Elis Lundholm is set to become the first athlete to compete at a Winter Olympics while being publicly out as transgender.
The 23-year-old is a Swedish mogul skier who made his debut in the sport during the 2024 World Cup, where he best placed 18th.
According to OutSports, there will be at least 44 publicly out LGBTQ+ athletes competing at the 2026 Milan Winter Olympics, which marks a record for the Winter Games.
Lundholm - a transgender man - was assigned female at birth and competes in the female category.
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He will be taking part in the women’s freestyle skiing tournament and has an impressive track record of three top-25 finishes in World Cup events for moguls skiing, which is a difficult form of freestyle skiing that takes place on uneven downhill terrain.
The sports star joined team Sweden in January and excitingly, this will be his first ever time competing at the Olympics.
However, Lundholm's Olympic debut sadly comes at a time when transgender athletes competing at the Olympics and other top sports events has become controversial in recent years, especially due to US President Donald Trump's ban on transgender athletes in America from competing in college and pro events in the female category.
Reuters reports that the International Olympic Committee is expected to shortly issue new and universal guidelines, which it says are designed to protect women's sport.
However, according to the publication, Elis will still be eligible to compete in the future, no matter the restrictions for transgender athletes, because according to the IOC, his participation is 'in accordance with (international skiing federation) FIS eligibility criteria'.
"Elis Lundholm competes in the female category, which is aligned with the sex of this athlete," the International Olympic Committee (IOC) told the publication.
As reported by Pink News, Olympic chiefs began looking into a ban on trans athletes after the US Olympic and Paralympic Committee passed a trans-exclusive policy in July 2025 to align with Trump's 2025 executive order.
The Republican leader signed Executive Order 14201 in February of last year, effectively banning trans women from participating in female sports and stating that the US government will 'rescind all funds from educational programs that deprive women and girls of fair athletic opportunities'.
Lundholm told the Sweden Herald that in the mogul world, he has never had a problem competing in the women's category.
"I've always been treated well," he said, but adding that he's aware more media exposure means the risk of transphobia may increase.
The Olympic athlete said: "Of course it's something I thought about. You can hear the voices out there. But then I do my thing and don't give a damn."
While Robert Hansson, sports director for moguls at the ski association, agreed: "It has been incredibly easy in our sport. I am so happy when I see the attitude of young skiers. Of course, questions have arisen, and then they have been explained and it has immediately been 'okay, I understand'."
He continued: "And so I hope that there won't be any situations that we can't handle. Elis is very confident in himself and in what he's decided on and what he stands for. So it's going to take a lot before he's going to be shaken by this.
"And it is clear that we will keep an eye on our social media as well and remove and block if any online hate appears."
Topics: Olympics, Sport, LGBTQ, News, World News
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Madison Burgess