The USA’s Kendall Coyne, left, and Hilary Knight celebrate during the medal ceremony for Women’s Ice Hockey at the Milano Santagiulia Ice Hockey Arena during the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympic Games on Thursday, Feb. 19, 2026, in Milan, Italy.
Julien de Rosa/AFP/Getty Images/TNS
The 2026 Winter Olympics in Milan-Cortina were nothing short of storybook like for Team USA. From record
breaking medal counts, inspiring comebacks, and dominant performances, the U.S will leave Italy with many memorable moments.
Before the games even began Team USA had already broken its first record by having 232 athletes representing the stars and stripes. The previous record was held in 2018 in the PyeongChang games with 228 athletes.
They finished the Olympic games with a total of 33 medals, just one medal shy of the record for total American medals in a single Winter Olympics (Salt Lake City 2002).
Norway led the medal count with a historic 41 medals, followed by the U.S in second place, and the host nation Italy closing out the top three with 30.
Team USA collected a total of 12 gold medals making them the winningest team in U.S winter olympic history.
Despite finishing just short of a gold medal, the mixed doubles curling team earned the silver medal, their first ever medal in this event and for Cory Thiesse she became the first U.S. woman to win a medal in any curling event. She was also a part of the women’s team that finished fourth the farthest the women have ever reached.
Female bobsledder Elana Meyers Taylor potentially closed out an iconic career by earning her first ever gold medal, making her the most decorated Olympic women’s bobsledder and Black athlete across all winter sports. Through her five Olympic games she collected a total of six medals, one gold, three silver, and two bronze medals.
After a forgetful 2022 Olympics in Beijing alpine skier Mikaela Shiffrin returned to the podium for the first time since 2018 in PyeongChang. After a dominant performance in the giant slalom she became the fourth American to win three gold medals in any sport. Her 1.5 second gap between her and second place is the largest margin in the event since 1998.
Gold medallist USA’s Alysa Liu holds her country’s flag after the victory ceremony of the figure skating women’s single free skating final during the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympic Games at Milano Ice Skating Arena in Milan on Feb. 19, 2026.
Gabriel Bouys/AFP/Getty Images/TNS
Figure skater Alysa Liu added another incredible chapter to her already inspiring comeback story by taking home two gold medals. Four years removed from her retirement announcement at the age of 16 she was back on Olympic and this time on her own terms. Her gold medal is the first medal in women’s singles for an American woman since Sasha Cohen in 2006 and the first gold medal since Sarah Hughes in 2002.
On the final day of the games the Men’s hockey team knocked down their rivals Canada in an overtime thriller thanks to a shot by Jack Hughes to give the United States their first gold medal since the 1980 miracle on ice team.
Just three days prior the women’s team had a memorable comeback of their own when longtime women’s hockey star Hilary Knight scored the game-tying goal with a little over two minutes left in the gold medal match against Canada. Her game tying goal made her the all time Olympic goal scoring leader for the U.S. with 15 goals scored. Michigan native Megan Keller called game in overtime to secure the women’s team their third goal medal
As the games come to an end we are reminded that sports can bring us together even if it is just for two weeks, there is nothing like being able to celebrate the triumphs of our nations athletes, with one another.