Melissa Donovan
On Monday, Team USA finalized its lineup of athletes heading to Milan for the Winter Olympics and Paralympics, and amongst the 232-member team, seven call Florida home, and four are Central Florida natives.
With the Olympics beginning in February and Paralympics in March, here is an introduction to the athletes who are from the Sunshine State and may have begun their sports journey just around the corner.
Brett Bolton
From Rockledge on Florida’s Space Coast, Brett Bolton will represent Team USA in sled hockey, a fast-paced, full-contact Paralympic sport that shares most of the rules of ice hockey, except for some of its equipment.
The 19-year-old grew up a fan of the Florida Panthers and the Tampa Bay Lightning, and was introduced to sled hockey at 8 years old through his local team, the Space Coast Blast. Bolton has Gold and Silver medals through his experience in World Championships, and will join his first Paralympic team for the Milano Cortina Paralympic Games in March.
Bolton is also a sophomore at the University of Colorado, where he is double-majoring in accounting and finance, along with a minor in leadership.
Brittany Bowe
Seasoned Olympian, Brittany Bowe, will join Team USA for the fourth time in hopes of bringing home her third medal in long track speed skating. Bowe is from Ocala and began her inline skating journey when she was 8 years old and transitioned to speed skating in 2010.
The skater represented the U.S. in three Winter Olympics, earning a bronze medal in the 2018 PyeongChang Games and another bronze in Beijing in 2022. Over nearly 20 years of participation in World Championships, she has won numerous medals, making her a force in the world of speed skating.
Gaining a platform over the years, Bowe has made an effort to use her fame for good. She is an ambassador of the organization “Right to Play,” which empowers children in disadvantaged communities through sports. Also, as an openly gay athlete, the skater has advocated for inclusivity and representation in sports.
Erin Jackson
Also from Ocala and a strong component of the women’s speed skating team, Erin Jackson made history in Beijing in 2022 as the first Black woman to win gold in an individual event at the Winter Olympics. If it were not for Bowe, Jackson would not have had the chance to compete for her gold medal in the 500m, as she did not qualify for the 2022 U.S. Olympic Trials. Bowe ceded her place to Jackson, feeling she had a better shot at gold in Beijing, and the rest is history.
Jackson began inline skating after her mom, Rita, met well-known inline skating coach Renee Hildebrand. She would later join Hildebrand’s team, consisting of fellow Team USA athletes Bowe and Joey Mantia.
Off the ice, Jackson works with Edge Outdoors, an organization that helps women of color get involved with winter sports such as skiing and snowboarding, and one day hopes to integrate speed skating as well.
Mia Manganello
Mia Manganello will join Bowe and Jackson on the speedskating team with hopes of bringing home her second medal as part of Team USA. Originally from Crestview, Mangello began inline skating when she was 8 and moved over to speedskating after the Salt Lake City Winter Games in 2002. She attended a speedskating camp in Utah, and in support of her love for the sport, her family picked up an RV and moved to Utah for training.
This will be Manganello’s third Olympics, and her journey on the ice has been full of dedication. She competed in two U.S. Olympic trials in speedskating, unable to qualify for the 2010 Vancouver Games. Manganello became a professional cyclist over the following five years and made her return to speedskating in 2016, later making the Olympic team for the PyeongChang Games in 2018, where she won her bronze medal in the women’s team pursuit. Her speciality is the Mass Start, an event that made its debut in the 2018 Games, where 24 skaters start together for a 16-lap race.
Outside of speedskating, Manganello enjoys playing with her dog, having game nights with friends and sipping on margaritas.
Andrew Torgashev
Born into a skating family, some could say figure skater Andrew Torgashev was destined to be on the ice. His parents, Ilona Melnichenko and Artem Torgashev, were both skaters for the Soviet Union and served as his first coaches when Torgashev began skating at 3 years old, showing early promise in the figure skating world.
Injuries throughout his skating journey set him back, but in 2023, Torgashev made a successful return to the ice as he earned his first World Championships assignment. His performance at the 2025 and 2026 U.S. Figure Skating Championships won him silver medals, making him known as a “podium threat” to competitors. He will be competing in his first Olympics in the 2026 Milano Cortina Games.
Torgashev brings awareness to his Ukrainian heritage by fundraising for humanitarian aid through participating in ice shows. Along with using his platform for good, he has also gained notoriety as the “Pizza King” for eating pizza for 53 days in a row.
Josh Williamson
Former D1 lacrosse player Josh Williamson is from Sanford and unconventionally got into bobsledding through “The Next Olympic Hopeful,” a reality competition show produced by Team USA. The show was created to discover athletes for sports like bobsled, skeleton, cycling, and rugby. Williamson won the competition in 2017 and made his World Cup debut later that year.
As he continued to excel as a push athlete, Williamson competed in the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympic Games and will make his second Olympic appearance in Milan next month.
Declan Farmer
Born a bilateral amputee, sled hockey player Declan Farmer was introduced to the sport when he was 8 years old at a clinic in Florida. Eight years later, the Tampa native would make his Paralympic debut at the 2014 Winter Olympic Games in Scohi where he helped Team USA become the first sled hockey team to win back-to-back Paralympic titles.
In the two following Paralympics, Farmer would lead Team USA to two more gold medals, creating an unprecedented four straight title streak. He has received recognition as the 2023 Para Sport Award for Best Male Winter Athlete by the International Paralympic Committee and is the first U.S. sled hockey player to score over 200+ career goals.
The 2026 Milano Cortina Winter Olympic Games will begin on February 6, followed by the Paralympics on March 6.
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