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Winter Olympics 2026: Perceptions vs. Reality, an Olympian Sets the Record Straight

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The Winter Olympics return to the Alps for Milano Cortina 2026, taking place from February 6th-22nd, and interest in winter sport is spiking. Every four years, the same question resurfaces: some winter sports look simple on TV... how hard can they really be?

A familiar example is curling. Scroll any forum and you’ll find spirited debates about whether focused practice could turn an ambitious amateur into an Olympian, like this Reddit thread asking: “If you trained diligently in Curling for 4 Years could you make it to the Olympics for the U.S.?”

Responses to the query were divided. One individual argued, “Zero chance. People who don’t curl always misunderstand just how difficult it is to play at the highest level.” By contrast, another respondent claimed, “Yes. Easily. Curling is not a very difficult hobby and most of the people on the US team have other full-time jobs. So, if you only did curling for 4 years, you'd easily make it”.



The conversation is fun – but what does the public actually think, and how does that line up with an actual Olympian’s experience?

To answer that, we ran a nationally representative survey of over 2,000 UK adults to gauge how learnable popular Winter Olympic sports appear, and how far people believe four years' training could take them.

We also spoke to Lloyd Wallace, a two-time Team GB Olympian at Freestyle Aerials, who lived and trained alongside athletes from all Winter Olympic disciplines in the PyeongChang 2018 and Beijing 2022 Olympic villages.

Curling confidence is high – but how true is it?

Our survey found that two thirds (65%) of Brits say curling would be easy or moderate to learn – the only Winter Olympic sport that Brits view as broadly learnable.

“I’ve tried curling once, and people massively underestimate it,” said Lloyd. “The stones are solid granite and weigh around 20 kilograms – even just pushing off and getting them moving takes real force. Then there’s the tactics; how you throw it, when you sweep, how hard you sweep. It’s incredibly technical and takes a huge amount of practice.

“I’ve met a lot of the Team GB curlers and they’re honestly like machines. They lift heavy weights? and are super powerful... it’s absolutely not a pub sport. If you’re competing at the highest level, you have to be pinpoint accurate every single time over two straight weeks of matches."

Curling may be Team GB’s most successful discipline in recent years, with the women’s team winning gold and the men’s taking silver at Beijing 2022, but strength, precision, and endurance make elite performance far harder than it looks on screen.

Which Winter Sports do Brits Think are the Hardest to Learn?

So, what about other sports? Beyond curling’s “looks easy on TV” allure, the public gets far more cautious – and on some events, hopeless. Our data shows a clear pecking order of difficulty, with sliding and acrobatic disciplines topping the list.

Top 10 Hardest Winter Sports to Learn

Rank	Sport	% of Brits that think it’d be Hard or Impossible
1	Ski jumping	75%
2	Skeleton	73%
3	Skiing slalom	71%
4	Speed skating	70%
5	Freestyle snowboarding	69%
6	Figure skating	69%
7	Freestyle skiing	68%
8	Luge	67%
9	Biathlon	66%
10	Bobsleigh	65%

Ski jumping takes the top spot, with three in four Brits (75%) reckoning it would be hard or impossible to learn, and nearly half of those (49%) going as far as to say it’d be flat-out impossible.

Lloyd’s take is unequivocal: “For most adults, it’s pretty unattainable. The combination of height, speed, take‑off timing, and landing risk makes even just doing the jump incredibly dangerous unless you’ve spent years learning the skills step by step, with plenty of careful practice and guidance along the way. But the sport’s jeopardy is precisely what makes it so compelling – one tiny mistake and a favourite could be out of the running.”

It’s easy to see why the Eddie the Eagle story still surfaces in conversations. It’s a beloved piece of British sporting folklore that fuels curiosity. But the modern event is ruthlessly technical, and today’s pathways are designed to manage risk long before anyone goes near a big hill.

Skeleton ranks second on perceived difficulty. Beyond raw speed, Lloyd flags the G-forces athletes absorb while cornering at high velocity: “As you go round a big corner, you’re going through fighter-jet and F1-like G-forces. You’ve got to hold your head and body in the right place, so strong neck muscles really matter.”

Slalom is third, reflecting how unforgiving gate-to-gate skiing is for late starters. Across all sports, a third (36%) of Brits don't think they could even finish an event, even after four years’ training. Lloyd offers a pragmatic counterpoint: “After four years, I’d say you could make your way slowly down a slalom piste, and you could probably make your way around a cross-country course fairly slowly.” Elite execution is another world, but completion at an easier tempo is realistic for a dedicated adult under coaching.

Top 10 Hardest Winter Sports to Learn

With four years training, how far do you think you’d get in the Winter Olympics?	% of Brits
Win a Winter Olympic medal (Gold/Silver/Bronze)	11%
Compete at the Winter Olympics	12%
Qualify for the Team GB national team	10%
Compete at a regional/amateur event	13%
Complete the basic event	18%
Wouldn’t be able to complete the event	36%

The full table shows that British optimism is off the charts. A third (33%) of Brits believe they’d reach elite level within four years. Even more striking, nearly one in four (23%) think they’d line up at the Games (compete or medal), and 11% back themselves to win a medal!

Lloyd’s Journey - and What it Really Takes to Become an Olympian

Lloyd’s route into aerials started long before snow. He was a gymnast from age six, building the aerial awareness and body control that later transferred onto skis; his first backflip on snow came at 14.

Both his mum and dad were Team GB freestyle skiers and long-time team members. His dad coached and, crucially, eventually asked if he wanted to “do flips on skis.” That conversation sparked the transition from gym halls to the jump.

However, reaching elite standard took sustained sacrifice and structure. Seasons were built around training camps and competitions, missed social events, balancing university with the sport, and constantly picking himself up after tough training days. It’s a lifestyle of 25-30 hours a week across gym, sport-specific work, and physio, with recovery, sleep, and diet treated very seriously.

Aerials also demand learning to crash and reset. Kids progress faster because they’re lighter, more elastic, and less risk averse. For adults, fear is the biggest limiter.

“If you already ski or flip, you’re bringing one of two essential components. With the right pathway, a fit, motivated adult can be taught to do a controlled on-snow flip, and four years’ training could get you competing nationally, but you’re looking at at least eight years of dedicated training at a minimum before you reach Olympic level.”

• Year 1 – Build the base
For beginners, the winter season should be all about locking in solid ski fundamentals. Go to your indoor or dry ski slope for ski lessons – it’s where most of Team GB’s winter athletes began, and the community and coaching there accelerates learning. In summer, focus on aerial awareness using trampolines and gymnastics, learning how to rotate safely before ever adding skis.


• Year 2 – First features and first flips (in water)
In winter of year 2, start with small jumps and upright tricks like straight airs and 360s. Over the summer, move on to first flips on a water ramp, skiing down a dry ramp and landing in a pool with a life jacket so mistakes are low risk.


• Year 3 – Controlled transfer
Start bringing flips from water to snow in coached, well-controlled settings, paying close attention to feature size, speed, and landing angle.


• Year 4 – Purposeful tricks & consistency
The goal for your fourth year is clean, intentional tricks on snow that you can land consistently. Many adults can reach a safe on-snow flip by year four, but hitting on a competitive international level in that timeframe isn’t typical.

Who to Look Out for at Milano Cortina 2026

• Mia Brookes (Snowboard Slopestyle/Big Air) — Lloyd’s shortlist also includes Brookes; she reclaimed the X Games slopestyle title (96.33) and added a Big Air Bronze medal. Genuine gold‑medal potential.
• Zoe Atkin (Freeski Halfpipe) — Another of Lloyd’s names to watch. She won X Games Halfpipe Gold with a 94.66 and arrives as the reigning world champion.
• Matt Weston (Men’s Skeleton) — In Lloyd’s words, a headline GB contender. Weston has just wrapped a third straight overall IBSF World Cup title, on top of his 2025 world crown.
• Curling (Men, Women, Mixed Doubles) — With recent success and strong selections confirmed, both Team Mouat and Team Morrison keep GB in the medal conversation on the ice.
• Brad Hall & crew (Bobsleigh) — Regular World Cup podiums, including 4‑man gold at Winterberg, make Hall’s sled a live threat.

Conclusion