Laurel And Bethesda Natives To Compete In Bobsled At Winter Olympics

CALIFORNIA, Md. — On Feb. 6, the opening ceremonies for the 2026 Winter Olympics will begin in Milano Cortina, Italy. Among the thousands of athletes representing 93 countries are two Marylanders competing for Team USA, adding local interest to the global event. More than 3,500 athletes will take part in 16 sports: alpine skiing, biathlon, bobsled, cross-country skiing, curling, figure skating, freestyle skating, ice hockey, luge, Nordic combined, short track speed skating, skeleton, ski jumping, snowboarding, speed skating, and the brand-new ski mountaineering event.

According to the Olympics website, “Ski mountaineering is the only sport making its debut at Milano Cortina 2026. The principle of skimo is for athletes to race up and down a course and can alternate between being on skis and on foot. Medals will be awarded in men’s and women’s sprints and in a mixed-gender relay. Other than that, some new events will be introduced, namely: women’s doubles in luge, women’s large hill in ski jumping, mixed team event in skeleton, men’s and women’s dual moguls in freestyle skiing and team combined in alpine skiing.”

Among the athletes on Team USA are two Marylanders: Bryan Sosoo from Laurel and Carsten Vissering from Bethesda. Sosoo was a star track and field athlete who switched to bobsled in 2024. He’ll be making his Olympic debut in Milano Cortina. Vissering was a swimmer who also switched to bobsled and reached world championships in 2023. Sosoo and Vissering, along with 12 other bobsledders from across the U.S., will begin training in Olympic facilities on Feb. 12.

The sport of bobsledding was invented in Switzerland in the late 19th century, shortly before the modern Winter Olympics began in 1924. Bobsledding gets its name from the rocking that crews do to gain speed at the start of their runs. While the original bobsled races were for crews of four men, the Olympic Games expanded to include pairs of men in 1932, pairs of women in 2002, and “monobobs” operated by a lone female pilot in 2022.

Sports fans who want to learn more about this year’s Winter Games can do so on the Olympics’ website or check NBC for exclusive broadcasts of the ceremonies and events.