Small town, global stage: Park City Nation delivers big at the Winter Olympics

United States' Troy Podmilsak competes during the men's freestyle skiing big air finals at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Livigno, Italy, Tuesday, Feb. 17, 2026 Photo: AP Photo/Abbie Parr

PARK CITY, Utah — For a small mountain town, Park City continues to make an outsized mark on the Olympic stage.

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YSA’s posted results include podium finishes from Zoe Atkin in women’s freeski halfpipe; Mac Forehand in men’s freeski big air; Alex Hall in men’s freeski slopestyle; Ashley Farquharson in women’s luge singles; Ethan Cepuran and Casey Dawson in men’s speedskating team pursuit; and Connor Curran, Kaila Kuhn, and Chris Lillis in mixed team aerials. Because some of those came in team events, the six medal-winning results include multiple athletes sharing podium finishes.

For Park City, the numbers are worth celebrating. So are the names behind them.

The results reflect a deep and wide-reaching hometown sports culture that continues to send athletes to the Olympic stage across disciplines. YSA’s Park City Nation roster spans alpine skiing, cross-country skiing, freeski, freestyle aerials, moguls, luge, nordic combined, ski jumping, snowboard cross, and speed skating.

In alpine skiing, the roster includes Maddie Hoffman, Sam Morse, Tallulah Proulx, and Isabella Wright. In cross-country skiing, Rosie Brennan represented the community.

In freeski, Park City’s presence ran from halfpipe to slopestyle and big air, with Zoe Atkin and Hunter Hess in halfpipe, and Mac Forehand, Alex Hall, Marin Hamill, Rell Harwood, Grace Henderson, and Troy Podmilsak in slopestyle and big air.

The freestyle pipeline again stood out as one of Park City’s clearest strengths. YSA’s roster includes aerial athletes Connor Curran, Kyra Dossa, Kaila Kuhn, Derek Krueger, Chris Lillis, Tasia Tanner, and Winter Vinecki, along with moguls skiers Avital Carroll, Olivia Giaccio, Tess Johnson, Charlie Mickel, Nick Page, and Landon Wendler.

Elsewhere, the delegation included luge athletes Ashley Farquharson and Matt Greiner; nordic combined athlete Ben Loomis; ski jumpers Kevin Bickner, Josie Johnson, and Paige Jones; snowboard cross athletes Stacy Gaskill, Hanna Percy, and Faye Thelen; and speed skaters Ethan Cepuran and Casey Dawson.

Taken together, the roster is a reminder that Park City’s Olympic success is not confined to one team, one discipline, or one standout year. It is spread across clubs, schools, training programs, and generations of athletes who have come up through the local system.

YSA says that the system begins early and stays connected. The organization points to a network that includes Park City Ski & Snowboard, the Winter Sports School, Park City School District, Wasatch Luge Club, Get Out & Play, and the Stein Eriksen YSA Opportunity Endowment as key parts of the local pathway that helps athletes move from early access to elite competition.

According to YSA, 17 athletes trained with Park City Ski & Snowboard, 10 attended the Winter Sports School, nine graduated from Park City School District, five received Stein Eriksen YSA Opportunity Endowment funding, and four began in YSA afterschool programs.

That local infrastructure is part of what makes the Park City Nation results resonate. In many communities, Olympians can feel like rare exceptions. In Park City, they reflect something more sustained: a culture that invests in winter sport, builds opportunities early, and continues to support athletes as they rise.

TownLift readers followed many of those stories throughout the Games through coverage from Italy by staff writer Michele Roepke, whose reporting helped spotlight Park City athletes competing across multiple events.

But the broader takeaway extends beyond any single race or result.

The six medal-winning finishes are the clearest symbol of success. The larger story is the strength of the pipeline behind them — and the way a small mountain town continues to produce athletes capable of reaching, and standing on, one of the biggest stages in sports.

In Park City, that kind of showing is both a point of pride and a testament to the community that helped make it possible.

And with the 2034 Winter Games on their way back to Utah, including competitions in Park City, the celebration comes with a natural question: Are you ready for 2034?