The 2026 Winter Olympics have come to an end. The games couldn’t have come at a better time, with the cold weather keeping people inside, and with the recent conclusion of the football season they needed something to entertain them. The Winter Olympics brought entertainment, while creating moments that will be etched in history forever. Now that it is over, it’s time to recap the event looking through the lense of the United States performance.
The USA collected a record 12 gold medals at the 2026 winter games, surpassing their previous record of 10 last set in 2002. The strongest events for the United States were skiing, the Americans collected 15 medals in three skiing competitions combined, with 5 of them being gold. The USA were overall very strong at the games but did struggle in a few areas. USA collected zero medals in several events such as: Biathlon, Nordic Combined, Skeleton, and Ski Mountaineering.
There were plenty of controversies at the games in Milan, like the Canadian curling team double touching the puck, or issues with the suit scans for ski jumping. These controversies have also included complaints and issues aired from the athletes about a lack of food supply in the Olympic village.
While the Americans collected the most medals in the skiing events, they ultimately shined in the final events at the games. There are two gold medals up for grabs in ice hockey, one for the boys, and one for the girls. The women’s team was looking for their first gold medal since 2018 and the men’s team was looking for the first since the 1980 miracle on ice. Thanks to two overtime goals, both the men and women’s teams for the United States were able to take home gold to close out the historic event.
The United States placed second overall with 33 medals, placing them just behind Norway. And while the team would have liked to take first place overall, being able to surpass a record last set in 2002 is an outstanding achievement for the American team and their athletes. Overall The Winter Olympics were a resounding success, not just for the Americans, but for all athletes and the fans as these Olympics brought light to sports that weren’t previously given attention to.
“I actually really enjoyed watching figure skating which I did not expect. Lila Malinin was really fun to watch,” junior Justin Eaton said.
Excitement has already begun to build for the games in 2030 and following their historic performance at the 2026 games fans are interested to see how the 2030 American team will be able to match this team or perform even better.
