The 2026 Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics have officially come to an end, spanning from February 6 to February 22. The Games were hosted across multiple Italian cities, namely Milan and Cortina d’Ampezzo. Held over 16 days, they delivered a mix of astounding highlights and devastating lowlights, with plenty of drama and controversy to boot.
Overall, Norway came out on top in the medal count, ending the games with 41 total medals, breaking the record for highest ever gold medal tally at a Winter Olympics, while the US came in second with 33, and host country Italy came in third with 30. For other countries, even with lower total medal counts, this was also a momentous Games. Brazil won their first-ever Winter Games gold, while Georgia won their first-ever medal. Kazakhstan and Spain won their first gold medals in the Games since 1994 and 1972, respectively.
Norwegian cross-country skier Johannes Høsflot Klæbo came away with a total sweep at the Olympics, winning gold in every event he entered, bringing his total medal count up to 11 and making him the most decorated Winter Olympian in history. In Alpine skiing, Mikaela Shiffrin came away with gold in the slalom by a huge 1.50-second margin, making her the first American alpine skier to win three gold medals, on top of her record-breaking number of World Cup wins.
US men’s hockey saw the return of NHL players for the first time since 2014, and in a final that fell 46 years to the day after the 1980 ‘Miracle On Ice’, the undefeated US beat Canada 2-1 in overtime — mirroring almost exactly the women’s win a few days earlier; also undefeated, also against Canada, also 2-1, also won in overtime. Women’s goalie Aerin Frankel set multiple records across both men’s and women’s hockey, letting in a total of two shots across all their games, allowing the women to maintain a 33-2 record.
While many favorites delivered, several shocking podium placements also defined the Games. South Korea’s Choi Gaon upset the field of women’s snowboard halfpipe, ending Chloe Kim’s goals of a historic third gold medal and bumping her to second. In the men’s individual ice skating event, favored skaters from the US and Japan — such as Ilia Malanin, the heavy favorite for gold — struggled on what many called ‘soft ice’, allowing Kazakhstan’s Mikhail Shaidorov to come away with a surprise gold in a historic win for the country, just under a decade after the death of beloved Kazakh skater Denis Ten. In the sport’s Olympic debut, Spain’s Oriol Cardona Coll took the first-ever gold in the event, also marking Spain’s first gold in decades.
At the same time, there were a few very close calls as well. The USA’s Lindsay Vonn suffered a devastating crash that put an end to her historic comeback. At 41, Vonn was the oldest woman to ever compete in an Olympic downhill, attempting this feat even after rupturing her ACL in a World Cup crash just days prior. Just seconds into her run, Vonn clipped a gate and suffered a violent high-speed crash, resulting in her being airlifted from the course with severe injuries. During the four-man bobsled events, multiple teams, including Austria and France, suffered bad rollover incidents. Austria’s Jakob Maundlbauer had to be stretchered off the track and hospitalized after a particularly disastrous crash.
And of course, the Games were not without their share of drama, ranging from technical failures to more bizarre accusations. The Rho Fiera Milano ice rink faced constant criticism from speed skaters and figure skaters alike, complaining of mushy ice and deep gouges caused by a multi-use schedule. A major curling controversy erupted between Canada and Sweden in curling, after Sweden’s Oskar Eriksson accused Canadian Mark Kennedy of ‘double touching,’ the illegal touching of the curling stones past the hog line, leading to a heated on-ice verbal exchange. Despite Sweden’s allegations and video claims, Canada went on to win 8-6, and no violations were recorded. Norwegian biathlete Sturla Holm Lægreid went viral for for a post-race interview where, after securing bronze, used the platform to publicly apologize to his girlfriend for cheating on her months prior, a moment that quickly overshadowed not only his own athletic accomplishments, but also his gold-medalist teammate Johannes Dale-Skjevdal’s win and own heartfelt speech, dedicated to a teammate of theirs who’d passed in late 2025.
Despite the controversies, the model this Olympics followed — spreading events across Northern Italy and primarily utilizing existing facilities — proved to be largely successful, tackling one of the main criticisms of the Olympics, that the building of the infrastructure necessary to host the Games can be detrimental to the host city and have lasting negative effects. The Olympic torch now moves toward the French Alps for the 2030 Olympic Games, while Los Angeles will host the Summer Games in 2028.
