Salt Lake Community College (SLCC) will be cheering on its largest contingent of students ever to compete in the Olympics. A total of 15 current or recent SLCC students will be representing the United States in the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympic Games in less than two weeks. This includes 13 (12 athletes and one coach) from US Speedskating and three from U.S. Ski & Snowboard.
“Salt Lake Community College has one of the largest contingents of students countrywide competing in this Olympics, second only to University of Utah, where the majority of our transfer students go,” said Chris Needham, the director of SLCC’s Beyond the Podium program.
Beyond the Podium provides tuition waivers, scheduling flexibility, remote learning and career counseling to connect elite U.S. student-athletes with a future beyond global competition and the four-year Olympic cycle — all while supporting their training with resources like high-performance testing, biometric data analysis and optimized nutrition strategies.
“The college has made supporting these athletes in their education a priority, with free tuition and flexible schedules, and this, in combination with Utah’s stellar Olympic training grounds, has attracted a lot of students to the college,” Needham said.
One of these students includes speedskater Erin Jackson, who won a gold medal in the 2022 Beijing Olympics while attending SLCC and will be competing again in Italy.
“I did it backwards,” joked Jackson, who already earned her engineering degree from University of Florida, and then went on to earn an associate degree in computer science at SLCC. She is currently pursuing degrees in business and kinesiology from the college. “I guess I’m destined to be a lifelong nerd,” said Jackson regarding her love for school.
When asked about her grit in a 2024 interview, she said: “It comes from a desire to win and an aversion to quitting.”
Joining the Olympians in Italy will be SLCC faculty member Jen Day, an associate professor in exercise science and US Speedskating’s sports dietician. Also supporting the athletes is SLCC alumnus Adam Callister, who is the assistant coach for the US Speedskating Short Track National Team.
“For any athlete, the Olympics are the pinnacle of sport, and to have 15 of our students earn that honor is truly inspiring,” Needham said. “As they head to Italy, our whole college is behind them, cheering louder than ever.”
