The 2026 U.S. Olympic Team Trials Long Track begin Friday, January 2, at the Pettit National Ice Center in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

The four-day competition marks the final chance American skaters have to make the squad heading to Milan Cortina in February. Skaters were able to pre-qualify at the first four World Cups this season either by earning two medals in one distance or placing in the top five in one distance twice, depending on their performance at the 2025 World Single Distances Speed Skating Championships. 

Three U.S. athletes met the pre-qualification criteria: Jordan Stolz (500m, 1000m, 1500m, mass start), Erin Jackson (500m), and Mia Manganello (mass start). However, they also must start the same distances at Trials in order to secure their spots on the Olympic team.

Four years ago, just months after making his senior international debut, the then 17-year-old Stolz exploded at the 2022 Olympic Trials, winning both the 500m and the 1000m in track-record times that eclipsed marks held by American great Shani Davis for 16 years. Stolz then was named to his first Olympic roster, becoming only the third U.S.-born skater to compete at his maiden Games at age 17.

Stolz, who grew up training at the Pettit Center, enters this year's Trials on a hot streak. The 21-year-old phenom won the last nine straight World Cup races in his three primary distances, setting two track records in each between the Heerenveen and Hamar World Cups. At the final fall World Cup, Stolz also clinched his first gold medal in the mass start, a distance he added to his program this season. 

In Milan Cortina, Stolz could become the second American to win three or more gold medals in any sport at one Winter Olympics. The first was fellow Wisconsinite Eric Heiden, who won all five speed skating events at the 1980 Lake Placid Games.

After a dramatic experience at the 2022 Trials, Jackson took home gold in the women’s 500m at the Beijing Games, becoming the first Black American woman to win a medal in speed skating, the first Black woman to win an individual Winter Olympic gold, and the first American woman to win the 500m since Bonnie Blair in 1994.

Since then, Jackson has remained on top of her signature sprint, collecting the last two World Cup season titles despite facing a slew of health issues ranging from herniated discs, to gastrointestinal issues, to uterine fibroids. The 33-year-old skated to the podium three times across the first four 500m races this World Cup season, earning two silvers and one bronze.

Jackson sustained a hamstring injury just before her first race at the third World Cup in Heerenveen, forcing her to scratch her two races there and skate cautiously in Hamar, where she finished 19th and 20th. However, just by starting a 500m race at Trials, Jackson officially will secure her third Olympic berth less than a decade after she first stepped onto the oval.

The 36-year-old Manganello opened a personal-best World Cup season with her first career individual medal, taking gold in the season's first mass start competition. She then cruised to the podium in the next two World Cup races, earning bronze in Calgary and silver in Heerenveen. Manganello, also a key piece of the women's team pursuit squad, currently stands as the world's top-ranked skater in the mass start. 

Other U.S. stars, like Brittany Bowe and Casey Dawson, also will take the ice during the weekend.

In her final competitive season, Bowe will look for her fourth Olympic berth. The 37-year-old skater, who specializes in the 1000m and 1500m, has skated to just one World Cup podium so far this season, placing third in the 1500m at World Cup No. 2. She is the only American woman ranked in the top 15 in either race, sitting 3rd in the 1000m and 5th in the 1500m. Jackson is the next-highest-ranked woman in the 1000m at 16th, and Greta Myers is No. 19 in the 1500m.

Dawson has emerged as the United States' most prolific long distance skater over the last two years, earning the national titles in the 5000m and 10,000m races this season. Since January 27, 2025, the 25-year-old has broken three national records in the 5000m, as well as one apiece in the 3000m and 10,000m. In the 10,000m, he shaved almost 10 seconds off the 20-year-old mark held by Chad Hedrick — the last U.S. man to earn an Olympic medal in the 5000m (gold) or the 10,000m (bronze). At this season's Calgary World Cup, Dawson skated to his first individual World Cup podium finish, taking gold in the 5000m by just 0.02 seconds.

Dawson also competes in the men's team pursuit alongside Emery Lehman and Ethan Cepuran. The trio owns the world record in the event and the last five straight World Cup season titles, but each skater will need to qualify in an individual distance in order to compete in the team pursuit in Milan Cortina. Cepuran competes in the 1500m, 5000m, and mass start, while Lehman specializes in the 1500m.