Vice President JD Vance will lead the U.S. delegation to the 2026 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in Milan, Italy, the White House announced Saturday. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, second lady Usha Vance, U.S. Ambassador Tilman Fertitta, and a group of Olympic gold medalists will accompany him. President Donald Trump is not on the delegation list.
The Milan Cortina Games open February 6, with Vance and Rubio set to attend an opening ceremony that will for the first time in Olympic history simultaneously stage Parades of Nations at four separate venues across northern Italy.
The delegation’s athletes include Jocelyne Lamoureux-Davidson and Monique Lamoureux-Morando, twin sisters who were members of the U.S. ice hockey team that won gold in 2018. Figure skater Evan Lysacek and Apolo Ohno, who won Olympic gold twice in short track speed skating, will also attend, the White House said.
The main opening ceremony will be held at Milan’s San Siro stadium, which is expected to hold 60,000 spectators. In a departure from Olympic tradition, the Parade of Nations will unfold simultaneously at three additional mountain venues — Cortina, Predazzo, and Livigno — alongside the main ceremony in Milan.
The White House provided no explanation for Trump’s absence from the delegation.