Team USA capped the 2026 Milano Cortina Winter Olympics with a haul of standout performances, from breakthrough medals in long-dormant events to dramatic comebacks, securing golds across skiing, skating, bobsled, curling, hockey, and figure skating.
The largest Winter Olympics event in history wrapped up on Sunday with a closing ceremony paying tribute to Italian music and dance.
A total of 93 nations participated in the Olympic Games across 16 sports and 116 medal events.
Team USA won 33 medals over the 17-day event, finishing second to Team Norway, which had a total of 41.
The 12 gold medals the U.S. won this time around set a record, surpassing the previous record of 10 set in 2002 at the Salt Lake City Winter Olympics. The U.S.’s highest total medal count is 37, set at the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, B.C.
Here are the final rankings and medal counts for the event, followed by some Team USA highlights:
1. Norway: 41 medals (18 gold, 12 silver, 11 bronze)
2. United States of America: 33 medals (12 gold, 12 silver, 9 bronze)
3. Netherlands: 20 medals (10 gold, 7 silver, 3 bronze)
4. Italy: 30 medals (10 gold, 6 silver, 14 bronze)
5. Germany: 26 medals (8 gold, 10 silver, 8 bronze)
6. France: 23 medals (8 gold, 9 silver, 6 bronze)
7. Sweden: 18 medals (8 gold, 6 silver, 4 bronze)
8. Switzerland: 23 medals (6 gold, 9 silver, 8 bronze)
9. Austria: 18 medals (5 gold, 8 silver, 5 bronze)
10. Japan: 24 medals (5 gold, 7 silver, 12 bronze)
11. Canada: 21 medals (5 gold, 7 silver, 9 bronze)
12. People’s Republic of China: 15 medals (5 gold, 4 silver, 6 bronze)
13. Republic of Korea: 10 medals (3 gold, 4 silver, 3 bronze)
14. Australia: 6 medals (3 gold, 2 silver, 1 bronze)
15. Great Britain: 5 medals (3 gold, 1 silver, 1 bronze)
16. Czechia: 5 medals (2 gold, 2 silver, 1 bronze)
17. Slovenia: 4 medals (2 gold, 1 silver, 1 bronze)
18. Spain: 3 medals (1 gold, 0 silver, 2 bronze)
19. Brazil: 1 medal (1 gold, 0 silver, 0 bronze)
19. Kazakhstan: 1 medal (1 gold, 0 silver, 0 bronze)
21. Poland: 4 medals (0 gold, 3 silver, 1 bronze)
22. New Zealand: 3 medals (0 gold, 2 silver, 1 bronze)
23. Finland: 6 medals (0 gold, 1 silver, 5 bronze)
24. Latvia: 2 medals (0 gold, 1 silver, 1 bronze)
25. Denmark: 1 medal (0 gold, 1 silver, 0 bronze)
25. Estonia: 1 medal (0 gold, 1 silver, 0 bronze)
25. Georgia: 1 medal (0 gold, 1 silver, 0 bronze)
28. Bulgaria: 2 medals (0 gold, 0 silver, 2 bronze)
29. Belgium: 1 medal (0 gold, 0 silver, 1 bronze)
Alpine skier Breezy Johnson, sidelined by a knee injury before the 2022 Beijing Games, claimed gold in women’s downhill on the opening day. She posted the fastest time in the downhill segment of the women’s team event but went without medals there and in super-G. Her Games ended romantically when her fiancé, Connor Watkins, proposed.
In cross-country skiing, Ben Ogden ended a 50-year U.S. men’s medal drought — dating to Bill Koch’s 1976 silver — by taking silver in the sprint with a time of 3:40.61, trailing Norway’s Johannes Hoesflot Klaebo by under a second. Ogden and Gus Schumacher added silver in the men’s team sprint free, again behind Klaebo’s Norwegian squad.
Curling duo Cory Thiesse and Korey Dropkin earned silver in mixed doubles after a 6-3 round-robin record and a semifinal win sealed by Thiesse’s final throw. Thiesse continued her success in women’s curling, helping the U.S. reach the semifinals for the first time since 2002 and becoming the first American woman to medal in the event.
Despite bruising her ribs in a skiathlon fall on Day 1, Jessie Diggins powered through pain to bronze in the women’s 10km free, surging late to edge three Norwegians. It marked a strong close to her final Olympics, following prior gold, silver, and bronze.
Speed skater Jordan Stolz, medal-less in Beijing, dominated with golds in the 1000m and 500m — setting an Olympic record in the latter — and silver in the 1500m, evoking Eric Heiden’s 1980 feats.
Elana Meyers Taylor, already the most decorated women’s bobsledder and Black Olympian, finally won gold in monobob. Her final run edged Kaillie Humphries by 0.12 seconds, holding off Germany’s Laura Nolte by 0.04 in a tearful finish celebrated with her sons.
Mikaela Shiffrin rebounded from Beijing’s disappointments to gold in women’s slalom, winning by 1.5 seconds — the largest margin since 1998 — and becoming the fourth American with three Olympic golds in any sport.
The women’s hockey team dominated, outscoring foes 31-1 through the semifinals with a 300-plus-minute shutout streak. In the gold-medal game against Canada, Hilary Knight tied it late with her record 15th goal and 33rd point, before Megan Keller‘s overtime backhand clinched the win. Aerin Frankel posted a .980 save percentage; Caroline Harvey was MVP.
Figure skater Alysa Liu, who retired at 16 after Beijing but returned on her terms, won two golds, including women’s singles, where she rose from third to first with an exuberant routine.
Men’s hockey claimed its first gold since 1980, overcoming Sweden in the quarterfinal in overtime on Quinn Hughes‘ goal, and beating Canada in the final with a shot in overtime by Quinn’s brother, Jack Hughes. Connor Hellebuyck made 41 saves, including key stops on Connor McDavid and Macklin Celebrini.
