Five emerging Italian winter sports athletes to watch ahead of Milano Cortina 2026
Some of them achieved success at the Youth Olympic Winter Games Gangwon 2024, while others have already joined the senior circuit. Olympics.com highlights several young local talents who could shine in less than 500 days at the home Games.
The Olympic Winter Games are returning to Italy two decades after Torino 2006.
Milano Cortina 2026 will be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for some Italian athletes who back then were just toddlers or not even born.
From alpine skiing and figure skating to the freestyle disciplines, let's take a look at some of the most promising young Azzurri talents who are looking to shine in front of the home fans with less than 500 days to go.
Flora Tabanelli · Freestyle skiing · 2007
Flora Tabanelli was the most successful Italian athlete at the Youth Olympic Winter Games Gangwon 2024, winning two gold medals and reinforcing her status as one of the rising stars in freestyle skiing, not only at the young level.
Not yet 17 years old (she will turn 17 on 20 November), the 2007-born skier has already stood on the podium twice in the senior circuit, thanks to two third-place finishes in the World Cup, earned in big air at Beijing and Tignes last season.
At Gangwon 2024, she stole the show by winning gold in both slopestyle and, as expected, in big air, the event in which she is also a two-time junior World champion.
Her next goal is to emulate Ailing (Eileen) Gu, who managed to win gold at both the Lausanne 2020 Youth Olympic Games and the home Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics.
'This whole experience has given me a bit of an idea of what MiCo will be like, what the Olympic Games will be like, so I’m happy to have gotten into the groove, because I now better understand what it’s like to be with the entire Italian team and the other athletes.'
Miro Tabanelli · Freestyle skiing · 2004
Three years older than his sister Flora, Miro Tabanelli became the first Italian man to reach an individual podium on the senior circuit when he claimed a second-place finish in big air at Copper Mountain, USA, in December 2023.
The Emilia Romagna native was a precocious skier, but he also successfully practised figure skating until he was a young teenager. He eventually picked freeskiing.
At the youth level, Tabanelli won bronze at the 2021 Junior World Championships, also in big air, which is a family specialty, as it is his sister’s favourite event. Last season, he finished 50th in the overall World Cup standings.
The sibling duo also surprised cycling fans during the 2024 Giro d’Italia: at the stage finish in Livigno, the freeski venue at Milano Cortina 2026, they performed one of their spectacular jumps over the race leader, Tadej Pogačar.
Ian Matteoli · Snowboard · 2005
How does it feel to be the first in the world to execute a trick? Just ask Ian Matteoli, the very first snowboarder to complete a frontside 2160.
Born on 30 December 2005, the Turin-native also became the first Italian man to reach the podium in a World Cup big air event at Copper Mountain in December 2022.
Active on the international circuit since 2019, he made his World Cup debut at 15, but had to miss the 2023 World Championships in Bakuriani, Georgia, due to a serious injury that led to the removal of his spleen, ending his season prematurely.
Back on the board in September of last year, he won two bronze medals at the Junior World Championships in the combined event and big air, before performing his record-breaking trick in November: a jump with six spins before landing on the snow at Stubai Primepark.
An accomplishment that even caught the attention of snowboarding legend and three-time Olympic gold medallist Shaun White: 'I definitely feel like the proud dad on Instagram watching our riders go out there and crush records,' he told Esquire last February, referring specifically to the Italian freestyler: 'There’s a young kid named Ian [Matteoli] who just broke the world record for biggest spin on one of our boards. I was like, "No way."'
Giorgia Collomb · Alpine Skiing · 2006
"Milano Cortina 2026 is there watching you, but you’re not supposed to look at it..." Giorgia Collomb said when asked about competing at the upcoming Winter Olympic Games on home snow.
"Surely, participating in the Olympics has always been a dream. I think it's the dream of every child, of every person involved in competitive sports. Since I was little, I've been watching the competitions on TV, seeing my idols, watching Lindsey Vonn—I saw her and fell in love. So, it would be a dream for me. The fact that we are in Italy, even more so."
At the Gangwon 2024 Youth Olympic Games, Collomb was the most successful Italian skier, colleting a full medal set: gold in giant slalom, silver (after a remarkable comeback) in the combined event, and bronze in slalom.
But the new season holds much more in store for the 17-year-old, who is part of the Italian World Cup team for giant slalom and could finally be able to race alongside her mentor and friend, Federica Brignone.
Anna Pezzetta · Figure skating · 2007
Since winning silver in the girls' singles event at the 2023 European Youth Olympic Festival (EYOF) in Friuli-Venezia Giulia, Anna Pezzetta has emerged as one of the top young Italian prospects to watch in figure skating.
In the same year, her third senior international season, the 17-year-old from Bolzano finished fourth at the Trophée Métropole Nice Côte d'Azur and just missed the podium with Team Italy at the 2023 World Team Trophy.
"I mainly really enjoy jumping. I love being in the air. Then, of course, there’s the artistic part, which I find a bit more challenging, but I’m working hard on it and I hope to achieve good results as well," Pezzetta told Olympics.com, revealing her admiration for Japan's three time world champion Sakamoto Kaori.
Introduced to the ice at the age of five, following in the footsteps of her hockey-playing brother, the South Tyrol native started the current season strong, recording her personal best score in the short program (64.11) at the Lombardia Trophy, where she placed fifth.
Pezzetta, who also loves cooking desserts, especially tiramisu, is now training in Milan with her new club, IceLab.
The Italian city will host the figure skating competition at the Olympic Winter Games Milano Cortina 2026, and Anna's eyes are set on representing her country in this historic event:
'It’s definitely my main goal,' she revealed. 'It would be amazing to compete at home, it would truly be a dream, and I hope to get there through hard work.'
