The 2026 Winter Olympics held in Milan, Italy officially concluded on Feb. 22. While many countries took home medals, Norway took the lead with 41 total medals, including 12 gold. The U.S. came in second with 33 medals including 12 gold, 12 silver and nine bronze. Italy, being the host country, was able to get third with 30 total medals, including 10 gold.
This Olympics was filled with many highs and lows, plus a couple of scandals. Here are some of the highlights from the 25th Winter Games.
Ski mountaineering made its Olympic debut, making it the first new sport since 1998. Competitors need to ski up a mountain, run up a staircase, and then ski down the mountain. There was a mixed relay as well as a women’s and men’s individual. France, Switzerland and Spain took home the gold for ski mountaineering’s inaugural year.
It wasn’t just people from every country competing for gold, a dog joined the fight as well. A two-year-old Czechoslovakian wolf-dog named Nazgul made his cross-country skiing debut. His hopes of winning gold were dashed when race organizers safely captured him and returned him to his owners.
Both the men’s and women’s U.S. hockey team beat out Canada for the gold in overtime games. The U.S. women’s team included Laila Edwards, the first ever Black woman to be on the U.S. women’s Olympic hockey team. Hilary Knight, the captain of the women’s team, scored the goal to send it to overtime. In the process she shattered the record for goals and points in Olympic history for U.S. women’s hockey.
The U.S., for the first time since the sports debut in 1998, did not win gold in any snowboarding events. Japan instead dominated the park and pipe, winning four of six golds. Gaon Choi from South Korea, took home the gold in the Women’s halfpipe. This made her the first South Korean woman to win gold in snowboarding and the youngest, at 17-years-old.
Alysa Liu, a figure skater from Oakland, California, retired from the sport at age 16, shocking the skating world. In 2024 she announced her official comeback and proceeded to win the 2025 World Championships. She capped off her comeback with a gold medal in both the team event and the women’s individual competition.
The men’s individual figure skating event took a turn for American figure skater, Ilia Malinin. Malinin, or the “Quad God” as he’s been nicknamed, was set to perform seven quads in his Olympic free skate. This skate, performed perfectly, would give him a wide margin for the gold. However, Malinin’s free skate did not shape up. After falling and failing to complete a quad axel, a jump only he has landed in competition, Malinin fell to eighth.
A stunned crowd watched as Mikhail Shaidorov, a skater from Kazakhstan, won the gold. He was the only competitor to deliver a clean free skate, featuring five quads. This performance led to Kazakhstan’s first gold medal in figure skating and their first gold medal at a Winter Olympics in 32 years.
Lucas Pinheiro Braathen won the men’s giant slalom, winning the first ever medal for Brazil in Winter Olympics history.
Elana Meyers Taylor, a 41-year-old mother, became the most decorated black athlete in winter games history after taking home her first gold medal in bobsledding. She is also the oldest woman to win an individual gold medal in Winter Games history.
Lindsey Vonn, a 41-year-old three-time Olympic gold medalist downhill skier, came into the games having ruptured her ACL only nine days prior to the games. 13 seconds into her downhill ski, she clipped a gate leading to a disastrous fall. Vonn was airlifted from the hill and almost lost her leg from a complex tibia fracture. She has officially been released from the hospital and remains optimistic about her healing journey. After Vonn’s fall, Breezy Johnson, an American ski racer, won the gold for team U.S.
Curling had its own scandal after team Canada was accused of cheating during the round-robin play. Sweden, one of Canada’s biggest rivals for the gold, accused a Canadian curler of double touching, which means touching the rock again after releasing it. The women’s team was also later accused of the same thing. It was determined by officials that the double touch did occur and is not allowed in the Olympics. The stone was removed from play and the game continued. However, the drama did not deter the Canadian men and women’s teams as they later won gold in both events.
This Winter Olympics brought fantastic victories, heartbreaking losses and plenty of scandals to keep viewers entertained between events. If you aren’t ready to let go, be sure to check out the paralympic games held in Milan from Mar. 6 – Mar. 15.
