Team USA's Biggest Stories During The Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics (So Far)

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CORTINA D’AMPEZZO, Italy: Mikaela Shiffrin’s scintillating slalom runs, Alysa Liu’s magical free skate performance, and Megan Keller’s acrobatic game-winning overtime hockey goal. All golden moments that propel the U.S. Olympic Team into the final weekend of Italy’s Olympic Winter Games full of momentum, pride, and a bit of swagger.

With much respect to the victorious ladies, as Milan-Cortina 2026 begins to wrap up hosting the most gender balanced Winter Olympics in history, the single-most impressive showing by a U.S. athlete belongs to 21-year-old speed skating wunderkind Jordan Stolz, who raced to silver in the men’s 1500-meters to accompany his two previous golden skates in shorter, yet equally tough races. Shades of legends Dan Jansen and Eric Heiden.

The multiple dramatic U.S. medal-winning performances over recent days naturally bolster Team USA’s medal tally, as Winter Olympians have both thrived and fallen across Northern Italy and venue clusters in Milan, Cortina d’Ampezzo, Val di Fiemme, Livigno, and Bormio, the most widespread Winter Games in history. 

While medals are paramount to many, but certainly not all, athletes, and more than 90 nations represented here over these past two weeks, many, including modern Olympic Games architect Pierre de Coubertin, have insisted that the spirit, universality, ideals, and core values of the Olympic Games are far greater than any piece of metal draped around one’s neck. Nowhere has this been more evident than on Cortina d’Ampezzo’s bustling Corso Italia pedestrian street, where athletes, fans, officials, and media mingle, joyously celebrating the spirit of the Games as the Olympic Flame burns brightly in an ornate modern cauldron situated directly below the Italian ski resort’s iconic stone clock tower.

Coubertin founded the modern Olympic Games in Athens, Greece, in 1896, followed later by the first winter edition in Chamonix, France, in 1924. The distinguished French aristocrat and educator conveyed his vision: “The most important thing in the Olympic Games is not to win, but to take part; the important thing in life is not triumph, but the struggle; the essential thing is not to have conquered, but to have fought well.”

However, counting medals can be fun too. Heading into Friday night's action and the final weekend of Olympic competition, Team USA now stands just above host nation Italy, with 10 Olympic gold medals after Alex Ferreira won Gold in Men's Halfpipe on Friday.

The U.S. also holds the second-most total medals, 28, behind Norway’s 36.

Shiffrin and Alpine Skiers Shine Bright

Shiffrin’s heart-thumping gold medal triumph in the women’s slalom on Cortina’s Olympia delle Tofane piste marked her third career Olympic gold medal, making her the most decorated U.S. Alpine skier in Olympic history. The Colorado ski racing superstar is both the youngest athlete to win Olympic slalom gold (age 18 at Sochi 2014) and now the oldest, as she dominated her preferred technical event, crossing the line with a mind-blowing 1.5-second margin of victory at age 30.

The U.S. Ski Team star admitted she was scared of the moment, achieving her first Olympic title without her father, who died tragically in February 2020. She opened up and shared her wide-ranging emotions at the Cortina news conference, while also displaying her kind and humble nature, commending her fellow U.S. teammates.

“We’re so grateful for so many wonderful moments these Olympics. We started it out with Breezy (Johnson) getting an Olympic gold in downhill, and everyone was so inspired, and then Paula (Moltzan) and Jackie (Wiles) medaling too,” Shiffrin said.

“Everybody just showed up with so much courage and heart. We have so many incredible athletes, and I’m just proud to be part of this amazing team.”

The five-time overall World Cup champion and 107-time race winner also praised Italy’s darling of the Games, Federica Brignone, who staged one of the most impressive comebacks in Olympic skiing history.

The 35-year-old Italian arrived at the Olympic start line, just ten months removed from a significant leg injury and further complications that made her Olympic hopes appear bleak. Somehow, ‘Fede’ shocked everyone, while delighting and inspiring her nation, claiming unexpected gold medals in both the women’s super-G and giant slalom. 

“It’s so wonderful to watch her ski. She was so strong and stable in the super-G, and that was really inspiring,” Shiffrin said of Brignone, also a two-time overall World Cup champion. “The greatest GS skier of all-time won gold by hammering both runs. People wondered if she could return to this kind of intensity, and those questions have been answered,” Shiffrin said kindly, as she has 22 World Cup GS wins to Brignone’s 17.

With the Italian Dolomites as a snowy white, jagged, and spectacular backdrop, Shiffrin further cemented her status as not only the greatest ski racer ever, but also one of the sport’s most respectful and brightest role models. 

Shifting gears from total focus to fun and frivolity, Shiffrin and the U.S. ladies were guests of honor on slalom party night at the electrifying Austria House, the place to be in Cortina. Prost!

Video: Mikaela Shiffrin Celebrates Winning Slalom Gold With Champagne Spray

Video: Brian Pinelli

A Golden Moment for USA Women's Hockey

For the ultra-determined U.S. women’s ice hockey squad, led by team captain and five-time Olympic medalist Hilary Knight, Keller’s amazing moves left a Canadian defender useless, as she slammed home a backhander, 4:07 into sudden-death overtime. Keller’s ‘Golden Goal’ vaulted Team USA past perennial rival Canada, instantly sending the squad, and an entire nation, into sudden euphoria.

"I'm lost for words. This is an incredible feeling, and I love these girls so much,” said the 29-year-old defenseman Keller. “This group deserves it. The effort and the faith that we kept through this four-year journey is something very special.”

For Team USA women’s hockey, the Italian Olympic victory marked their third team gold medal across eight Olympic tournaments dating to Nagano 1998, all versus rival Canada.

Joining the U.S. women’s hockey team, Shiffrin, Johnson, Stolz, Liu, and other American athletes who ascended to attain gold on Italian ice and snow have been Elizabeth Lemley (freestyle skiing moguls), Elana Meyers-Taylor (monbobo bobsleigh), and seven figure skaters in the team event, including Liu and Ilia Malinin, who arrived in Italy having won his last 16 major international competitions, but two uncharacteristic falls resulted in a disappointing eighth-place finish in men’s singles.

Lemley and U.S. Freestylers Soar Through the Italian Air

The 20-year-old bumps skier Lemley not only dashed and soared to gold in the individual moguls event in Livigno, but also added a bronze in the Olympic debut of dual moguls.

Rebounding from an ACL tear that forced her to sit out all of last season, the Vail, Colorado native dazzled, defeating her more experienced teammate Jaelin Kauf, the Beijing 2022 silver medalist, to the top of the podium, for a 1-2 U.S. finish.

Lemley commented about her gold medal falling off its ribbon during a celebration: “They fixed it. It’s been a trend here, I guess, the medals falling off. Hopefully, mine will stay on. I’ll be careful.” 

Team USA’s greatest success and most medals, unsurprisingly, have come from freestyle skiers and freeskiers soaring, spinning, twisting, and flipping in Livigno. Including Lemley’s gold and bronze medals, U.S. Ski Team freestyle athletes have attained six of the country’s 27 total medals in Italy.

Chloe Kim’s Warm Smile and Resilience

Snowboarders contributed an additional two medals, most notably halfpipe darling Chloe Kim, who fended off the pain of a recent dislocated shoulder to take silver, coming up just a tad short of equaling retired mega snowboard star Shaun White’s three Olympic halfpipe gold medals.

“Tonight was really crazy, the whole time I’m just like, 'I’m so happy I’m here,” Kim said, after her silver medal showing. “It wasn’t looking too good for me before I came out. Just proud of myself for landing a run and walking away with a medal.

Regarding the untimely shoulder injury, the 25-year-old snowboarder revealed: “I’ll be going home and getting surgery on it. It’s quite unstable. Just happy that we’re here.”

A Swan Song Olympic Games for Cross-Country Skier Diggins

Other notable performances by top U.S. athletes include cross-country skiing sensation Jessie Diggins, who is competing at her fourth and final Olympics. The popular Minnesota skier managed to notch her fourth career Olympic medal despite an injury from a fall suffered in her opening race, a bronze in the women’s 10km freestyle interval start. 

“I think I’m the happiest bronze medalist in the entire world. I’m just so grateful to my team for helping me get to the start line and then a lot of help at the finish line, as I’ve been in a lot of pain,” Diggins revealed. “It’s been a roller coaster of emotions, but that’s part of the Olympic experience.”

The 34-year-old athlete, who rewrote the sport’s records books, sprinting to the USA’s first cross-country gold medal alongside Kikkan Randall at PyeongChang 2018, is expected to conclude her impressive Olympic career in the ultra-grueling 50km classic, as the long-distance endurance event makes its Olympic debut among the ladies.

Vermonter RCS Does it For His ‘Best Friend’ Wrigley

Yet another gutsy U.S. performance delivered at these Games belongs to Vermont alpine skier Ryan Cochan-Siegle (RCS), who once again elevated his game in the super-G, in Bormio, winning his second consecutive silver medal in the speed event, matching his performance at Beijing 2022.

RCS, whose mother, Barbara, won slalom gold at the 1972 Sapporo Olympics, was asked by Eurosport if he was making any special dedications for the medal, and he swiftly responded. “Um, special dedication. Ah, probably my dog Wrigley.”

The Miracle on Ice Revisited?

With the final weekend of Olympic action on tap in Milano, Cortina, and the other Italian venue clusters, approximately 20 medal events remain.

Team USA’s best hopes for more gold certainly comes in the men’s hockey tournament, with North American fans and hockey aficionados hoping for and expecting a Sunday gold medal showdown as Austin Matthews, Quinn Hughes, and the always rugged and entertaining Tkachuk brothers lead the red, white, and blue charge. 

Canadian star Sidney Crosby suffered a lower-body injury in the team’s quarterfinal versus Czechia and remains questionable for Canada’s battle versus Finland. The U.S. will have to get past an overachieving Slovakian squad to punch its ticket to the gold medal finale.

These past two weeks of dramatic, thrilling, and frequently unpredictable Olympic competition, enthralling fans worldwide and across northern Italy, despite a myriad of challenges encountered by organizers in the lead-up, have exceeded expectations, thanks in part to Italian hospitality, warmth, and style.

Grazie Mille, Italy, Arriverderci!