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The Milano Cortina 2026 Olympics figure skating competition left us some memorable moments, such as Alysa Liu’s now-iconic performance that won her the gold medal. But it was the keen eye of on-ice cameraman Jordan Cowan who captured some of these scenes. A former figure skater, he has uniquely insightful shots of the competitors’ most vulnerable moments.
While he is not on the ice during routines, Cowan gets close to the competitors once they are finished. From there, he sees and shares with the world the athletes’ raw emotion as they leave the rink. Even better, some of these athletes engage with him, even sending messages to their loved ones and fans at home once they notice he carries a mic.
Most notably, Cowan skates backwards, using his own knowledge of the sport to get these images and clips. A lifelong fan of moviemaking, he also works with a camera rig he designed and built himself. This allows him to incorporate manual focus and zoom, techniques used more commonly in film sets than in sporting competitions, to bring movie storytelling into these nail-biting competitions.
“To be the first person out on the ice at the end of their performance is such a privilege, and I definitely want them to feel their feelings, the ice is a sacred place for a skater,” Cowan told AP. “For that brief window at the end of the program, when you get to take in the audience by yourself, by having this silent camera slowly available to you, it gives a special moment that we have never been able to capture before.”
Cowan would understand these athletes better than most. The cameraman was a competitive ice dancer himself before retiring in 2011. After seeing how dance shows inspired new people to learn the moves they had seen on TV, he figured he could do his part to achieve the same for figure skating. This inspired him to launch his own company, On Ice Perspectives, offering his services to capture figure skating as no one else had before—and hopefully bring more people into the sport.
After filming three U.S. championships, as well as some shows abroad, Cowan made history as the first camera operator allowed on figure skating ice in Olympic history. “This is the first time it’s been done and I couldn’t have asked for a better experience,” Cowan told Reuters.
While the Olympics may be over, Cowan is just ramping up, and his social media shows him working to capture the beauty of ice skating at all levels. To stay up to date with him, follow Jordan Cowan on Instagram.
Jordan Cowan made history as the first camera operator allowed on Olympic figure skating ice at Milano Cortina 2026.
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A former figure skater, he has captured uniquely insightful shots of the competitors’ most vulnerable moments.
Ver esta publicación en Instagram
Most notably, Cowan skates backwards, filming with a camera rig he designed himself.
@jordancowan_Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics. This is my master piece carefully crafted to capture every moves , swing, smiles, memories and glad we did .♬ original sound – Jordancowan
See Cowan in action below:
@jordancowan_Milano Cortina Winter Olympic 2026♬ original sound – Jordancowan
Jordan Cowan: Website | Instagram
Sources: Meet Jordan Cowan, the man changing the game of figure skating videography; The cameraman who skates backward to capture Olympic triumph and defeat
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