Delta told Olympic journeys as flight stories: altitude, check-in, carry-on baggage

Delta is the official airline of Team USA. Ahead of the Milano Cortina 2026 Games it wanted to spotlight the athletes' current journeys — endless training hours, long-haul travel, emotional and physical baggage — not just the competition itself.

Tell each athlete's Olympic preparation as a moment every flyer knows: training at altitude, checking in, and carrying everything it took to get there.

Three spots by Wieden+Kennedy New York, directed by Sam Brown through Imperial Woodpecker and shot by cinematographer Autumn Durald: 'Altitude' shows why Olympic and Paralympic athletes train in high-altitude settings; 'Commit to Fly' homes in on the moment athletes check in for their flights to Milano Cortina; 'What We Carry' reveals what they bring on board — equipment, but also the trials, tribulations and successes behind them. The films and social assets feature a wide cast of Team USA athletes including Maia and Alex Shibutani, Andrew Kurka, Bea Kim, Declan Farmer, Malik Jones, Erin Jackson, Kate Delson and Justin Schoenefeld, developed with the athletes' own stories and disciplines.

Released in late January 2026, a week before the 6 February opening ceremony, across film and social assets. No performance results have been reported yet.

A week before the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics opened, Delta released three films about the part of the Games nobody broadcasts: the years before it. As official airline of Team USA, the brand set out to show the journeys athletes were still on — the endless training hours, the long-haul travel, the emotional and physical baggage.

Wieden+Kennedy New York structured the campaign as three flight moments. 'Altitude' reveals why Olympic and Paralympic athletes choose to train in high-altitude settings, and the commitment and reward that brings. 'Commit to Fly' captures the instant athletes check in for their flights to Italy. 'What We Carry' opens their luggage to show not just equipment but the trials, tribulations and successes that lead to the ultimate test.

Director Sam Brown (Adele, Apple, Meta) shot the films through Imperial Woodpecker with cinematographer Autumn Durald, recently the first woman of colour nominated for the Academy Award for Best Cinematography. W+K worked closely with Team USA athletes to build the films around their real stories and disciplines, casting Maia and Alex Shibutani, Andrew Kurka, Bea Kim, Declan Farmer, Malik Jones, Erin Jackson, Kate Delson and Justin Schoenefeld. Art director Jessica Sugerman: the work had 'Olympic-level stakes' but set out to show what we all feel when we take a flight.

Every Olympic sponsor says 'journey'; an airline can actually own the word, because check-in, baggage and altitude are its daily trade.

Building the films from athletes' real stories and disciplines kept the work documentary-honest rather than stock-footage Olympic.

Releasing a week before the opening let Delta own the anticipation phase, before sponsors crowd the Games themselves.

Paralympic and Olympic athletes appeared as one cast, matching Team USA's unified roster.

Sponsorship ads gain warmth when they borrow the sponsor's own rituals — Olympic stories told through check-in desks and overhead bins make the brand part of the journey, not a logo on it.

The three films and social assets were released in late January 2026 ahead of the 6 February opening ceremony in Milano Cortina. No audience or brand results have been published yet.