The Winter Olympics of 2026 were hosted in Milan, Italy. They began on Feb. 6, 2026, and Norway won with 41 medals while the United States is in second place with 33 medals as of Feb. 22, 2026. The Netherlands is in third with 20 medals, with Italy following close behind with 30 medals.
The Olympics leaderboard is based on the number of gold medals each country has, or if in a tie, the amount of silver medals won, hence why the Netherlands is ahead of Italy even though Italy has more medals won than the Netherlands. Currently, Italy has 10 gold medals, six silver medals, and 14 bronze medals. The Netherlands has 10 gold medals, seven silver medals, and three bronze medals.
“I’m focusing more on myself and what I can do in the moment, and obviously that is going to translate to the highest ranking possible for the team,” Canadian figure skater Stephen Gogolev said.
Each athlete dreams of being on the podium. Every athlete works late nights and early mornings to practice, fine-tune, and become perfect in their sport. For Olympians, training is the way to the top.
“If you’re going through hell, you keep walking, because you don’t want to just sit around in hell,” American gold medal-winning skier Breezy Johnson said. “And sometimes when you keep going, maybe you’ll make it back to the top.”
Ilia Malinin is an example of an Olympian at heart. Malinin was known as the “quad-god. He is a three-time Grand Prix Final champion, seven-time Grand Prix gold medalist, four-time Challenger Series gold medalist, and four-time U.S. national champion.
“In my opinion, skating is an art, and everyone has their own way of viewing art,” Malinin said.
During the 2026 Winter Olympics, Malinin was rumored to be the gold medal winner of his events. Instead, Malinin fell multiple times during his free skate as well as missing multiple quad jumps. This ended with Malinin in eighth instead of first; the world believed he would win.
“I feel pretty good,” Malinin said. “It was not what I wanted, but I am still proud of myself.”
Lindsey Vonn, an American alpine ski racer, is another example of an Olympian at heart. Vonn has won four World Cup overall championships and won the gold medal in the downhill ski event in the 2010 Winter Olympics, along with injuries that have defined her reputation.
“If adversity makes you stronger, I think I’m the Hulk at this point,” Vonn said.
Vonn crashed during her downhill run at the 2026 Winter Olympics. She crashed 15 seconds in, due to a tactical error where her line was five inches too tight. This caused her arm to hook a gate and resulted in a tibia fracture and a broken right ankle.
“I take risks, that’s my life on the slopes and off,” Vonn said.
The next Winter Olympics will take place in the French Alps, France, in 2030. The next round of the Olympics is an opportunity for Olympian athletes to make a comeback and for new athletes to have the chance to achieve the goal of standing on a podium, wearing a medal colored gold, silver, or bronze.
“I’m okay with thinking about the next Olympics,” Malinin said. “Because no matter what the result was, I would have still wanted to go there. Because I simply enjoy figure skating.”
