With a stunning Winter Olympics now behind us, the athletes from all nations will be welcoming a return home to reflect on a magnificent few weeks. There's no better place to return than the City of Brotherly Love, and Philadelphia will be opening its arms to eight Olympians who competed in Milan Cortina.
The United States finished 2nd in the Medal table, earning a stunning 12 golds, 12 silvers, and 9 bronzes. Philly is no stranger to sporting silverware, and the 2026 Winter Olympics were no different, with several world-class athletes achieving great success at the 2026 games.
Greensburg native Jasmine Jones earned a bronze medal in the 2-woman bobsled in what was her first Olympic Games. Jones was the pusher in the partnership and helped lift the US to a crucial bronze medal, and on Day 1, the pairing set a track record.
The USA won both the men's and women's Ice Hockey tournaments, sweeping the event for the first time in history, and cementing its place at the top of the totem pole once more, with some big help from local competitors. Hockey stars Vincent Trocheck (Pittsburgh native), Tessa Janecke (Penn State University graduate), and Ava McNaughton (from Seven Fields, Pennsylvania) all earned Gold medals.
Princeton alum Chloe Kim earned a silver medal in the Women's Halfpipe event, continuing a monumental track record. She became the youngest woman to win a snowboarding Gold medal at just 17-years-old back in 2018, before winning Gold four years later in Beijing.
Other local athletes included Philadelphia Curling Club's Taylor Anderson-Heide, who narrowly missed out on a bronze medal. But with three World Championship Golds to her name already, it's surely only a matter of time.
Elsewhere, 24-year-old Andrew Heo of Bucks County competed in the 2,000-meter mixed speed-skating relay, finishing 8th. He also competed in the 1,500-meter and 500-meter races, coming 11th and 13th. Still only 24-years-old and with plenty of success outside of the games, Heo will be hoping to build on these results in what could be a third consecutive Olympic appearance in 2030.
Dan Barefoot of Johnstown came 20th in the individual skeleton event, and 10th in the mixed team variant. Stunningly, the 35-year-old only picked up the sport in his twenties, walking away from a 9-5 in Florida to pursue an Olympic dream. Barefoot also competed at the World Cup in 2024, and his Olympic debut completes a truly inspiring story.
Philadelphia figure skater Isabeau Levito, 18, made her Olympic debut, finishing 12th in the women's singles event. A 2024 World Championship Silver medalist, Levito started skating at age 3, and it certainly feels as though her story is just beginning.
Summer Britcher (Glen Rock, Pennsylvania) finished 14th in the women's singles luge event and has won two medals in recent World Championships. Now 31, Britcher has come a long way since her Olympic debut in 2014, where she was the youngest woman on the US team.
Kelly Curtis became the US Women's Skeleton team's first ever Black athlete to compete in the Skeleton at any Olympic Games back in 2022, and came 12th in Milan Cortina, while her teammate finished 15th. Curtis is a proud member of the U.S Air Force, a Staff Sgt. of the 31st Fighter Wing Communications Squadron at Aviano Air Base, Italy. To balance Military demands and those of a world-class athlete feels impossible, but the New Jersey native represented herself, the Air Force, and the entire country, leaving audiences across the nation with a tremendous sense of pride.
Residents of Philadelphia and surrounding areas can be extremely proud of how they were represented at the 2026 Winter Olympics, and with plenty of medals and defining moments to reflect on, it's all too easy to get excited for the 2030 games.
