With the XXV Winter Olympic Games in Milan-Cortina in the sports spotlight during the month of February, it is only natural that our lead story follows our North Carolina-connected athletes in Italy. Our 2029 World University Games Chairman & CEO, Hill Carrow, was there for his 15th Olympics overall and 8th Winter Olympic Games, and he reports that the experience in person in Northern Italy was just as good as what viewers got to see on television.
North Carolina-Connected Olympians Shine in Milan-Cortina
Five athletes from the Carolina Hurricanes in Raleigh led the charge in Italy when it came to a North Carolina presence at the 2026 Winter Olympics. Jaccob Slavin, Hurricanes defenseman, who competed for the USA Men’s Team brought home the gold, while his teammate, Seth Jarvis, who competed for Canada, took Silver. Hurricanes forward, Sebastian Aho, competed on Team Finland, which took the Bronze medal. Two Hurricanes, Frederick Andersen and Nikolaj Ehlers, were on the Denmark team which finished in 9th place.
Meanwhile, Mystique Ro, a track & field athlete at, and graduate of, Queens University in Charlotte (soon to be part of Elon University, one of our WUG 2029 Host Universities), took up the sport of Skeleton after graduation and moved to Lake Placid to train. She competed for Team USA in Skeleton at the Winter Games at the new Cortina Sliding Center in Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy, where she finished 7th in the Mixed Team event.
Dan Barefoot, a Charlotte resident, who works full-time at a local landscape architecture firm, also competed for the U.S. Team in Skeleton in Cortina. Dan finished in 20th place in the Men’s Skeleton.
Eunice Lee is currently a 21-year old student at Duke University (a WUG 2029 Host University) where she is studying chemistry and biology on a pre-med track. Eunice is also a world-class Short Track Speedskater and competed for the U.S. Team in the 3000-meter Relay event where the team finished in 8th place.
Joey Cheek, Olympic Gold-medalist who serves on our North Carolina Organizing Committee (NCOC) for the 2029 World University Games Leadership Team, served as NBC’s Long Track Speedskating Analyst for the Speedskating competitions throughout the Games. Long Track Speedskating took place at the Milano Speed Skating Stadium, an amazing temporary facility built inside a huge exhibit hall. Towards the latter half of the Games Joey was able to take a night off from his broadcast analyst duties to host a 20th Anniversary Celebration of his winning the Gold Medal in the 500 meters Long Track Speedskating competition at the 2006 Winter Olympics in Torino, Italy
Carolina Ale House Hosts WUG 2029 Olympic Watch Party
The Carolina Ale House in Cary, which hosts Watch Parties for the NHL Carolina Hurricanes when the team is on the road, turned that tradition into an Olympic Watch Party for local fans to cheer on the Team USA Men’s Hockey Team in their game against Denmark at the Milan-Cortina Games. That game featured three Carolina Hurricanes athletes, including Jaccob Slavin for Team USA, and Frederick Andersen and Nikolaj Ehlers of Denmark.
Over 50 attendees cheered on the USA to a come-from-behind 6 to 3 victory. Special guests at the event included 3 Olympians: George Williams, USA Track & Field Head Coach; Jim Murray, Team USA Luge; and Ken Merten, Olympic Bronze Medalist in Swimming. Additional attendees included, Andrew Holton of WUG 2029 Supporter, Research Triangle Park; Scott Conway, WUG 2029 Rugby Sport Manager; Allan Blattner, Head of UNC Chapel Hill Housing (one of the Athlete Villages for WUG 2029); Brian Hoyle, former voice of the Hurricanes; and 3 Board members, Nan Hannah, Erika Braun, and Jim Cain. Cain, who previously served as President of the Carolina Hurricanes and was Ambassador to Denmark, cheered for both countries, but loudest for Team USA!
The Watch Party was co-hosted by the 2029 World University Games with net proceeds going to support the Games
WUG 2029 Sports Briefs
- Greensboro (a WUG 2029 Host City) has been announced as the Host Site for the Norway National Football Team to train during the 2026 Soccer World Cup in the United States. Richard Beard, NCOC Board Member, reports that the team will train at UNC Greensboro (a WUG 2029 Host University) and will take advantage of Piedmont Triad International Airport to travel to their group stage matches in Boston and New York
- Winston-Salem (also a WUG 2029 Host City) has been selected by the German Men’s National Football Team as its Home Base for training during the World Cup. The team will be staying at The Graylyn Estate and training at Wake Forest University (a WUG 2029 Host University).
- Duke University hosted the Atlantic Coast Conference Fencing Championships at Cameron Indoor Stadium (WUG2029 competition venue), which included Men’s Team competition and Women’s Individual competition. Duke’s Men’s Team came away with the ACC Championships with a fence-off victory in the Men’s events
- Three Team USA Winter World University Games athletes who competed in the 2023 Winter World University Games in Lake Placid in New York, were highly competitive in the Milan-Cortina with Danny Casper (Skipper) and Ben Richardson (Second) both finishing in 5th place in Men’s Curling, while Niklas Malacinski, who competed in Nordic Combined events, finished 7th in the Team Sprint, 13th in the Individual Gundersen Large Hill/10km Cross Country, and 18th in the Individual Gundersen Normal Hill/10km Cross Country.
Staff & Board Member Athletic Exploits
Beyond their day jobs working on the staff of the 2029 World University Games or as volunteer members of the Local Organizing Committee, a number of our WUG2029 leaders are quite active in their own way in the sports space. Consider the following examples:
- Erika Braun, NCOC Board Member, excels at Masters (adult) Swimming. Together with her relay teammates, she set 2 new Masters Swimming World Records in the 800 meter and 400 meter Women’s Freestyle Relays during the Rowdy Gaines Masters Classic in Orlando at Rosen Aquatic Center, January 30 – February 1, 2026. Erika’s team shattered the 800 record by 15 seconds!
- Dave Robinson, WUG 2029 Legal Counsel, and a competitive triathlete, qualified to compete in the World Triathlon Championships which will take place in Abu Dhabi, UAE, in November.
- Melvin Sifford, WUG 2029 Spring Intern, has served as Student Manager for the Women’s Basketball Team at NC State University since 2024. Just this week, the team celebrated Senior Night in their final home game of the season against the Wake Forest Demon Deacons.
- Michael Conte, NCOC Sports Manager, also serves as a Manager at Netsports in Morrisville, NC, a multi-sport venue, where this weekend he will help oversee the Rumble in Raleigh Invitational regional Gymnastics competition hosted by the Raleigh School of Gymnastics.
- Andrew Blattner, NCOC Operations Manager, serves as a Referee for Adult Soccer play at Netsports an average of 3 nights per week.
Hill Carrow, WUG 2029 CEO, during the weekend of February 6-7, 2026, in Charlotte, NC, won the high point award for his age group – winning 8 of 9 events – in Masters Swimming competition at the Jerry Clark Sunbelt Championships, which drew a record-setting 330 swimmers from across the southeastern U.S.
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Sponsor Thank You’s
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