Looking back at the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics, we may be inclined to rest on our nation’s laurels.

After all, the United States earned the second-place spot in the medal count with a total of 33 medals. Truly a respectable performance.

Minnesotans also have an additional reason to be proud, as 13 out of the 85 American Olympic medalists hail from our state, more than any other state in the U.S. Even the University of Minnesota was well-represented in sports like hockey and curling as athletes competed in Italy.

While I would never pass up an opportunity to brag about my home state, it’s safe to say there is more to Minnesota’s winter sporting success than just something in the water. 

University sociology professor Douglas Hartmann said factors like climate and economic ability, alongside the infrastructure and communities of sports experts, can enable certain states to perform better than others in particular sports.

“Winter sports tend to be very expensive, but they also are particularly constrained to certain geographic areas and climates,” Hartmann said. “That’s one of the obvious reasons Minnesotans do well, as well as the fact that pretty affluent communities do those sports here.”

Minnesota’s dominance in some ice-based sports is no secret, with both Duluth and Bemidji being called or proclaiming themselves the curling capital of the U.S. 

Hockey is, of course, another source of state pride, as passion for the pastime runs so deep that it was declared our official state sport in 2009.

However, being born in Minnesota isn’t enough to set an athlete on an Olympic podium. Succeeding in sports at the international level takes an incredible amount of time, effort and resources. 

Professional athletes have to start young if they want to develop the skills necessary to keep up with an increasingly competitive landscape. For example, the University’s own Abbey Murphy started playing hockey when she was six years old.

Hartmann said access disparities, while deeply rooted in sports history, are becoming more pronounced in the U.S. due to the decline of public facilities and the privatization of youth sports.

“The cost of sports, especially high-end training, is extremely expensive, so it really is limited to a certain class of people,” Hartmann said. “And even though sports likes to market itself as this meritocratic arena that’s open and accessible to all, ever since the origins of modern sport, it’s been highly skewed towards the richest, most privileged people that can participate.”

Having a local community that supports your sport or activity is essential as well. From my own experiences in competitive speech and debate, one of the reasons I was able to grow so much in this activity was the strong speech community here in Minnesota.

University assistant kinesiology professor Mitchell McSweeney said access to existing infrastructure and local resources is even more important in winter sports like skiing, hockey and curling, due to their niche nature.

“Basketball or soccer, you can almost just go and find a hoop in a local playground or kick a ball around to play soccer,” McSweeney said. “Whereas you need the skiing equipment, and you need to know someone who has already coached in that area.”

It would be impossible to remove every bit of locational bias from sports, as Minnesota’s climate and lakes give us an inherent upper hand in ice sports. Still, there are various things we can do to give those who may not otherwise be able to enter a particular sport a pathway to excel in it.

McSweeney said various non-profit organizations are putting in work to promote sports like swimming and hockey to address disparities along economic, geographic, racial and gender lines. Promoting success stories of athletes and communities from diverse backgrounds is also essential to improving equity in sports.

“Even though there’s sometimes things like socio-economic status can affect that, I think a lot of non-profits are doing really good work to push to have these sports grow in a really diverse manner,” McSweeney said.

High-level sports aren’t pay-to-win. Athletes all over the world put so much time and effort into their careers, pushing themselves to their limits, and they absolutely deserve praise and recognition for their hard work.

But we must acknowledge that these sports, especially winter sports, have a significant entry fee that deters many talented young athletes from participating. We also must take steps to promote sports in a variety of places. Who knows if Texas will give us the next best curler, or if Floridians have a hidden talent for skiing? 

At the end of the day, there are so many talented young athletes out there who could lead the U.S. to international glory — if we just take the time to level the playing field.