Representative image / Olympics website

The Olympics are known to witness the fiercest of contests, as they provide the platform for the strongest, fittest, and fastest of all athletes. Those who survive the ferocity of competitions emerge as new world heroes or sporting icons.

Day 6 of the games can safely be summed up as chock-a-block action?! It delivered more edge-of-your-seat stuff with nine finals across seven sports than any of the previous days.

Norway continued to head the medals tally with seven gold, two silver, and five bronze, while the hosts, Italy, narrowed down the lead with six gold, three silver, and eight bronze medals. The USA was placed at number three with four gold, seven silver, and three bronze medals.

Canada, still looking for its first gold, now has three silver and four bronze medals in its tally. Some of its gold medal hopes, including legend Mikaël Kingsbury, had luck eluding them at the crucial moments. In ice hockey for men, Canada, with the youngest NHL star playing in the Olympics – Macklin Celebrini—scoring the first goal helped his team defeat Czechia while the USA defeated Latvia 5-1 and Germany got the better of Denmark 3-1.

ALSO READ: European dominance continues in Milano Cortina Games

And to kick action off, Federica Brignone, the darling of Italian Alpine skiing, delivered an inspirational victory just weeks after her return to racing from injury. She returned to racing only three weeks ago after suffering a career-threatening injury in April. Delivering a virtuoso performance, she set the tone for more drama, intrigue, and unfiltered joy on the snow and ice at the Olympic Winter Games Milano Cortina 2026.

In snowboarding, Seoul sister Choi Gaon caused a sensation when she displaced two-time defending champion Chloe Kim in a drama-filled women’s snowboard halfpipe.

The 17-year-old Choi became the youngest medalist at these Games, winning Korea’s first medal in the event with a brilliant third-run winning score of 90.25.

Choi recovered from a nasty fall on her first run to bounce back in style to push Kim (88.00) back into second place, with Japan’s Ono Mitsuki (85.00) finishing third. 

In Alpine skiing, Italy’s comeback queen Federica Brignone delivered a rousing performance on home snow, battling back from injury to top the podium in the women’s Super G.

The Italian ski racer went through hell and back less than a year after suffering multiple leg fractures and a torn anterior cruciate ligament in 2025 to add the gold to her silver and two bronze medals from PyeongChang 2018 and Beijing 2022. 

She shared the podium with France’s Romane Miradoli (silver) and Austria’s Cornelia Hütter, who won bronze.

In freestyle skiing, Cooper Woods gave Australia its first gold when he won the men’s moguls gold that finished in a dramatic plot twist, finishing ahead of Canadian legend Mikaël Kingsbury.

Woods and Kingsbury were tied in the final two of the men's moguls at 83.71 points. The Australian was awarded the gold medal courtesy of his superior turn scores—48.4 to Kingsbury’s 47.7—with reigning world champion Horishima Ikuma winning bronze with 83.44. 

Kingsbury claimed an unprecedented four consecutive moguls medals at the Olympics, adding to his gold from PyeongChang 2018 and two silvers at Sochi 2014 and Beijing 2022.

The cross-country skiing saw Sweden’s skiing queen Frida Karlsson glimmering with double gold. She was at the top of her game with a dominant win in the women’s 10km interval start free. The 26-year-old Karlsson now has two gold medals dangling around her neck, adding to her win in the 20km skiathlon on Feb. 7.

She claimed a comfortable win at 22:49.2, finishing more than 46 seconds ahead of compatriot Ebba Andersson (23:35.8) in a repeat of the 10km interval start 1-2 finish. Team USA’s Jessie Diggins (23:38.9) had to be content with the bronze medal.

Austria’s Alessandro Hämmerle snatched victory from the jaws of defeat in a repeat of the Beijing 2022 final to claim back-to-back men’s snowboard cross titles.  In a desperate lunge at the line, Hämmerle claimed gold, with Canada’s Eliot Grondin settling for silver for the second time in a row. 

Jakob Dusek finished third for an Austrian 1-3, with Frenchman Aidan Chollet missing out on a medal in fourth place after leading for much of the race.

In speed skating, Francesca Lollobrigida skates home to bring more cheers home. She powered to her second gold medal at these Games and into the history books as Italy’s most decorated speed skater in Olympic history. 

The 35-year-old Lollobrigida on Feb. 12 added the women’s 5000 m crown to her 3000 m gold medal with a time of 6:46.17. She now boasts four Olympic medals in total.

She beat the second-placed Dutch skater, Merel Conijn, by just 0.10 seconds, with Norway’s Ragne Wiklund finishing third.

Germany brought its Milano Cortina 2026 campaign to a triumphant end, winning the luge team relay in a track record.  Winning each gold medal on offer since the event’s inception in Sochi 2014, the Germans are the undisputed rulers of the team relay.  The luge team relay features national teams of six athletes, including women's singles, men's doubles, men's singles, and women's doubles. 

Germany bows out of these guys with a monopoly on the luge medals with three gold, one silver, and one bronze in five events. 

Dutch speedster Xandra Velzeboer was in dominant form in the women's 500m event, flying to a maiden Olympic gold medal.  She dethroned two-time defending champion Arianna Fontana, who claimed a record 13th silver medal, with a winning time of 41.609. Canada’s Courtney Sarault finished third.

The Dutch joys continued in short track speed skating. It was Double Dutch delight as Jens van 't Wout won the men’s 500m. He attacked at the bell of the men’s 1000m final and edged out Sun Long of the People’s Republic of China for the gold medal.

Rim Jongun (1:24.611) of the Republic of Korea rounded out the podium in third place, with four-time world champion and pre-race favourite William Dandjinou of Canada settling for fourth.

In curling, defending champions Great Britain suffered a shock defeat at the hands of People’s Republic of China 4-7 while Korea defeated  Italy 7-2, and Denmark got the better of Japan at 10-7. Sweden beat the USA 9-4.

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