The 2026 Winter Olympics
Photo Credit: Cameron Spencer/Getty Images
Taking place from Feb. 6 to Feb. 22 in Milan and Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy, the 2026 Winter Olympic Games contained eight sports and 16 disciplines, ranging from ice hockey to biathlon to the newly introduced ski mountaineering. This year, 93 countries attended the Winter Olympics with over 3,500 athletes competing and 195 medals awarded in total.
The first person to win gold at the Winter Olympics was Franjo von Allmen. On Feb. 7, the 24-year-old Swiss skier took gold in the men’s downhill with a time of 1:51.61 and an average speed of 69 mph, narrowly beating the Italian favourite Giovanni Franzoni by 0.20 seconds.
However, Allmen didn’t stop there. Two days later, on Feb. 9, he won gold in the men’s team combined event alongside his teammate, Tanguy Nef, making Allmen the first person to win two gold medals in the 2026 games. There was also a tie for second place in the same event, and both Austria and another Swiss team took home silver.
Speed skater Francesca Lollobrigida, who won the 3000 metre race, claimed the first gold medal for the host nation, Italy. Lollobrigida set an Olympic record for 3:54.28 in this event, which was also her first gold medal since the 2022 Beijing Games. Canada also got their first podium finish this Olympics in the same event, won by Valérie Maltais, who placed third.
Meanwhile, Canada had a largely successful run in both men's and women's hockey. The Canadian men won all three matches they played in the group stage and ended top of Group A. They proceeded to beat Czechia in the quarter finals and Finland in overtime in the semifinals to qualify for the gold medal game against the Americans. Canada fell short in overtime, losing 2-1 and earning the silver medal. The women’s hockey team beat Germany 5-1 in the quarter final and Switzerland 2-1 in the semifinal, but also fell short to the Americans in the gold medal game. The women lost 2-1 in overtime, ending up with a silver medal.
Figure skating has always been a highlight in the Winter Olympics, and this year was no different. On Feb. 19, Alysa Liu won the US their first gold medal in the women’s singles since 2002 with a total score of 226.79. She was followed in second and third place by Kaori Sakamoto and Ami Nakai, both Japanese skaters. Meanwhile, the men’s singles event was won by Mikhail Shaidorov, who earned Kazakhstan’s first-ever gold medal in figure skating. The final standings of the figure skating team event had the US in first, Japan in second, and Italy in third.
At the end of the Games, Norway held the lead with 18 gold medals and a total of 41 medals won, followed by the US with 12 gold medals and Italy with ten gold medals, according to Sportsnet.
However, the nation with some of the most wins in the past Winter Olympics, Russia, was banned by the International Olympics Committee (IOC) from all Olympic events. The Russian Olympic Committee was unable to participate in the games because of their 2022 invasion of Ukraine. Belarus was also banned for supporting Russia’s operation. However, this year, athletes from each country competed as Individual Neutral Athletes, as per CBC.
The countries may be able to return as early as the 2028 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, but discussion is ongoing, according to the LA Times.