Are You Ready for the 2026 Winter Olympics? "SNL" Is.

We are less than a week from the beginning of the 2026 Winter Olympics. For dedicated viewers, that means an opportunity to see some of the world’s greatest athletes competing at the peak of their powers. The Winter Olympics are also a time when people gather together to watch sports they are unlikely to watch again before the next Winter Games. Luge does not have the profile of downhill skiing or hockey (though it sounds like the sport’s governing body is working on that). It did, however, make for a memorable sketch on this weekend’s Saturday Night Live.

The premise of the sketch is, essentially, “What if someone was very good at a sport that they utterly hated?” Following Marcello Hernandez and Chloe Fineman as an enthusiastic snowboarder and a confident figure skater, the sketch cuts to Jane Wickline, playing an Olympian whose skill at luge is exceeded only by her all-around dislike for the sport. Yes, that includes screaming all the way down the track.

The sketch is a good showcase for Wickline, playing an elite athlete who has begun to wonder if her skill at her chosen sport is more of an accident than the result of any inherent skill. It isn’t easy to convey utter misery in a comedic way, but she does a good job of it. Host Alexander Skarsgård did a solid job playing Wickline’s coach, who balances intense enthusiasm with an array of methods to trick her into competing.

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Fundamentally, there is one joke at the heart of this sketch, and it finds a number of variations on that particular theme. (It’s reminiscent of I Think You Should Leave‘s “The Capital Room” sketch in this respect.) And it might well leave you watching the sport of luge with fresh eyes — and a lingering question about how many competitors are utterly freaked out as they make their way down the track.

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Tobias Carroll

Tobias Carroll lives and writes in New York City, and has been covering a wide variety of subjects — including (but not limited to) books, soccer and drinks — for many years. His writing has been published by the likes of the Los Angeles Times, Pitchfork, Literary Hub, Vulture, Punch, the New York Times and Men’s Journal. At InsideHook, he has…