The 2026 Winter Olympics are in the books. The spectacle was broadcast on NBC and Peacock, which meant Saturday Night Live was sent into hiatus for a month. But, this week, the show returns with host Connor Storie.
Whenever the Olympics are held, SNL is bound to acknowledge whichever athletes become heroes. That’s why it’s likely a Gold Medal will make a cameo in Studio 8H this Saturday.
The question is: whose neck will be carrying the medal?
Here are the five U.S. Olympic athletes from Milan’s 2026 Olympics which are most likely to have screen time on the next SNL episode.
Jack Hughes
The hero of Team USA’s overtime hockey win against Canada has a winning (bloody) smile. Hughes has to be the favorite to make an SNL cameo: gritty, long-hair, toothless grin.
Prediction: a cast member (Tommy Brennan or Jeremy Culhane?) appear with blacked out teeth as Jack Hughes, only to have the real hockey star appear mid-sketch.
ODDS TO MAKE A CAMEO: -150
Alysa Liu
What’s not to love about Liu? She almost seemed blasé about the Olympics following an unlikely return to the ice. The former world champion left figure skating when she was only 16 years old four years ago. Then she sort of secretly entered the sport again, choosing to compete and train on her own terms. When she won the gold in women’s skating, she embodied female empowerment: do your thing your way. She also did it with a huge smile and positive energy.
Way too often, athletes are serious, focused, and inhuman. Not Liu, who became the feel-good story of the US team in Milan.
The only reason she isn’t the favorite here is that Liu may choose to shun big media requests, given her carefree personality. Fame isn’t her goal.
ODDS TO MAKE A CAMEO: +110
Mikaela Shiffrin
Shiffrin has won more Olympic gold medals (three), medals (four), and world cup championships (5) than any other female skier. She took the gold in Milan in the alpine event.
ODDS TO MAKE A CAMEO: +300
Hilary Knight
Before Hughes lost his choppers and scored the winning goal to sink America’s northern neighbor, Hilary Knight was the hockey superstar for Team USA. She is the all-time leading Olympic goal scorer in U.S. hockey history (15 goals), and all-time Olympic points leader in U.S. hockey history (33 points). She was the flag bearer for the United States at the closing ceremonies in Milan.
ODDS TO MAKE A CAMEO: +150
Chloe Kim
Won the silver medal in Milan, which makes her a longshot to show up on Saturday Night Live this weekend. But, the snowboarder from California is still an attractive candidate for other reasons.
Kim has won the most medals in the history of U.S. snowboarding events, and world championships. She is also the youngest woman to accomplish that.
ODDS TO MAKE A CAMEO: +1000
Prediction: Hughes and Knight
Assuming the weather allows for travel, I think we’ll see the two hockey stars, one male, one female, in Studio 8H this weekend. Probably a cameo during the monologue or at the desk during Weekend Update.
