{"id":151156,"date":"2026-02-04T21:57:09","date_gmt":"2026-02-04T21:57:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/151156\/"},"modified":"2026-02-04T21:57:09","modified_gmt":"2026-02-04T21:57:09","slug":"cheer-on-these-texans-competing-in-the-2026-winter-olympics","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/151156\/","title":{"rendered":"Cheer on these Texans competing in the 2026 Winter Olympics"},"content":{"rendered":"

The XXV Winter Olympic Games, also known as the Milano Cortina 2026<\/a>, are right around the corner, running February 6-22 in northern Italy. Out of the 2,900 athletes who will participate in this year’s Games, 232 will represent the U.S., with four hailing from the Lone Star State. <\/p>\n

North Texans will recognize two local athletes in particular: Ice hockey player Hannah Bilka, who grew up in Coppell, and Plano’s record-breaking<\/a> figure skater Amber Glenn. Another figure skater, Emily Chan, also has ties to Dallas-Fort Worth.<\/p>\n

To catch these Texas-born athletes in the 2026 Winter Olympics, viewers can tune in<\/a> to NBC and its affiliate networks, websites, and apps (like Peacock). <\/p>\n

Without further ado, these are the Winter Olympians competing for Team USA with roots in Texas. (Note that there are other athletes with Texas ties, like Jake Oettinger of the Dallas Stars, who are competing in the Olympics but aren’t considered Texans.)<\/p>\n

Hannah Bilka<\/a>, 24
Sport: Ice hockey
Texas tie: Bilka grew up in Coppell and is the youngest of four children. At age six, she followed in the footsteps of her older brother, Anthony, and started playing hockey. Due to a “lack of girls\u2019 hockey teams in Texas,” she grew up playing hockey with boys.
Fun facts: She won the 2024 National Championship in women\u2019s ice hockey with the Ohio State Buckeyes, the same university where she earned a master’s degree in sport management. Her two older sisters, Christina and Stephanie, were figure skaters.
When to watch: The women’s ice hockey preliminary round begins on Thursday, February 5. The women’s bronze and gold medal matches will take place on Thursday, February 19.<\/p>\n

\"Hannah Hannah Bilka is one of two North Texans competing in this year’s Games.PWHL\/Facebook<\/p>\n

Emily Chan<\/a>, 28
Sport: Pairs figure skating
Texas tie: Chan hails from Pasadena, a Houston-area suburb in Harris County, but she also calls Dallas home<\/a>. She graduated from Texas Online Preparatory School as the valedictorian.
Fun facts: She loves to cook, bake, make jewelry, and dreams of opening her own caf\u00e9 in the future. Her longtime skating partner, Spencer Akira Howe, is from Los Angeles. They both relocated to train at the Skating Club of Boston in 2019, where Chan now coaches young figure skaters. Chan is also pursuing a family and marriage counseling degree from Grand Canyon University.
When to watch: The figure skating “team event” kicks off on Friday, February 6. The pairs figure skating competition begins on Wednesday, February 16. <\/p>\n

\"Emily In addition to being a top-notch figure skater, Emily Chan is also trained in Chinese modern dance and ballet.teamusa.com\/<\/p>\n

Amber Glenn<\/a>, 26
Sport: Singles figure skating
Texas tie: She was born in Plano, and started skating at just five years-old.
Fun facts: Glenn is a mental health advocate and a member of the LGBTQ+ community. She came out as pansexual in 2019. She loves to play Magic: The Gathering, and her dog, Uki, is named after stalking shadow card Ukkima. She also enjoys anime and Star Wars. On Friday, May 29, Glenn will visit Allen during the 2026 Stars on Ice Tour<\/a>.
When to watch: The figure skating “team event” kicks off on Friday, February 6. The women’s singles free skate competition begins Thursday, February 19.<\/p>\n

\"Amber Plano’s famous figure skater Amber Glenn will have Dallas-Fort Worth on its feet. teamusa.com\/ <\/p>\n

Boone Niederhofer<\/a>, 32
Sport: Bobsledding
Texas tie: Niederhofer grew up in San Antonio, and later became a wide receiver at Texas A&M University. His father, Dan, played football for Abilene Christian University. Niederhofer and his family previously lived in Midland<\/a>.
Fun facts: Niederhofer has a degree in petroleum engineering and worked in Texas’ oil and gas industry while competing in bobsledding competitions.
When to watch: The bobsled competition begins on Sunday, February 15. The men’s two-man heat will take place on Tuesday, February 17, and the men’s four-man heat is scheduled for Sunday, February 22.<\/p>\n

\"Boone Boone Niederhofer is a former Texas A&M University football player.Photo courtesy of Getty Images<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The XXV Winter Olympic Games, also known as the Milano Cortina 2026, are right around the corner, running…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":151157,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[50926,50630,116,118,117,37810,27,62737],"class_list":{"0":"post-151156","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-fort-worth","8":"tag-amber-glenn","9":"tag-figure-skating","10":"tag-fort-worth","11":"tag-fort-worth-headlines","12":"tag-fort-worth-news","13":"tag-olympics","14":"tag-texas","15":"tag-winter-olympics"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/151156","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=151156"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/151156\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/151157"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=151156"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=151156"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=151156"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}