Featured image: Brynn Hanley, a World Cup Dreams Foundation grant recipient. Photo courtesy of World Cup Dreams Foundation.
84 Alpine Athletes Named to WCDF’s 2026/27 Grant Program Following a Seven-Medal Olympic Winter
The World Cup Dreams Foundation (WCDF), a nonprofit dedicated to ensuring financial barriers never limit athletic potential, is proud to announce its 2026/27 alpine grant recipients, with 84 athletes receiving support across the ARCO U16, T2 On The Rise, and T2 World Cup grant programs.
The new class follows a milestone season for the WCDF community. At the 2026 Olympic Games in Italy, seven of the eleven women and four of the six men on the U.S. Alpine Olympic Team were current or former WCDF beneficiaries, along with four U.S. cross-country Olympians. Together, athletes who had received WCDF support during their careers brought home seven Olympic medals.
For WCDF, those results are proof of a model built around a simple idea: money should never stand in the way of talent and passion.
Ski racing is one of the most expensive Olympic sports, and with much of the highest-level competition taking place in Europe, American athletes face significant costs for travel, coaching, equipment and racing. Those financial pressures can force talented athletes out of the sport before they have the opportunity to reach their potential.
WCDF has built a pipeline to help change that—providing financial assistance, mentorship and community beginning at the U16 level and continuing through the World Cup, until athletes establish themselves among the top 30 in the world and reach greater financial stability in the sport.
For the 2026/27 season, WCDF’s grant committee selected recipients through a competitive application process that considers athletic performance and trajectory, demonstrated financial need, coach recommendations, community involvement and alignment with WCDF’s mission.
This year’s alpine awards include:
- ARCO U16 Grant – 22 athletes at the beginning of their competitive journeys. Created by Olympian River Radamus, the ARCO grant supports promising U16 athletes at a critical early stage in their development. Recipients are personally selected by Radamus.
- T2 On The Rise Grant – 38 emerging athletes building toward the U.S. Ski Team, collegiate competition and the international stage.
- T2 World Cup Grant – 24 elite athletes pursuing success on the World Cup circuit and progression toward a top-30 world ranking.
2026/27 Alpine Grant Recipients
T2 World Cup Grant
Haley Cutler, Bradshaw Underhill, Tricia Mangan, Sam Morse, Patrick Kenney, Ava Sunshine Jemison, Camden Palmquist, Viktoria Zaytseva, John Kerbaugh, Jevin Palmquist, Annika Elisabeth Hunt, Mattias West Wilson, Storm Klomhaus, Ryder Sarchett, Logan Grosdidier, Mia Hunt, Katie Rowekamp, Mari Renick, Beatrice May, Cooper Puckett, Maximilien Hoder, Dasha Romanov, Jett Seymour, Jeremy Nolting
T2 On The Rise Grant
Trevor Palmquist, Dyllan Marie Guay, Julian Arthur, Lucy Wirth, Finnigan Donley, Samantha Milne, Enzo Vannini, Elodie Ruth Olsen, Julia Cunningham, Rhett Lindsey, Ruby Smith, Ava Anderson, Calen White, Anya Leunig, Brynn Hanley, Caiyu DeMaggio, Troy Boissonneault, Pernilla Borgia, Tor Borgia, Dino Boissonneault, Brody Mitchell, Abe Musty, Luka Smalls, Carson Hume, Aura Wieser, Maya Maxson, Taryn Moe, Devon Phillips, Alexander Campian, Drayson Lund, Kira Hiebert, Harper Sargent, Isabel Reid, Stella Buchheister, Aidan Wick, Nate Brown, Sam Waryas, Henry Roberts
ARCO U16 Grant
Ashlyn James, August Previs, Aurora Kaczmarek-Hill, Brittany Joy Freudenberger, Brodie Browning, Charlotte Rose Lemerond, Colter Bengtson, Diana Zaytseva, Ethan Atwood, Harper Rowland, Henry Herzog, Ike Brumder, Julien-Didier Stiassny, Kristina Shamshuryn, Maxwell Penyack, Neena Marie DeGennaro, Owen Applequist, Owen Seymour, Rhys Schmidt, Sophia Wenberg, William Drummond, Winter Phillips
Beyond its alpine programs, WCDF is expanding its impact across U.S. skiing this season, providing grants to 14 freestyle athletes through the T2 Freestyle Grant program and supporting three elite Nordic programs: SMS-T2, Bridger Ski Foundation Pro Team, and Sun Valley Ski Education Foundation Gold Team.
“Watching athletes we’ve supported over the years win seven medals at the Olympics was a pretty incredible reminder of why we do this,” said Claire Biesemeyer, Executive Director of WCDF. “We know how hard it is to stay in this sport long enough to reach that level. This year’s grant recipients are at different points in that same journey, and we’re really proud to be able to support them along the way.”
About World Cup Dreams Foundation
The World Cup Dreams Foundation supports the nation’s top skiing talent by providing career-sustaining financial assistance, mentorship and community. From development-level athletes to World Cup competitors and Olympic medalists, WCDF helps athletes overcome the financial barriers that can prevent them from reaching their potential.
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