The 2026 Winter Olympics opened on February 6 in Milan, Italy. It began in the iconic San Siro stadium with the opening ceremony, a display of Italian culture. The opening ceremony featured many Italian performers, including Andrea Bocelli and Ghali. Also featured was Mariah Carey, who performed a rendition of “Nel Blu Dipinto de Blu,” also known as “Volare”.

There was a wide variety of winter sports. From curling to hockey, there wasn’t a second to take your eyes off of the screen. There were hundreds of medals awarded. The country with the most gold medals this year was Norway, with an astounding 18 gold medals and 41 medals overall. The runners-up were the U.S. and Italy, with 12 (33 total) and 10 (30 total) gold medals respectively. The athlete with the most gold medals was the Norwegian cross-country skier Johannes Høsflot Klæbo, who won six gold medals and broke the previous record held by Eric Helden, who won five gold medals in 1980. Other notable performances include Arianna Fontana’s breaking of the record for most Olympic medals won by an Italian, Alysia Liu becoming the first American woman to win a gold medal for figure skating since 2002, and the U.S. Men’s Hockey Team narrowly beating Canada in overtime to win the gold medal for the first time in 46 years. Ilia Malinin also made quite the stir on social media. His performance, expected to land him first place, left him in eighth place. Although he didn’t win the gold medal, he certainly won the hearts of many in the U.S.

The closing ceremony took place in the Verona Arena in Verona, Italy, where a few Olympians were awarded their medals. The next time the Olympic torch will be lit is in July of 2028 in Los Angeles at the Summer Olympics. This event will be record-breaking, as it is said to exhibit over 350 events with over ten thousand athletes competing. The next Winter Olympics will be held in 2030 in the French Alps