Almost 3,000 athletes representing 92 countries are gearing up to compete at the Milano-Cortina Winter Games this month. With the Opening ceremony behind us, we’ve got a list of must-watch Black athletes—many of whom are making history. From Olympian alumna Erin Jackson to rookie Daryl Payne Jr. breaking the color barrier in the skeleton competition, these games are set to be one to remember.
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This year, the U.S. also has a large presence, but Black athletes are often underrepresented in the Olympics—especially the Winter Games. Because we know this, here’s the time to show up and out for Black athletes making noise in 2026.
Erin Jackson
Erin Jackson made history in 2022 as the first Black woman to win gold in an individual Winter Olympics event. She’s currently ranked no. 3 worldwide in the same event.
Elana Meyers Taylor
Elana Meyers Taylor became the most decorated Black athlete in Winter Olympic history during the 2022 games in Beijing. As a U.S. bobsledder, she hopes to win a fifth Olympic medal.
Laila Edwards
Laila Edwards is representing the next wave of American ice hockey. Her 2026 Winter Olympics debut made her the first Black woman to play for Team USA in an international women’s hockey competition. She already helped her team beat the Czech Republic in the first preliminary round.
Kaysha Love
You might not know what skeleton is, and this is your time to change that! Kaysha Love is set to compete in the sliding sport where an athlete rides head-first on a small sled– a skeleton bobsled– down an ice track. Love has been climbing the international ranks and plans to continue her momentum at this year’s games.
Bryan Sosoo
Bryan Sosoo is putting on for Black men in the bobsledding competition. The Ghanaian-American began his athletic career in track and field, but he made the jump to bobsledding and has been killing it ever since.
Azaria Hill
Azaria Hill also has a track and field background and is competing in bobsledding. She’s the daughter of boxer Virgil Hill and sprinter Denean Howard-Hill, two Olympian medal winners. “I always wanted to be an Olympian since I could understand what the Olympics was, and what my parents and my aunt did,” Hill said in an interview.
Daryl Payne Jr.
Texas native Daryl Payne Jr. is proving that you can bring country life even to the iciest parts of the world with his Olympic debut. He’s competing in the skeleton competition, making him the first African American man to ever do so.
“Achieving that would not only fulfill my dream but allow me to serve as a role model for younger minority generations who may not see themselves in this sport—or even know it exists,” he said. “Becoming a pioneer and a source of inspiration for my community would be one of the greatest honors of all.”
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