Stars of the hit series Heated Rivalry are heading to the Winter Olympics as torchbearers

If you are among those who have neglected their social life, sleep, and basic daily responsibilities in recent weeks because of the series Heated Rivalry, like our colleagues at the Vogue Adria editorial team, here is yet another reason for collective excitement.

Hudson Williams and Connor Storrie, the duo currently sending the internet into a mild state of hysteria, have officially been announced as torchbearers for the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympic Games. Yes, Shane and Ilya, or rather their real life alter egos, are moving from the small screen straight into one of the biggest sporting ceremonies in the world.

Related: Who represents the region at the 2026 Winter Olympic Games?

The series, which has already become an obsession in the countries where it has aired, follows two hockey superstars, rivals on the ice and increasingly less emotionally distant off it. The mix of sporting adrenaline, forbidden attraction, and a slow burn relationship was, unsurprisingly, the perfect recipe for a fandom that analyzes every frame, every glance, and every line of dialogue. In short: the internet is on fire, TikTok is full of theories, and we have a new fixation. Alongside Williams and Storrie, the series also stars François Arnaud, Robbie G.K., Christina Chang, Dylan Walsh, Sophie Nélisse, and Ksenia Daniela Kharlamova, but realistically, we know who is carrying most of the hype right now.

Meanwhile, Heated Rivalry arrives on HBO Max today, just in time for us to become even more emotionally attached before watching them carry the Olympic torch toward the opening ceremony on February 6, 2026. From hockey rivals to the Olympic faces of the year, it is a trajectory that not even the most ambitious fan fiction could have planned this precisely. And honestly? We cannot wait for the next chapter of this collective pop culture obsession.