The 25th Winter Olympics officially began in Milan and Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy, on Feb. 6, 2026.
The opening ceremony, the first to ever occur simultaneously across the four different sites Milan, Cortina d’Ampezzo, Predazzo and Livigno, opened with a medley of dance routines paying homage to Italy’s rich history of art and music.
It then featured performances by Mariah Carey and other artists, the parade of athletes from the 93 countries competing in the Games and a closing performance from Andrea Bocelli, a world-renowned tenor singer.
The first gold medal of the Games went to Switzerland’s Franjo von Allmen for his performance in the men’s downhill skiing event on Feb. 7.
Norway has won the most gold medals in the last three Winter Olympics, taking 11 in 2014, tying with Germany for 14 in 2018, and winning a record-breaking 16 in 2022. However, The New York Times projected that it could be the United States’ strongest chance since 1932 to lead the overall gold medal count, given their wide field of talent.
Team USA arrived in Italy with a record-setting roster. Its 232 athletes make it the largest U.S. contingent in Winter Olympics history.
Several distinguished Americans are competing in the Games, each with high expectations for medal contention across multiple events.
The two biggest names in women’s alpine skiing for the United States are Mikaela Shiffrin and Lindsey Vonn. Vonn, 41, returned from a five-year retirement to compete, but she suffered a ruptured ACL during a World Cup race, just days before the start of the Olympics.
Despite her injury, she was confident in competing in her downhill race on Feb. 8. However, her performance was cut short after she clipped a flag marking the course, causing her to lose her balance and flinging her hard into the ground.
Vonn was airlifted from the mountain and later underwent multiple surgeries to repair her fractured leg, ending her Olympic run.
Despite Vonn’s unpredictable ending, her teammate Breezy Johnson was able to pull off the win, giving the United States its first gold medal of the Games.
Shiffrin is the winningest alpine skier in history and is competing in three events: giant slalom, slalom and the team combined event with Johnson. She is the clear favorite in each event, with seven World Cup slalom victories from this season alone.
On the men’s side, Ilia Malinin is Team USA’s young figure skating star. It may be Malinin’s first Olympics, but he is no stranger to competition on the global stage, having not lost a competition since 2023. He secured gold for the United States in the team event after a first-place finish in the men’s singles category.
On Feb. 13, Malinin competed in the men’s singles final with a chance to continue his undefeated streak and cement his place as the face of U.S. figure skating.
However, in a shocking performance, Malinin, the favorite for gold going into the event, stumbled twice and ultimately finished in eighth place.
Another notable name looking to make history at the games is Chloe Kim, competing at her third Olympics. Kim entered the Feb. 12 halfpipe competition with a chance to make history, aiming to become the first woman snowboarder to win gold in the same event at three consecutive Olympic Games.
Although she fell short of a third straight gold medal, Kim earned a silver medal and still remains a big name in women’s halfpipe snowboarding.
Several athletes with local ties are also representing Team USA on the Olympic stage this year.
First-time Olympians and freestyle skiers Quinn Dehlinger and Connor Curran, along with veteran halfpipe skier Nick Goepper are all from the Greater Cincinnati area.
Dehlinger, a cousin of WHHS students Andy Linn, ‘26, and Henry Linn, ‘29, developed a passion for aerials at a young age while growing up in Cincinnati.
Dehlinger told The Cincinnati Enquirer that he learned to flip on the Turpin Hills Swim Club’s diving board and a trampoline in his own backyard. He then brought this talent to the snow by learning to ski at Perfect North Slopes in Lawrenceburg, Indiana.
At 13, Dehlinger was being recruited to train with the Elite Aerial Development Program in New York — his family left Cincinnati to help him pursue skiing.
As he grew and improved, he eventually moved to Park City, Utah, to train and live alongside the U.S. Ski Team, including fellow Cincinnati native Connor Curran. Dehlinger is currently a two-time world champion.
While Curran, 21, is less decorated than Dehlinger, his U.S. Ski Team biography calls him “one of the greatest young talents in the aerials world.”
Both Curran and Dehlinger’s qualification runs were postponed due to the heavy snowfall at the Livingo aerials park. The makeup date is yet to be announced, but will be posted on the Olympics website as soon as it is rescheduled.
Goepper, 31, is competing in his fourth Olympics, all of which he medaled in, earning a bronze medal at the 2014 Sochi Games and a silver medal at both the 2018 PyeongChang Olympics and the 2022 Beijing Olympics.
Goepper retired from slopestyle skiing and took a break from competing altogether in January 2023, but he couldn’t stay away long. This time around, he is competing in a different discipline than in past years, moving from slopestyle skiing to halfpipe.
After returning to compete in Nov. 2023, Goepper quickly rose in his new event, winning his first career halfpipe World Cup gold on Dec. 7, 2024, becoming the oldest skier to win the event.
Goepper is set to compete in the men’s freestyle halfpipe qualification rounds on Thursday, Feb. 19. Results from qualifications and finals can be found on the official Olympic website.
As of Feb. 17, 2026, the U.S. is in third place behind Norway and Italy for both the gold medal count and in the overall medal table.