The 2026 Winter Olympics enter the final week of competition today, and the drama so far has been better than anything I could have dreamed up.
Team USA sits third in the overall medal count with 23 total medals as of Monday, February 16, including a gold medal in team figure skating, eight medals in alpine and freestyle skiing combined, highlighted by Elizabeth Lemley’s gold in moguls and Breezy Johnson’s gold in women’s downhill, two gold medals for Jordan Stolz in the 500m and 1000m speed skating events, and gold for Elana Meyers Taylor in women’s monobob.
What the medal count does not show are the storylines that went the other direction. Like what we can only hope is not a career-ending crash for Lindsey Vonn, and Ilia Malinin’s successive stumbles that led to an eighth-place finish in the men’s free skate program, an event that looked like it had a gold medal waiting for him.
Chloe Kim took home silver in the women’s halfpipe, an event she has redefined for every competitor. She was edged by Gaon Choi, a young South Korean snowboarder who showed remarkable grit to claim gold after a hard crash on her second run. This was one of my favorite events of the Games so far, watching the women push each other to new heights, several hitting the lip of the halfpipe and landing hard as the snow came down in Livigno Snow Park.
Norway’s grip on the overall medal race continues to tighten with 28 total medals, 12 of them gold. Host country Italy sits second with 23 medals and eight golds.
Medals on the table entering the final week
With Norway tracking toward a third straight Winter Olympics atop the standings and Italy staying competitive as host, Team USA has its work cut out if it wants to hold third or make a run at second.
Not wanting to pull an Ilia, sorry bud, I will stay away from calling anything a lock, especially women’s hockey… although I might be hinting at one. DraftKings projects several strong Team USA gold medal opportunities still on the board:
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Women’s singles figure skating: Alysa Liu at +250, behind Japan’s Kaori Sakamoto at +120
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Freestyle skiing aerials: Kaila Kuhn at +180, behind China’s Mengtao Xu at +120
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Men’s 1500m speed skating: Jordan Stolz at -1400
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Men’s mass start speed skating: Jordan Stolz at -125
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Men’s speed skating team pursuit: Team USA at -140
U.S. women’s hockey: 31–1 and a statement run
Speaking of Team USA women’s hockey, they may be the most dominant team in these Games, men’s or women’s. They have earned another gold medal showdown against Canada after beating them 5-0 in group play.
Through six games, Team USA has outscored opponents 31-1, including a 5-0 semifinal win over Sweden that marked their third shutout of the tournament. Goaltender Aerin Frankel stopped 21 shots in that game and has been nearly flawless all Olympics. She is backed by a disciplined defensive unit that forces turnovers and quickly turns them into offense the other way.
The evidence is clear. This is the continuation of a run that includes a dramatic gold at the 2025 IIHF Women’s World Championship, where Team USA beat Canada 4-3 to reclaim the title. Now, they stand one game away from turning a dominant tournament into a legacy-defining gold medal against the only team capable of stopping them.
Individual U.S. multi-medal stars
In a Games defined by depth, a handful of Team USA athletes have emerged as multi-medal anchors, with five Americans already earning two medals each:
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Madison Chock and Evan Bates, gold in the team event and silver in ice dance
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Jaelin Kauf, double silver in moguls and dual moguls
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Elizabeth Lemley, gold in moguls and bronze in dual moguls
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Jordan Stolz, gold in the 500m and 1000m, establishing himself as one of the top sprint skaters in the world at just 21
Ilia’s heartbreak
Not every U.S. headliner has had a storybook ending. Lindsey Vonn was pushing the limits of the human body and accepting the risks that came with it, and we admired her for that. But Ilia Malinin’s multiple falls in the free skate stand out as one of the toughest moments of these Games.
Entering as the “Quad God” and one of the most hyped athletes in the sport, he never quite found his rhythm under Olympic pressure. It is a reminder that no one, no matter how talented, is immune to the weight of the moment. He looked tired and at times overwhelmed, a reminder of what it means to be human at the very top of the sport.
He still leaves with team gold and handled the disappointment like a champion. Ilia will be back, older and wiser, in 2030.
Closing stretch storylines
As Milan-Cortina moves into its final days, the narrative threads all build toward the closing ceremony on February 22 at Verona Arena in northern Italy. Organizers are promising a ceremony that blends music, art, and the spirit of sport to celebrate unity and the connections created through elite competition.
This is the essence of the Olympic Games, and it has been on full display once again, as athletes from around the world continue to push their sports forward and inspire the next generation.
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