Prince William County athletes are making headlines at the 2026 Milano Cortina Winter Olympics, with gold medals, tough finishes, and final runs still ahead.
Key Takeaways
Feb. 13–14, 2026 | Milano Cortina, Italy
- Ilia Malinin helped Team USA win gold in the figure skating team event but finished eighth in the men’s singles after falls in the free skate.
- Mystique Ro of Nokesville sits 17th after two skeleton runs, with final heats scheduled for Feb. 14.
- Sarah Everhardt, a Battlefield High School graduate, is serving as a U.S. women’s figure skating alternate and has not competed.
- Evan Nichols of Haymarket will compete in sled hockey when the Winter Paralympics begin March 6.
Full Coverage
Ilia Malinin — Figure Skating
Ilia Malinin, who attended Penn Elementary School in Prince William County through fifth grade, entered the Games as the reigning world champion and one of the most anticipated skaters in the field.
He delivered a strong performance earlier in the competition, helping Team USA secure a gold medal in the figure skating team event.
In the men’s singles competition, Malinin led after the short program. But during the free skate on Feb. 13, he fell twice and missed several planned jumps, dropping to eighth place overall with a combined score of 264.49.
Kazakhstan’s Mikhail Shaidorov won gold. Japan’s Yuma Kagiyama earned silver, and Shun Sato took bronze.
Sarah Everhardt — Figure Skating Alternate
Sarah Everhardt, a 2025 graduate of Battlefield High School in Haymarket, earned a spot on the Olympic team as an alternate after winning bronze at the 2025 U.S. Figure Skating Championships.
Alternates travel with the team and can compete if another athlete withdraws due to injury or illness. As of Feb. 14, Everhardt has not been called to compete.
She recently finished fifth at the 2026 U.S. Championships and eighth at the Four Continents Championships.
Mystique Ro — Skeleton
Mystique Ro, a Brentsville District High School graduate from Nokesville, is competing in women’s skeleton, a sport where athletes race headfirst down an ice track on a small sled.
Ro is the first Winter Olympian from Prince William County in skeleton.
After the first two runs on Feb. 13, she sits in 17th place with a combined time of 1:56.36, about 1.88 seconds behind Austria’s Janine Flock, who leads the field. The final two runs are scheduled for Feb. 14.
Ro is also expected to compete in the new mixed team skeleton event. That competition has not yet begun.
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This article was created with AI assistance and reviewed by Potomac Local News editors for accuracy and clarity.
