Former CSU Track Star Will Compete in 2026 Winter Olympics
By the headline, you'd think that former Colorado State University and Fort Collins High School athlete Hunter Powell surely is competing in the SUMMER Olympics, not the Winter Olympics, and that must be a typo, right? In fact, no, the headline is correct.
Powell was an average athlete during his high school career, but blossomed over the course of his college career, first at Western Colorado, then Baylor before ultimately coming back to Fort Collins and finishing up at CSU. He won the 2019 Mountain West indoor heptathlon and outdoor decathlon, and qualified for the NCAA Outdoor Championships that year.
Related: How Many Gold Medals Have Coloradans Won for Team USA?
As a Fort Collins native, his athletic career has been focused more on track and field - so wait - what's he competing in at the 2026 Milano Cortina Games? Bobsled.
Powell will actually be the second ever Colorado State University track and field athlete to compete as part of a bobsled team at a Winter Olympics, the first being 1991 graduate Scott Stoll, who competed at the Lillehammer Games in 1994.
Powell found an interest in bobsledding when he found an interest in his now fiancee, Kaysha Love, who is a member of Team USA's women's bobsled team at the upcoming games.
Both Powell and Love were officially named to the 2026 Team USA this week and will compete beginning February 12, 2026. Powell is part of the four-man sled piloted by Kris Horn, along with Carsten Vissering and Caleb Furnell. The two-man bobsled pairings will be announced at a later date.
The entire Winter Olympic Games will be held in Cortina, Italy from February 6th through the 22nd.
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