Mother and son compete at the Milan Olympics — for the first time in history! For her, these are already her seventh Games
A beautiful story at the 2026 Olympics: for the first time in history, a mother and son are competing at the same Winter Games.
Photo: Grega Valancic / VOIGT / GettyImages
Just think about it — Sara Schleper was racing all the way back in Nagano-1998! For the first four Olympics (up to and including Vancouver-2010), Schleper competed for the USA national team, writes sports.ru.
Without much success — her best result was 10th place in the Turin-2006 slalom. She has four podiums in the World Cup, but they are all well over 20 years old. Her main success was a victory in the slalom at a World Cup stage in Lenzerheide in 2005.
Photo: Getty Images
In 2011, Sara ended her career — during the final World Cup, she skied down the slope in a dress, holding three-year-old Lasse. At the finish line, Lindsey Vonn met her with hugs, and the organizers of the stage presented her with a huge bouquet of roses.
But just three years later, Schleper decided to return. Only under a different flag — she married a Mexican and changed her citizenship. Because of this break, the alpine skier missed Sochi-2014 — otherwise, she would already have 8 Olympics in her profile.
At the 2026 Games, Sara carried the flag of Mexico at the opening ceremony and competed in the super-G, where she achieved her best result in the last three Olympics — 26th place.
However, this was because 17 athletes did not reach the finish line, so Schleper came in last.
But not falling in such conditions is already good enough. In Milan, Schleper broke two records: the first alpine skier to compete in seven Olympics, and the oldest to start.
Next up is the third — on February 14, her son Lasse will debut in the giant slalom. Yes, the very one she held in her arms during her "final" race in 2011.
And then Sara and Lasse will become the first mother-son pair to compete at the same Winter Olympics.
Lasse has not yet competed in the World Cup — only in FIS tournaments and student competitions, and he hasn't shined there either. So we don't expect him to place high, but going to the Games with his mom is something unique in itself.
However, Sara and Lasse don't particularly interact in Milan: the men compete in Bormio, the women in Cortina.
Schleper sees both a problem and a plus in this: "It's difficult because we are competing in different locations. On the other hand, it's good that he can get his own Olympic experience instead of listening to me say 'you should do this and that'. I always try to overwhelm him with advice. It's impossible to stop being a mom and just become a teammate, so I'm somewhat happy that he's not around.
Lasse is now the same age I was in Nagano-1998. I am very proud of him. He is young, but this experience will help him grow and understand how important this tournament is." Lasse himself has similar feelings: "To some extent, I'm happy we're not together, because her presence is a separate pressure for me. But sometimes I wish she were with me so we could share this experience. But just thinking about her at the Games calms me down a bit. Mom taught me everything I know in alpine skiing. She's been with me throughout my career."
On February 19, Sara will turn 47, but she is already thinking about her eighth Olympics in 2030: "I think my body can handle it. I feel that the super-G, besides the fear factor, is the easiest discipline for me.
But, honestly, it's much more important for me to give a chance to young Mexican athletes. So if someone younger than me qualifies for the Games, even if I'm faster, I'll give up my spot. That's more important than a record. But if there aren't any such people — I'll go,"