The Midwest is heavily represented when it comes to the 2026 Milan Cortina Olympics, but one state in particular is well above the rest.
Minnesota has more athletes on the roster than any other U.S. state, outside of Colorado.
Of the 232 athletes on Team USA, the North Star State is home to 26, just below Colorado’s 32.
About a dozen others either call Minnesota home now or compete and train there.
The next highest is California, with 21 athletes.
Another Midwest state also made the top five, with 15 athletes calling Michigan home, tied with Massachusetts.
Much of Minnesota’s athletes will compete in events like curling, ice hockey and skiing. Speedskating, biathlon and even snowboarding are also represented.
Many of them are coming to the Winter Games with mixed feelings: excited about competing in the Olympics but anxious about the situation in their home state.
President Donald Trump has promised mass deportations of undocumented migrants, sending federal law enforcement officials into cities like Minneapolis as part of the push. It was one of his signature promises for his second term in office. But last month, two fatal shootings by federal officials of U.S. citizens sparked a broad backlash against the crackdown — including in Minnesota itself.
Lee Stecklein, one of five natives of the state on the women’s hockey team, said she hopes to “represent Minnesota well” at the Games.
“The world is watching. Not just [in Minnesota]. They’ll be watching us at the Olympics, and it’s a good time to shine a light on some of the things going on here,” she said.
Stecklein spoke after a recent practice in St. Paul with the Minnesota Frost, the Professional Women’s Hockey League team that counts three of the other four Minnesotans on the U.S. Olympic squad: Taylor Heise, Kelly Pannek and Grace Zumwinkle.
“Representing our country, representing our state, we get to do it at a sporting event, but there’s so many people that do it on a daily basis, that do it with grace and humility and selflessness and with love and care for their neighbor,” Pannek said.
Jessie Diggins, the top-ranked cross-country skier in the world, grew up in the Twin Cities metro area. She recently posted on social media how difficult she has found being so far away during the unrest and how determined she will be to honor the people in her state.
“I’m racing for an American people who stand for love, for acceptance, for compassion, honesty and respect for others. I do not stand for hate or violence or discrimination,” Diggins said.
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