Which NFL player, coach has the most Super Bowl rings?

They're not quite the One Ring to Rule Them All, but given howSuper Bowl ringsare coveted by every NFL player, they're pretty close.

While many NFL stars would be happy with one "precious," more than a few pro football players have slipped multiple Super Bowl rings on their fingers throughout the league's history. A handful of players will be looking to join that group this year.

Two members of theSeattle Seahawks– linebackerErnest Jonesand wide receiverCooper Kupp– and threeNew England Patriots– defensive tackleMilton Williams, wide receiverMack Hollinsand cornerbackCarlton Davis– are seeking a second Super Bowl ring when the two teams face off in Super Bowl 60.

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Conversely, neither of the head coaches in this year's Super Bowl has won a championship as a coach. Patriots head coach Mike Vrabel won three as a player for New England, but he never led theTennessee Titansto a Super Bowl win in his six-year stint as their head coach.Seahawkshead coach Mike Macdonald is in just his second year as the head coach of an NFL team.

Here's a look at the players and coaches with the most Super Bowl rings in NFL history

Super Bowl VII ring: The Miami Dolphins beat Washington, 14-7, on Jan. 14, 1973.

" style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> Super Bowl XVII ring: Washington defeated the Miami Dolphins, 27-17, on Jan. 30, 1983.

" style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> Super Bowl XVIII ring: The Los Angeles Raiders beat Washington, 38-9, on Jan. 22, 1984.

" style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> Super Bowl XXII ring: Washington defeated the Denver Broncos, 42-10, on Jan. 31, 1988.

" style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> Super Bowl XXVI ring: Washington beat the Buffalo Bills, 37-24, on Jan. 26, 1992.

" style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> Super Bowl XXXII ring: The Denver Broncos beat the Green Bay Packers, 31-24, on Jan. 25, 1998.

" style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> Super Bowl XLVII ring: The Baltimore Ravens defeated the San Francisco 49ers, 34-31, on Feb. 3, 2013.

" style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> Super Bowl XLVIII ring: The Seattle Seahawks beat the Denver Broncos, 48-3, on Feb. 2, 2014.

" style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> Super Bowl XLIX ring: The New England Patriots topped the Seattle Seahawks, 28-24 on Feb. 1, 2015.

" style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> Super Bowl 50 ring: The Denver Broncos defeated the Carolina Panthers, 24-10, on Feb. 7, 2016.

" style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> Super Bowl LIII ring: The New England Patriots defeated the Los Angeles Rams,13-3, on Feb. 3, 2019.

" style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> Super Bowl LIV ring: The Kansas City Chiefs defeated the San Francisco 49ers, 31-20 on Feb. 2, 2020.

" style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> Super Bowl LV ring: The Tampa Bay Buccaneers defeated the Kansas City Chiefs, 31-9, on Feb. 7, 2021.

" style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> Super Bowl LVI ring: The Los Angeles Rams defeated the Cincinnati Bengals 23-20, on Feb. 13, 2022.

" style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> Super Bowl LVII ring: The Kansas City Chiefs defeated the Philadelphia Eagles, 38-35, on Feb. 12, 2023.

" style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> Super Bowl LVII ring: The Kansas City Chiefs defeated the San Francisco 49ers, 25-22 in overtime, on Feb. 11, 2024.

" style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> Super Bowl LIX ring: The Philadelphia Eagles defeated the Kansas City Chiefs, 40-22, on Feb. 9, 2025.

" style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" />

Super Bowl rings through the years

Players with the most Super Bowl rings

Tom Brady leads all players, past and present, with his seven Super Bowl rings – six with the Patriots, one with theTampa Bay Buccaneers. He's also one of just nine players to win at least four Super Bowls across stints with multiple teams.

Here's a list of the players with the most rings in Super Bowl history:

• QB Tom Brady: 7 (New England Patriots: Super Bowls 36, 38, 39, 49, 51, 53; Tampa Bay Buccaneers: Super Bowl 55)

• DE Charles Haley: 5 (San Francisco 49ers: Super Bowls 23 and 24; Dallas Cowboys: Super Bowls 27, 28, 30)

• TE Marv Fleming: 4 (Green Bay Packers: Super Bowls 1 and 2; Miami Dolphins: Super Bowls 7 and 8)

• LB Ted Hendricks: 4 (Baltimore Colts: Super Bowl 5; Oakland/L.A. Raiders: Super Bowls 11, 15, 18)

• LB Matt Millen: 4 (Oakland/L.A. Raiders: Super Bowls 15 and 18; San Francisco 49ers: Super Bowl 24; Washington: Super Bowl 26)

• LB Bill Romanowski: 4 (San Francisco 49ers: Super Bowls 23 and 24; Denver Broncos: Super Bowls 32 and 33)

• K Adam Vinatieri: 4 (New England Patriots: Super Bowls 36, 38, 39; Indianapolis Colts: Super Bowl 41)

• TE Rob Gronkowski: 4 (New England Patriots: Super Bowls 49, 51, 53; Tampa Bay Buccaneers: Super Bowl 55)

• OL Joe Thuney: 4 (New England Patriots: Super Bowls 51 and 53; Kansas City Chiefs: Super Bowls 57 and 58)

Thuney is the active leader in Super Bowl wins with his four championships across two teams.

Outside of those nine players, there were 22 players – and 10 Pro Football Hall of Famers – to win four Super Bowls with the Pittsburgh Steelers in their dominant 1970s era. That group includes quarterback Terry Bradshaw, cornerback Mel Blount and defensive tackle "Mean" Joe Greene, among others.

There are also six players who won four titles with the San Francisco 49ers during their run of dominance in the '80s and early '90s, including Hall of Fame defensive back Ronnie Lott and Hall of Fame quarterback Joe Montana.

PATRIOTS SUPER BOWL HISTORY:When was the last time New England played in the Big Game?

Coaches with the most Super Bowl rings

With Brady leading the players in Super Bowl ring count, it should be no surprise that former Patriots head coach Bill Belichick leads all coaches in Super Bowl rings. All of the coaches with more than two Super Bowl wins have won all of their NFL titles with the same team.

Here's a look at the NFL head coaches with the most Super Bowl rings:

• Bill Belichick: 6 (New England Patriots: Super Bowls 36, 38, 39, 49, 51, 53)

• Chuck Noll: 4 (Pittsburgh Steelers: Super Bowls 9, 10, 13, 14)

• Andy Reid: 3 (Kansas City Chiefs: Super Bowls 54, 57, 58

• Joe Gibbs: 3 (Washington: Super Bowls 17, 22, 26)

• Bill Walsh: 3 (San Francisco 49ers: Super Bowls 16, 19, 23)

There are nine other coaches with multiple Super Bowl rings, including Vince Lombardi and Bill Parcells, but none have won more than two, aside from the five coaches listed.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY:Super Bowl rings: NFL players, coaches who have the most

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Which NFL player, coach has the most Super Bowl rings?

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'We have weaknesses': How covering sports is like raising kid athletes

When you play sports, you are taught to always hustle.

Run on and off the field, or the court, when you're subbed in and out, or in between innings.

Get back and set up on defense to prevent a quick strike from the opponent.

You learn about sportswriting in a similar fashion: Dig for a good story, and then execute it before anyone else.

You sometimes chase down your subject and, if necessary, have difficult conversations to get what you need.

I knew I was about to have one with minor league pitcherKenny Carlyle. I watched from the press box, high behind home plate at Tim McCarver Stadium in Memphis, Tennessee, as he walked with his head down to the clubhouse behind the right field wall. It was August 1996, my first summer after graduating from college. I was an intern forThe Commercial Appeal, and I was eager to talk to him before anyone else.

Carlyle was a local high school star who had played at Ole Miss. He was making his debut back home as a professional opposing player in a Double-A game. But he had been hit hard, and was making the long trip to the showers after being pulled in the fourth inning.

I figured I'd go get him now, while no one else was around. I hurried out there and, when I opened the door, he was pacing in the locker room.

He shot me a glance, and I introduced myself and stated my intention.

"You've had all week to talk to me!" he barked.

He then told me my newspaper, ahem, stunk, and, in other choice words, to get the hell out of his space.

I thought about the many lessons being a sportswriter had taught me when I read reports thatanother newspaper that helped me get my start, The Washington Post,is poised to make drastic staffing cuts to its sports department.

I remembered the confrontation with Carlyle through the eyes of a sports dad:  Who in his right mind would have wanted to talk to me right after such a sour homecoming?

I thought about a late-night drive with my son after his final Little League game. He was pretty upset when I tried to talk to him, too.

Covering sports is a lot like raising young athletes. We learn from coaches, teammates, colleagues and competitors, and have truly human interactions and delicate conversations.

Here are four similarities, which might help you think about how your own work and life experiences can feed off each other, too:

Whoever we are, we sometimes need a cool-down period

From the perspective of a young sportswriter, it seemed like the right move to race to the clubhouse to get to Carlyle.

It also, at the time, seemed natural, to try and talk my son through our team being obliterated in the Little League playoffs. I didn't get a chance to speak first. He let me have it for not pitching him sooner in the game.

I tried to explain my actions, and we wound upshouting at one another on the car-ride home.

As sportswriters, we learn to wait out athletes before approaching them after the heat of games. Often, clubhouses are closed to the media at the professional and collegiate levels at least 20 minutes after a game to allow players to process what has just happened.

How are our young athletes any different? They are angry, too. Their emotions are raw and they haven't developed control over them. Our first instinct is to correct and justify, when all we really need to do is listen to them vent, orjust allow them to decompress.

Carlyle was pitching in front of about 60 family members and friends, including a former teacher who liked to follow him, with her husband, to various minor league stops. He heard them cheering and, like our kids, might have felt like he had disappointed someone.

When I retreated back to the press box after Carlyle shut me out, I mentioned what had happened to his team's media relations director. This guy had a few years of experience on me, and he said he'd talk to Kenny after the game, when he'd had time to cool off.

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'We all have weaknesses': The best athletes really love what they do, and that love propels them through the hard stuff

Think back to when you were out in your neighborhood as a kid, your only care seeming to be the game you were playing with your friends.

Tom House, a former major league pitcher,has the same feeling as he has gone on to workwith major league pitchers, NFL quarterbacks and now kid athletes. Now in his late 70s, House knows how major leaguers feel like 12-year-olds again on the field, their enjoyment of what they're doing far exceeding the work required to outpace their competitors.

Author Malcom Gladwell popularized the so-called "10,000-hour rule" in his book "Outliers," which argues it takes 10,000 hours of practice to become an expert at a skill.

Virtuosos in their field liketop Canadian hockey players, The Beatles or Bill Gates, he writes, had access to terrific training and learning opportunities. But they also share a thread of tirelessness to put in the hours.

That "power of play" House has discoveredsustains them when their craft gets hard.

If you saw the documentary"Tom vs. Time,"in recent years, you know Tom Brady was relentlessly at work behind the scenes – doing speed and agility drills, throwing to receivers, watching video of opponents, carefully monitoring his diet – to be the best.

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You notice his intensity, but a kid's exuberance as he went through it all.

It's something you observe as a sportswriter when you have the opportunity to talk with a number of world class athletes.

"I read an article as a parent, I wanted to better understand how I can best support my child through sport, and basically, you can't force anyone to be a champion," Brenna Huckaby, a three-time gold medal-winning snowboarder told me in January as she prepared for her third Paralympics. "It's in you. And if you feel like you have what it takes and you love what you're doing, go out there and give yourself the time to do it and the opportunity to do it because that's what matters more than when you got into your sport and if your parents are pushing or not. I've seen so many athletes end in injury or burnout because of the way that theirparents pushed them in sport. You are your best advocate. You are your champion, and I just really believe in that."

MORE COACH STEVE:Paralympic snowboarder, swimsuit model shows off power of sports

Professional athletes, like our kids, are human beings more than prodigies

Early in my sportswriting career, I would feel star struck when I spoke with someone famous like Jimmy Connors, Dan Marino or Derek Jeter. You quickly learn, though, that pro athletes appreciate it when you take a step back.

They're used to people fawning over them. When you get them talking about something they like, you both exhale a bit and fall into a casual conversation.

After I waited out Carlyle, the Memphis kid-turned-pro baseball player who was learning to be a public figure, he came back. He walked over to me outside the clubhouse after the game with a smile. The media relations guy had delivered.

"I'm sorry about that," he said. "I've never had anyone follow me like that before."

Carlyle, who was 25 at the time, was tired and frustrated. His manager,Larry Parrish, a former major league All-Star, had told me Carlyle was going through a "dead arm period." His velocity had dropped.

"People don't see the 10-hour bus rides, getting to hotels at 9 or 10 in the morning, then coming out here and pitching," Carlyle told me.

I'm now a father of two teenagers, and I better understand what he was going through. We have such high aspirations for our kids, and they face enormous pressure, sometimes self-inflicted thanks to theultracompetitive youth sports environment.

Several athletes,including decorated Olympic gymnast Shannon Miller, have told me how important it was to know their parents loved them for them, not what type of athlete they became.

I have seen too many coaches push, prod and even scream at their kids when they make a mistake. Part of showing our love sometimes is backing off and taking the time to listen to them when they have a bad day.

It's a quality grown-up athletes value, too.

"People think that people that have done well, it's a straight line, straight journey; that you have no issues, you're not scared, things come really easily," golf Hall of Famer Annika Sorenstam,who is now a sports mom, told me last year. "But I think we all have weaknesses that we got to work on and try to improve."

We learn what folks are really like when they mask comes off. Have you tried this with your kid?

During an interview with the Rochester (N.Y.) Democrat & Chronicle in 2018, Julie Boeheim, the wife of Hall of Fame Basketball coach Jim Boeheim,told sportswriter Leo Rothpeople are probably disappointed when they meet her family.

"There's not much here other than the norm and that's what we want," she told Roth. "I mean what else is there? We're experiencing the highs, the lows and the joys and everything our kids feel, we feel, just like every other parent. We want successes for our kids and for them to be good, healthy, happy kids.''

My job has taught me not to rely on our impressions of people we haven't met, or haven't taken the time to understand.

I am a graduate of Georgetown University, where Boeheim and his Syracuse basketball program were reviled. But when I became a sportswriter, and had an occasion to reach out to Boeheim for an interview about then-Georgetown men's basketball coach Craig Esherick, he called me right back and was gracious with his praise.

He was similarly friendly and accommodating when I reached out to him a little more than 20 years later, when John Thompson, Georgetown's legendary coach and his sometimes-nasty adversary, had died. Hetold me for a storythat he and Thompson didn't talk for at least 10 years of their heated confrontations.

A mutual friend, Dave Bing, urged both of them to get to know one another better.

"It was a very tough, almost brutal rivalry. I mean, it was everything you could ever ask for in a physical rivalry," Boeheim told me. "We played, we went at it as hard as you could go after it and we always shook hands afterwards. Eventually, we talked things out. We still wanted to win every time we played, but we became friendly, we started talkin' more and, at the end, we were really good friends."

It changes our perception of people when their mask comes off. How well do you know your kid, at least in terms of sports? Jimmy and Buddy, Boeheim's sons, played for him at Syracuse while their younger sister, Jamie, headed to the University of Rochester's basketball team.

About a year in, Jamie realized she didn't want to play the sport anymore, but she thought that maybe she still had to do it because she was a Boeheim.

Shetold the Make Mental podcastlast year she became closer than ever with her parents when she spoke to them about how she felt. She transitioned away from the sport and eventually became a social worker.

"So many people are kind of quick to assume that my dad especially was upset about the decision and kind of wanted to hold me back from quitting," she said, "and that really wasn't what it was at all. They've really always just supported whatever I've wanted to do and I think the only hesitations they've had have been in my best interests in terms of wanting me to have friends and wanting me to be in a social group and, really, the concerns that they had were never about basketball. I couldn't be more thankful for how things ended up with that."

If you notice your son or daughter is struggling, or unhappy, talk to them about it. And be open to just listening. You might learn something more about them, as sportswriters try to do with their subjects.

Borelli, aka Coach Steve, has been an editor and writer with USA TODAY since 1999. He spent 10 years coaching his two sons' baseball and basketball teams. He and his wife, Colleen, are now sports parents for two high schoolers. His Coach Steve column is posted weekly.For his past columns, click here.

Got a question for Coach Steve you want answered in a column? Email him atsborelli@usatoday.com

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY:'We all have weaknesses': Top athletes teach us about kids sports

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'We have weaknesses': How covering sports is like raising kid athletes

When you play sports, you are taught to always hustle. Run on and off the field, or the court, when you're...

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Djokovic and Alcaraz have shots at tennis history in the Australian Open final

MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — In a moment of exhaustion and elation, Novak Djokovic recognized Margaret Court in the crowd and thanked her for staying up so late to watch him get within a single victory of becoming the most decorated tennis player of all time.

APTOPIX Australian Open Tennis

The 83-year-old Court was among the VIPs at Rod Laver Arena for Djokovic's epic five-setwin over two-time defending Australian Open champion Jannik Sinnerin a grueling semifinal that ended after 1:30 a.m. Saturday.

For now, they share the all-time record of24 Grand Slam singles titles.That could change Sunday.

Djokovic's energy-sapping win over Sinner set up a championship decider against top-ranked Carlos Alcaraz, the 22-year-old Spaniard bidding to become the youngest man ever to complete acareer Grand Slam.

Alcaraz and Sinner have combined to blockDjokovic's push for a 25th major title, splitting the last eight majors evenly between them.

In his on-court interview to cap Day 13, Djokovic thanked Court for hanging around to witness him end a streak of five losses to Sinner, and also snap a run of four semifinal defeats at the Grand Slam tournaments.

"Some legends stayed up to 2 a.m.!" he said. "Thank-you so much for being here."

Djokovic owns just about every record there is available to him, surpassing the marks set down by Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal. He has one more than Serena Williams, who holds the women's Open era record at 23.

He's made no secret of the fact he's only in Australia for the coveted 25th.

Some analysts debate the greatness of Court's career tally because she won 13 of her 24 major singles titles before the professional Open era began in 1968.

Not Djokovic. For him, the numbers speak volumes.

After beating one half of the "Sincaraz" rivalry, Djokovic gets a shot at another in the 11th final of his career at Melbourne Park. He has won all 10 previously.

The 38-year-old Djokovic said he was sore and tired and likely wouldn't do much practice Saturday, prioritizing recovery.

Alcaraz also said he'll be focussing on recovery after struggling with cramps and a sore right leg in a five-set, 5-hour and 27-minute win over Alexander Zverev. It was the longest semifinal ever at the Australian Open.

It wasn't the longest match ever at Melbourne Park — not surprisingly, Djokovic holds that record with his 5:53 win over Rafael Nadal in the 2012 final.

Djokovic crossed paths with Alcaraz between the five-set semifinals and commended him on pushing through. Alcaraz was on an exercise bike warming down and Djokovic was still preparing for his delayed start to the night.

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25 the goal for '26

When he was setting goals for this seaon, Djokovic said he'd asked himself: "Okay, what is it that I'm looking for from myself?"

"I was imagining really playing against Jannik and Carlos at the final stages of Grand Slams and battling it out," he said. "Very fortunate to already get it in the first Slam of the year."

Djokovic conceded he wasluckyto reach the semifinals, after getting awalkoverin the fourth round before Lorenzo Musetti retired during their quarterfinal after taking the first two sets.

Against Sinner, there were times when Djokovic looked down and almost out of gas, but his resilience was phenomenal. Sinner wasn't able to convert eight breakpoint chances in the fifth set —- he was only 2 of 18 in the match — and Djokovic converted the first breakpoint chance he had in the deciding set.

Alcaraz also was wobbly in the third set, taking amedical timeoutfor what he thought was an injured adductor in his right leg. Turns out, it was more likely cramps. It will be his first final in Australia.

"I just got to do whatever it takes to be as good as I can for the final," Alcaraz said.

Djokovic hasn't won a major since the 2023 U.S. Open but, while others may have written off his chances, henever doubted he could rise to that level.

"There's a lot of people that doubted me ... a lot of experts all of a sudden that wanted to retire me," he said. "I want to thank them all because they gave me strength. They gave me motivation to prove them wrong."

One for the ages

Djokovic is aiming to become the oldest man in the Open era to win a major title. Alcaraz is aiming to be the youngest ever to win titles at all four Grand Slams.

"There's always for me, also for Carlos — because of his age and everything he's achieved — history is on the line," Djokovic said.

Tough choice

Nadal, who will be at the final, was asked Saturday to pick a preferred champion.

"I feel I have to support Carlos," Nadal said of his fellow Spaniard. But "If Novak wins, I will be happy for him. It is spectacular what he's doing at this stage of his career."

AP tennis:https://apnews.com/hub/tennis

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Djokovic and Alcaraz have shots at tennis history in the Australian Open final

MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — In a moment of exhaustion and elation, Novak Djokovic recognized Margaret Court in the crowd ...

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Olympic program review opens path to relax Winter Games mandate for only sports on snow and ice

GENEVA (AP) — Olympic winter sports must be played on snow and ice, according to theOlympic Charter.

Milan Cortina Olympics

But could a muddy field of play get its chance at a futureWinter Games,even as soon as in theFrench Alps in 2030orSalt Lake Cityin 2034?

How about parquet in an indoor hall? Snow volleyball is ready and waiting.

Those and other sports on the far fringes of joining the Summer Games, such as flying disk, see a possible path to the less densely packed Winter Games schedule, even as winter sports federations push back.

There are 116 medal events at the Milan Cortina Winter Olympics compared to 353 at the 2028 Summer Games in Los Angeles.

The IOC considers crossover between summer and winter sports

The charter is the code of rules and principles to guide how the IOC and Olympic Games are run.

Article 6.2 could not be clearer: "Only those sports which are practised on snow or ice are considered as winter sports."

That legal clarity is now up for review.

On taking office in June as IOC president, Kirsty Coventry listened to her fellow IOC members and started "Fit For The Future," setting upfour working groupsincluding one focused on the program of Olympic sports in the Summer and Winter Games.

It pledged to look at "identifying ways for sports to be added to or removed from the program through a clear and transparent process. It will also consider the suggestion that traditional summer or winter sports could cross over."

Track and cycling want in

Cross-country running and cyclocross, two gloriously muddy events, have been suggested for the 2030 Winter Games by the influential federations for track and field and cycling, led by Sebastian Coe and David Lappartient, respectively. Both were candidates for IOC president in the election that Coventry won last year.

Coe's enthusiasm for cross-country running is largely about putting African athletes on center stage with a rare chance to win a medal at the Winter Games, which typically lackdiversity.

Lappartient was key to assembling the late-developing bid for the 2030 Olympics in the French Alps that now wants to showcase cross-country running and cyclocross at the same venue. One proposed location is La Planche Des Belles Filles, known to cycling fans as a popular climb in recent editions of theTour de France.

Four-time Tour winner Tadej Pogačar and one of his great rivals Matthieu van der Poel, also a seven-time cyclocross world champion, have been recruited to the campaign to help persuade the IOC.

Snow volleyball and flying disk

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Snow volleyball was played on an exhibition court for IOC voters to see at the Pyeongchang Winter Games in South Korea in 2018.

"If the Olympic movement believes that snow volleyball can help promote the Winter Games I would say: 'Why not?'" International Volleyball Federation president Fabio Acevedo said. "It has a special ball for snow, it's amazing."

Snow volleyball also could give African teams and Acevedo's native Brazil a medal chance in winter, because the technical skills for beach volleyball transfer easily to playing on snow, he said.

The packed Summer Games program has found space for surfing, sports climbing, breakdance and lacrosse, but there is a long line of sports waiting.

Leaders of some of those sports were recently in the IOC's home city Lausanne, Switzerland, for an annual conference where they could meet and mix with Olympic officials to learn about the scope and details of the program review.

"It's really adaptable, whether it's on a basketball court or a larger field house," World Flying Disk Federation president Robert Rauch said when asked if his sport could meet a possible Winter Games need.

Winter sports push back

One problem with Winter Games expansion is that established snow and ice sports are not keen.

In November, theWinter Olympic Federationssaid "such an approach would dilute the brand, heritage, and identity that make the Olympic Winter Games unique." The group represents sports including skiing, skating, biathlon, curling, luge, bobsled and skeleton.

The push for cross-country running and cyclocross was questioned by the American secretary general of the International Biathlon Union, Max Cobb.

"If they were super popular sports they would already be in the Summer Games, and they're not," Cobb said.

The IOC wants more time to decide

Amending the Olympic Charter can be done at the members' annual meeting known as the IOC Session, though not at the eve-of-games gathering in Milan.

In the French Alps in early December, IOC vice president Pierre-Olivier Beckers signaled a longer timescale to finalizing the sports program for 2030, likely at an executive board meeting in June.

"We need further study on the proposals for new sports," he said. "We will only make a decision after Milan Cortina."

AP Winter Olympics athttps://apnews.com/hub/milan-cortina-2026-winter-olympics

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2/01/2026 12:04:00 AM

Olympic program review opens path to relax Winter Games mandate for only sports on snow and ice

GENEVA (AP) — Olympic winter sports must be played on snow and ice, according to theOlympic Charter. Milan Cor...

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