The Ski Stars to Follow as the Olympic Countdown Clock Ticks Down

by Roy Brindley, 28 October 2025

Will Marco Odermatt be the star of the 2026 Winter Olympics? Will Norway top the medal table again? All will be revealed in less than 100 days.

Lindsey Vonn (left) is seeking a dream return to Olympic action, but the youthful Lauren Macuga appears to be a star of the future. © Getty Images

Key Facts:

• The 2026 Winter Olympics will get underway in less than 100 days.
• Marco Odermatt has won the first race of the 2025/26 FIS Alpine Ski World Cup season.
• Mikaela Shiffrin is back in action and chasing a third Winter Olympic gold.
• Youngster Lauren Macuga is one to follow in Women’s speed events this season.

The 2026 Winter Olympics, hosted by Italian cities Milan and Cortina d’Ampezzo, are now less than 100 days away. Following Games in China, South Korea, Russia and Canada, it will be the first time since 2006 that the winter sports festival has been staged in Europe.

Norway has topped the medal table at the past three Winter Olympics and a record total of ten times since the Winter Games were first staged in 1924. Offering 4/6 odds, online betting sites rate Norway’s chances of extending its sequence next February at 60 percent.

Germany, priced 9/2, USA (11/2) and Canada (7/1) follow in the betting. Canada topped the table in 2010 but finished a lowly 11th in 2022. However, last year, the nation enjoyed a revival with the Canadian men’s alpine ski trio of Jack Crawford, Cam Alexander and Jeff Read leading the way on the slopes.

Odermatt Cannot Be Opposed in Olympic Year

The 2025/26 FIS Alpine Ski World Cup, the 60th World Cup season for men and women, got underway last weekend in Solden, Austria, with a Men’s and Women’s Giant Slalom. The Men’s contest went to reigning Olympic and World Cup champion, Marco Odermatt. Marco Schwarz and Atle Lie McGrath took the silver and bronze medals.

This will unlikely be the last time this trio will share the top three podium steps in Giant Slaloms this season. It is also improbable that Odermatt will not dominate Super-G races throughout the winter months.

Another masterpiece from Marco Odermatt 🇨🇭💥
Pure perfection in the falling snow! ⛷️❄️#FISAlpine #WorldCupSoelden pic.twitter.com/5phPi6ctf3

— FIS Alpine (@fisalpine) October 26, 2025

For good measure, the 28-year-old is the favourite to land the overall Downhill title and claim Olympic Gold. Odermatt is a win machine, and with the Swiss racer showing his well-being by claiming the 46th gold medal of his career last weekend, he is difficult to oppose in any race he enters.

Shiffrin Primed to Return to Winning Ways

While Canada is the team to watch and Marco Odermatt the man to beat in Men’s skiing, America has the biggest box of fireworks ready to dazzle in Women’s skiing. The World Cup season opener in Solden saw three American racers finish in the top six.

Taking silver, Paula Moltzan registered her best World Cup Giant Slalom result to date. It was also noteworthy that compatriot Nina O’Brien recorded the fastest time of the second run. However, it was Mikaela Shiffrin’s performance that excited most observers.

The winning-most skier in history was forced to miss much of last season with injury. As a result, she started Saturday’s contest with bib 20 but overcame conditions to finish in fourth place. “I’m over the moon. It’s a really, really good step, and I have improvements to make still,” the American said post-race.

“Every single part of today was a monumental step. We’ll analyse it and keep moving forward. But to feel like I’m skiing the course and I’m sort of doing what I want to be doing — you have no idea how good of a feeling that is,” Shiffrin enthused afterwards.

In the absence of Petra Vlhova, who has been absent for almost two years following a crash and two knee surgeries, Shiffrin is the obvious choice for gold in the Olympic Slalom – a title she won in 2018 – and to regain the Olympic Giant Slalom title that she collected in 2018.

Age is an Advantage for Lauren Macuga

In the speed races, while the heart says 41-year-old Lindsey Vonn can complete a dream return to World Cup racing, the head dictates Lauren Macuga will win races during the 2025/26 season and is a sound bet for an Olympic medal.

The 23-year-old American rose from relative obscurity at the outset of last season to win a Super-G race at St. Anton in January 2025. Macuga showed that there was no fluke by collecting a silver medal in Kvitfjell, Norway, downhill six weeks later.

With many of the elite Women’s Downhill and Super-G racers advancing in years – Sofia Goggia turns 33 in November, Corinne Suter is 31, Federica Brignone is 35 and all-rounder Lara Gut-Behrami is 34 – Lauren Macuga is an obvious candidate for a World Cup crystal globe and 2026 could be her year.