Winter Olympics 2026 highlights: All the viral and dramatic moments—from the ‘Quad God’ to Alysa Liu

The Milan Cortina Winter Olympics may be winding down, but the memories will linger for years to come.

The competition began on Wednesday, February 4, with the official opening ceremony on Friday, February 6. A little more than two weeks later, the Games will conclude with an epic closing ceremony on Sunday, February 22.

So much action was packed into the event that it was a full-time job keeping up. Since a lot of people have actual full-time jobs, here’s a look back at the highlights, endearing moments, and heartbreaks of the XXV Olympic Winter Games.

How can I track 2026 Winter Olympics medals?

First things first. You can stay up to date with all of the medals and medalists who have emerged victorious this winter with this handy medal count tracker on Olympics.com. Now for the highlights.

The first gold medal of the Games

While it is quite an impressive accomplishment to even qualify for the Olympic Games, let’s be real—most athletes want to win it all.

Franjo von Allmen got to live out his wildest dreams when he took home the first medal of the Games for Switzerland in the men’s downhill alpine skiing event. He liked winning gold so much that he did it again two more times.

His story off the slopes highlights the power of community.

When von Allmen lost his father when he was just 17 years old, it appeared that his skiing aspirations might have to be put on hold because of finances. Instead, those around him crowdfunded so the young athlete could continue to pursue his dreams. 

Team USA’s first gold medal

The first gold medal for Team USA came in the women’s alpine skiing downhill event. Breezy Johnson’s time of 1 minute, 36.10 seconds, bested Germany’s Emma Aicher by a mere 0.04 seconds.

Johnson is now one of only two American women to win the Olympic downhill. Her gold medal? Well, it broke shortly after Johnson was presented it. Thankfully, she eventually got a replacement.

Lindsey Vonn’s Crash

The other American woman to win a gold medal in alpine downhill skiing is Lindsey Vonn—she won it in 2010. She also has two bronze medals, one for the Super-G (2010) and the other for alpine downhill (2018).

On the same day of Johnson’s win (February 8), Vonn’s 2026 Olympic medal dreams came to an unfortunate end when she crashed and fractured her left leg.

Curling baby

A happier Olympic moment involves the 1-1/2-year-old son of Swiss curlers Briar Schwaller-Huerlimann and Yannick Schwaller.

After his parents won their opening game in overtime, River took to the ice to get in on the action. Fans thought he looked adorable with the curling broom. It’s never too early to begin your Olympic dreams. 

A shirtless celebration 

On the opposite side of the age spectrum, Austrian Benjamin Karl could not contain his excitement after winning gold in the men’s parallel giant slalom snowboard event.

After the medal ceremony, he ripped off his shirt to celebrate the achievement. It was his second consecutive win in the event, having also taken home gold in 2022. Karl proves that age is just a number, as his latest victory makes him the oldest individual gold medalist in Winter Olympic history, at 40 years and 115 days old.

This title was short-lived, as Elana Meyers Taylor’s life experience uncrowned Karl shortly after (see below).

Favorite foods of Olympic athletes 

No matter how old they are, competitors have to fuel their bodies to compete. Communal meals in the athlete villages are there to help. In Paris, chocolate muffins were all the rage.

Meanwhile, several social media posts have celebrated different cuisines in Milan and Cortina.

Lava cake and tiramisu seem to be the sweet-treat favorites of the 2026 Games. For carb-loading purposes, pasta was served in the shape of the Olympic rings. This meal was a triple threat: delicious, pretty, and practical.

Ilia Malinin’s backflip

Backflips were once a no-no in the figure skating world. American Terry Kubicka made history at the 1976 Olympics in Innsbruck, Austria, when he successfully landed the move in competition for the first time.

The next year, the International Skating Union banned it, citing safety and technical reasons. Backflips involve taking off and landing on two feet, whereas other jumps only utilize one foot.

The move didn’t disappear from figure skating completely, even though it was outlawed. Many athletes chose to execute the move in exhibition skates. In the 1998 Nagano Games, French skater Surya Bonaly added it to her routine.

Last year, the International Skating Union reversed the ban, paving the way for American skater Ilia Malinin to do his thing in 2026. Malinin was dubbed the “Quad God” because of his ability to land a quadruple axel in competitions while continuing to raise the technical stakes even higher.

He was the clear favorite to win gold in men’s singles figure skating. After the short program, he was even 5 points ahead of the pack but fell twice during the long program resulting in a 8th-place finish.

Despite his heartbreak, he immediately congratulated gold medalist Mikhail Shaidorov teaching the world how to lose with grace. Additionally, Malinin did take home a gold medal from the team skating event and it’s doubtful the Olympics have seen the last of him.

American women’s hockey takes home gold

Things have long been tense between the United States and Canada, and we are not talking tariffs. The long-lasting rivalry between the women’s hockey teams was on full display in the 2026 Winter Games.

This time around, Team USA took home the gold after a nail-biting final matchup. American captain Hilary Knight scored the goal tying the game and forcing an overtime battle. This set up Megan Keller to net the final nail in Canada’s defeat. The crowd went wild.

Among the loudest supporters of the women were Haley Winn’s older brothers: Casey, Ryan, and Tommy Winn.

This trio went viral for wearing over-the-top matching outfits and posting their support on social media. The Winn family’s home videos also show how Haley’s brothers were instrumental in teaching her the love of the game.

Figure skating gold medal

More good news on the ice: Team USA’s 24-year gold medal drought in women’s figure skating was put to an end by Alysa Liu.

This 20-year-old actually walked away from the sport when she was 16 because she was burnt out.

After the short program in Milano Cortina, she was in third place. Her impressive performance to Donna Summer’s “MacArthur Park” focused on joy. This propelled her to win that gold medal.

A Canadian curling scandal

A less joyous occasion occurred when two Canadian curlers were accused of cheating.

The first incident took place on Friday, February 13, when Canada was up against Sweden. Canadian Marc Kennedy was accused of double touching the stone, which is against the rules. He had some heated words for his opponent Oskar Eriksson.

The following day, a similar incident happened when Canadian women’s captain Rachel Homan faced more cheating accusations. These events caused the World Curling governing body to further explain the rules of the game.

The sport does not use video playback, so no retroactive penalties are added as on-ice calls are considered final.

Wolfdog gets in on the action

Who said humans get to have all the fun at the Winter Olympics? Not this four-legged friend.

During the women’s cross-country skiing team sprint, Nazgul wanted to play. This two-year-old Czechoslovakian wolfdog may not have won a gold medal but it sure stole everyone’s hearts.

Sturla Holm Lægreid’s confession

They say cheaters never prosper but Sturla Holm Lægreid has won five medals as of publication, three silver and two bronze.

While Lægreid’s athletic feats are impressive, he went viral for another dramatic reason instead. During a live on-camera interview, he admitted to cheating on his ex-girlfriend—in an attempt to get her back.

While this could be considered a grand romantic gesture, his ex does not appear to think so and issued a statement saying she wishes she wasn’t in the spotlight.

Elana Meyers Taylor’s bobsled victory

Elana Meyers Taylor, 41, is no stranger to Olympic competition. She debuted in 2010 and has medaled in all five of her appearances.

Milano Cortina was her retirement year, and boy did she go out on top, winning her first gold medal. She was victorious in the monobob, a one-person bobsled event.

Her triumph was earned by being 0.04 seconds faster than Germany’s Laura Nolte. This mother of two almost gave up feeling guilty about the time the sport took her away from her family. This makes the viral moment of her signing to her boys that she won even sweeter.

Chloe Kim’s sportsmanship

American Chloe Kim is the golden girl of snowboarding. She was heavily favored to win gold in this year’s games, defending her 2022 win.

This was not how it went down on the halfpipe. Instead, South Korea’s Gaon Choi took home gold, with Kim taking home silver. In a wonderful display of sportsmanship (instead of getting angry), Kim immediately went over to celebrate with her 17-year-old rival.

The sweetness didn’t start there. Even before the games, Kim’s family helped bring Choi to the United States to train after seeing her potential, despite playing for different countries and teams.

Kim saw herself in Choi and acted as a mentor. Perhaps that’s the true meaning of the games after all.