Durango has had plenty of Olympians in recent years, and Charlie Mickel will add his name to the list.
The Durango native, who grew up skiing at Purgatory Resort, was announced on Thursday as one of the 97 American men and women in the ski and snowboard disciplines who will compete at the 2026 Milano Cortina Olympic Winter Games. Mickel will be one of eight Americans (four men, four women) to compete in moguls on Feb. 10–12 and Feb. 15.
Mickel will join the likes of Lindsey Vonn, Mikaela Shiffrin and Chloe Kim as American Winter Olympians who will compete around Milan and Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy, from Feb. 6-22.
“It feels good for sure,” Mickel said. “It's not over yet. I'm certainly happy to make it to this milestone, but I'm still ambitious for what I can do at The Games and what I can do the rest of the season … I have one more training camp that will be up in Finland, … and I'm just going to try to do everything I can to squeeze as much progress out of that camp.”
Mickel, 21, is in his second season competing in moguls in the FIS Freestyle Ski World Cup. Last season, Mickel really built momentum toward the end of the season, routinely finishing inside the top 10. His best result was a third-place finish in March in Livigno, Italy, which is also where the Olympic mogul course would be.
This season, Mickel has finished inside the top six in moguls and dual moguls in four of the five World Cups. The qualification process for the Olympics is based on the results from this season’s World Cup results, but it was a challenging process.
There were supposed to be three events before the New Year, but only one took place. One in Sweden was canceled due to funding, and one was canceled in Georgia because Azerbaijan was a sponsor of the tour this year. The mogul team was determined by each athlete’s best result in the qualification period, meaning there were fewer chances for each athlete with the canceled events.
Regardless, Mickel had a good start in Finland, finishing sixth in the second event. He finished fifth on Jan. 9 in moguls and sixth on Jan. 10 in dual moguls in Val St. Come, Quebec, before heading back to America to compete at Waterville Valley Resort on Jan. 16.
“I knew I was in a good position, but then going into Waterville, I still knew I had defend my spot,” Mickel said. “It was unlikely for anyone to pass me, but it was possible. So at that point, I was still skiing to defend, and I picked up a sixth there … After that result, I knew my results, and I knew the results of everyone else. I knew I would have a start at the Olympics.”
Fellow Durango Olympians Riley Amos and Christopher Blevins had to take time off from the UCI Mountain Bike World Cup to prepare for the Summer Olympics in 2024. Mickel is a lot luckier since the FIS Freestyle Ski World Cup isn’t interrupted by the Winter Olympics. All he has to focus on is staying healthy and on his game for the Olympics.
Mickel has worked a lot on his functional movement and improving his physical capacities like his strength, speed and endurance. He’s worked a lot on the way he hinges at the hips and carries his hips around his spine with a lot of stability exercises and dynamic movements.
After having his best World Cup result in Livigno, he expects it to be tougher for the Olympics, specifically the top part of the run which was super flat. Mickel will compete in Olympic moguls events Feb. 10–12 and Feb. 15.
No matter what the course looks like, Mickel wants to medal as he follows in the footsteps of former Durango Winter Olympians like Mike Elliot, Ron Yeager and Tracey and Lanny Barnes.
“It feels good to be part of Durango's Winter Olympic community,” Mickel said. “It's a very athletic town and group of people. But then it's also extra special to do it in freestyle, and hopefully inspire other kids from Durango who are into winter sports and show them that it is possible to make it to the highest level.”
Fans can follow Mickel on Instagram for more updates.
bkelly@durangoherald.com
