The U.S. delegation includes Secretary of State Marco Rubio and past gold medal winners from the women’s hockey team, speed skating, and figure skating.
JD Vance arrives in Milan ahead of Winter Olympics
Vice President J.D. Vance arrived in Milan for the Winter Olympics and met with Team USA athletes prior to the opening ceremony.
WASHINGTON – Vice President J.D. Vance recognized the sacrifices made by U.S. athletes to participate in the 2026 Winter Olympics in Italy and encouraged them to “win as many medals as possible” ahead of the Milan-Cortina Games, which open on February 6.
“This is one of the few things that unites the whole country,” Vance, the U.S. delegation leader, told members competing in freestyle aerial and halfpipe competitions. “Everyone is rooting for you. Everyone is rooting for you.”
Vance added that although his wife, Usha, is not much of a sports fan, “every two years she makes us binge watch the Olympics. That’s been the case from the moment I started dating her.”
Mr. Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio are scheduled to attend the opening ceremony at the San Siro soccer stadium. Vance is also scheduled to meet with Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni on the same day, the vice president’s office said.
The Vances attended the International Olympic Committee dinner on February 5th. Earlier in the day, Mr. and Mrs. Vance attended with their children, Ewan, 8, and Ewan, 8. Vivek, 5 years old. Mirabel, 4, was there to watch a girls’ preliminary hockey game between Team USA and Team Czech Republic.
Other members of the U.S. delegation in the audience included Mr. and Mrs. Rubio and the U.S. Ambassador to Italy, Tom Fertitta, and his wife.
After Joy Dunn gave Team USA a 2-0 lead and a 5-1 victory, Vance joined the crowd in chanting “USA, USA, USA.” The fans gathered in the 5,800-seat Milano Rho Arena appeared to be oblivious to the politician.
Among the athletes named to the delegation by President Donald Trump are twins Jocelyn Lamoureux-Davidson and Monique Lamoureux-Morando, who played on the 2018 U.S. women’s hockey team and won a gold medal in South Korea. That team knocked Canada out of its 20-year reign as the top Olympic riser.
Other gold medal winners on the delegation include Apolo Ohno, who won short track speed skating in 2002 and 2006, and Evan Lysacek, who won figure skating in 2010. Ohno added a silver medal and several bronze medals to his trophy case in 2010, becoming America’s most decorated Winter Olympian.
In addition to Mr. Rubio, diplomats on the delegation include U.S. Ambassador to Italy Tilman Fertitta, a billionaire businessman who owns Landry’s restaurants, the Golden Nugget Hotel and Casino and the Houston Rockets basketball team.
The Vance family arrived in Milan around 10 a.m. local time on February 5. Two members of the Carabinieri Guard of Honor, including Fertitta and Varese Governor Salvatore Pasquariello, flanked the red carpet welcome.
At the welcome center, the Vance children received credentials with lanyards and souvenir Ralph Lauren teddy bear Olympic pins.
Contributed by: Reuters
