The 2026 Winter Olympics were a principal source of entertainment for many this winter, with people from all over the world tuning into the Olympic Games in Italy. Whether it was watching America’s beloved Alysa Liu win women’s singles for figure skating or being dumbstruck at Lindsey Vonn’s fall during the women’s downhill skiing final, the Winter Olympics provided a unique opportunity to watch sports you may have never even heard of before.

Skiing this year for the Winter Olympics was a hit, consisting of ten events: Women’s Downhill, Women’s Slalom, Women’s Giant Slalom, Women’s Super-G, Women’s Team Combined, Men’s Downhill, Men’s Slalom, Men’s Giant Slalom, Men’s Super-G, and Men’s Team Combined. The women’s races were held in Cortina d’Ampezzo, whilst the men’s races were held in Bormio. The key winners this year were the United States’ Breezy Johnson, who was the reigning champion of Women’s downhill, followed by Emma Aicher, who took silver, and Sofia Goggia, who took bronze. Lindsey Vonn, who won the gold medal for downhill in the 2010 Olympics, came back to Milan for another Olympic medal, after tearing her acl only one week before the games. Unfortunately, Vonn ended up crashing only 13 seconds into her event on February 8th, and has recently revealed she would have had to get her leg amputated if she hadn’t gotten immediate surgery. CdM freshman Leigton Airth, who’s been skiing since she was little, comments, “I felt really bad for Lindsey, because she tried really hard to get to that point in her life, and that’s a really big setback in her career. But as a skier, I definitely couldn’t do what she’s doing, so I still think it’s really cool she made it that far.” Cross-country skier Johannes Klaebo, who accumulated a total of six gold medals by the end of the Olympics, won the men’s relay, skiathlon, 10km free, sprint, team sprint, and 50km events, representing Norway. Overall, the skiing events left a lasting impression on many this winter, highlighting skiers from all over the world and representing how personal a sport can be.

Figure skating was another event to remember with emotional performances from veterans like Alysa Liu, a two-time Olympian representing the United States, to skaters making their Olympic debut like Ilia Malinin, the world-renowned “quad god”. Making it about more than just the tricks, each piece had a story to go along with it. Alysa Liu’s 2026 Olympic short program to “Promise” by Laufey served as an emotional expression of her personal journey throughout her sport, representing the “painful decisions” and “trauma” of her past, rather than being the direct cause of her quitting, which was due to “loss of passion”. After retiring in 2022 to regain “her true creative self,” she returned in 2024 to skate, “on her own terms” with “freedom” and “joy,” which she showed immensely in her exhibition performance to “Stateside” by PinkPantheress and Zara Larson. Malinin, on the other hand, had a mix of emotions at the Milan Olympics. He had finished in an unexpected eighth place after a disastrous free skate that had included multiple falls and a single axel. The routine was described as “unraveling under pressure” by many on social media. So when he performed at the Olympic figure skating exhibition gala Saturday night, he brought all those pings and beeps and notifications right out to the sheet with him. Malinin used his exhibition performance at the Milano Ice Skating Arena as a means of escaping all the noise, as though he were breaking free and rising above it, or at least making the effort to. He had performed to a unique song (“Fear” by NF) and a unique outfit (a gray hoodie and black pants that from afar looked to be splattered with white paint), really emphasizing his intent to prove he wanted to break away from the commotion on the internet.

With the 2026 Winter Olympics now completed, make sure to check out all of the highlights and shocking moments that happened, and “[Do] stuff that people tell you you shouldn’t do.” — Alysa Liu.