Colorado University Athletics
Sarchett Named to U.S. Olympic Alpine Team
January 12, 2026 | Skiing
BOULDER — Former Colorado ski standout Ryder Sarchett has been named to the United States Olympic Team for the 2026 Winter Olympic Games, USA Alpine announced Tuesday as part of its latest round of Olympic qualifiers.
Sarchett, who skied for the Buffs during the 2024 season, becomes the latest Olympian produced by the storied Colorado ski program after a breakthrough year on the World Cup circuit. Earlier this season, Sarchett scored his first career World Cup points, a milestone that quickly snowballed into one of the top results by an American this winter — a 10th-place finish at Val d'Isere, France, after starting 52nd, that helped cement his Olympic qualification.
Sarchett competed for the Buffs during the 2024 campaign and was a member of Colorado's NCAA National Championship team.
By the Numbers
Sarchett's selection adds another milestone to Colorado's Olympic legacy:
- 44th Olympian in Colorado Ski Team history
- 31st Olympian from the United States produced by the CU Ski Team
- 23rd Alpine Olympian from Colorado skiing
- 59th known Winter Olympian among all University of Colorado Boulder students
- 31st Alpine skier and 43rd American among CU's overall Winter Olympians
A Historic Lineage
Sarchett's Olympic qualification is especially notable given the depth of Colorado's alpine history with Team USA. He becomes the first U.S. alpine Olympian from the CU Ski Team in 28 years, joining a lineage that includes some of the most iconic names in American skiing.
Sarchett will become the 17th CU Boulder student who will represent the United States as an alpine skier. The past Buffaloes who have done so are a variable who's who of alpine history in the United States and includes, chronologically ordered, Buddy Werner (1956, 1964), Frank Brown (1960), Jimmie Huega (1964, 1968), Billy Kidd (1964, 1968), Bill Marolt (1964), Ni Orsi (1964), Jim Barrows (1968), Spider Sabich (1968), Hank Kashiwa (1972), Mike Lafferty (1972), Cary Adgate (1976, 1980), Greg Jones (1976), *Pete Patterson (1976, 1980), *Casey Puckett (1992, 1994, 1998), Andy LeRoy (1998) and *Daron Rahlves (1998, 2002, 2006).
Additionally, two former CU head coaches were also Team USA head coaches, Bob Beattie in 1964 and '68 while he was the active coach at CU and Bill Marolt, who led the team from 1978-84, including the 1980 and 1984 Olympics, after coaching CU to seven of its eight straight championships in the 1970s. Marolt returned to CU to become Athletic Director in 1984 until 1996, when he then returned to US Ski & Snowboard Association to become its President and CEO from 1996-2014.
With Sarchett's selection, Colorado now has two known Buffs headed to Milan/Cortina, joining former CU standout Joanne Reid, whose remarkable comeback culminated in her third Olympic appearance, announced last week by USA Biathlon.
