By Angelina Walker

Nurses are competing on the world’s biggest stage. Several registered nurses will represent their countries at the 2026 Winter Olympics and Paralympics while continuing careers in healthcare.

Clinical skills translate to elite sport. Discipline, decision-making under pressure, and resilience are helping nurse-athletes succeed at the highest levels of competition.

Nursing doesn’t limit ambition. These athletes prove that a career in nursing can coexist with extraordinary goals — including Olympic dreams.

Get ready to cheer a little louder because the 2026 Winter Olympics and Paralympics in Milan-Cortina, Italy, aren't just about athletic prowess. They're about the incredible resilience and dedication of nurses just like you.

We all know the juggle is real: long shifts, critical decisions, and the emotional demands of patient care. Now imagine adding grueling training schedules, international travel, and the immense pressure of competing on the world stage. Sounds impossible, right? Not for these nurses! They're proving that with passion and perseverance, you can conquer anything.

Let's meet some of the inspiring nurses who will be trading their scrubs for speed suits, representing their nations and our profession with pride.

2026 Winter Olympics Nurse-Athletes

Erin Martin (Para Nordic Skiing, USA)

Seattle Children's Hospital RN Erin Martin qualified for the 2026 Winter Paralympics after a spinal cord injury. She skis cross-country para events while balancing her career as a pediatric nurse.

Kelsey O’Driscoll (Para Alpine Skiing, USA)

Making her Paralympic debut in Milan-Cortina, O’Driscoll is a Registered Nurse and asthma care coordinator. Interestingly, she also works as a ski patroller, effectively combining her medical expertise with her life on the slopes. She recently earned her first World Cup win in late 2025, making her a serious medal contender.

Nicole Rocha Silveira (Skeleton, Brazil)

This Brazilian skeleton athlete and trained nurse slides down tracks at breakneck speeds. She traded scrubs for a helmet, representing her country (Brazil) while working nursing shifts at Alberta Children's Hospital in Canada.

Trailblazing Nurse Winter Olympians from U.S. History

Gretchen Fraser (Alpine Skiing, USA)

Fraser, the first American to win Olympic skiing gold and silver (1948), was also a nurse, including work supporting rehabilitation efforts tied to disabled and wounded veterans.

Alex (Shaffer) Wubbels (Alpine Skiing, USA)

Wubbels competed in the 1998 and 2002 Winter Olympics. She later made national headlines for her advocacy after a 2017 arrest during a shift when she refused to allow a police officer to draw blood from an unconscious patient.

Nina Roth (Curling, USA)

Roth earned a nursing degree and has worked as a registered nurse, including during her 2018 and 2022 Olympic curling years.

Brittani Coury (Para Snowboarding, USA)

After losing her leg following multiple surgeries, she became a nurse specifically to help others the way her nurses helped her. She famously worked as a front line nurse during the COVID-19 pandemic while training for the previous Games in 2018 and 2022.

These stories remind us nurses don't just save lives in hospitals, they medal on the world stage too. The real nurse-athletes who are headed to Milano Cortina 2026 deserve the spotlight, because they’re doing something most of us can barely imagine: charting by day, chasing podiums by night.

You can cheer on these nurse-athletes at the Milano Cortina Olympics (February 6-22) and Paralympics (March 6-15) on NBC and Peacock.