SLCC's Beyond the Podium Explained: How 15 Current and Former SLCC Students Reached the 2026 Olympics

Fifteen current and former Salt Lake Community College students competed at the 2026 Milan Cortina Winter Olympics, SLCC says, and they came home with three silver medals and two bronze. The college called it the most successful Olympic showing in its history and credited Beyond the Podium, the program SLCC launched in October 2025 to let Olympic hopefuls take college classes without giving up full-time training.

SLCC's Beyond the Podium page says the program "provides free tuition and flexible schedules, ensuring elite athletes don't have to choose between education and competition." Its partners are three national governing bodies based in Utah: US Speedskating, U.S. Ski & Snowboard and USA Climbing.

What is Beyond the Podium?

SLCC announced the program on October 28, 2025. It added new partnerships with USA Climbing and U.S. Ski & Snowboard and relaunched an existing one with US Speedskating. The college said it would offer tuition-free education and career counseling, paid for by donors, and flexible class schedules so athletes can earn a degree while handling training and travel.

Athletes also get access, through SLCC's Exercise Science program, to nutrition guidance and high-performance testing that gathers real-time data on their training. The college's program page adds internships with corporate partners as part of the career side.

The program and its director's position are funded by a gift from Utah philanthropists Jeff and Helen Cardon. "We saw a critical need to help athletes navigate life after years of intense competition," Helen Cardon said in the announcement. "For many, their identity is deeply tied to decades of training and performing, making the transition to new pursuits especially challenging—particularly from a mental health perspective."

Who runs it

Chris Needham, a former US Speedskating national team member, directs Beyond the Podium. When the program launched, he set a long-range target: "We envision a program that supports around 100 athletes in the lead-up to 2034." At launch, SLCC said it had more than 19 athletes from the three governing bodies.

The speedskating relationship is the oldest. SLCC first partnered with US Speedskating in fall 2018, and the college says that partnership has included 14 Olympians and five Olympic medalists, among them Erin Jackson, the first Black woman to win a Winter Olympic gold medal in an individual sport.

SLCC at the 2026 Winter Olympics

In January, SLCC announced that 15 current or recent students would represent the United States in Italy, its largest group ever. "Salt Lake Community College has one of the largest contingents of students countrywide competing in this Olympics, second only to University of Utah, where the majority of our transfer students go," Needham said.

Jackson was one of them. She already held an engineering degree from the University of Florida, earned an associate degree in computer science at SLCC, and was pursuing degrees in business and kinesiology there. "I did it backwards," she joked to the college. SLCC faculty member Jen Day, an associate professor of exercise science and US Speedskating's sports dietitian, traveled with the team, and SLCC alumnus Adam Callister is assistant coach of the U.S. short track national team.

The results, as SLCC reported them in March:

• Silver: Ethan Cepuran, Casey Dawson and Emery Lehman in the speedskating team pursuit
• Bronze: Mia Manganello in the speedskating mass start, with teammate and fellow Beyond the Podium student Greta Meyers helping her into position before a counter move in the final 500 meters
• Bronze: Corinne Stoddard in the short track 1,500 meters, leading from the front into the final laps
• Fifth: Konnor Ralph in ski big air

Across all events, SLCC counted 15 top-10 finishes. Its tally of three silver medals comes from the three skaters on the team pursuit podium.

Who can join Beyond the Podium

SLCC's materials describe the program as serving athletes from its three partner governing bodies. They do not publish an open eligibility checklist, so athletes and families should confirm current eligibility, what the tuition support covers (fees and books included or not), and the application steps directly with the college. SLCC's March recap describes the support as "flexible education, tuition waivers, and career preparation."

Why Utah is the base

Utah is home to all three partner organizations, and SLCC pitches the state as a winter-sports center for the years ahead. "With the Olympics on the horizon, Utah is poised to become the epicenter for winter sports athletes," the college wrote, noting that many athletes in these sports have no collegiate pathway and often forgo higher education. SLCC President Greg Peterson said the college was "honored to play a supportive role" for athletes chasing an Olympic medal.

For more on the Winter Games and Utah's road to 2034, see our Utah 2034 Olympics hub. The SLCC school page covers the Bruins' NJCAA teams.

Key facts:

• Program: Beyond the Podium, Salt Lake Community College, launched Oct. 28, 2025
• Partners: US Speedskating (since 2018), U.S. Ski & Snowboard and USA Climbing
• Support: Tuition support (SLCC says free tuition / tuition waivers), flexible schedules, career counseling, internships, sports-science testing
• Funding: Gift from Jeff and Helen Cardon
• Director: Chris Needham, former US Speedskating national team member; goal of about 100 athletes before 2034
• Milan Cortina 2026: 15 current and former SLCC students; 3 silver and 2 bronze medals; 15 top-10 finishes
• Medalists: Ethan Cepuran, Casey Dawson, Emery Lehman (team pursuit silver); Mia Manganello (mass start bronze); Corinne Stoddard (short track 1,500m bronze)