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From the gymnastics mats of Brecksville to the snowy peaks of Italy, local athlete Kyra Dossa is set to represent Team USA on the world’s biggest stage.
SAGAMORE HILLS, Ohio – The road to the Olympic Games usually doesn’t start in Northeast Ohio, but for 22-year-old Kyra Dossa, the journey from Sagamore Hills to the 2026 Winter Olympics in Milano Cortina is a reality. Dossa, a standout in freestyle aerial skiing, has officially qualified for the U.S. Olympic Team, marking a meteoric rise in a sport she only began pursuing seriously five years ago.
Dossa’s athletic foundation was built far from the slopes, spending 16 years as a competitive gymnast at Gymnastics World in Brecksville. It was during a family vacation to Park City at age 17 that she witnessed aerial skiers performing flips into water ramps and realized her gymnastics skills could translate to the snow. Despite a grueling start that included a torn ACL during her first year of snow training, Dossa returned to her hometown to rehabilitate before heading back to Utah to chase her dream.
Her perseverance paid off quickly. In just her second year of competition, she stunned the field with an eighth-place finish in her World Cup debut at Deer Valley. Since then, she has become a consistent top-10 finisher on the international circuit, including a career-best fourth-place finish at the World Cup season opener in Ruka, Finland. Now a designated Olympian, Dossa is preparing to take her “gymnastic precision” to Italy, proving that even without mountain ranges, Northeast Ohio can produce world-class winter athletes.
