I can inspire them too.”

Danielle, nature and the first refuge before curling

On her return to Montana, Verderber had to relearn basic tasks, accept help she did not want to need and live with anger that also reached those trying to care for her. “I remember in the hospital bed, and them teaching me how to sit up properly and how to get dressed, and I hated everybody,” she acknowledged. At that point, DREAM Adaptive, a Montana organisation that brings outdoor sport to people with disabilities, entered her life. Just days after leaving hospital, Verderber was sit-skiing down Whitefish Mountain, the same mountain where she had married Danielle the previous summer. “It was full circle for Danielle and me,” she said. “Six months ago, I was standing on top of the mountain, and now I’m sit-skiing down it.”

Her bond with nature was a first way of moving again, although the more complex weight was at home. Danielle had gone from newlywed wife to caregiver, emotional support and companion to someone whose life had been suddenly altered. Verderber has acknowledged that curling gave her not only an activity, but also a space to talk about her disability, her mental health and her marriage with people who understood what her family could not always fully grasp. With Laura Dwyer, Steve Emt and other members of the team, she found a community capable of listening to her, but also of telling her difficult truths: she could vent to them, but she also had to hear how Danielle was hurting and be “the partner that Danielle deserves”.

Milano Cortina 2026 Paralympic Winter Games
URANCHIMEG Oyuna, VERDERBER Katie, O’NEILL Sean, THUMS Matthew, USA

Curling appeared almost by chance

Curling arrived in April 2024, almost by accident. Verderber had travelled to Aspen, Colorado, for a winter sports clinic for veterans with the intention of skiing, but she was asked to choose a second activity and picked curling. That morning, Danielle was struggling with altitude sickness and Verderber almost stayed in the hotel. She went onto the ice, threw her first stone and the memory contains no epic gloss: “I was terrible,” she said. She missed the target by several feet and, when a former national coach suggested that she could train seriously, her first reaction was to reject the idea. Four months later, USA Curling called, and she began saying yes to camps, trips and opportunities that brought her closer to people who would become part of her recovery.

That team became a second family. “Getting to know the team is part of the reason I fell in love with it,” Verderber explained, having found in curling not only a sport, but also a judgement-free environment. She was also afraid to say that she was gay and married to a woman, until the group received it naturally. “I still live in a world where I have to judge people to find out if you can share that,” she said. “It’s not always safe. And they were just so incredible.” In June 2025, while waiting to learn whether she would make the Paralympic roster, she texted Steve Emt to ask whether they would still be friends if she did not make the team, because she did not know what she would do without them. Shortly afterwards, she was selected as an alternate for Team USA in the wheelchair curling event at Milano Cortina 2026, just over a year after throwing her first stone.

In Italy, Verderber spent most of her Paralympic experience in the alternate box, but still lived through a moment she keeps replaying whenever she has a bad day. She entered a game against Latvia after the fourth end and the arena began chanting her name. “Two years ago I was told I was never gonna walk again and now I’m like in the biggest arena at the biggest time of our sport and my name was getting chanted,” she recalled. After returning home, she resumed her work as a civil litigation attorney and shifted her focus back to Danielle, who had taken care of the house, the dogs and everything pushed into the background while she trained and competed. “When I found out I made the team I told her this is just as much your moment as it is mine,” she explained. “I know it’s my name they’re going to be chanting, it’s my name on the uniform, but it’s really a testament to you.”

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“To be inside a highly physically demanding sport for 15 years is a long time and I feel like now is the right time to move on,” Channell said in a statement released by Bobsleigh Canada Skeleton. The decision, like many retirements, was complex and carefully considered. “Skeleton is my family. That is why it is so difficult to step away and why it has taken me so long to come to terms with this decision. The community that the Canadian programme has right now is unique. Through all the ups and downs, and with all the support I have received, both loud and quiet, it has been an unforgettable ride,” she added.

“Help me fly”: turning loss into momentum

Channell was born and raised in North Vancouver, British Columbia, and described herself during childhood as “the shy one”. Sport soon became a natural space for her: she played basketball, football, softball and ran track. Later, at Simon Fraser University, she established herself as a sprinter and also competed with the university softball team. “I live in the moment. I leave nothing undone. I have no regrets. I live out loud,” she wrote in her own biography, a line that helps explain the way she would go on to build her career.

In her fourth year at university, her boyfriend passed away suddenly and Channell found in track a way to move through that loss. “It was when I was training and racing at top speeds that I felt free. This feeling is what saved me and brought me back from devastation,” she said. The idea of “Help me fly” captures that part of her story: running, pushing, sliding and competing were not only sporting gestures, but a way of continuing forward after a personal blow.

From the track to the ice

Skeleton entered her life before she knew she would one day become an Olympian. She watched the Salt Lake City competition on television with her grandfather, who told her the athletes doing it were “crazy”. She had the opposite reaction: she knew it was something she wanted to try. Years later, Jon Montgomery’s gold medal in Vancouver deepened that attraction to a sport built on precision, risk and adrenaline.

After graduating in 2011 with a Bachelor of Science in Physical Geography from Simon Fraser University, she moved to Whistler almost on impulse to fully immerse herself in skeleton. She worked and trained full time for two winters, made Canada’s development team in her second year and then moved to Calgary to continue the journey with the rest of the squad. Her sprinting background fitted naturally with a discipline in which an explosive start can shape a race before the sled reaches the most technical part of the track.

Podiums, Olympic Games and a 15-year career

Her international progression was quick. She won the overall North American Cup title in the 2012-13 season, moved through the Intercontinental Cup and reached the World Cup. In 2015, she delivered one of her first major statements by finishing fourth at the World Championships, just 0.06 seconds off the podium on her debut at the event. In the 2015-16 season, she earned her first World Cup podiums, finished third overall and received a bronze Crystal Globe as one of the leading athletes on the circuit.

Across her career, Channell collected four World Cup medals, with silvers in Park City and Whistler and bronzes in Königssee and Winterberg. Her best Olympic result came at PyeongChang 2018, where she finished 10th and stood out for her push times. At Beijing 2022 she placed 17th, and at Milano Cortina 2026 she represented Canada again, finishing 18th individually and 15th in the mixed team event. She also won silver at the 2020 World Championships in the mixed team event alongside Dave Greszczyszyn, a medal she remembers as one of her favourite moments because they arrived as clear underdogs and finished just 0.01 seconds from victory.

Beyond the finish line

Her farewell also speaks to leadership. Channell thought 2022 might be her final year, but decided to continue because she did not want to leave Canadian skeleton in the state it was in at the time. “There was so much change, but it was very rewarding to be part of it all,” she explained. In the cycle leading to Milano Cortina 2026, she helped guide younger athletes, bring order to development standards and build a culture of accountability, responsibility and team success within the national programme.

Joe Cecchini, high performance director and head coach of the national skeleton programme, described her as “the heartbeat of our programme for many years”. Channell also explained it from another angle: “I could have stayed around longer, and I would have been more than capable of sliding, but if I did that, I feel like I’d be blocking that next step for athletes coming up the pipeline who now deserve the opportunity. I don’t want to do that.” Her retirement closes a career with three Olympic Games and international podiums, but also a story that began with speed on a track and found in the ice a way to fly.

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Held at ANOC headquarters, the meeting has become a key platform for delegations to thoroughly analyze the operational and human aspects that shaped the experience of athletes, officials, and teams during the Games. Beyond evaluating logistical processes, the session focuses on how NOC feedback can be transformed into concrete improvements for future editions of the Olympic Games, ensuring that acquired knowledge is preserved and continues to enrich the Olympic Movement.

NOC Voices as a Driver of Improvement for the Games

The meeting was opened by ANOC Secretary General Gunilla Lindberg and James Macleod, IOC Director of National Olympic Committee Relations, Olympic Solidarity and Olympism365. They were joined virtually by representatives of LA28, French Alps 2030, and Brisbane 2032, who followed the discussions closely to incorporate valuable insights into the planning of their respective Games.

During her remarks, Lindberg emphasized the importance of ensuring that National Olympic Committees continue to play a central role in Olympic planning. According to her, the experiences of delegations and athletes provide a unique perspective on how the Games operate, helping identify opportunities for improvement that often only become visible once the event has concluded. She noted that these sessions serve as an essential platform for ensuring that lessons learned are passed from one edition of the Games to the next, contributing to higher organizational standards.

From Paris 2024 to Milan Cortina 2026: The Continuous Evolution of the Olympic Movement

One of the first topics discussed during the session was an IOC presentation reviewing the recommendations submitted by NOCs following the Paris 2024 Olympic Games. The presentation demonstrated how many of those observations were considered and implemented for Milan Cortina 2026, providing a tangible example of how feedback from delegations can directly improve Games operations and services. This process reflects a working philosophy based on active listening and continuous adaptation to the needs of those who participate in the event.

The discussion on the future continued with a presentation by Mathilde Meurisse, Sports Director of French Alps 2030, who outlined the vision and objectives of the upcoming Winter Olympic project. Throughout the two-day meeting, participants examined topics such as accreditation, transportation, accommodation, services for NOCs, Olympic Villages, arrivals and departures, as well as the overall athlete experience. Each of these areas was analyzed from a practical perspective, with the goal of identifying recommendations that will help future Organizing Committees create environments that are increasingly efficient, accessible, and centered on the people who bring the Olympic Games to life.

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The award recognizes far more than a nation’s organizational capabilities. The Olympic Cup honors the passion, hospitality and commitment of a society that made the Games its own, filling venues, cheering for athletes from every country and transforming each host location into a setting of unity and celebration. With memories of Milan and Cortina still fresh, the distinction symbolized the human and cultural impact of Games that went far beyond sport.

A Tribute to the Enthusiasm of an Entire Nation

During the ceremony, Kirsty Coventry emphasized that Milan-Cortina 2026 was not simply an event held on Italian soil, but an experience wholeheartedly embraced by its people. “The stadiums were full, the cheers echoed, and the atmosphere was electric,” said the IOC President, recalling how Italians celebrated their own athletes while also supporting competitors from around the world.

The presentation of the Olympic Cup to President Sergio Mattarella also carried strong symbolic meaning. By receiving the trophy on behalf of the Italian people, the Head of State embodied the shared pride of millions who took part in the Games from every corner of the country. From the streets of Milan to the mountains of Cortina, Italy showed the world that sporting passion and respect can coexist naturally.

The Olympic Order Honors the Leaders Who Helped Make the Games Possible

In addition to the Olympic Cup, Sergio Mattarella was awarded the Olympic Order, the highest distinction granted by the IOC to individuals who have rendered outstanding service to the Olympic cause. Coventry recalled his appearance during the Opening Ceremony, when he took part in a sequence aboard a vintage tram heading to San Siro Stadium, in a moment she described as warm, light-hearted and “deliciously Italian.”

The recognition was also extended to Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and several senior members of the Italian government, including Matteo Salvini, Andrea Abodi and Giancarlo Giorgetti. According to Coventry, institutional support was crucial in delivering innovative and decentralized Games capable of uniting regions, communities and public institutions under a common purpose. More than a sporting celebration, Milan-Cortina 2026 became a powerful demonstration of national collaboration and shared pride.

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The debate does not concern only the organising committee’s accounts. In the Winter Games, the balance sheet almost always splits in two: on one side, the operational result; on the other, the later bill for highly specific infrastructure, maintenance costs and insufficient local demand. Can the Games really be described as profitable if the competition goes ahead, but part of the legacy gradually turns into a public burden or into facilities with no clear long-term use? That is the question Milano Cortina has revived before the cauldron has even been extinguished.

What the precedents of the Winter Games show

The precedents do not point in a single direction. Some host cities did manage to turn the Games into lasting sports infrastructure. Lillehammer and Salt Lake City remain among the strongest examples of continuity: the Olympic movement still presents both as models of long-term use, and in Utah that sustained maintenance has been one of the foundations for the region to host the Games again in 2034. Salt Lake City stands out as one of the clearest examples of continuity, and the preservation of its 2002 legacy, with 10 of the 13 competition venues set to be reused for Utah 2034, has been one of the main strengths behind its return to the Olympic calendar, a point that the International Olympic Committee -IOC- itself has highlighted as central to the new bid.

Calgary is also often cited as a success story, but its relevance lies in a different nuance: not in preserving the entire legacy intact, but in adapting it. WinSport chose to dismantle the ski jumps and sliding track at Canada Olympic Park in order to focus on “growth sports” and on more sustainable and inclusive programming. In other words, Calgary offers a useful lesson of its own: WinSport redirected resources towards a more sustainable vision and towards sports and programmes with greater real use, a decision that makes its legacy an example of adaptation rather than simple preservation.

Where the problem begins: debt, maintenance and overly specific venues

The most problematic cases tend to share recognisable traits. Nagano carried the weight of debt and the maintenance of expensive facilities for years. Turin left visible improvements in transport and urban image, but also a much more uncomfortable legacy in the mountains: an estimate reported by Reuters placed the cost at 3.3 billion euros, with 2.5 billion in long-term benefits and a net loss of 1.3 billion, while the bobsleigh track in Cesana was closed from 2011 and the ski jumps in Pragelato were eventually abandoned. Sochi took that logic to an extreme scale, with multibillion investment and enormous later pressure linked to maintenance and the repurposing of several venues.

The bobsleigh, luge and skeleton track captures the core of the problem well: it is expensive to build, expensive to maintain and useful for a very limited number of events and users. The same is true of some ski jumps and alpine complexes developed outside ecosystems with real demand. When a territory does not have competitive tradition, a sustained calendar and enough critical mass, the legacy starts to look less like a useful investment and more like a budgetary obligation. Does it make sense to keep building infrastructure with such limited use for an event that lasts only two weeks? The question keeps returning because the pattern keeps repeating itself.

The future of the model: less snow, more climate pressure and the need to remain relevant

That economic dilemma is now intersecting with a deeper one. A study published in Current Issues in Tourism examined 93 potential locations for snow sports in the Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games and warned of a reduction in climatically reliable venues under different warming scenarios. At the same time, the IOC increasingly acknowledges the role of artificial snow and is steering future host selection processes towards climatically reliable venues, the use of existing or temporary infrastructure and regional models. If there will be fewer naturally suitable places, does it still make sense to keep expanding the host map, or will the Games have to be concentrated in a smaller group of prepared territories?

In that context, the viability of the Winter Games no longer depends only on cutting costs, but also on remaining a relevant sports product. Milano Cortina 2026 added ski mountaineering as a new Olympic discipline, while the return of National Hockey League -NHL- players to Olympic hockey gives the tournament back some of the global pull that major stars can generate. At the same time, curling is exploring another path to growth, not only through the Olympic route but also through calendar expansion and commercial development. The Rock League, launched by The Curling Group, proposes a mixed and global professional franchise league, with events in different markets, a season that stretches beyond the Olympic peak and a model less dependent on countries and federations. The deeper question is no longer just how much it costs to stage a Winter Games, but what move the IOC needs to make for them to keep making sense: less new construction, more venues with a credible post-Games use, more stars, more visibility across more months and a model capable of surviving in a world with less natural snow and greater scrutiny over every euro invested.

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The story did not end there. In the days that followed, Lægreid changed his tone and publicly acknowledged that he had handled that moment badly. As reported by People, he apologised to his former partner for having dragged her into unwanted attention and also to his teammate Johan-Olav Botn, whose victory was partly overshadowed by the impact of the confession. “I deeply regret sharing personal details at that moment,” the biathlete later said, clearly trying to close the matter and return the focus to sport.

The public correction shifted the spotlight around the Norwegian team

That later response came through in his own words. After the initial fallout, Sturla Holm Lægreid admitted that he had also been wrong in the way he handled the moment publicly. In the message released after the interview, he acknowledged that what had happened had shifted the focus on a day marked by Norwegian biathlon’s success, and he also admitted that he was not thinking clearly. “It was a day of celebration for Norwegian biathlon,” he said in a statement released by the Norwegian team. In that same statement, he also acknowledged that “I am not quite myself today, and I am not thinking clearly.”

The correction also included a direct reference to the impact it had had on his teammate Johan-Olav Botn and on his former partner. “My apologies are to Johan-Olav, who deserved all the attention after the gold,” said the Norwegian, before adding that he also wanted to apologise to his ex-girlfriend, “who involuntarily ended up in the media spotlight.” He then set out the line that would shape his immediate message after the episode: “I will now put this behind me and focus on the Olympic Games. I will not answer any further questions about this.”

The biathlete later admitted the mental toll of the Olympic episode

Even so, his later message carried a nuance more complex than a full retreat. As reported by Dagbladet, Lægreid apologised directly to Botn in case he had ruined his day: “I have to apologise if I spoiled this day for you.” But at the same time, when asked about the moment he chose to make that confession, he answered: “I don’t know. I stand by my decision. It is a decision I have made in my life.” He also added: “I completely understand that people react. I can see that myself now. This is Johan’s day, and it is a shame that this has received so much attention.”

The most delicate part came later, when he began speaking about the toll the whole episode had taken on him. In comments reported by Se og Hør, he explained that the emotional strain had eventually turned into something physically visible: “I think anyone who has felt something like that can recognise it. It becomes a physical reaction. That is how it is, it comes with the package.” He then detailed how it affected him in the middle of the competitive calendar, saying that it had been difficult to eat and sleep, “so I have become thinner than I should be. It has done me good to be at home in Bærum and put some weight back on.” Weeks later, in VG, he linked that phase to his reaction on the snow: “I found some superpowers. And with everything that happened at the Olympic Games, I also found some mental superpowers. After handling the Olympics, the World Cup feels almost like child’s play.”

His sporting response put Lægreid back in the World Cup fight

The results support that reading. The International Biathlon Union -IBU- recorded his sprint win in Otepää, built on a highly precise race and a decisive closing lap. From there, the sequence accelerated: more victories followed in Estonia and then in Oslo-Holmenkollen, where he put together several consecutive individual wins and moved back among the leading names of the season finale. The IBU also highlighted that the streak included a long run of consecutive podium finishes, a rare figure at such a demanding point in the calendar.

That shift ended up drawing a very different profile from the one frozen during the Olympic Games. The confession that disrupted the narrative of an Olympic medal day was followed, only a few weeks later, by an athlete capable of stringing together victories, sustaining elite-level consistency and once again fighting for top positions in the overall standings. “I’m in the zone and I feel like I can achieve almost anything,” Lægreid said in his conversation with VG, with the focus once again on the snow, the shooting range and his competitive resurgence.

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What matters is not only how quickly that leap happened, but also what it set in motion around her. In the United States and within the International Skating Union -ISU-, the reading is immediate: when an athlete breaks through the ceiling of a niche sport and enters popular culture, the conversation shifts at the same time around audiences, sponsorship, licensing, participation and the creation of new reference points for the sport.

The opportunity Alysa Liu creates for her federation

In the four weeks following the Games, U.S. Figure Skating recorded increases of between 20% and 30% in registrations for learn-to-skate programmes at several rinks across the country, above the rises of around 10% or less seen in other Olympic cycles. The most cited example is a rink in Albuquerque, New Mexico, which received 300 registrations in February, roughly the equivalent of what it would usually see in a full year. That is not a minor detail for the federation, because membership accounts for between 30% and 40% of its revenue.

The response does not stop at grassroots participation. The ISU has already launched a request for proposals for combined sponsorship and broadcast rights agreements, with the intention of capitalising on the post-Milano Cortina 2026 wave, and that search now includes markets that were not previously among figure skating’s traditional strongholds, such as Mexico, Indonesia and Thailand. The governing body also maintains that the priority is to widen distribution and avoid placing the sport behind too many paywalls, a particularly sensitive issue at a time when digital visibility shapes a large part of growth.

The Games no longer just award medals: they also multiply audiences

That change in scale does not come only from sporting success, but from the size of the showcase. At Tokyo 2020, more than 100 million unique users visited Olympic digital platforms or used the official app during the first week of competition. NBC accumulated 2.5 billion streaming minutes, 77% more than at PyeongChang 2018, while Olympic posts on TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, X and Weibo generated 3.7 billion interactions. Olympic accounts had a combined 75 million followers at the time, a critical mass that helps explain why an athlete can move from being known within a discipline to becoming part of the broader public conversation in a matter of days.

Paris 2024 provided an even clearer sequence. According to social media tracking data collected during the Games, Rebeca Andrade gained 9.13 million Instagram followers, up 333%; Simone Biles gained 5.12 million, up 68%; Ilona Maher gained 2.73 million, up 277%; Sunisa Lee gained 1.46 million, up 96%; Jordan Chiles gained 946,000, up 161%; Noah Lyles gained 748,000, up 94%; and Stephen Nedoroscik gained 422,600, a rise of 2,414%. In that sense, the Games no longer reward only a single performance: they also suddenly reshape an athlete’s community, commercial value and ability to influence.

Fame no longer depends only on the podium

The other consequence is that this growth is not limited to those who dominate the medal table. Henrik Christiansen, the Norwegian swimmer, turned a series of videos about the muffins in the Olympic Village into a recognisable identity that gave him unprecedented international visibility and opened up a personal narrative around branding, content and the promotion of swimming. The same had already happened at Tokyo 2020, with athletes who used TikTok, Instagram or short-form formats to show the backstage side of competition, from athlete accommodation to everyday scenes that previously never reached the public. The Olympic athlete is no longer only about performance on screen; it is also about narrative, tone, proximity and the ability to hold attention beyond the event itself.

In figure skating, moreover, that transition comes up against a structural limit that affects its digital exploitation: music. The complexity of licensing and clearance has for years reduced the stable presence of highlights and clips on social and streaming platforms, precisely where much of the conversation is now decided. That is why, alongside the immediate effect generated by a figure such as Alysa Liu, the debate within the sector also extends to formats, career length and the need to build profiles that last beyond a single Olympic cycle. With the World Championships already under way in Prague, the issue is not only how much an athlete can grow in two weeks, but how much of that momentum can remain in the sport once the Olympic spotlight begins to fade.

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In this context, figures such as Fiona Stevens, Regula Meier, Elena Sorina Ticu, and Kim Forge reflect a growing trend: sporting experience as a foundation for leadership. It is not just about holding positions, but about transferring deeply human lessons—resilience, discipline, and the ability to manage pressure—into decision-making. At the same time, the increasing female representation in organizations like the International Olympic Committee confirms that this transformation is already underway, even if still evolving.

High performance as a school of leadership

The journeys of these women share a common thread: sport as a formative space that goes beyond the physical. In organizations such as the International Ski and Snowboard Federation, the International Ski Mountaineering Federation, and the International Luge Federation, their presence is not symbolic, but functional. They have reached these roles with a perspective shaped by direct experience, understanding not only competitive dynamics but also the needs of athletes and the challenges within the system.

In Stevens’ case, her background in alpine skiing and Olympic competition shaped a leadership style grounded in skills that are difficult to develop outside of sport: attention to detail, organization, and the ability to perform under pressure. The same logic applies to Forge, who views leadership as a natural extension of years spent competing internationally. For both, sport was not just a phase, but a school that provided tools valued far beyond the sporting world, opening doors in environments where credibility is built on lived experience.

Representation, confidence, and the challenge of opening pathways

Progress in female representation within organized sport is undeniable, yet it also reveals underlying tensions. While a significant number of International Federations have reached meaningful levels of participation, access to the most influential spaces remains shaped by cultural factors, including confidence. Meier identifies this clearly: many women do not question their abilities, but rather their place in decision-making environments historically dominated by men.

In this regard, the role of visible figures such as Kirsty Coventry becomes essential. Her presence not only validates the path but also expands it. Ticu, drawing from her experience as both an athlete and an administrator, emphasizes the need to create more opportunities and educational pathways to sustain this progress, while Forge highlights the responsibility of those already in leadership: to open doors, support others, and build an environment where future generations can grow with greater ease and confidence.

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The programme should be read as more than a simple apparel sponsorship. Within the Olympic ecosystem, the uniform is also part of competitive and symbolic equality: it does not decide results, but it does shape how an athlete enters the Olympic Village, represents their country in ceremonies, and positions themselves within an Olympic community where differences in scale between delegations remain highly visible. That is the idea defended by Gaby Ahrens, chair of the ANOC Athletes’ Commission, when she argued that every athlete wants to feel equal not only in competition, but also in everything that surrounds it.

Benin and Malta, two cases that explain the programme’s purpose

At Milano Cortina 2026, only Benin and Malta ultimately qualified among the seven committees initially expected to take part in this first operational phase of the programme. The most symbolic case was that of Nathan Tchibozo, who became the first athlete in Benin’s history to compete at the Olympic Winter Games. His presence was already historic in itself, but the context added another layer: Benin made that debut within the first real deployment of the ANOC and Peak plan, with a full 32-piece kit for athletes and officials.

Tchibozo, born in France to a Beninese father and a Togolese mother, was also his country’s flagbearer at the Opening Ceremony. This is where the uniform stops being only equipment for competition and becomes a tool of national representation in the most visible spaces of the Games. “It is a great pride to represent my father’s country,” said the skier, who also spoke about the possibility of making an entire nation feel proud through that first Winter Olympic appearance. Malta offered a different but equally useful continuation of the same idea: the delegation competed with Jenny Axisa Eriksen, a cross-country skier who was also the country’s flagbearer at the Opening Ceremony, in another example of how a minimal delegation can place both competition and national visibility in a single athlete.

The other support mechanism already in place within the Olympic system

The ANOC programme does not operate on its own. At Milano Cortina 2026, it existed alongside the IOC-WFSGI NOC Uniform Support Programme, a different but complementary mechanism that was active at these Games in support of 27 athletes from 12 national committees across four winter disciplines: alpine skiing, biathlon, cross-country skiing and figure skating. That plan, developed by the International Olympic Committee -IOC- together with the World Federation of the Sporting Goods Industry -WFSGI-, brought together several brands to provide competition clothing, accessories and, in some cases, Village wear for emerging or lower-resourced winter sport delegations.

The difference between the two programmes helps clarify the overall picture. The ANOC-Peak plan appears to be focused mainly on the committee’s overall presentation and team identity at the Olympic Games and the Youth Olympic Games, while the IOC-WFSGI scheme is geared more towards meeting specific performance and technical clothing needs in winter sports. They do not compete with one another: they cover different layers of the same visible inequality, the one that appears when a small NOC qualifies for the Games but cannot always arrive with the same material standard as the largest delegations.

A small inequality in appearance, but a very visible one at the Games

That, ultimately, is the value of the programme. A uniform does not replace scholarships, technical support, preparation or qualification systems. Nor does it, on its own, correct the structural difference in resources between countries. But it does reduce a very visible gap in the Olympic experience: entering the world’s biggest sporting stage with a presentation that is recognisable, dignified and on equal footing. For an athlete from a small committee, wearing gear of the same standard as the major delegations does not change the clock or the course, but it does change the way they inhabit the Games and represent their country within them.

Milano Cortina 2026 therefore offered a first, fairly precise image of what this initiative can mean, and the next major step is already marked on the calendar. ANOC expects the programme to equip around 1,000 athletes from 47 committees at Dakar 2026, in an expansion far broader than the one seen at the Winter Games. After Benin and Malta, the uniform has stopped being a secondary detail and begun to appear as another piece of a familiar Olympic logic: when lower-resourced NOCs are supported, a form of inequality is also being corrected, one that is not always measured in results, but can be seen from the very first day.

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