The U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee has a saying to remind Team USA athletes to protect their health ahead of competing in the 2026 Winter Games that begin in February in Milan-Cortina, Italy.
“Don’t let a cold keep you from gold.”
They’re not kidding around. The recommendations from the Colorado Springs-based USOPC’s sports medicine experts go well beyond face-masking and hand-washing, offering plenty of tips for avoiding germs on the road as well as at home.
“We know that Team USA are the best athletes in the world. But even the best athletes have to be healthy in order to achieve their personal best,” Dr. Jonathan Finnoff, USOPC chief medical officer, said during the Team USA Summit held ahead of the 2026 Winter Games.
That isn’t always the case, he said.
“We know, that on average, about 30% of our Olympic athletes and 45% of our Paralympic athletes are either injured or ill at the Games. They still compete. They still train,” Finnoff said, but their performance is likely to suffer.
Data collected by the sports medicine team shows that on average, athletes who are sick or injured drop about four places in competition. That could mean the difference between bringing home a gold medal and finishing off the podium, in fourth place.
“So it’s super, super important going into the Games that our athletes are healthy,” the doctor said. That means an emphasis on nutrition, sleep and taking preventative measures.
The common cold has long been the bane of athletes, particularly those who compete on snow and ice. “The Most Dreaded Opponent at the Olympics: The Common Cold,” a New York Times headline declared from the 2018 Winter Games in Pyeongchang, South Korea.
That year, an outbreak of norovirus, a highly contagious illness marked by vomiting and diarrhea, swept through the Winter Games staff and forced the South Korean military to step in for security personnel. Still, the Times reported, athletes were more fearful about catching a cold.
Of course, two years later, the world was dealing with global pandemic that delayed the 2020 Summer Games in Tokyo by a year. Both the Tokyo Games and the 2022 Winter Games in Beijing were held within a “bubble” as a guard against COVID-19.
For the Milan-Cortina Games, Finnoff had some pretty specific travel tips for Team USA.
“We go so far as to say on a plane, you should be in the middle of the plane and in a window seat. Because you have less exposure as people are passing up and down the aisles,” the doctor explained.
Overhead air vents on planes should be adjusted “so that it blows air between you and the adjacent person so that it creates a shield,” he said. “You’re not going to have as much exposure to their germs.”
An illness prevention webinar posted by the USOPC in May warned athletes about germs lurking on airplane tray tables, toilet flush buttons, seat belt buckles and yes, even those air vent controls.
At sports venues, bathroom stall locks and especially drinking fountain buttons can spread illness, a webinar graphic warned, offering a list of germy surfaces in most homes, such as pet bowls and toys, countertops, toilet seats, cellphones and even money.
That kind of in-depth advice comes as U.S. Olympic officials face protecting the health of Team USA members who’ll be spread out across a half-dozen athlete villages in the Olympics and three for the Paralympics that follow for athletes with disabilities.
The USOPC is sending 75 medical staffers to the Olympics and 25 to the Paralympics, Finnoff said, and relying on “international collaborations” to ensure there’s everything needed at each of the villages.
“We’re bringing over 15 cargo pallets of medical supplies,” the doctor said, but even that won’t cover all the necessary items. “So we’re preparing and we’re doing collaborations to make sure that Team USA gets world-class comprehensive care.”