The United States achieved a historic performance at the 2026 Milan Cortina Winter Olympics, securing 12 gold medals, 12 silver and 9 bronze for a total of 33 medals, finishing second overall behind Norway. This marked the most medals ever for Team USA in a Winter Games, with successes across 12 of 17 disciplines. Key highlights included breakthroughs in cross-country skiing and hockey after long droughts.
The 2026 Milan Cortina Olympics concluded on February 22, 2026, with Team USA setting new benchmarks in Winter sports. The U.S. broke its previous record of 11 golds from the 2002 Salt Lake City Games by winning a 12th in men's hockey against Canada, the first such title since 1980. Jack Hughes scored 1:41 into overtime for a 2-1 victory, with Connor Hellebuyck making 41 saves, including key stops on Connor McDavid and Macklin Celebrini.
Alpine skier Breezy Johnson opened the medal haul with gold in women's downhill, finishing in 1:36.10, her first Olympic medal after missing Beijing 2022 due to a knee injury. Mikaela Shiffrin dominated women's slalom for gold, winning by 1.5 seconds—the largest margin since 1998—and becoming the fourth American with three Olympic golds in any sport. In moguls, Elizabeth Lemley took gold in individual and bronze in dual, while Jaelin Kauf earned silver in both.
Cross-country skiing saw Ben Ogden end a 50-year U.S. men's podium drought with silver in the sprint (3:40.61) and team sprint. Despite a rib injury from a skiathlon fall, Jessie Diggins claimed bronze in the women's 10km free. Speed skater Jordan Stolz won golds in 500m (33.77, Olympic record) and 1000m, plus silver in 1500m. Elana Meyers Taylor, at 41, secured her first gold in women's monobob by 0.04 seconds over Germany's Laura Nolte.
Curling duo Cory Thiesse and Korey Dropkin won silver in mixed doubles, Thiesse becoming the first U.S. woman with a curling medal. The women's hockey team captured gold in overtime against Canada, with Hilary Knight tying the score at 1-1 with 2:04 left and Megan Keller scoring the winner; Caroline Harvey was MVP. Alysa Liu won gold in women's figure skating singles after returning from a post-2022 retirement. The U.S. figure skating team also took gold. Other notables included Alex Ferreira's halfpipe gold, Chloe Kim's halfpipe silver, and a bronze in women's team alpine by Jacqueline Wiles and Paula Moltzan.
USOPC CEO Sarah Hirshland emphasized the strategy of breadth across sports, with 72% of Norway's golds in endurance events contrasting U.S. diversity. The performance lifted total medals to 33, behind Norway's 41.
