U.S. freestyle skiing star Mac Forehand changed sports as a kid and is now a medal favorite at the 2026 Milan Cortina Olympics.
‘If this is what he really loves, this is what he's going to be great at,’” Brian Knowles said on NBC Local's"Launching Legends."All eyes will be on freestyle skier Mac Forehand as he makes his Olympic debut at the 2026 Milan Cortina Games.
Forehand’s childhood coach shares the moment he knew the preteen was destined for greatness.Around 10 years old at the time, the future Olympic freestyle skier was going through a progression of tricks on a development track in Vermont in his first day under his coach Brian Knowles.Each trick builds a skill that can be mastered before moving on to the next, Knowles said, similar to gymnastics or other progression-based training modules. “Most kids get three or four steps into it in the first couple of days with just a rudimentary set of skills,” Knowles said. “And Mac basically went through the entire progression track that we could do on that specific feature without moving into something bigger before lunch.” Completing the progression before even getting a midday snack on day one was nearly unheard of. After each trick, Knowles asked Forehand to repeat it.“He was able to just learn something new and repeat it and learn something new and repeat it -- which was stunning as a coach,” Knowles said. “That's your one-percenter. I've worked for 30 years as a coach and I've seen maybe three or four kids that could do that. So, we knew right off that Mac was going to be special.”at the 2022 Beijing Games and take home four X Games medals. He’s now set to return to the global stage when he competes in the“He kind of got me into the freeski side,” Forehand said on NBC Local’s “Launching Legends.” “I was a mogul skier growing up and kind of was gonna go on that path. And then Brian really influenced me to switch to freeskiing when I joined his program. I was just a weekend skier in Stratton, Vermont, and he was trying to really to push me towards that side, and I think that really changed my career.” Mac Forehand started out as a mogul skier. Knowles had undergone similar career changes in skiing. Now the head freeski coach at Mount Snow Training Center in Vermont, while growing up he came up through the ranks of junior alpine, doing slalom and giant slalom, until reaching high school. He then realized he was much more of a free spirit on the slopes, wanting to hit jumps and ski moguls. Freestyle became an attractive option for him, so he primarily became a mogul skier, mixing in some big air. “I finished high school and wanted to keep skiing but didn't have a huge competitive fire left in me,” he said. “So, I became a ski coach.” At the time that Forehand was taking part in Stratton’s club-based mogul program on weekends, “we were kind of like the stepchild of that program being park and pipe specialists.” When Forehand would finish his mogul training, he often would come ski in the park. One day while Knowles was doing a clinic on the side of the park, he caught a glimpse of Forehand.“I could see that the park's skiing was really ingrained in his soul. Whether he was considering himself, at 10 years old, a mogul skier or not, he really just wanted to be in the park hitting rails and jumps.” And Knowles would be happy to have him there. So, whenever their paths crossed, he would discuss the possibility of switching to slopestyle. Forehand’s coaches and parents initially were not thrilled about the idea of him switching from an establish sport he was successful at to another that, at the time, was in its Olympic infancy. “I kind of just said to his mom, ‘If this is what he really loves, this is what he's going to be great at,’” Knowles said. “And maybe that tipped the scales.” It took a couple of years, but Forehand eventually signed up for the program. In his first day training with Knowles, Forehand completed the program before lunch.'I’m sure he’s got some stuff up his sleeve' Mac Forehand of the United States competes in the Men’s Ski Slopestyle on day two of the X Games Aspen 2026 at Buttermilk Ski Resort on January 24, 2026. It’s a coming-of-age trick combining spins and flips that young skiers must complete in their progression. “They need to display the ability to speed up and slow down in rotation mid-flight, and they need to be able to grab their skis and make it look good, hopefully, if we’re coaching it correctly,” Knowles said. “Like I said, Mac had those building blocks at an early age, and so when he finally started getting an opportunity to hit larger jumps, the prospect of talking about doing a double was on the table.” One training day, with sunny skies over their heads and soft snow beneath their feet, Forehand and Knowles looked at one another knowing it would be the day. “He just always tried to tell you like step back and look where you are,” Forehand said of Knowles. “Kind of focus in a bit and hone in your energy and your skills to what you want to perform at.”“He went down and stomped it and skied away backwards, hands in the air,” Knowles said. “There was a couple of pros out on the deck that were here for the event that watched him do it, and that was really special, too. So, that was the day … that was a loud celebration.”Team USA freestyle skier Mac Forehand can shred on a slopestyle course. But can he paint? “Seeing kids go through this sport and evolve into grown adults is special on a certain level,” Knowles said. “When one of them does what Mac has done and you get to watch it just unfold in front of your eyes, you tune in on TV and watch this kid that you worked with as a budding youth absolutely kill it and be on top of the world, that hits on a different level.”he plans to attempt a trick that's been done in competition by one person: a switch triple cork 1980 mute grab, which requires a skier to launch off a jump backward before completing three off-axis flips and 5½ rotations.The kid who once completed his skills progression before lunch is now a gold-medal favorite at the Olympics. “When you can see somebody who was so passionately aware of himself and his want to be successful in this sport, actually make it happen for himself, it's magic,” Knowles said. “And just to be able to be involved in that part of that path and journey for him, that's something I'll cherish for all my days.”
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