From the FISU ice and snow (but also track!) to Milano Cortina Olympic Games

Skiers, skaters, snowboarders, curlers, hockey players and even a bobsleigh specialist, there will be 322 former and current FISU student-athletes from 54 countries performing in 14 sports in Italy from 6-22 February. Make sure you don’t miss them!

From the International University Sports Federation’s U logo to the five Olympic rings and sometimes back again! There will be no less that 322 FISU student-athletes taking part to the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics kicking off on on Friday 6 February.

It would be impossible to name them all. Some are already famous and have already worn an Olympic medal around their neck, like Japanese figure skater Yuma Kagiyama (double Olympic silver medallist and Torino 2026 FISU World University Games winner), and some will be using the valuable experience gained at FISU World University Games – often their very first multisport event – to better face the pressure of the whole world watching.

In fourteen sports

If you want to spot FISU student-athletes, make sure to follow the following disciplines it Italy:

Alpine Skiing
Biathlon
Bobsleigh
Cross-Country Skiing
Curling
Figure Skating
Freestyle & Freeski

Ice Hockey
Nordic Combined
Short Track Speed Skating
Ski Jumping
Ski Mountaineering
Snowboard
Speed Skating

From the track to ice

Samantha Dagry, Salomé Kora, Sarah Atcho and Ajla Del Ponte won the gold medal in the women’s 4x100m relay at the Napoli 2019 Summer Universiade.

One former student-athlete – she studied at the Pädagogische Hochschule in St-Gallen, Switzerland – will be taking part to her fourth Olympic Games. The first three were Summer ones, as she is a runner. But Salomé Kora has now become the first Swiss woman to take part to both Summer and Winter Olympics, as she has qualified for Milano Cortina in bobsleigh, where she will compete alongside Debora Annen in the 2 women category!

The honour of being a flag bearer

Quite a few FISU student-athletes have also been chosen to be their country’s flag bearers. Here are a few examples. Will you manage to spot them during the opening ceremony?

Like FISU Torino 2026 FISU World University Games freestyle skier silver medallist Ayaulym Amrenova (left) from Kazakhstan. Who will walk alongside short track speed skater Denis Nikisha who participated to the FISU Winter Games both in Almaty 2017 and Krasnoyarsk in 2019.

Or Junhwan Cha, who took the bronze in figure skating for the Republic of Korea also in Torino.

Another flag bearer is Japan’s speed skater Wataru Morishige (middle), who won gold in the 500m in the Lake Placid 2023 FISU World University Games.