From Milliseconds to Medals: How Data Collaboration Helped Power Team USA at Milano Cortina 2026

The Closing Ceremony of the Olympic Games has ended. The roar of the crowd has momentarily faded into the quiet of the Italian Alps. But the ice won’t stay still for long. As the insights generated and triumphs achieved at the Olympic Winter Games Milano Cortina 2026 continue to reverberate throughout the world, our excitement is only building for the Paralympic Winter Games kicking off on March 6.  

Reflecting on the last few weeks, I am struck by the sheer thinness of margins. Across Olympic events, a tenth of a second is an eternity. A slightly sharper angle on a curve or a single degree of rotation in the air can be the difference between the podium and the pack.

As the Official Data Collaboration Provider for Team USA and the Official Data Cloud Provider for USA Bobsled/Skeleton, Snowflake was an engine behind the scenes, fueling intelligence that could shave off milliseconds and sharpen the team’s competitive edge. As I watched the world’s best athletes glide across ice and careen down tracks, I could not be more amazed at the magic that comes from blending human talent and fortitude with data. 

We saw firsthand that when you back the world’s premier athletes with premier data insights, history happens.  

The need for speed: Bobsled and skeleton precision at 90 mph

For me, watching Team USA Bobsled/Skeleton was a highlight of the Winter Olympics. In heat after heat, bobsled athletes zoomed down the track in a 400-pound projectile at speeds topping 93 miles per hour. Skeleton athletes used their own bodies as the aerodynamics of the sled — subtly tapping a toe to steer. 

In this intense, unforgiving environment, athletes can’t look at a dashboard or pause for analysis. This is where Snowflake Intelligence shined, arming USA Bobsled/Skeleton coaches and athletes with powerful data collaboration and insights at their fingertips. Using Snowflake Intelligence, they could query their data in natural language — asking things like, "How did the temperature drop in Turn 4 affect velocity compared to yesterday’s heat?" — and receive quick, actionable answers.

This intelligence helped the bobsled and skeleton teams optimize performance and training as these elite athletes delivered — from three moms making history with medal wins to a women’s bobsled pair clinching a coveted spot on the podium. 

Grace and grit: A new chapter with U.S. Figure Skating 

While bobsled is about hurtling down the track, our newest partner is about mastering the edge.

I am thrilled to share Snowflake’s new collaboration with U.S. Figure Skating. Just like bobsled, figure skating is, at its core, a data endeavor. It requires managing biomechanics data, analyzing scoring trends and engaging a massive global fan base. But where one sport speaks in velocity and drag, the other speaks in rotation and flow.

Through this partnership, U.S. Figure Skating will use Snowflake Intelligence to bring together data from across the figure skating ecosystem — spanning athlete performance analytics, competition scoring, operational data and fan engagement. Leaders and coaches can now use our enterprise intelligence agent to uncover trends and support future innovation just by asking simple questions in plain English. This information becomes especially valuable as figure skating judging continues to evolve with AI.

We saw the potential of this partnership come to life on the ice these last couple weeks as the U.S. won two gold medals and a silver. These figure skating performances were feats of data-backed technical excellence alongside artistic skill, and we’re proud to support U.S. Figure Skating in its next chapter of growth. 

From Milano Cortina 2026 to LA28 and beyond 

We are incredibly honored to be the team behind the team. But we never forget that data, no matter how clean or accessible, is useless without the human spirit to drive it. Congratulations to Team USA on their remarkable triumphs on the global stage, and we cannot wait to cheer on our Paralympic athletes as they bring that same fierce determination to the ice and snow in a matter of days. 

As the Paralympic Winter Games continue in Italy, it’s important to remember that this data journey is cumulative. The insights gathered here on everything from peak performance to athlete recovery don’t just disappear. They feed into a larger engine for a snowball effect of innovation.

The work we are doing in the cold of Milano Cortina is the foundation for the heat of Los Angeles. As the Official Data Collaboration Provider for Team USA and the LA28 Olympic and Paralympic Games, we are building toward the most data-driven Games in history, where the spectator experience will be as personalized as the athlete’s training regimen.

To truly understand what it takes to compete at this level — and how data fuels the journey — explore USA Bobsled pilot Kaysha Love’s story. And as we turn our eyes toward the summer, learn more about how we are helping power the future of the LA28 Games.

Personally, I can’t wait to see how these data capabilities evolve to transform the fan experience on home soil in 2028.

See you in LA.