Madison Chock, Evan Bates and Amber Glenn: Why Winter Olympics 2026 are our Super Bowl

Even at his fifth Olympic Winter Games, U.S. ice dancer Evan Bates still feels something magical.

“There’s a dignity to the Games that’s so beautiful,” he told Olympics.com Tuesday (3 February) after a training session ahead of the Olympic Winter Games Milano Cortina 2026. He and partner Madison Chock are three-time and reigning world champions. “You don’t know every face you see, but everyone treats each other with respect. That’s the kind of world we hope to inspire.”

The husband-wife duo understand what makes the Olympics different. It’s not just the scale, it’s the soul.

“The goal is the medal,” said Chock, “but the dream is the feeling. The Olympic dream is so strong because it’s so hopeful, and hope is so powerful.

“I think that’s why it keeps athletes coming back,” she continued, “I think a lot of the dream is a feeling that you want to have when you compete. It’s this feeling of accomplishment, glory for yourself and your country, and that hope.”

As the world prepares for Sunday’s Super Bowl in San Francisco – a moment that has long captivated U.S. athletes – some of the NFL’s biggest stars are already dreaming of the chance to reach their Olympic dreams when the Games head to Los Angeles in 2028 and flag football makes its debut.

“I definitely want to [compete at LA28],” Chiefs quarterback and three-time Super Bowl MVP Patrick Mahomes said last year, while Dallas Cowboys linebacker Micah Parsons declared his golden ambitions: “I’m going on the U.S. team, I’m gonna go win an Olympic gold,” he said.

Which NFL stars are interested in competing in flag football at LA28?

Madison Chock: The Games are the reward

The audacity to dream that big Olympic dream and to work, fight and persevere to achieve it is alive and well here in Milan.

“It’s what I’ve been working towards,” said U.S. skater Amber Glenn, a medal favourite in the women’s event, after practice in Milan. “Everyone’s like it’s this huge, huge thing and I’m like, ‘Yeah, I’ve been planning on it.’ But I take a moment every once in a while and realise, ‘Wow, I’m here. I’m doing this. I never thought this was possible.’”

But it is possible – for Glenn, as well as Chock and Bates, already Olympic champions, having helped the U.S. team to gold at Beijing 2022.

“When you’re a kid and you have that dream, you don’t really realise how much it will take,” said Chock. “But it’s worth it. The Games are the reward – for all the work, all the years, the dedication and sacrifice. There’s not really a word for it. It’s just... fulfilling.”

Bates added: “It takes ambition to dream that big, and when you’re young, you don’t have the fear of failure. But as you grow, it takes bravery to keep chasing it. That’s when the Olympic creed really speaks loudest – it’s not just about medals, it’s about showing up and taking part. And making it here? That stays with you for life.”

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