Winter Olympics Wrap-Up

A Summary of the 2026 Milano Cortina Winter Olympic Games

Photo from Wikimedia Commons / C BY-NC-ND 2.0

The 25th edition of the Winter Olympic Games took place over a course of 17 days, which spanned from Feb. 6-22, in the cities of Milan and Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy. These 17 days in Feb. were filled with many historic, unforgettable moments, making it another great installment.

The 2026 Milano Cortina Winter Olympic Games featured 16 different sports, which included: Alpine Skiing, Biathlon, Bobsleigh, Cross-Country Skiing, Curling, Figure Skating, Freestyle Skiing, Ice Hockey, Luge, Nordic Combined, Short Track Speed Skating, Skeleton, Ski Jumping, Ski Mountaineering, Snowboard and Speed Skating. Across these 16 sports, there were 93 countries that had athletes compete for medals. Norway finished the Games with the most medals with 18 golds, 12 silvers and 11 bronzes, adding to a total of 41. The United States (U.S.) finished with the second most with a total of 33, which included 12 golds, 12 silvers and nine bronzes. In third was Italy with 30 total consisting of 10 golds, six silvers and 14 bronzes. Out of the 93 countries that competed, 29 were able to secure a medal for their country.

There were many moments across all 16 sports which made the Milano Cortina Games one for the ages. One of the best moments of the Games came from ice hockey, where the U.S. won gold on both the men and women's side. Ironically, both teams won via overtime walkoff goals by Megan Keller for the women and Jack Hughes for the men against their arch rivals, Canada. With these incredible victories, the women won gold for the first time since 2018 and the men for the first time since 1980. The U.S. was not the only nation that dominated in Italy as the host country itself saw its best Winter Olympics ever. Previously, the best Italy had done in the Games was back in 1994, where they won a total of 20 medals. However, on their home turf in 2026, Italy showed dominance and shattered that record set in 1994 by winning a total of 30 medals, earning them that previously mentioned third spot on the medal podium. Finally, nothing is ever great without a little bit of controversy, which is also something the world saw during these Games. Vladyslav Heraskevych, a Ukrainian skeleton athlete, planned to compete in his sport wearing a helmet that featured images of Ukrainian athletes who had been killed since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022. However, Heraskevych’s helmet broke a guideline of the International Olympic Committee which states that athletes cannot partake in political demonstrations while competing. Heraskevych was disqualified from competing and said that his refusal to wear another helmet came from his belief that there are things more important than metals.

With the 2026 Milano Cortina Olympic Winter Games officially over with, fans worldwide will have to wait another four years for the 26th installment of the Winter Olympics in 2030. The 2030 Games will take place in the French Alps, spanning from Feb. 1-17, and will surely be just as, if not, more eventful than these Games.