AJ Ginnis, former U.S. Ski Team athlete, to be first 2026 Olympic torchbearer
Greek Alpine skier AJ Ginnis, a world slalom silver medalist and former U.S. Ski Team member, will be the first torchbearer of the 2026 Milan Cortina Olympic torch relay that starts Nov. 26.
Ginnis, who eyes his Olympic debut in February at age 31, will receive the flame in the ancient Olympic site of Olympia, Greece, to start the torch relay. A Greek athlete traditionally is the first torchbearer before an athlete from the Olympic host nation.
Advertisement
'It is a great honor for me, something that I never imagined as a child," Ginnis said, according to the Greek Olympic Committee.
The relay will culminate at the Feb. 6 Opening Ceremony at the San Siro Stadium in Milan.
The relay typically spends multiple days in Greece, the birthplace of the Olympics, before moving to the host nation.
For Milan Cortina, the Italy portion of the relay will start Dec. 4 in Rome.
Ginnis, 30, missed most of last season due to knee surgery.
In 2023, he earned what is believed to be Greece's first world championships medal in any Winter Olympic program event when he took slalom silver.
Advertisement
The best Greek finish in any event at a Winter Olympics was 13th in women's skeleton in 2002.
Ginnis previously raced for the U.S. at the 2017 Worlds, then was dropped from the national team after the 2017-18 season following several injuries and a best World Cup finish of 26th at the time.
He switched to his birth nation of Greece, where he had learned to ski at Mount Parnassus, a 2 1/2-hour drive from Athens. He moved to Austria at age 12 and then Vermont three years after that.
Ginnis has undergone at least seven knee surgeries in his career. He tore an ACL in summer 2021, ruling him out of the 2022 Winter Games.
Advertisement
He thought he was done with ski racing when he went to Beijing to work the 2022 Olympics for NBC.
'When I came back, I told myself, my goal is to go into the next Olympic cycle being a medal contender,' he said at the 2023 Worlds. 'Fighting back from injuries, getting cut from teams, trying to fundraise for what we're doing now. ... This is a dream come true on every level.'
NCAA Photos Archive
The Ivy League school that's intertwined with the Winter Olympics
How Dartmouth put an athlete on every U.S. Winter Olympic team.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
New York Times
9 minutes ago
- New York Times
Roma in talks to sign Aston Villa winger Leon Bailey
Roma are in discussions with Aston Villa over a potential deal to sign winger Leon Bailey. The 28-year-old signed a new contract in February 2024, which runs until 2027. He is one of multiple players available to leave the Midlands club, including Alex Moreno and Leander Dendoncker. Clubs in Turkey — including Besiktas — and the Saudi Pro League are also keen on Bailey but Roma are emerging as the strongest suitor, after discussions took place over a Saudi move earlier in the window. Advertisement A bid has yet to be tabled but talks continue between Villa and their Italian counterparts. If a move materialises, Bailey would become Roma's seventh summer signing and their second from the Premier League, as Brighton & Hove Albion striker Evan Ferguson has joined on loan. Besiktas have signed six players in this window. Bailey was used increasingly sparingly last season by head coach Unai Emery, appearing in 24 top-flight games and starting only 14. He began to struggle for form towards the end of the previous campaign, when he played through injury and illness and suffered a couple of knocks that disrupted his start to 2024-25. 'Every day I am speaking with him about it (his form),' Emery said at a press conference last year. 'He is accepting my challenge to get the best of him like last year. We need him. Leon is a very specific player for us as a winger, threatening in behind.' The Jamaica international joined Villa in August 2021 for a fee in the region of £30million from Bundesliga side Bayer Leverkusen. He has made 144 appearances for the club, recording 22 goals and 24 assists. The winger helped Unai Emery's side qualify for the Champions League in 2023-24 with a fourth-place finish in the Premier League and reached the semi-finals of the Conference League. Bailey had spells with Austrian lower-league sides Anif Jugend and Liefering and Slovak team AS Trencin before beginning his senior career with Belgian Pro League club Genk. He made 77 appearances for the team before moving to Leverkusen in January 2017. () Spot the pattern. Connect the terms Find the hidden link between sports terms Play today's puzzle
Yahoo
37 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Michael Phelps links up with Ravens to provide swimming lessons for players
Marlon Humphrey's request to Michael Phelps was answered on Tuesday when the Olympic swimming legend visited Baltimore Ravens training camp to help players learn how to swim. [Join or create a Yahoo Fantasy Football league for the 2025 NFL season] Two weeks ago, Humphrey posted a video on social media featuring several teammates asking Phelps for lessons since a number of players did not know how to swim. Phelps responded that he was down to help and the swimming G.O.A.T. was in Owings Mills, Md. this week to make it happen. After taking a tour of the Ravens' new aquatic center and checking out practice with his seven-year old son, Beckett, and franchise great Ray Lewis, Phelps got to watch some players take part in a diving contest and a swimming race, then it was time to get down to business. Those who wanted help learning to swim received lessons from the 23-time Olympic gold medalist and members of the Michael Phelps Foundation, which provides learn-to-swim classes to help prevent drowning and raise self-esteem and wellness. Players used pool noodles and kickboards to improve their skills and build confidence in the water. "If I have to swim less than 20 yards, I could survive somehow because I could doggy paddle," said Ravens linebacker Roquan Smith. "But as far as actually swimming and knowing how to breathe and things of that nature, honestly, it was my first time. It was really cool. It was really solid, some of the lessons they gave me. I feel a little more confident." To thank Phelps, a Baltimore native a big Ravens fan, for his help, the team made a $100,000 donation to his foundation. "I didn't know what I was getting into. I had no idea what their comfort level was," Phelps said via the Ravens website. "When I see the guys in there and some of the guys who are literally working on floating and breathing, and they're focused on paying attention to those details, it shows their vulnerability, especially when they're uncomfortable. "It was a special day. Racing some of the fellas in the 25 [meter]. My son raced some of the guys. It was a great day. I truly hope they learned something, hopefully got some confidence, and hopefully can transition into something else."
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
Michael Phelps gives Baltimore Ravens players swimming lessons
Baltimore Ravens players asked Michael Phelps to teach them how to swim. The 23-time Olympic gold medalist answered the call. In a social media video, Ravens Marlon Humphrey, Ronnie Stanley, Kyle Hamilton and Charlie Kolar invited Phelps, a Baltimore native and longtime Ravens fan, to visit their training camp. They said that one in three Ravens players could not swim. Ravens players joined Phelps at Loyola University's Mangione Aquatic Center, where Phelps' name is on the wall signifying his pool records. Phelps brought Cathy Bennett, who taught him how to swim at age 7 despite a young Phelps being afraid to put his face in the water. "Start with baby steps," Phelps said in a TODAY interview. "I know it might sound crazy, but try just blowing bubbles in the water. Become more vulnerable. I think that's something that a lot of people are afraid of. Jump right in. Literally jump in. Come jump in with me." Phelps has been a water safety advocate dating back to his competitive career. In 2008, he launched the Michael Phelps Foundation, which includes a learn-to-swim program. Phelps has a longtime relationship with the Ravens, including a friendship with Hall of Fame linebacker Ray Lewis. In 2008 and 2016, Phelps' Olympic races were shown on the M&T Bank Stadium big screen during Ravens preseason games. A young Phelps considered trying out for his high school football team, but it wasn't feasible given the time necessary for swimming, which for years meant seven-days-per-week training. Phelps and Lewis each gave huddled speeches to the Ravens at practice Tuesday. Phelps' transcript: "When I stood up on the block at World Championships, the Olympic Games, any major international competition, I knew I was the most prepared human on that pool deck. Because I know that nobody would have been doing what I was doing day-in and day-out. Getting up at 6 o'clock and getting in the pool, all the recovery, the eating, the stretching, all the small things. Stack those small things on top of each other. You've heard him say it so many times it. Those small things are the reason why I won a race by a hundredth of a second, five hundredths of a second, faster than you're snapping your fingers. It's what you do behind closed doors that no one sees that gives you the opportunity to stand out on this field every single week during the season and be great. Coach has got you all ready, right? But every single day you have to be on top of those small things. You miss a step, you're giving your opponent something else. For me, every single box was checked off. When I stepped up on the block, I knew what was going to happen. My dreams and my goals were bigger than anybody else on the planet, especially in the swimming pool. I worked the hardest. That's why I got the results. So for me, when I step up, it's preparation only. There were times when I stepped up in the 2012 Olympics where I wasn't fully prepared. I got the results that I deserved. Sometimes I didn't make the podium. Sometimes I got second or third. That's not what I want. I want to be up top. So, for me, that's why I came back in '16. I said, I'm doing it my way, because when I retired I wanted to hang my suit up and say I've done everything I could put my mind to. 23 Olympic golds, that was it." What Michael Phelps told the University of Alabama football team Michael Phelps visited the University of Alabama for a preseason pep talk, which was shared by the program on social media last week. OlympicTalk,
