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More than 120 U.S. colleges now field women’s flag football teams, and the NCAA is set to vote in January on making it a full championship sport — a rapid rise powered by NFL backing and by flag football’s upcoming Olympic debut at the Los Angeles 2028 Games.
From 20 to 26 June 2026, the Special Olympics USA Games in Minnesota brought together more than 3,000 athletes from all 50 states, supported by 10,000 volunteers and cheered on by 75,000 fans — a week-long celebration of inclusion through sport.
Less than three years after losing part of her leg in a shark attack, Paralympic silver medalist Ali Truwit is using her Stronger Than You Think Foundation to hand financial rewards to U.S. Paralympic swimmers who reach the podium or break world records, with the first awards distributed in 2026.
American Para snowboarder Mike Schultz lost his left leg after a 2008 racing crash, then engineered his own prosthetic and founded a company whose adaptive equipment was expected to be worn by around 25 athletes at the Milano Cortina 2026 Paralympic Winter Games — many of them his direct competitors.
On 8 March 2026, Italian Para snowboarder Emanuel Perathoner won his country’s first gold medal of the Milano Cortina 2026 Paralympic Winter Games in the men’s snowboard cross SB-LL2, roared on by a home crowd only a short drive from where he grew up.
Special Olympics has surpassed its goal of one million Unified Sports teammates, with more than 1.2 million people with and without intellectual disabilities now playing together on the same teams around the world.
Paris will once again open the Seine to public swimming in summer 2026, with five designated bathing sites after more than 75,000 people swam there in 2025 — the first time in over a century. A major clean-up tied to the 2024 Olympics slashed sewage flows and revived the once-polluted river.
2026 is shaping up as an unprecedented year in global sports with the Winter Olympics in Milan-Cortina, the World Baseball Classic, and the first expanded FIFA World Cup hosted across North America all bringing nations together through athletic competition.
Norwegian cross-country skier Johannes Høsflot Klæbo set a new all-time record by winning six gold medals at the 2026 Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics, surpassing all previous single-Games gold medal records in winter sports.
Lindsey Vonn, the winningest female skier in history, made an incredible comeback to the 2026 Winter Olympics at age 41 after retiring in 2019 and undergoing a partial knee replacement in 2024.
In her fourth World Indoor Championships, American thrower Chase Jackson finally broke through with a gold medal in the women's shot put, throwing 20.14 meters to become the only competitor to exceed 20 meters.
The 2026 Winter Paralympics in Milan-Cortina set new records for participation with 611 athletes from 55 countries, including 160 women — an 18% increase. Oksana Masters won her 20th Winter Paralympic medal.
Norwegian cross-country skier Johannes Høsflot Klaebo won six gold medals at the 2026 Winter Olympics — a new single-Games record. The Games were also the most gender-equal Winter Olympics ever.
Three-time Paralympic medalist Mike Schultz retired from competitive snowboarding after the Milan 2026 Games, but his greatest legacy is BioDapt, the company he founded to build high-performance prosthetic limbs. Today, 95 percent of the world's top lower-limb Paralympic snowboarders compete on his designs.
Para cross-country skier Cristian Westemaier Ribera won silver in the men sprint sitting event at Milano Cortina 2026, securing the first Winter Paralympic medal in Brazil history for a country with almost no snow.
After withdrawing from most events at Tokyo 2021 to prioritize her mental health, Simone Biles returned triumphantly at the 2024 Paris Olympics, winning three gold medals and one silver to become the most decorated Olympic gymnast in history.
At the Milano Cortina 2026 Paralympic Winter Games, Oksana Masters won her 20th career Paralympic medal and went on to finish the Games with a career total of 24, the most ever by a US Winter Paralympian.
Financier Ross Stevens donated 100 million dollars to the US Olympic and Paralympic Committee to give athletes long-term financial security, with each receiving 200,000 dollars per Games, beginning with the 232 athletes at the 2026 Winter Games.
At 41, American bobsledder Elana Meyers Taylor made history at Milano Cortina 2026 by winning gold in the women's monobob — becoming the oldest individual gold medalist in Winter Olympics history and the most decorated Black Winter Olympian ever. She is also a devoted disability advocate.
Norwegian skiing legend Johannes Høsflot Klæbo cemented his place as the greatest cross-country skier in Olympic history by winning his record-setting sixth gold medal at Milano Cortina 2026 in the grueling men's 50km mass start event.
On 22 February 2026, Eileen Gu defended her freeski halfpipe title at Milano Cortina 2026, taking her sixth career Olympic medal and becoming the most decorated Olympic freeskier in history.
Norway cross-country skier Johannes Hosflot Klaebo won all six of his events at Milano Cortina 2026, becoming the first athlete to claim six gold medals at a single Winter Olympics and breaking a record that had stood since 1980.
On 19 February 2026, Alysa Liu won the women figure skating gold at Milano Cortina 2026, becoming the first American woman to win the singles title in 24 years, after stepping away from the sport and launching a comeback.
On 18 February 2026, Mikaela Shiffrin won the women slalom at Milano Cortina 2026, her first Olympic gold since 2018 and a record third career Olympic title, an emotional victory she dedicated to her late father Jeff.
On 15 February 2026, Charlotte Bankes and Huw Nightingale won the mixed team snowboard cross at Milano Cortina 2026, becoming Great Britain first ever Olympic gold medallists on snow with a 0.43 second win over Italy.
On 14 February 2026, Brazil Lucas Pinheiro Braathen won the men giant slalom at Milano Cortina 2026, beating defending champion Marco Odermatt to claim South America first ever Olympic Winter Games medal in 102 years.
As the 2026 Winter Games launch, former Team GB Olympic snowboarder and TNT presenter Aimee Fuller reflects on what shaped her life beyond the slopes.
A 100-year-old D-Day veteran finally fulfilled his lifelong wish to be awarded a campaign medal from France, the country he helped liberate 80 years ago.
Simone Biles, the most decorated gymnast in history with 37 World and Olympic medals, received the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2025. The honor recognizes not only her athletic achievements but also her advocacy for mental health in sports.
After suffering a devastating crash in the Giant Slalom, the most decorated Alpine skier in history is back and ready for the 2026 Winter Olympics.
Olympic champion Neeraj Chopra delivers a moment Indian athletics had long yearned for, shattering the elusive 90-metre barrier in men's javelin throw.
The Paris 2024 Olympics achieved unprecedented sustainability, cutting carbon emissions in half while delivering an inspiring celebration of athletic excellence.
