Alysa Liu performing her free skate at the 2026 U.S. Championships / Wikimedia commons

With three more medals, including a pleasant gold in women’s hockey, the United States moved to the number two spot in the medals tally at the Milano Cortina 2026 Games on Feb. 19.

The much-anticipated gold-medal game in the women’s ice hockey did not disappoint, as an absorbing contest of fluctuating fortunes reiterated Team U.S.A.’s supremacy over the defending champions, Canada, who led 1-0 until the closing minutes of the game. It was a big heartbreak for the Canadians in general and their star performer and top scorer, Poulin, who returned from injury, hoping to get her team its sixth gold.

The women’s figure skating brought the 13th day of action to a stylish close with Alysa Liu becoming the first American woman in 24 years to win gold. 

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The Games leaders, Norway, too, added another gold to take its tally to 16 gold to maintain a clear edge over the number two nation, the U.S.A.. While Norway has a total of 34 medals, the U.S.A.  has harvested 27, closely followed by the hosts, Italy, with 26. Canada’s hopes of adding a fifth gold to its tally were shattered by its surprise overtime defeat in women’s hockey. It continued to be at number 11 position with 15 medals, including 4 gold.

As the Games are hurtling towards a climactic conclusion, there were a lot more incredible skills, athleticism, and pure grit on display on day 13.

Ski mountaineering made its triumphant debut on the Olympic programme with Oriol Cardona Coll of Spain and Switzerland’s Marianne Fatton crowned as its very first champions.

In figure skating, Alysa Liu not only broke the  24-year U.S.A. gold drought in the women’s single event, but also set the stands ablaze with her memorable performance.

Alysa Liu mesmerised in the free skate, launching her from third place after the short program into first place for Olympic gold in women's figure skating with a career-best 226.79 overall. In doing so, Liu gave Team U.S.A. its first Olympic title in women's figure skating in 24 years, past her two Japanese opponents. 

The beaming Liu finished ahead of short program leader Nakai Ami (224.90) and three-time world champion Sakamoto Kaori (291.16). Sakamoto took silver and Nakai bronze.

The 20-year-old Liu secured her second gold of these Games, adding to the team event crown in the opening week of the global showpiece. 

In the most exciting team event of the day, five-time champions Canada had one hand on the title, leading 1-0 before Team U.S.A.’s tactic paid dividends in the dying moments of regulation time. The U.S. pulled its goaltender Aerin Frankel in favour of an extra attacker, ultimately leading to captain Hilary Knight’s equaliser to tie the game at 1-1. 

Megan Keller landed the decisive blow 4:07 into sudden-death overtime for the United States to reclaim its crown from PyeongChang 2018. 

Earlier, Switzerland defeated Sweden in the bronze medal game to win its first Olympic medal since Sochi 2014.

As ski mountaineering entered the competition arena,  Marianne Fatton of Switzerland won her first-ever Olympic gold in women’s sprint. She made history as the first Olympic champion in ski mountaineering, winning the women’s sprint with a time of two minutes, 59.77 seconds (2:59.77).

The 30-year-old Fatton finished just over two seconds ahead of arch-rival and favourite Emily Harrop of France. Ana Alonso Rodriguez earned her place on the historic podium in third place, for Spain’s first medal at the Winter Games.

Fatton found the edge in an epic duel with the Frenchwoman by taking the lead from the second transition before navigating the downhill element in style for the win. 

In the men’s section of ski mountaineering, Oriol Cardona Coll of Spain won the inaugural Olympic men’s sprint gold as he cemented his name into the annals of history as the first-ever male Olympic champion in ski mountaineering with his win in the sprint event.

Cardona Coll was in flying form amidst heavy snowfall with a late surge on the climb to lead heading into the downhill section, crossing the line in a winning time of two minutes, 34.03 seconds (2:34.03). 

The Spaniard edged Nikita Filipov by 1.5 seconds, with France’s Thibault Anselmet following in third in 2:36.3.

In Nordic combined, Jens Luraas Oftebro helped Norway to get its 16th gold medal with a men's team sprint. It was his third gold of the Games.

The Norwegian ace continued his unbeatable form in the Nordic combined, winning the men’s team sprint for his third gold of these Winter Games. Oftebro and Andreas Skoglund finished ahead of Finland’s Eero Hirvonen and Ilkka Herola, with Austria's Stefan Rettenegger and Johannes Lamparter taking bronze.

Showcasing his never-say-die spirit, Oftebro caught Finnish leader Hirvonen on the final leg of the cross-country section. The two were embroiled in a fierce arm wrestle until the finish, with Oftebro getting his nose in front in 41:18.0, with Hirvonen following 0.5 seconds adrift. Austria finished third, a further 22.3 seconds behind Norway. 

Germany held the lead heading into the cross-country skiing phase with a total score from the ski jumping round of 246.5 points, with Skoglund and Oftebro (237.00) the second best.

China held the spotlight in men’s speed skating. Ning Zhongyan raced to an Olympic record to claim the men’s 1500m speed skating gold. The Chinese athlete won his third medal of the Winter Games, adding to his bronze in the 1000m and team pursuit. 

Ning won his maiden Olympic crown in style with a time of 1:41.98, beating the pre-race favourite Jordan Stolz (1:42.75) of the United States into second place. Dutch skater Kjeld Nuis completed the podium with bronze in 1:42.82.

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