TownLift reporter Michele Roepke to cover 2026 Olympics in Italy

Sports reporter Michele Roepke heads to Italy on Feb 6 to cover Park City athletes at the Olympics Games. Photo: courtesy of Roepke Family

PARK CITY, Utah — TownLift will have a familiar and experienced voice on the ground in Italy this winter as reporter Michele Roepke heads to the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games.

Roepke will spend the entirety of both the Olympic and Paralympic Games in Italy, providing regular updates from competition venues and host towns, with a particular focus on athletes with Park City ties.

“I’m excited to be headed off to the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympic Games,” Roepke said.

This isn’t her first time reporting at the Games. During the Torino Games in 2006, Roepke served as a venue PA announcer for bobsled, skeleton, and luge. She was part of what was believed to be one of the first husband-and-wife announcing teams, alongside her husband, a U.S. Luge Team athlete, and nine-time Olympics announcer (including Summer, Winter, Para, and Youth).

The whole family are no strangers to elite snow events as one of their children was the Junior National Champion and foreran at the Junior World Championships, and the other was on the U.S. Ski Team and competed at the Junior World Championships.

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Her Olympic résumé also includes the 2006 Paralympic Games, where she worked as the solo alpine skiing announcer — an experience that hit especially close to home. “We had gold medal moments happening by athletes in real time from Park City — from Deer Valley — halfway around the world,” Roepke said. “At the same time, I was heavily involved with the National Ability Center, so I was working closely with people who were representing the Paralympics globally and athletes who were trained and lived right here.”

Puting her degree in sports journalism to good use, Roepke also worked at the 2002 Salt Lake City Olympic and Paralympic Games, including time spent documenting a Paralympic alpine skier whose story culminated in both a silver and a gold medal.

“To be going back to Italy feels very full circle,” she said. “I’ve watched the Olympics occcuring in so many different countries, but Italy holds a special place.”

As a reporter, Roepke says preparation and constant readiness are key, especially on a stage as large as the Olympics.

“You have to be ready for every moment,” she said. “Everything needs to be charged and ready to go, because you never know when the moment is going to happen. I want to capture every frame, every video, every photo, and send that back to Park City as quickly as possible so the community can share in it.”

Her connection to Park City is central to her coverage. Roepke pointed to the city’s unique concentration of elite winter sports organizations, including the Youth Sports Alliance, the National Ability Center, U.S. Ski & Snowboard headquarters, Deer Valley’s annual World Cup events, and the Utah Olympic Park’s bobsled, luge, and skeleton track.

“Park City is truly unique,” she said. “Athletes get their start here, go far here, and athletes from all over the country and the world come through to train and compete here.”

TownLift readers can follow Roepke’s on-the-ground reporting throughout the Olympic and Paralympic Games on TownLift as she sends Park City stories from Italy back home.