The United States finishes with its most winter gold medals and its best overall performance in 76 years. The Americans captured 12 gold medals in Italy over two weeks, resulting in a dramatic and historic run at the Milan-Cortina Games (cbssports.com). The final day featured an intense gold medal game in Men’s Hockey, where Team USA outlasted Canada to win the event for the first time since 1980, a victory that helped push the overall trophy tally to 33 medals for the United States.
The United States finished second among the 92 competing nations, with a total of 33 medals and a record 12 golds, the most ever won by the U.S. at the Winter Olympics. The team has not been this successful in 76 years, with the Americans finishing solo in second place in both the gold and overall medal tallies for the first time since the 1952 Oslo Games (cbssports.com). The strong performance proved thrilling and put the American winter athletes on the global stage.
Specifically, the U.S. women’s ice hockey team rallied from a 1-0 deficit in the third period to defeat Canada in overtime, capturing their first gold in eight years. Hilary Knight set a new U.S. record for career goals in women’s hockey, surpassing the previous marks held by Natalie Darwitz and Katie King, and also broke the record for most career Olympic points in U.S. women’s hockey history (cbsnews.com).
Furthermore, seven athletes made their fifth Olympic appearance, and 32 roster members had previously competed at the Youth Olympic Games, 20 of whom made their recent Olympic debut. The 232-athlete team was the largest U.S. Winter Olympic delegation in history (usatoday.com).
In true 2026 fashion, the Olympic Games also introduced ski mountaineering, known as skimo, as a new sport, along with eight other new events: Men’s sprint in skimo, Women’s sprint in skimo, mixed relay in skimo, men’s dual moguls in free style skiing, Women’s dual moguls in free style skiing, women’s doubles in luge, mixed gender team in skeleton, and women’s large hill in ski jumping (cbsnews.com).
Finally, the 2026 Winter Olympic recap would not be complete without mentioning America’s figure skating crowd favorite, 20-year-old Alyssa Liu. She became the first American woman to win a singles gold in 24 years, her near-flawless Free Skate lifting her to the podium. She dazzled her way to the gold after a two-year break at the peak of her career (usatoday.com). The athlete previously retired from skating after competing in the 2022 Beijing Olympics (people.com). Much of the viewership was certainly dedicated to figure skating and Liu’s riveting return. Ramapo’s Ms. Biunno said, “In the Olympics, I watched ice hockey and figure skating.” Ramapo sophomore Gavin Fromberg continued, “I watched Alysa Liu, and I liked her positive attitude.” It is undoubtedly an amazing comeback story full of inspiration, positivity, and hope for the next Winter Olympics: French Alps 2030.
