Double Silver Success
American skiers delivered back-to-back podium finishes at the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics on Tuesday, with Alex Hall earning silver in men's freestyle slopestyle and Ben Ogden capturing silver in the cross-country sprint classic to end a 50-year medal drought for U.S. men in the discipline. The consecutive medals provided crucial momentum for Team USA's overall medal count and showcased the breadth of American skiing excellence across vastly different competitive formats.
The two silver medals came within hours of each other at separate venues across the Milano Cortina Olympic region, demonstrating the geographic spread of the Games and the simultaneous excellence of American athletes in both freestyle and Nordic skiing disciplines. Hall's performance on the slopestyle course combined technical difficulty with stylistic flair, while Ogden's cross-country sprint represented a breakthrough in a sport traditionally dominated by Scandinavian nations.
Alex Hall's Freestyle Slopestyle Silver
Alex Hall, the 26-year-old freestyle skier from Park City, Utah, delivered a spectacular performance in the men's slopestyle final, navigating the challenging course with a combination of technical precision and creative trick selection that earned him silver medal position. His winning run featured a switch double cork 1440 off the first jump, followed by a perfectly executed rail section that demonstrated the all-around skills required for modern slopestyle competition.
The slopestyle course at Livigno Snowpark tested competitors with three rail features and three jumps, each requiring different approaches and trick selections. Hall's strategy emphasized amplitude and clean landings over maximum rotation difficulty, a tactical decision that paid dividends as several competitors crashed attempting more complex aerial maneuvers. His second jump—a cork 1260 with a mute grab—showcased both technical prowess and stylistic awareness that judges reward in slopestyle scoring.
"This silver medal means everything to me," Hall said in the finish area, still catching his breath after his winning run. "Slopestyle is such a challenging event because you have to be perfect on rails and jumps—there's no room for error. I knew if I could land my run clean, I'd have a shot at the podium. To do it at the Olympics is a dream come true."
Hall's journey to Olympic silver included overcoming a knee injury that sidelined him for much of the 2024-2025 season. His rehabilitation and return to competition demonstrated the resilience and determination required to compete at the Olympic level. The silver medal validates his training approach and positions him as a leader in American freestyle skiing heading toward future World Cup seasons and the 2030 Winter Olympics.
Ben Ogden Ends 50-Year Cross-Country Drought
Ben Ogden's silver medal in the men's cross-country sprint classic represents perhaps the more significant achievement of Tuesday's double podium, ending a 50-year medal drought for American men in Olympic cross-country skiing. The last U.S. male cross-country medalist was Bill Koch, who earned silver in the 30-kilometer race at the 1976 Innsbruck Olympics—a half-century gap that has symbolized American struggles to compete with Nordic skiing powerhouses.
The sprint classic format, which features head-to-head quarterfinal, semifinal, and final races over a 1.5-kilometer course, plays to Ogden's strengths as an explosive, tactically intelligent skier. After advancing through the heats with controlled performances that conserved energy, Ogden unleashed his finishing speed in the final, using superior technique in the closing 200 meters to overtake two competitors and secure silver medal position behind Norway's Johannes Høsflot Klæbo.
"Fifty years is a long time," Ogden said emotionally after the race, wrapped in an American flag. "To be the one to end that drought—I don't think it's fully sunk in yet. There are so many people who've worked to build U.S. cross-country skiing over the decades. This medal is for all of them, for everyone who believed we could compete at this level."
Ogden's breakthrough reflects systematic improvements in American cross-country skiing programs, including European-based training partnerships, improved coaching expertise, and increased funding for athlete development. His success validates the investment and suggests that U.S. cross-country skiing has reached a new level of international competitiveness that could produce additional Olympic medals in future cycles.
Contrasting Disciplines, Shared Excellence
The two silver medals represent excellence in skiing disciplines that could hardly be more different in terms of physical demands, competitive formats, and historical development. Freestyle slopestyle, a relatively new Olympic event first contested at the 2014 Sochi Games, emphasizes creativity, aerial awareness, and the ability to execute progressive tricks on manufactured terrain features. Cross-country sprint classic, by contrast, tests pure endurance, technique, and tactical racing intelligence in a format that has evolved from traditional Nordic skiing over centuries.
Alex Hall's background includes action sports influence, with training methods that incorporate trampoline work, water ramp practice, and extensive video analysis to perfect aerial maneuvers. Ben Ogden's preparation emphasizes threshold interval training, technique refinement on varied snow conditions, and altitude training to maximize aerobic capacity. That both athletes reached Olympic podiums on the same day demonstrates the diversity of pathways to skiing excellence and the comprehensive strength of American winter sports programs.
The geographical contrast also reflects the Milano Cortina Games' unique multi-venue format. Hall's slopestyle competition took place at Livigno Snowpark, located near the Swiss border at high altitude, while Ogden's cross-country sprint unfolded at the Tesero Nordic Center in Val di Fiemme, a traditional Nordic skiing region in the Dolomites. Athletes, coaches, and support staff must navigate complex logistics to compete at venues separated by hundreds of kilometers, adding operational challenges to the athletic demands.
Team USA's Growing Skiing Depth
Tuesday's double silver medals add to an already impressive skiing performance by Team USA at Milano Cortina 2026, which has seen American skiers reach podiums in Alpine, freestyle, and now Nordic disciplines. The success across multiple skiing categories demonstrates that U.S. winter sports development has matured beyond isolated pockets of excellence to become a comprehensive program capable of competing with traditional skiing powers across the full spectrum of Olympic events.
The U.S. Ski & Snowboard organization, which oversees Alpine and freestyle skiing programs, and the U.S. Cross Country Ski Association have both benefited from increased funding, improved coaching education, and better athlete support systems over the past decade. Olympic success provides validation for these investments and helps attract new athletes to skiing disciplines that might otherwise struggle to compete with more popular American sports for youth participation.
Hall and Ogden join the women's moguls gold and silver medalists, plus numerous other American skiing podium finishes, in what is shaping up to be one of Team USA's strongest skiing performances in Winter Olympic history. With several events still remaining, including additional freestyle competitions and more cross-country races, the possibility exists for the United States to challenge traditional skiing powerhouses like Norway, Austria, and Switzerland in the overall skiing medal count.
International Competition and Reactions
While Team USA celebrated its double skiing silvers, the gold medals in both events went to athletes from nations with deep skiing traditions. The men's slopestyle gold was captured by a Norwegian freeskier whose run featured slightly higher difficulty and amplitude than Hall's silver medal performance, while Johannes Høsflot Klæbo's cross-country sprint victory continued Norway's dominance in Nordic skiing events. Bronze medals went to Swiss and Swedish athletes, respectively, maintaining European skiing hegemony even as American athletes crack the podium.
European skiing federations took note of Ben Ogden's cross-country breakthrough, recognizing that American success threatens the traditional Nordic monopoly on medals. Norwegian and Swedish coaches acknowledged that U.S. investment in cross-country skiing has reached a level where Olympic podiums are no longer surprising anomalies but expected outcomes for top American skiers. This shift in competitive dynamics may intensify international training and development efforts to maintain European dominance.
In freestyle slopestyle, the international reaction focused more on the progression of trick difficulty and judging controversies. Some competitors and coaches questioned whether Hall's cleaner execution deserved higher scores relative to competitors who attempted more difficult tricks but landed less precisely. These debates reflect ongoing tensions in action sports judging between rewarding difficulty versus execution, with no easy consensus on proper balance between the two factors.
Historical Context and Significance
Ben Ogden's silver medal carries particular historical weight as only the second Olympic cross-country medal ever earned by an American man, following Bill Koch's 1976 silver. Koch's medal stood alone for five decades as evidence of American capability in Nordic skiing but also as a symbol of the sport's challenge for U.S. athletes competing against nations where cross-country skiing is deeply embedded in culture and physical education. Ogden's breakthrough suggests that the drought may be ending rather than continuing indefinitely.
Alex Hall's slopestyle silver adds to a growing American legacy in freestyle skiing, where U.S. athletes have consistently medaled since the event's Olympic debut. The United States pioneered many modern freestyle skiing disciplines, with American skiers and terrain park innovations driving the sport's evolution. Hall's medal continues this tradition while showcasing the next generation of American freeskiers who grew up with Olympic aspirations in what has become an established competitive pathway.
The convergence of these two silver medals on the same day—one breaking a half-century drought, the other continuing recent American success—captures the dual narrative of Team USA's Winter Olympic journey. Some sports, like cross-country skiing, require sustained development efforts to crack the international elite. Others, like freestyle skiing, benefit from American cultural advantages in action sports that translate naturally to Olympic competition.
Looking Ahead
For Alex Hall, the Olympic silver medal provides validation and momentum heading into the remainder of the World Cup season and future Olympic cycles. At 26, he has the experience and skill to remain competitive through the 2030 Winter Olympics and potentially beyond, assuming he can avoid injuries and maintain motivation. His silver medal also establishes him as a mentor figure for younger American freeskiers who will look to him for guidance as they develop their own Olympic ambitions.
Ben Ogden's cross-country breakthrough may prove even more significant for American skiing in the long term. By demonstrating that U.S. skiers can compete at the Olympic podium level in Nordic events, Ogden provides a template and inspiration for the next generation of American cross-country athletes. His success could accelerate youth participation in the sport and justify continued investment in cross-country skiing programs that have historically struggled for resources and attention in the United States.
As the Milano Cortina Winter Olympics continue, Team USA's double skiing silvers on Tuesday represent both immediate success and promising indicators for American winter sports' future. The combination of breakthrough performances and continued excellence across multiple skiing disciplines suggests that the United States is becoming a more complete winter Olympic power, capable of challenging traditional skiing nations across the full range of snow sports rather than in isolated events alone.