With just 18 days to go until the start of the Milan–Cortina 2026 Winter Olympic Games, the Portuguese Olympic Committee has confirmed the makeup of Team Portugal, which will feature three athletes across two disciplines.
After the conclusion of all qualification events, Portugal secured two places in Alpine skiing and one in cross-country skiing, narrowly missing out on an additional spot in speed skating.
In Alpine skiing, a sport in which Portugal has competed continuously since Sochi 2014, the team includes a brother-sister duo. Vanina Guerillot, 23, returns to the Olympic stage after competing at Beijing 2022, where she finished 43rd in the giant slalom. In Cortina d’Ampezzo, she will take on the giant slalom again on February 15 and the slalom on February 18, both at the Tofane Alpine Skiing Centre. Making his Olympic debut, Emeric Guerillot, 18, will contest three Alpine skiing events. After competing at the European Youth Olympic Winter Festival in Bakuriani and the Gangwon 2024 Winter Youth Olympics, he now steps up to the senior stage. In Italy, he will race the super-G on February 11 – a discipline Portugal has not entered since Lillehammer 1994 – followed by the giant slalom on February 14 and the slalom on February 16, all at the Stelvio Ski Centre in Bormio.
Meanwhile, José Cabeça will be the Portuguese representative in cross-country skiing. The athlete returns to the Olympics after competing in Beijing 2022, where he recorded Portugal’s best-ever result in the sport, finishing 88th in the 15km classic. This time, he will compete in the sprint on February 10 and the 10km free on February 13, at the Tesero Cross-Country Skiing Stadium in Val di Fiemme.
The Portuguese team also includes Pedro Flávio as ‘Chef de Mission’, coaches Sérgio Figueiredo, Yannick Guerillot (Alpine skiing) and Ragnar Bragvin Andresen (cross-country skiing), as well as physiotherapist Tiago Rosa.
The Milan–Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics get underway on February 6, with the opening ceremony taking place at the Giuseppe Meazza Stadium in Milan. International stars Andrea Bocelli, Laura Pausini and Mariah Carey are already confirmed to perform. The Games run until February 22, when the closing ceremony will be held at the Verona Olympic Arena.
In Portugal, the Winter Olympics will be aired on RTP and via the HBO Max streaming service. The official Olympics website has a country-by-country list of where the event can be seen.
