Hoesflot Johannes Klaebo (Norway). / Instagram/@johanneshk

The seventh day with seven medal events in Milano Cortina 2026 witnessed not only grit and glory but also dazzle, pain, triumphs, and monumental upsets involving an impressive cast of lead characters. That is what makes the Olympics a stunning mega event that throws up new sporting icons and world heroes.

Hoesflot Johannes Klaebo (Norway) became the second athlete, after Franjo van Allmen (Switzerland), to complete a hat-trick of gold medals in this edition of the Games. For Klaebo, it was his eighth Olympic gold. That puts him in the top bracket of the most decorated Winter Olympian. He has three more medal events to go.

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Is Hoesflot Johannes Klaebo on way to becoming the most decorated Winter Olympian of all time?

Besides Klaebo and Allmen, there are  six other athletes who have two gold medals each so far. They are Quintin Maillet Fillion (France), Juli Simon (France), Max Langenhan (Germany), Julia Taubitz (Germany), Francesca Lollobrigida (Italy) and Frida Karlsson (Sweden).

As Great Britain and Kazakhstan joined the gold hunt, the number of nations already on the medal list swelled to  23 with 16 of them have at least a gold medal each. Champion of last three editions of Winter Olympics, Norway continues to maintain a study lead to stay at the top of the list with 18 medals, including eight gold and three silver, closely followed by the host nation, also with an aggregate of 18 medals but two fewer golds than Norway. USA was still at number three position with four gold and a total of 14 medals while France with four gold and total of 10 medals was placed fourth. Germany with 11 medals, including four gold, was placed fifth with three silvers compared to four of France.

Canada was still waiting for its first gold of the medals as it tally stood at seven for the second successive day today.

Chief among them, the heroes of day seven were the cross-country skiing G.O.A.T, Johannes Hoesflot Klaebo, and British skeleton slider Matt Weston. On the other side of the coin, results did not go the way of heavy favourites figure skater Ilia Malinin and snowboard supremo Scotty James.

Norway’s Johannes Hoesflot Klaebo affirmed his status as the cross-country skiing G.O.A.T., racing to a record-equalling eighth Olympic gold medal following his victory in the men's 10km free. 

The 29-year-old Klaebo tied the Winter Olympic record of eight golds and now shares the exclusive club with three fellow Norwegians Bjørn Dæhlie, Marit Bjørgen, and Ole Einar Bjørndalen.

The indomitable Klaebo skied home in a winning time of 20:36.2, ahead of France’s Mathis Desloges (20:41.1) and Norway’s Einar Hedegart (20:50.2).

With three events still to go in the men’s relay, men’s team sprint, and 50km marathon, Klaebo can reach cross-country skiing immortality and become the most decorated Winter Olympian ever.

True, records are meant to be broken and rewritten as human endeavour and corporal endurance defy limitations.

Quentin Fillon Maillet, one of six athletes with a “double” gold,  is now the joint most decorated French Winter Olympian, claiming a seventh biathlon medal with his men's 10km sprint gold.

Maillet secured his second gold medal at these Winter Games in a winning time of 22:53.1, finishing ahead of the Norwegian duo of Christiansen Vetle Sjaastad (23:06.8) and Sturla Holm Laegreid (23:09.0).

The race was ultimately won by the fastest shot and skier, with all three podium finishers hitting all 10 targets. 

Australia’s Josie Baff claimed the scalps of two former Olympic champions in the women’s snowboard cross for the gold medal. Winning her nation’s first medal at these Winter Games, Baff finished ahead of Czechia’s  Eva Adamczyková and Michela Moioli of Italy in second and third place, respectively.

Adamczyková, the champion from Sochi 2014,  has become the first snowboard athlete—female or male – to reach the Olympic podium three times.

Czechia's teenager Metoděj Jílek secured his second medal in the speed skating competition at Milano Cortina 2026, adding the men’s 10,000m gold to his 5,000m silver from earlier this week.

The 19-year-old Jílek (12:33.43) took more than five seconds off the time set by Vladimir Semirunniy (12:39.08), who raced before him and managed to hold on to the top spot after the final pair were done. Dutch skater Jorrit Bergsma finished third with a time of 12:40.48.

Asians continued to put their foothold, preventing European monopoly in some of the events, including the snowboard halfpipe. Japan’s Totsuka Yuto was crowned the halfpipe king of Milano Cortina 2026 thanks to a second-run score of 95.00. 

The former world champion denied Scotty James an elusive gold with the Australian winning back-to-back silver medals following the three-run final. Japan’s Yamada Ryusei secured bronze with a score of 92.00.

James only had the one clean run, which earned him a score of 93.50, with the four-time world champion fumbling the landings on his first and second runs. 

British slider Matt Weston was the dominant force on the ice track, setting a record in each of his four heats to win the men's skeleton Olympic gold. 

The two-time world champion secured a first Olympic medal in a time of 3:43.44 with Germans Axel Jungk (3:44.21) and defending champion Christopher Grotheer (3:44.40), finishing in second and third, respectively.

Weston is the first British man to win an individual gold medal at a Winter Games since figure skater Robin Cousins at Lake Placid 1980.

In one of the shocks of Milano Cortina 2026,  figure skater Ilia Malinin of the United States – an overwhelming favourite in the men’s singles – imploded during his free skate to finish eighth overall. 

Instead, the night belonged to Kazakhstan's Mikhail Shaidorov winning his nation's first figure skating gold medal with a 291.58 total score. Japanese stars Kagiyama Yuma (280.06) and Sato Shun (274.90) claimed the silver and bronze medals, respectively.

In Ice hockey, Finland b Sweden 4-1, Slovakia b Italy 3-2, Czechia b France 6-3, Canada b Switzerland 5-1 and USA defeated Italy 6-0 in men’s section. In the women’s section, Sweden b Czechia 2-0.

In Curling (men), Canada b USA 6-3, Italy b Great Britain 9-7, Norway b China 8-6,  Switzerland b Czechia 7-3, Switzerland b China 9-7, Norway b Czechia 7-4,  Germany b Italy 6-5, and Canada b Sweden 8-6.

In the women’s section,  Sweden b Denmark 6-5, Switzerland b China 7-5, USA b Canada 9-8 and Korea b Great Britain 9-3.

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