As athletes from around the world vie for glory at the 2026 Olympics in Italy, a number of athletes are bringing God into the competitions. Read about the faith that inspires these five Olympians:
Britta Curl-Salemme, U.S., hockey
Curl-Salemme shares her faith on social media, as Zeale News previously reported. She has a website for Mass times in her Instagram bio to help other people who are traveling find a Sunday Mass near them, and she shares videos of attending Mass and praying the Rosary with her husband.
The U.S. women’s hockey team has won each of the four games it has played so far, and competes again Feb. 13.
Jadin O’Brien, U.S., two-woman bobsledding
O’Brien suffered from crippling obsessive-compulsive disorder, anxiety, and depression as a little girl, triggered by a strep infection, Catholic Herald reported. Her family considers her healing a miracle and credits it to St. Thérèse of Lisieux. Faith brought meaning to the suffering she endured as a child, she said, and to her sports career: “My faith has been really big in terms of keeping me focused and giving me a higher ‘Why?’ and keeping me motivated while I’m going through pretty difficult periods.”
The two-woman bobsledding events take place Feb. 20 and 21.
Kacper Tomasiak, Poland, skiing
Tomasiak is a Polish altar server who won a silver medal in the normal hill event for skiing on Feb. 9, according to an X post from Sachin Jose. He comes from the city of Bielsko-Biała, Śląskie, which is in Southern Poland.
Kacper Tomasiak, who won the silver medal in the individual normal hill event at the 2026 Winter Olympics for Poland—marking his country’s first medal in the event—serves as an altar server in his home Catholic diocese. pic.twitter.com/hLNJ6h7zHR
— Sachin Jose (@Sachinettiyil) February 10, 2026
Thomas Maloney Westgaard, Ireland, cross-country skiing
In a video posted to the Facebook account Catholic Arena, Westgaard thanked his priest back home in Ireland for praying for him before his Feb. 8 event, stating, “'Of all the crazy things that are happening in this world, to waste time on praying for my Olympic race, I have to be grateful for that. So thanks to Father.'”
Maxim Naumov, U.S., iceskating
Naumov is a devout Christian whose faith sustained him through horrific tragedy, Aleteia reported.– His parents, Evgenia Shishkova and Vadim Naumov, who were themselves world-class skaters, passed away in 2025 when American Eagle Flight 5342 collided mid-air with a U.S. Army helicopter near Washington, D.C.
Naumov makes the Sign of the Cross before his performances and wears a cross pendant. In a tribute to his parents at an event called Legacy on Ice, he skated to “Ave Maria.”
Naumov competed in the Men’s Single Skating short program event on Feb. 10 and will compete again in the free skating event Feb. 13.