The 2026 Winter Olympics in Milan Cortina began on February 6th and will continue until the closing ceremony on February 22nd. The U.S. is currently in second place behind Norway in the medal count with 27 medals in total, with 9 of those being gold.
The most recent win for the U.S. was in women’s singles figure skating. Alysa Liu won the gold medal and is the first woman to win gold for the U.S. in women’s figure skating since 2002. For the short program she skated to “Promise” by Laufey which put her into 3rd place heading into the free skate. Her winning routine was very disco inspired as she skated to Donna Summer’s “MacArthur Park Suite.” Liu skated a near perfect routine and the crowd went wild when she hit her final pose.
Women’s Ice Hockey came in first place against Canada and it was an exciting come from behind game that went into overtime. Canada scored first during the first period, and for a while it looked as if they might win the game. The U.S. finally pulled through in the 3rd period and scored with 2 minutes left in the game which sent them into overtime. Three minutes into overtime, Megan Keller scored and won gold for the U.S.
Olympic speed skater Jordan Stolz has won 3 medals so far during these games, with two of them being gold. He won gold in the 500 and 1000 meter races, setting Olympic records in both events. He won the silver medal in the 1500 meter event, and has one more chance at a medal when he races on February 21 during the men’s mass start event.
Mikaela Shiffrin won gold in women’s slalom and this is her 3rd gold medal in this event, as she won gold in 2014 and 2018 as well. She passed the old record holders Ted Ligety and Andrea Mead Lawrence for most gold medals in alpine skiing. Shiffrin is widely considered one of the greatest female alpine skiers in history.
In the team event for figure skating, the U.S. took home the gold as well. Skaters Madison Chock, Evan Bates, Ellie Kam, Danny O’Shea, Amber Glenn and Ilia Malinin were on the U.S. team and were favored to win this event. They had strong competition from the team from Japan who went home with the silver medal. Italy won the bronze medal. The U.S. was the first country to win back to back gold medals in this event.
Olympic bobsledder Elana Meyers Taylor won her first gold medal in the women’s monobob event. She made history as she is the oldest American woman to win gold at the winter Olympics. She previously won 3 silver medals and 2 bronze medals in past winter Olympic games. Kaillie Humphries took home bronze for the U.S. in the same event as well.
The Winter Olympics in Milan Cortina end on February 22 and won’t return until 2030 when they will take place in France. The Olympics are such a special time that brings together athletes from around the world to compete and come together in international unity. It lets everyone take a break and slow down for those two weeks that the Olympic games are played, and just enjoy the spectacle of it all. Make sure to watch the 2028 Summer Olympic games that will be taking place in Los Angeles, CA for the first time since 1984. It’s sure to be an exciting event for our country and the world.