Which schools claim the most athletes at the Winter Olympics?
At the 2026 Milan Cortina Winter Olympics, 245 NCAA-affiliated athletes represent 22 countries competing for medals in nine sports. This year’s current, former and incoming NCAA athletes hail from 91 schools and make up more than a third of Team USA, including 100% of the U.S. women’s ice hockey team. The Olympians are competing in skiing, biathlon, bobsled, cross-country skiing, ice hockey, skeleton, snowboarding, speedskating and ski mountaineering, which debuted this winter. In addition, several NHL hockey players with NCAA backgrounds are competing in the games after more than a decade of league players not participating. Data for this list is provided by the NCAA and is accurate as of Feb. 18. Here are the top 16 U.S. News-ranked colleges with the most Olympians in Italy.
St. Lawrence University (NY)
Athletes in Italy: 5
U.S. News rank: 58 (tie), National Liberal Arts Colleges
Total fall 2024 undergraduate enrollment: 1,949
Four St. Lawrence University student-athletes are competing in Italy. Three are hockey players, and Trinidadian skier Emma Gatcliffe will make her debut in alpine skiing. She’s the first woman to represent Trinidad and Tobago in Winter Olympics competition.
University of North Dakota
Athletes in Italy: 5
U.S. News rank: 242 (tie), National Universities
Total fall 2024 undergraduate enrollment: 11,033
From the University of North Dakota, three Olympians represent Finland and two represent Team USA, including ski jumper Paige Jones, who is making her Winter Olympics debut. The Utah native is majoring in biomedical engineering.
University of Alaska Fairbanks
Athletes in Italy: 6
U.S. News rank: 395-434, National Universities
Total fall 2024 undergraduate enrollment: 5,638
Student-athletes at the University of Alaska Fairbanks represent six countries in cross-country skiing and ice hockey. Among them is Kendall Kramer, a six-time All-American who took first place in the 2025 NCAA Ski Championships.
University of Colorado Boulder
Athletes in Italy: 6
U.S. News rank: 97 (tie), National Universities
Total fall 2024 undergraduate enrollment: 33,384
The University of Colorado Boulder has Olympians competing in skiing. They include former Olympians, national champions and ski World Cup stars.
Boston College (MA)
Athletes in Italy: 7
U.S. News rank: 36 (tie), National Universities
Total fall 2024 undergraduate enrollment: 9,654
Boston College student-athletes are representing the U.S. and Canada in ice hockey. Six Team USA hockey players are former Eagles, including several NCAA national champions and Olympic gold and silver medalists.
University of Vermont
Athletes in Italy: 8
U.S. News rank: 132 (tie), National Universities
Total fall 2024 undergraduate enrollment: 12,276
Among the University of Vermont student-athletes in the Winter Olympics, Team USA skier Ryan Cochran-Siegle took the silver medal in the men’s super-G for the second time since the 2022 Winter Olympics.
Dartmouth College (NH)
Athletes in Italy: 9
U.S. News rank: 13 (tie), National Universities
Total fall 2024 undergraduate enrollment: 4,570
Dartmouth athletes are going for gold in alpine skiing, bobsled, cross-country skiing and hockey. This year’s Olympians will carry on the school’s tradition of sending athletes to every Winter Olympics since the first in 1924.
Northeastern University (MA)
Athletes in Italy: 9
U.S. News rank: 46 (tie), National Universities
Total fall 2024 undergraduate enrollment: 17,432
Current, former and incoming Northeastern University Huskies are competing in ice hockey, including first-year student Alessia Baechler, who debuted on the Swiss women’s ice hockey team at age 20.
University of Minnesota Duluth
Athletes in Italy: 9
U.S. News rank: 18 (tie), Regional Universities (Midwest)
Total fall 2024 undergraduate enrollment: 8,426
Current and former University of Minnesota Duluth student-athletes are competing in ice hockey. The university is the Division I NCAA women’s hockey program with the most athletes competing in Winter Olympics games over the years — a total of 44.
St. Cloud State University (MN)
Athletes in Italy: 10
U.S. News rank: 95 (tie), Regional Universities (Midwest)
Total fall 2024 undergraduate enrollment: 8,209
St. Cloud State athletes competing in Milan Cortina include eight current and former women’s hockey players, setting a new program record for the most women’s hockey players the Minnesota school has ever sent to the Winter Olympics.
University of Maine
Athletes in Italy: 10
U.S. News rank: 257 (tie), National Universities
Total fall 2024 undergraduate enrollment: 9,601
Nine University of Maine Black Bears are competing in ice hockey, and former Maine track-and-field alum Frank Del Duca is competing in bobsledding. Del Duca also kicked off the Games as a flag-bearer for Team USA.
Clarkson University (NY)
Athletes in Italy: 11
U.S. News rank: 143 (tie), National Universities
Total fall 2024 undergraduate enrollment: 2,296
Of the 11 Clarkson student-athletes representing at the Olympics, 10 are hockey players. Austin Florian, a former Clarkson alpine skier, is competing in men’s skeleton. He won a gold medal at the mixed skeleton world championship in 2025.
Boston University (MA)
Athletes in Italy: 12
U.S. News rank: 42 (tie), National Universities
Total fall 2024 undergraduate enrollment: 18,805
The dozen Boston University hockey players, a Terriers athletics department record, include Olympic legend and PWHL’s Montreal Victoire center Marie-Philip Poulin on the Canadian women’s ice hockey team while NHL’s San Jose Sharks center Macklin Celebrini is on the Canadian men’s ice hockey team.
University of Minnesota Twin Cities
Athletes in Italy: 12
U.S. News rank: 59 (tie), National Universities
Total fall 2024 undergraduate enrollment: 41,303
These hockey players from the University of Minnesota are competing under four flags: U.S., Czechia, Finland and Sweden. Milan Cortina is former gold medalist and women’s hockey star Lee Stecklein’s fourth Olympic appearance since her debut on Team USA in 2014.
University of Wisconsin-Madison
Athletes in Italy: 12
U.S. News rank: 36 (tie), National Universities
Total fall 2024 undergraduate enrollment: 39,083
These current and former University of Wisconsin Badgers are competing in hockey, including Team USA’s women’s ice hockey captain Hilary Knight. She’s a 10-time International Ice Hockey Federation world champion, Olympic gold and silver medalist and captain of the PWHL’s Seattle Torrent.
The Ohio State University
Athletes in Italy: 13
U.S. News rank: 41, National Universities
Total fall 2024 undergraduate enrollment: 46,815
Olympians from The Ohio State University include 12 women’s hockey players. Among Team USA’s Buckeye Olympians is junior and social work major Joy Dunne, who at age 20 is the youngest member of the U.S. women’s ice hockey team.
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Colleges that sent the most Olympians to Italy in 2026
The Ohio State University: 13
Boston University (MA): 12
University of Minnesota Twin Cities: 12
University of Wisconsin–Madison: 12
Clarkson University (NY): 11
St. Cloud State University (MN): 10
University of Maine: 10
Dartmouth College (NH): 9
Northeastern University (MA): 9
University of Minnesota Duluth: 9
University of Vermont: 8
Boston College (MA): 7
University of Alaska Fairbanks: 6
University of Colorado Boulder: 6
St. Lawrence University (NY): 5
University of North Dakota: 5
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16 Colleges With the Most Olympians in Milan Cortina originally appeared on usnews.com