The 2026 Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games are being hosted jointly by the Italian cities of Milan and the Alpine resort town of Cortina d’Ampezzo.
Athletes on Team LGBTQ for the Milan Winter Olympics include (l-r): Brittany Bowe, Amber Glenn, Gus Kenworthy, Conor McDermott-Mostowy and Lewis Gibson
“There will be at least 46 publicly out gay, lesbian, bi, trans and queer athletes competing at the 2026 Milan Winter Olympics starting Feb. 6, a record for the Winter Games.
Team LGBTQ’s total includes eight American athletes, about 3% of Team USA, with seven women and one man (speedskater Conor McDermott-Mostowy). Amber Glenn, a top American hope for a figure skating medal, is the first publicly out LGBTQ women’s figure skater in Olympic history.
There is also the first publicly identified trans athlete in Winter Olympics history, Elis Lundholm of Sweden, a moguls skier.
There are 35 out women and 11 out men, about a 3-1 ratio, much lower than the 9-1 ratio for the Summer Games, in part because there are fewer winter team sports, where out women are common. In Milan, there will be 23 out ice hockey players, all women, making it by far the sport with the most LGBTQ athletes.
The one major sport where out male athletes outnumber women is figure skating, with Milan having at least six men and one woman. Other sports represented by out athletes are skiing (both alpine and freestyle) with seven; speed skating, four; skeleton, two; and one each from snowboarding, curling and biathlon.
As of the initial publication of Outsports’ list, at least 13 countries are represented on Team LGBTQ at these Winter Olympics.
The number of out athletes continues a trend at the Olympics, both Winter and Summer. There were 36 out Olympians at the 2022 Winter Games, 15 in 2018 and seven in 2014, which means there has been a sixfold increase in 12 years. The 2024 Paris Summer Games also saw a record, with 199 out athletes competing.”
Ralph Lauren is the official outfitter for Team USA
“For Milano Cortina 2026, Ralph Lauren has the honor of dressing this year’s athletes in their uniforms for the Opening Ceremony—a distinctly
American look featuring our heritage toggle coat and shades of red, white, and blue.”
