The 2026 XXV Winter Olympic Games hosted in Milano Cortina brought together a dazzling and high-stakes event in which athletes from ninety-two nations across the globe worked in sporting events for honorary prizes, sustaining the motto of “IT’s your vibe.” The world-shattering event lasted from February 6, 2026 to February 22, 2026.
Under 116 events in 8 sports, in 16 disciplines, the number of athletes was stationed at 2871. Out of this total, there were 1533 men and 1338 women.
In ice sports, the disciplines consisted of figure skating, speed skating, hockey, short track, bobsleigh, luge, curling and skeleton. In snow sports, there was ski jumping, nordic combined, freestyle, alpine, cross-country, and snowboarding. In ski mountaineering, a newly added discipline, athletes climb mountains by or by not using their skis, and then descend down their mountain at rates momentous to the people watching the event.
Like the vastness of the individual shards of a snowflake, this season included a variety of sporting events.
The countries that ranked in the most number of medals in gold and then the number of medals they had in order to break ties, ranked in order, were Norway, the United States, the Netherlands, Italy and Germany. Norway won 41 medals—18 gold, 12 silver and 3 bronze. The United States won 33 medals—12 gold, 12 silver and 9 bronze. The Netherlands won 20 medals—10 in gold, 7 silver and 3 bronze. Italy placed in 30 medals–-10 gold, 6 silver and 14 bronze. Germany won 26 medals–8 in gold, 10 silver and 8 bronze.
A highlight of the Olympics was the U.S. Men’s Hockey team, bringing home the gold medal for the first time in 46 years against Canada. From the president, during the 2026 State of the Union Address, the goaltender Connor Hellebuyck received the Presidential Medal of Freedom for his 41-save performance. It is the United States’ highest civilian honor.
Johannes Høsflot Klæbo, referred to as J.H. Klæbo, is a cross-country skier from Norway. He earned six gold medals at the Olympics, which is a greater amount of gold medals in comparison to what other athletes were bestowed upon. As he had valiantly received 5 gold in his career history, he is now the most-awarded gold medalist in Winter Games history.
Julia Simon, referred to as J. Simon from France placed to receive 4 medals, with 2 gold medals for women’s 15km individual and mixed relay. She has been convicted for Credit Card Fraud.
Jordan Stolz is an American speed skater, winning the gold medals for 500m and 1000m, and a silver medal for 1500m. He set an Olympic record with a timing of 1:06.28.
Pinheiro Braathen is a Norwegian and Brazilian alpine skater who won the gold medal for the giant men’s slalom. He is said to specialize in slalom and in giant men’s slalom. He brought home the gold medal as a mark to Brazil’s and the rest of South America’s first Winter Games medal.
One of the most notable members of the event is Alysa Liu. News outlets across the globe have been discussing her, especially due to the combination of her remarkable personality with her talent and work ethic. Liu is a talented American figure skater, who according to the Teen Vogue, is “joyful, rebellious and authentic.” All of the articles about her performance at the events tend to start off with descriptions of her unique style. On-ice, she wears nike-minidresses, leopard-print tights all featuring modern, sleek and high-contrast designs. Her hair includes brunette and platinum blonde halo stripes, inspired by how trees develop rings as they age. Each year she ages, she adds on new halo stripes to her hair. She also selects her own program music with the creative, in her own words. While the dress code for figure skating is unofficially recognized, the ISU (International Skating Union) often deems these aesthetics as “wardrobe malfunctions” or theatrical. But as more people from Generation Z, the ISU has become more open-minded in that sense. On her mouth, she includes her signature DIY smiley piercing called a frenulum piercing! She did it with the help of her sister. She is the champion in Women’s Singles and team events. The team event on February 6 started at 07:35, the Women Single Skating event short program was on February 17, and the Women Single Skating event for free skating was hosted on February 19 at 13:00.
Chloe Kim is an American Snowboarder who won the silver medal in the women’s snowboarding halfpipe. She won 3 consecutive medals, and was the first woman to set that Olympic record. She landed a cab double 1080 in a halfpipe final, and is the first woman to do so.
The next Winter Olympics is likely to be hosted in the French Alps and in Nice in 2030, from February 1 to the 17th.