Winter Olympics: The moments that made the 2026 Games

The cross-country skier made history. With his six gold medals in Milan Cortina, the Norwegian passed the single-Games record of US speed skater Eric Heiden at Lake Placid in 1980. With 11 gold medals in his career, Klaebo has also become the most successful Winter Olympian of all time.

While Klaebo's record stands for the entire world, the luge doubles team of Tobias Wendl and Tobias Arlt took the top spot on Germany's all-time Olympic medal list with their gold in the team event. It is their seventh Olympic victory, one more than the previous most successful German Olympian, Natalie Geisenberger, who also won in luge.

Skier Lucas Pinheiro Braathen not only won a first Winter Olympics gold medal for Brazil, but for all of South America at these Games. "It's impossible to say what I feel in my heart," said the Norwegian-born skier after his giant slalom victory. Due to a dispute with the Norwegian Ski Federation, Pinheiro Braathen has competed for Brazil, the country of his mother's birth, since 2024.

Sometimes, there can be an extremely fine line between victory and despair. Norwegian Atle Lie McGrath led the field by a large margin after the first slalom run. But a mistake in the second cost him what had looked like a sure Olympic gold medal. McGrath threw away his ski poles, ripped his skis off his feet, and trudged into the woods. "I just had to get away from it all," he explained.

In Cortina, the world's best female skier, Mikaela Shiffrin, got an Olympic monkey off her back after having gone home empty-handed from Beijing in 2022. In her specialty, the slalom, where she has celebrated two-thirds of her more than 100 World Cup victories, the American won by one and a half seconds – a huge margin in skiing.

An Olympic fairy tale for the host nation. Skier Laura Brignone suffered a serious knee injury in April 2025, only making her comeback in mid-January this year. The 35-year-old, who had the honor of being one of Italy's flag bearers at the opening ceremony, won gold in the super-G and the giant slalom. "It was a miracle to be here," Brignone said.

The veteran American made one of the most unusual decisions of the Olympics. After a successful season, Vonn suffered a torn anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) in the last downhill race before the Games. Despite this, she started the downhill in Cortina. Shortly after the start, the 41-year-old crashed awkwardly and had to be airlifted to the hospital. She had sustained a complex fractured tibia

The German ski jumper pulled off one of the biggest surprises of the Games, winning gold on the normal hill – despite never having won an individual World Cup event before. "I don't know how I did it," said the 25-year-old. "But I'm incredibly proud." It remained the only medal for the German ski jumping team in Predazzo.

The "quad God" known for his quadruple jumps appeared destined to win Olympic gold in figure skating. Since the end of 2023, Malinin had won all his competitions — and even went into the free skate in Milan in the lead. But then the 21-year-old American fell twice in quick succession, dropping out of medal contention. His only consolation was the Olympic gold medal in the team event.

Twice a medal was within reach for the German skier. In both the giant slalom and the slalom, Lena Dürr was in second place after the first run. However, a mistake just before the finish line in the giant slalom caused her to fall far behind. Things got even worse in the slalom; she straddled the first gate (photo). "A catastrophe, the worst-case scenario," said Dürr. "But that's how it is now."

The Ukrainian skeleton racer was determined to wear not just any helmet, but this particular one, which bears images of Ukrainian athletes killed in Russia's full-scale war on their country. The IOC deemed the "helmet of remembrance" a prohibited political message. Heraskevych was disqualified before the race. Instead of a medal, he later received an Order of Merit from Ukraine.

The Heraskevych case deeply moved International Olympic Committee (IOC) President Kirsty Coventry. She tried in vain to convince the skeleton racer to accept the IOC's compromise proposal to wear a black armband during the race – instead of his 'helmet of remembrance.' Later a teary IOC boss told reporters that "I really wanted to see him race today."