Mexican Alpine skiers Sarah Schleper and her son Lasse Gaxiola are poised to become the first mother-son pair to compete together in the same Winter Olympics. At the Milan Cortina 2026 Games, Schleper will mark her seventh Olympic appearance while Gaxiola makes his debut. This milestone highlights a unique family journey in the sport.
Sarah Schleper, 47, and her 18-year-old son Lasse Gaxiola will represent Mexico in the Alpine skiing events at the upcoming Milan Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics. They are set to achieve a historic first as the only mother-son duo to compete in the same edition of the Winter Games.
Schleper, who began her Olympic career representing the United States, debuted at the 1998 Nagano Games. After a brief retirement in 2011, she returned in 2018 at PyeongChang, competing for Mexico following her acquisition of Mexican citizenship. This will be her seventh Olympics overall, making her the oldest female Alpine skier in Olympic history and the first woman to span more than four decades in Winter Olympic competition.
Gaxiola, meanwhile, enters the men's Alpine skiing event for the first time. The pair are the only skiers in Mexico's small delegation of five athletes to the Games.
Reflecting on her unexpected path, Schleper told Olympics.com, "I never in my life thought I would be a seven-time Olympian, and as a Mexican. It has been a very special journey."
On sharing the Olympic stage with her son, she added, "I just want to support him and be by his side. Because I know that a part of his dream was mine, and it still is for me. It's very exciting, and it's our life. For many years we thought it could happen, and to see that it's finally happening ... It's hard to wrap our heads around it."
This Winter Olympics milestone follows a precedent set in the 2016 Rio Summer Games, where Georgian shooters Nino Salukvadze and her son Tsotne Machavariani competed together—the first such duo across all Olympic editions.
