Canadian freestyle skier Maia Schwinghammer is all set to make her Olympic debut at the Milano Cortina Winter Olympics. Her father is not only proud of this achievement, but also equally emotional on this occasion.
Schwinghammer competes in the freestyle mogul skiing category. The 24-year-old skier will be competing
Maia Schwinghammer’s Father Opens Up on Daughter Representing Canada At the Winter Olympics
The freestyle skier’s father, Rick Schwinghammer, conversed with journalist Ariel Helwani, host of the ‘The Ariel Helwani Show’, in a video clip published on the CBC Olympics channel.
“Get your tissues ready. While doing interviews in the streets of Livigno, @arielhelwani finds Maïa Schwinghammer’s dad, who cries, talking about watching his daughter compete at #MilanoCortina2026 #WinterOlympicsToday presented by @AirCanada.”
When asked about how he felt about his daughter’s presence at the Winter Olympics, a super emotional Rick Schwinghammer explained,
“It’s hard to say. Gets you all emotional. But it’s so fun to be here. It’s awesome. Yeah, no she’s doing great. We decided that she’s done well. She’s already at the top and made it here. It’s just great.”
Get your tissues ready 🥹
While doing interviews in the streets of Livigno, @arielhelwani finds Maïa Schwinghammer’s dad, who cries talking about watching his daughter compete at #MilanoCortina2026#WinterOlympicsToday presented by @AirCanada pic.twitter.com/KSAIZXzDDB
— CBC Olympics (@CBCOlympics) February 8, 2026
Schwinghammer had attempted to make her Olympic debut in 2022. However, she couldn’t qualify for the quadrennial event, following the Canadian freestyle skier focused on improving her performance. During the FIS Freestyle World Ski Championships in Engadin, Switzerland, the 24-year-old freestyle skier expressed her excitement to represent the nation in both freestyle and dual moguls.
“It’s the first time ever we get a chance at two medals at the Games. It’s going to be history-making for us.”
Schwinghammer is not completely obsessed with getting the top honors, as she further added,
“I still haven’t quite found that perfect performance. Even with my win, it was a day out of a dream, but still my final run was not the perfect performance I know I’m capable of. I’m sort of happy I didn’t have that perfect performance this year, because I still have things to work on, and things I want to do leading into the Games.”
The Canadian skier also spoke about the transformation she underwent after failing to qualify for the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics.
“Going through all that, not going to the [Beijing 2022] Games, learning all of these things about myself and as an athlete, I can say, without a doubt, if I had gone to the Games in 2022, I don’t think I would be sitting here right now.”
Schwinghammer had finished third overall in the 2024-25 FIS Freestyle Skiing World Cup. She also clinched a bronze medal in the moguls category at the 2025 World Championships held in St. Moritz.
She will be competing in the freestyle skiing category from February 10 onwards.
