For three consecutive weeks this February, the entire country watched with bated breath as 232 elite athletes proudly donning red, white, and blue competed in Milano Cortina. At this year’s Winter Olympics, Team USA’s awe-inspiring athleticism proved a force to be reckoned with, bringing home a total of 33 medals, securing the US second in the medal table. Twelve of these were gold, making this the highest-ever gold tally for the US in a single Winter Games.
A highlight was undoubtedly Alysa Liu’s first place win in the women’s single figure skating event. The Californian’s mesmerizing free skate performance catapulted her from third place after the short program to top of the podium with a career-best score, securing the US’ first women’s figure skating Olympic title in 24 years.
Another medal breakthrough was in cross-country skiing, where Ben Ogden’s silver medal in the men’s classic sprint ended a 50-year medal drought for American men. After crossing the line to secure the first men’s Olympic cross-country skiing medal since Bill Koch in 1976, Ogden told US Ski and Snowboard, “I hope it gives the future of the sport in the U.S. a big boost. I know that Bill Koch winning his medal gave a big boost to all the young skiers and all the people who dreamed that the U.S. could be champions in cross country skiing. I hope that [my win] will help propel us into the next 50 years.”
One of the most iconic moments of this year’s Games came in ice hockey, where both men’s and women’s hockey brought home gold medals. The nail-biting men’s game against Team Canada was won in overtime after New Jersey Devils center Jack Hughes scored the final goal, marking the team’s first gold since “Miracle on Ice” in 1980. The women’s team also defeated Canada in an overtime thriller, with a game-winning goal scored by Megan Keller.
Alpine skiing also captured significant attention when Mikaela Shiffrin won gold in the women’s slalom, an especially meaningful performance after failing to medal earlier in the 2026 Games and at the 2022 Sochi Winter Olympics.
While familiar crowd favorites including figure skating and alpine skiing continued to be major highlights, this year a new event made its debut, the first addition since the skeleton was introduced at the 2002 Salt Lake City Winter Olympics. Ski mountaineering, also known as “skimo,” is a fast-paced skiing discipline that combines endurance and technical skill, as athletes first climb mountains using skis with adhesive skins on the bottom for traction. When the terrain becomes too steep, athletes carry their skis and speedily hike on foot to the summit before transitioning back to skis, gliding downhill to the finish line. Skimo crowned its first gold champions Marianne Fatton of Switzerland and Oriol Cardona Coll of Spain.
With the closing ceremony behind us, the excitement and pride from the daily anticipation of watching our athletes begins to wane and is instead replaced by another feeling: the post-Olympic blues. For now, we’re left to look forward to the next Winter Olympics, set to take place in 2030 in the French Alps–oh là là!
Sources Used
https://www.usskiandsnowboard.org/news/ogden-wins-silver-first-mens-olympic-medal-50-years
https://apnews.com/article/ski-mountaineering-olympics-new-sport-2b847a73a20a23ef8657961244a10f9b
https://www.nbcolympics.com/news/whats-new-2026-milan-cortina-winter-olympics
