The 2026 Winter Olympics are almost upon us. Running from 6 February until 22 February, the Milano Cortina games will take place in the picturesque region of Lombardy in Northeast Italy. And we are so ready to get extremely into some winter sports that many of us only really understand for two weeks every two years. Bobsleigh, curling, luge, alpine skiing, figure skating? What’s not to love.

This year marks the most gender-balanced Winter Olympic games ever, with 47% female representation, up from the 45.4% that competed at Beijing 2022. There will also be a record number of 50 women’s events at these games. High time if you ask us.

A total of 1,338 women are heading to northern Italy later this week, so there will be plenty of female athletes to get behind from the comfort of your sofa. We’ve picked out a few that we should all be looking out for.

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Zoe Atkin

British-American freestyle skier Zoe Atkin is returning for her second Olympic Games following her debut at Beijing 2022. The 23-year-old, who competes for Team GB, placed ninth in the Women’s Freeski Halfpipe two years ago and is looking to get her hands on her first Olympic medal this year. Her older sister, Izzy Atkin, won bronze in women’s slopestyle at the 2018 Winter Olympics in PyeongChang, becoming the first British Olympic medalist in skiing.

Zoe comes into Milano Cortine 2026 as a firm favourite. Last year, she took home gold at the 2025 World Championships for the ski halfpipe – two years early, she placed second and two years before that, she placed third. She also placed first in the Copper Mountain World Cup ski halfpipe this year, while also taking home two silver World Cup medals in Secret Garden and Aspen.

Just one week ago, she nabbed yet another gold at the X Games. “My first @xgames gold was such a pivotal moment in my career, giving me the confidence to put it all out there and push myself to be one of the best,” she wrote on Instagram following the win.

To top it all off, Zoe has also been a full-time student at Stanford since 2022.

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Mia Brookes

British snowboarder Mia Brookes will be making her Olympic debut at Milano Cortina 2026. But while it may be the 19-year-old’s first Olympic games, she is already a favourite to take home a medal for Team GB. The snowboarder placed first in her first World Championships in 2023. Although she came sixth at the same event last year, the last year has still been a big one for Brookes. She took home two gold and one silver World Cup medals, as well as a bronze medal at the 2025 X Games and a gold at the same event this year.