Harvard at the 2026 Milano Cortina Olympics

Harvard athletes have long represented the College at the Olympics, with alumni and students earning over 150 medals since the first modern Games in 1896. This winter, five athletes with Crimson ties carried this legacy forward as they competed at the XXV Olympic Winter Games in Milan and Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy.

Rémi Drolet ’24: Canada – Men’s Cross-Country Skiing

Drolet, a native of Rossland, British Columbia, graduated from Harvard College in 2024 with a degree in Physics and Math. During his time at Harvard, he became a three-time All-American, won the 2023 NCAA national championship in the Men’s 20k Classic, and represented Canada at the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics. Post-graduation, Drolet joined the SMS T2 Team, an elite cross-country ski team based in Stratton Mountain, Vermont, which combines training with community outreach to grow the sport and promote healthy lifestyles.

In his second appearance at the Olympics this year, Drolet participated in four events, starting with a 42nd-place finish in the men’s 10km + 10km skiathlon on Feb. 8, followed by a 56th-place finish in the men’s sprint classic on Feb. 10. He earned his top individual finish in the men’s 10km interval start freestyle, earning 19th place with a time of 21:50.8 in a field of 111 athletes. The final event and highlight of his Olympic experience was the men’s 4 x 7.5km relay, where Drolet took the third leg for Team Canada, helping the team earn a fifth-place finish behind only Norway, France, Italy, and Finland.

Kristin Della Rovere ’23: Italy – Women’s Ice Hockey

Della Rovere is an Italian-Canadian professional ice hockey center who grew up playing in the junior leagues in Caledon, Ontario. During her last year with the Crimson in the 2022-23 season, she led the NCAA with 529 face-off wins. She was drafted in the tenth round, 56th overall, in the inaugural 2023 Professional Women’s Hockey League Draft by PWHL Ottawa, one of the league’s six charter franchises now known as the Ottawa Charge. She later signed with EVB Eagles Sudtirol of the Italian Hockey League while obtaining her Italian citizenship, and currently serves as a reserve player for the Toronto Sceptres of the PWHL.

In her first Olympic appearance, Della Rovere scored a pair of goals and two assists, helping Italy earn third place in Preliminary Group B after defeating France and Japan. Italy’s run to the quarterfinals came as a surprise, as the team had only qualified for the Olympic tournament due to the country’s status as the host nation and entered as the lowest-ranked team. In the quarterfinals, the team went head-to-head with Team USA, and while the American powerhouse went on to win the gold medal, the Italian women’s squad still walked away from their 6-0 defeat with their heads held high.

Emerance Maschmeyer-Lacasse ’16: Canada – Women’s Ice Hockey

Maschmeyer-Lacasse is a Canadian professional goaltender from Bruderheim, Alberta. A decade after her graduation, she still holds the Crimson’s record for 2,538 career saves and helped lead the program to three consecutive NCAA tournament appearances. After several years in the National Women’s Hockey League and Canadian Women’s Hockey League, Maschmeyer-Lacasse was one of three initial free agent signings made by PWHL Ottawa in the league’s first year (2023) and recently signed a two-year contract with the Vancouver Goldeneyes. In 2022, she represented Canada at the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing, where she helped lead the team to the gold medal.

Maschmeyer-Lacasse’s second Olympic tournament starts with an unexpected stumble, facing a 5-0 loss to Team USA in the preliminaries. Team Canada came back to charge into the gold medal game against Team USA—with Maschmeyer-Lacasse’s help. She did not take the ice during the final, where Canada fiercely battled the United States, ultimately conceding the gold medal in an overtime loss.

Don Sweeney ’88: Canada – Men’s Ice Hockey, Assistant General Manager

Originally from St. Stephen, New Brunswick, Sweeney was drafted by the Boston Bruins out of high school but postponed his NHL career to attend Harvard. In his four years playing for the Crimson, he was named an NCAA East All-American and an Eastern College Athletic Conference First Team All-Star. After graduating, he played 15 seasons for Boston before finishing his playing career as a member of the Dallas Stars. In 2015, he stepped into the role of General Manager of the Boston Bruins, leading the team to win the Eastern Conference Finals and a chance to take the 2019 Stanley Cup. Despite their loss to the St. Louis Blues, Sweeney was named NHL General Manager of the Year. As general manager of Team Canada, he also helped Canada conquer the inaugural 4 Nations Face-Off in 2025. 

As Assistant General Manager for Canada’s Men’s Hockey team in Milano-Cortina, Sweeney helped the team dominate Group A in the preliminaries. Team Canada struggled against Czechia in the quarterfinals yet eventually secured the 4-3 win in overtime, and beat Finland 3-2 in the semifinal to advance to the gold medal game against Team USA. In a tight contest, USA scored the winning goal 1:41 into overtime, forcing Canada to settle for silver.

Dan Cnossen MPA ’16, MTS ’18: USA – Men’s Paralympic Biathlon and Paralympic Cross-Country Skiing

Born in Topeka, Kansas, Cnossen is a former Navy SEAL who graduated from the United States Naval Academy in 2002 before earning a Master of Public Administration from Harvard’s John F. Kennedy School of Government and a Master of Theological Studies from Harvard Divinity School. While serving as platoon commander for SEAL Team One in Afghanistan in 2009, an incident with an improvised explosive device resulted in the loss of both legs above the knee. Cnossen was awarded a Purple Heart and Bronze Star with Valor for his service in combat, and is the only double-amputee Navy SEAL in history. 

Cnossen made his first Paralympic appearance at the 2014 Games in Sochi, Russia, and made history at the 2018 Winter Paralympics as the first American male and second American ever to earn a gold medal in biathlon in either the Olympics or Paralympics. Across his three Paralympic appearances, he has earned two gold medals and two silver medals in Men’s Biathlon, as well as two silver medals and one bronze medal in Men’s Cross-Country skiing.

Cnossen finished the Men’s Cross-Country Sprint Sitting on Mar. 10 and ranked 15th. 

Across disciplines and decades, these alums have carried the Crimson’s legacy of excellence onto the Olympic stage. In addition to representing their countries, they have also defended the University’s commitment to leadership and achievement on a global scale and reaffirmed Harvard’s place in the long history of Olympic competition.

Whitney Ford ’28 (wford@college.harvard.edu) writes Sports for the “Independent.”