Poster of 2026 Milano-Cortina Winter Olympics / U.S. Embassy in Italy

Every edition of the Olympic Games – summer or winter – leaves behind a trail of stories, both sweet and sour, while giving credence to new sporting icons and powerful sporting nations. At the same time, the host nation not only showcases various aspects of its day-to-day life but also highlights its progress in different areas. Its athletes make an extraordinary endeavour to message to the world with their best ever performances to put their country higher on the sports pedestal.

As the curtain rang down on the Milano Cortina 2026 Feb. 22, it left a strong message for the rest of the world. For 16 days, the world gathered in Italy’s north — from Milano to Cortina, from Livigno to Val di Fiemme — to witness the finest winter athletes compete at the Olympic Winter Games Milano Cortina 2026.

Though the games concluded with a mesmerising closing ceremony at historic  Verona arena, the exceptional drama, sportsmanship and brilliance on snow and ice that the participants produced would resonate long after the flame was extinguished.

ALSO READ: The curtain rang down on Milano Cortina 2026 in a burst of colour, gaiety and celebrations

Here are 15 of the biggest moments that defined Milano Cortina 2026.

The Opening Ceremony of Milano Cortina 2026 featured blockbuster acts from international artists, including five-time Grammy Award-winner Mariah Carey, Golden Globe winner Laura Pausini and famed Italian tenor Andrea Bocelli, to the award-winning actor and producer Pierfrancesco Favino and The White Lotus’ Emmy-nominated star Sabrina Impacciatore.

Johannes Hoesflot Klaebo made it two golds out of two at Milano Cortina 2026 as he won the Cross-Country Individual Sprint title for the third Games in succession. Ben Ogden took silver for the United States in the Classic event with Klaebo’s Norwegian teammate, Oskar Opstad Vike, in third.

An achievement so remarkable it’s scarcely believable, Norway’s Johannes Hoesflot Klaebo became the first athlete to win six gold medals at a single Olympic Winter Games, triumphing in each of the men’s cross-country events. The unprecedented sweep extended his own record for most Winter Olympic gold medals to 11.

Brazil and South America have their first Winter Olympic medal, and it is gold, thanks to Lucas Pinheiro Braathen in the Men’s Giant Slalom. The Norwegian-born Alpine skier, who came out of retirement to represent the nation of his mother, held off the Swiss challenge after leading by almost a second on the first run. Defending champion Marco Odermatt took silver ahead of Loic Meillard.

In more than a century of the Olympic Winter Games, no athlete representing a South American nation had ever won a medal at the Games. But that all changed at Milano Cortina 2026, when Lucas Pinheiro Braathen charged to victory in the men’s giant slalom gold to deliver Brazil — and South America — a historic gold.

Winning more than one medal in alpine skiing at an Olympic Winter Games is exceedingly difficult — but three gold medals on your debut? That sounds like fantasy. And yet Swiss skier Franjo von Allmen made it real at Milano Cortina 2026, triumphing in the men’s downhill, super-G and team combined.

After retiring at just 16 following the 2022 Beijing Olympics, Alysa Liu stepped away from competitive skating to pursue other interests and life beyond the rink. Returning to competition in 2024, she rediscovered her competitive spark and carried that momentum into Milano Cortina 2026.

Facing tough competition after the short program, Liu delivered a sensational free skate that topped the segment and propelled her to Olympic gold — a stunning comeback on the sport’s biggest stage.

Team U.S.A.’s Alysa Liu added Olympic gold to her world title with the best Free Skate on the night for a personal best total. Japan’s three-time world champion Sakamoto Kaori took silver again in the last competition of her career, with Short Program leader Nakai Ami collecting bronze just ahead of Chiba Mone.

Choi Gaon of the Republic of Korea denied Chloe Kim a third consecutive Snowboard Halfpipe Olympic title. The 17-year-old scored 90.25 on her third and final run to snatch gold, with U.S. star Kim posting 88.00 on her first attempt. Japan’s Ono Mitsuki took the bronze.

After slamming hard on her opening run of the women’s snowboard halfpipe final, 17-year-old Choi Gaon could have faded from contention. Instead, the Republic of Korea rider delivered a third run of stunning amplitude and control to seize gold — a performance even reigning champion Chloe Kim could not match — and secure her nation’s first-ever Olympic medal on snow.

Federica Brignone defies the odds.

Ten months before Milano Cortina 2026, Federica Brignone suffered a horrific crash that left her with multiple fractures, a complete knee dislocation and an injury doctors said would normally require more than two years to recover from — raising fears she might never walk properly again. Yet on home snow in Cortina, the Italian star surged to super-G and giant slalom gold, completing what she herself called an “unthinkable” return.

The "Snow Tiger" Federica Brignone pounced to an early lead in the women's giant slalom and held on late to win her second gold medal of the 2026 Winter Games. Sara Hector and Thea Louise Stjernesund shared silver.

In her fifth and final Olympic Winter Games, Hilary Knight delivered a storybook ending, scoring a dramatic late equaliser against Canada in the women’s ice hockey final to force overtime. Her record-setting 15th career Olympic goal helped propel Team U.S.A. to a 2–1 victory and sealed a fitting farewell for one of the sport’s defining figures.

After Hilary Knight cancelled out Kristin O’Neill’s shorthand goal with just two minutes to go, Megan Keller completed the comeback for the United States as they beat Canada 2-1 in the Olympic Women’s Ice Hockey Final. Team U.S.A. went 7-0 for the tournament to clinch a third title, le having last won gold at PyeongChang 2018.

At 41, Elana Meyers Taylor finally claimed Olympic gold in the women’s monobob, becoming the oldest individual champion in Winter Olympic history.

Matt Weston crowned himself king of the skeleton at the Cortina Sliding Centre, first becoming the first British man to win Olympic gold in the discipline — setting track records in all four of his runs — before returning to claim the inaugural mixed team title with Tabitha Stoecker. Needing a near-flawless descent to overturn a German lead, Weston blasted down the track at 126 km/h and delivered under pressure, sealing a golden double for Team GB.

Switzerland’s Marianne Fatton won the first Ski Mountaineering competition in Olympic history, taking Women’s Sprint gold by just over two seconds from Emily Harrop of France. Ana Alonso Rodriguez claimed bronze for Spain.

Ski mountaineering made its Olympic debut at Milano Cortina 2026, and Marianne Fatton of Switzerland and Oriol Cardona Coll of Spain etched their names into history as the discipline’s first-ever Olympic champions.

Oriol Cardona Coll won gold for Spain in the Men’s Sprint competition on Ski Mountaineering’s Olympic debut. Individual Neutral Athlete Nikita Filippov took silver with Thibault Anselmet of France rounding out the podium.

Returning to the Olympic stage at 41 after coming out of retirement, Lindsey Vonn arrived at Milano Cortina 2026 chasing one more dream. Her campaign ended in a high-speed downhill crash that required an airlift to the hospital and subsequent surgery, but from her recovery bed, the U.S.A. legend urged fans not to be sad, insisting: “The ride was worth the fall.” As tributes poured in from across the sporting world, Vonn also turned her focus to supporting her fellow Team U.S.A. athletes — including Breezy Johnson after her downhill gold.

Despite competing at every edition of the Olympic Winter Games, Great Britain had never won a medal on snow heading into Milano Cortina 2026. But Charlotte Bankes and Huw Nightingale changed that in the snowboard cross mixed team event, racing to a landmark gold with Bankes, rebounding from a quarter-final exit in the women’s race days earlier, producing a sensational overtake on her leg to turn the final Britain’s way.

Charlotte Bankes produced a late charge as she and Huw Nightingale secured Mixed Team Snowboard Cross gold for Great Britain. Lorenzo Sommariva and Michela Moioli of Italy took silver, with France’s long-time leaders, Loan Bozzolo and Lea Casta, of France having to settle for bronze.

France topped the biathlon medal table at these Games (winning 13, including six gold), but that total could easily have been one fewer without the exploits of Émilien Jacquelin. Taking over on the second leg of the men’s 4x7.5km relay with Les Bleus on the back foot, the five-time world champion lit up the track and shot clean in prone to propel France into contention — a surge that set up their historic relay gold.

Francesca Lollobrigida delighted the home crowd by taking women's 3000m speed skating gold in an Olympic record, winning from Norway’s Ragne Wiklund and Canada’s Valerie Maltais at Milano Cortina 2026.

Competing on her 35th birthday, Francesca Lollobrigida powered to victory in the women’s speed skating 3000m to deliver Italy’s first gold medal of Milano Cortina 2026 in a new Olympic record time of 3:54.28. Weeks after admitting she had been on the verge of quitting the sport due to a viral infection, the mother of one called it “the dream of the dream” — a victory that ignited the Games for the host nation.

The final event of Milano Cortina 2026 delivered an instant classic as nine-time champions Canada faced their great rivals — and two-time champions — the U.S.A. in the men’s ice hockey gold medal game. Goals from Matt Boldy (U.S.A.) and Cale Makar (CAN), plus a heroic 41-save performance from Connor Hellebuyck, left it deadlocked after 60 minutes before Jack Hughes buried the overtime winner to secure the U.S.A.’s first men’s Olympic hockey gold since Lake Placid 1980.

It was indeed a fitting climax at the Games while laying the early foundations for a possible revenge story at the French Alps 2030.

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