Sports

Anchorage cross-country skier Gus Schumacher won a silver medal Wednesday at the 2026 Milano Cortina Winter Olympic games, after racing a near-perfect anchor leg in the team sprint event.

Paired with teammate Ben Ogden from Vermont, Schumacher challenged Norwegian superstar Johannes Klæbo on the last climb of the six-lap race and finished just ahead of Italy.

It’s Schumacher’s first Olympic medal, and he said he was dialed in nearly all the way to the finish line to claim it.

“I think I did a good job of not thinking too, like, results-wise until, you know, I could see Ben on the other side there and knew I had space,” he said. “I’m really proud of how I just sort of skied with abandon in a way, because when I’m skiing free I’m the best.”

Schumacher is 25 years old and grew up in Alaska and has dreamed about the Olympics for most of his life.

He became the first American to win a gold medal in an individual race at the Junior World Ski Championships in 2020. Then in 2024, he became the youngest American to win a World Cup cross-country ski race. Schumacher was one of eight Alaska Nordic skiers competing in this year’s Olympics.

Schumacher raced against Ogden on the U.S. circuit starting at a young age. They’ve since become close friends and are rooming together in Italy, where Ogden also won a silver in the individual sprint race.

Schumacher said that history made it particularly special to stand on the podium alongside Ogden. There’s a whole community that makes a result like an Olympic medal possible, he said.

“Amazing to cross that line and celebrate with Ben, and then just like everyone who’s helped us along the way. Like, my parents are here, and the whole wax staff, and the staff in general, and coaches and everything,” Schumacher said. “It means a lot to all of us.”

Schumacher and his coach Erik Flora say they’re delighted to get home and share the medal with teammates, friends and other Alaskans.

Hundreds of thousands of people attended the Seahawks Super Bowl 2026 parade in Seattle on Wednesday, and Juneau resident and Seahawks superfan Donna James was one of them. 

James went to the parade with her partner, Ken Willard, also a Juneau resident. The two decided to make the trip to Seattle after the Seahawks defeated the New England Patriots 29 to 13 in Sunday’s game. 

“We watched the Super Bowl, and they announced that the parade was going to be on Wednesday. So right after the Super Bowl, I said, ‘Well, are we gonna go? Are we gonna go?’ He said, ‘Let’s get our tickets now.’ So we got our tickets that night, and we flew out on Tuesday,” James said. 

On the day of the parade, James and Willard woke up at 3 in the morning and got to the parade grounds in downtown Seattle at 5 a.m. for an 11 a.m. start time.

They watched the parade from a bridge on 4th Avenue. James said being at the parade, cheering for her favorite team alongside other “12s” – as Seahawks fans are known – was “a dream come true.”

“When I’m around Seattle Seahawk fans, I get this cold chill, a happy feeling. (I’m) just so happy. It’s hard to explain,” James said. “And then halfway through, I kind of cried – just to be at a Super Bowl parade with a favorite team, all the fans.” 

James has been a Seahawks fan since 2010. She’s been known to drive around Juneau in a truck with Seahawks decals, and her license plate says “GO HWKS.”

And she has countless memorabilia – including Seahawks-themed Tlingit regalia, jewelry and a paddle, signed football helmets and Seahawks luggage. James said she never misses watching a Seahawks game and has attended 18 in person. 

The Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race is less than a month away and set to run on its normal northern route this year.

Race officials said that’s a relief, after low snow conditions last year forced the race to start in Fairbanks, over 200 miles north, for the fourth time in history.

Snow conditions are generally much better than they were last year, said race director Mark Nordman, although there were concerns about the trail until just recently.

“It wasn’t that long ago that I was still concerned about going over the Alaska Range, because there wasn’t a lot of snow up by Rainy Pass Lodge, one of our checkpoints,” Nordman said. “But we’ve got plenty of snow now, and so I think we’ll be good.”

In 2025, race officials said a portion of the trail outside of Nikolai was impassable because of the lack of snow. Nordman said that section, called the Farewell Burn, is notoriously challenging for its ice and windblown ground. But it currently has some snow coverage and “looks doable,” he said.

The 1,000-mile race typically alternates routes each year, running the northern route on even years and the southern route on odd years. The trail is the same for the first 350 miles before splitting at the ghost town of Ophir, then rejoining at the Yukon River village of Kaltag before heading to Unalakleet and continuing up the Bering Sea Coast.

Clearing brush off the trail takes more work now than it used to, Nordman said.

“Where we might have only brushed the trail every four or five years in certain areas, it seems like it’s every other year now,” he said.

One section in particular required extra effort.

The remnants of Typhoon Halong last fall decimated the trail between Kaltag and Unalakleet, Nordman said. The Iditarod hired a crew to clean up blown-down trees along that 85-mile stretch, and it’s now ready for mushers, he said.

“They spent a full month out there, cutting, opening it up, grooming,” Nordman said. “Otherwise nobody would be going over that trail this year.”

This year’s Iditarod starts March 7, with its parade-like ceremonial start through Anchorage. The race will officially start March 8 in Willow.

Juneau’s Crimson Bears high school football team is slated to be featured in the most-watched sporting event in the United States this weekend — the Super Bowl. 

In September, a team of five reporters and cameramen from NBC Sports visited Juneau and filmed their game against Anchorage’s Dimond High School at Adair-Kennedy Memorial Park. 

This week, NBC released a short film featuring Juneau’s team — and others across the U.S. — in the lead up to Super Bowl Sunday, when millions of people will watch the Seattle Seahawks and New England Patriots go head-to-head during the National Football League’s 60th championship game in Santa Clara, California. 

The film examines the impact of football across the U.S. and features longtime NFL sports reporter Peter King. 

“The dedication of some players goes further. Noah Ault plays receiver and safety. He punts, he returns punts and kickoffs, and the aspiring athletic trainer even tapes ankles before the game,” King says, talking about wide receiver Noah Ault in the film.

King interviewed the Juneau-Douglas High School: Yadaa.at Kalé senior on the field.

“I just fell in love with this sport, and it just makes me happy every day,” Ault said.

The 2026 Winter Olympics kick off in Italy on Friday at 10 a.m. Alaska time with an opening ceremony.

The Games run through Feb. 22 and will feature about a dozen athletes with ties to Alaska.

Here’s what to know about how (and when) to watch them.

But first: Who’s competing?

The athletes with Alaska connections include eight skiers with Alaska Pacific University Nordic Ski Center. They make up half of the 16-skier U.S. cross-country team. On the men’s team: Gus Schumacher, Hunter Wonders, Zanden McMullen and JC Schoonmaker. On the women’s team: Rosie Brennan, Kendall Kramer, Novie McCabe and Hailey Swirbul.

Alaskan Jeremy Swayman is competing on the men’s ice hockey team. Juneau-born Anchorage West High graduate Maxime Germain is on the biathlon team. Also, Alaskan Andrew Kurka is in the Paralympics on the alpine ski team.

There are also two Alaska-based athletes on teams representing other countries. Rosie Fordham is based in Fairbanks but is from Sydney. She’s skiing on Australia’s team. And Anchorage-born Peter Hines is cross-country skiing for his mother’s native country, Slovakia.

How do I know when to watch?

There’s a schedule on olympics.com. It’s a little cumbersome, but the posted times should adjust to whatever timezone you’re in.

If you’re hoping to keep an eye on Alaska athletes, here’s a quick rundown of their first events:

• All 10 skiers with Alaska ties will be competing in Nordic ski competitions. Those start at 3 a.m. Alaska time on Saturday with the women’s 20-kilometer race. On Sunday, the men’s team competes in the same race at 2:30 a.m. Alaska time.

• Team USA’s first scheduled men’s ice hockey game is on Feb. 12 at 11 a.m. against Latvia.

• Team USA’s biathlon team competitions start at 12:05 a.m. on Sunday with a mixed relay.

How do I watch?

There are a few options for watching the Games.

Olympics.com will stream live events and feature some highlights and recaps.

Some TV channels will air events, too, including NBC, CNBC and the USA Network.

The streaming service Peacock will have every event in the Olympics, both streaming live and on-demand. Non-members will have to pay for a subscription as the platform no longer offers free trials to new subscribers.

Are there any watch parties?

The Nordic Skiing Association of Anchorage is partnering with Alaska Pacific University to host an opening ceremony watch party from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Friday at APU’s Earl Brown Theater in Anchorage. RSVP by emailing info@anchoragenordicski.com.

Some bars and restaurants in Anchorage say they plan to screen the Olympics, including Bread and Brew and The Peanut Farm.

Did we miss a watch party? Or do you have questions that we didn’t cover? Email Hannah Flor at hflor@alaskapublic.org. 

Eight cross-country skiers from Alaska are going to the 2026 Olympics in Italy next month. U.S. Ski and Snowboard announced the team Thursday morning.

Alaskans make up one half of the 16-skier U.S. cross-country ski team. All eight of the athletes ski with Alaska Pacific University’s team in Anchorage. APU coach Erik Flora said it’s unusual for so many cross-country skiers on Team USA to come from one state, and one club. He said APU is one of the biggest, strongest ski clubs in the country.

Flora said the team has been steadily improving over the last decade. This year, he said, it’s very likely that Alaskans will bring home some medals for the United States.

Gus Schumacher, Hunter Wonders, Zanden McMullen and JC Schoonmaker are skiing for the U.S. men’s team.

Rosie Brennan, Kendall Kramer, Novie McCabe and Hailey Swirbul are skiing for the U.S. women’s team.

It’s Gus Schumacher’s second Olympics. He said the skiers themselves already knew who’d made it since the criteria is pretty clear, but he’s glad the news is out.

“Fun to share with everyone, officially,” he said. “Nice to tell people and just being sure about it.”

He’s feeling good, he said, because he thinks this year he and his teammates have a real chance to help Team USA bring home a men’s cross-country medal. The only other time the U.S. men’s team medaled at the Olympics was 50 years ago, in 1976. Earlier Friday, Schumacher earned a third-place podium result in a World Cup relay sprint race with teammate Ben Ogden in Switzerland.

“It’s exciting to be feeling good, and have a big opportunity to do something that hasn’t been done in a long time,” he said. “And yeah, it’s exciting. It’s a little daunting, but just got to go there and experience it and realize how lucky we are to be able to do this.”

It’s 37-year-old Rosie Brennan’s third Olympics. But this year is different for her. Brennan has been struggling with what she calls “mysterious health issues” for over a year.

Now, she’ll have what is likely her last chance to compete in the Olympics, she said. It’s bittersweet, since she had hoped to contend for medals in Cortina but she said that’s not her reality anymore. Now, she’d just love to have a race where she feels like herself again.

“It’s been a long time since I felt like the Rosie I’m accustomed to racing with for the last 15 years,” she said.

There were times she wasn’t sure she was even going to make it to this year’s Olympics.

Now that she’s going, she’s thankful her teammates are with her, helping her stay focused.

“They’re the people that have seen everything that I’ve gone through and have been there to help me through it,” she said. “So that just gives you such a sense of comfort on the road, and especially like in big events like the Olympics.”

Hailey Swirbul didn’t have a straight path to the Olympics this year either. She quit skiing in 2023 because she wanted to experience life outside a stressful ski racing career – she was burned out.

Then, this summer, she started coaching for APU. She was skiing and feeling strong and thinking about the limited time she has to do the things she loves. The idea of competing at the Olympics bumped around in her head for a few months until she eventually decided: Let’s do it, take the risk, go for something big.

But she said she’s thinking about the Olympics differently than she did when she competed four years ago in Beijing. Taking a couple years away from competitive racing has really given her a perspective about what’s important in life.

“Sports are important but what really matters is the people that you know are there through the ups and downs,” she said.

She’s talking about her teammates, and friends and family, but also her role coaching at APU.

When the news came out that she’d made the Olympic team, a big group of her middle school skiers made a video for her, cheering and chanting her name. She said it made her heart swell when she got it.

They inspire her to work harder, she said. The real inspiration in an endurance sport like cross-country skiing comes from seeing someone’s grit, she said. It comes from watching athletes as they dig deep to push through the suffering.

“Those kids are watching and they notice and they pay attention,” she said. “And I think it’s so important to try to lead by example with your effort.”

This year, she said, her goal at the Olympics is to race in a way that inspires the kids back home.