Alice Liu (center) surpassed the Japanese and became a two-time Olympic champion at the age of 20 // Photo: theguardian.com
Two gold medals by American athletes sent the Italian team to third place. Figure skaters and hockey players excelled. A representative of China won a gold medal in speed skating, and a Norwegian athlete rewrote the history of Nordic combined. A Spaniard brought his country its first gold medal in 54 years in a new Olympic discipline.
A head of steam
American figure skater Alice Liu, who was in third place after the short program, performed her free skating program without errors and very brightly. She impressed the judges so much that they favored her over Japan’s Kaori Sakamoto and Ami Nakai.
Liu became a two-time Olympic champion – she won her first medal in Milan in the team competition. The athlete is known for being the first American figure skater to perform a quadruple lutz in an official international competition.
The 20-year-old skater’s victory put the U.S. team in second place in the team medal standings. The Americans have the same number of gold medals as the Italians (nine each), but are outnumbered in silver medals (12 vs. five).
The dragon wakes up in the last days
Chinese speed skater Ning Zhongyan set an Olympic record in the 1,500 meters. At the age of 26, the athlete reached the top of the Olympic podium for the first time in his career. His lead over American Jordan Stoltz, who won two gold medals at the current Olympics (500 and 1,000 meters), was a whopping 0.77 seconds by speed skating standards. The Netherlands’ Kjeld Neijs won the bronze medal.
For China, Zhongyan’s gold medal was the third gold medal won at the Games in Italy. A day earlier, snowboarder Su Yiming and freestyle skier Xu Mengtao became Olympic champions. China ranks 12th among 27 national teams in the medal standings.
After 54 years.
Spain’s Oriol Cardona Col became the first-ever Olympic champion in ski mountaineering, a discipline first introduced at the Winter Olympics. He won the men’s sprint. Russia’s Nikita Filippov, who competed in a neutral status, and France’s Thibaut Anselme also reached the podium. Filippov’s medal was the first won by a Russian athlete at the 2026 Olympics.
Swiss Marianne Fatton triumphed among women. Fanswoman Emily Arrop and Spaniard Ana Alonso Rodriguez won silver and bronze medals respectively.
The last time an athlete from Spain won Olympic gold was at the 1972 Olympics in Sapporo, Japan. Spain climbed to 18th place in the medal standings. Representatives of Brazil and Kazakhstan also won one gold medal each, but Spain has the advantage of a bronze medal.
The Norwegians keep the momentum going
Andreas Skoglund and Jens Oftebro became Olympic champions in Nordic Combined and thus brought Norway its 16th gold medal. Finland’s Jilkka Herola and Eero Hirvonen won silver medals, while Austria’s Stefan Rettenegger and Johannes Lamparter won bronze.
After another victory, Jens Oftebro repeated the record of his compatriot Jørgen Grobak, becoming the second four-time Olympic champion in the history of the combined event. The Norwegian also repeated the achievement of the outstanding Finnish Nordic combined athlete Sampi Lajunen, who won three gold medals out of three possible at the 2002 Olympics in Salt Lake City (USA).
The gap between the Norwegian team and the USA and Italy remains at seven medals. In the remaining three competition days, the rivals are unlikely to catch up with the Vikings.
Change of Olympic champion
Canadian hockey players failed to defend the title of Olympic champions, won by them at the last Olympics. In the final match of the hockey tournament in Italy, they lost to the U.S. national team with a score of 1:2, the winners were determined only in overtime.
The bronze medals were won by the Swiss, who defeated the Swedes in the match for third place – also in overtime. The Swiss team improved on the result of four years ago, when it failed to reach the podium due to a 0:4 loss to Finland.
|
Results of the Olympic competition on February 19, 2026 |
||
|
№ |
Athlete / Team |
Result |
|
Speed Skating. Men. 1.500 м |
||
|
1 |
Ning Zhongyan (China) |
1 min 41.98 sec |
|
2 |
Jordan Stoltz (USA) |
+0.77 sec |
|
3 |
Kjeld Neijs (Netherlands) |
+0.84 sec |
|
Nordic Combined. Men. Nordic Combined. Big jump (HS-140) + 10 km cross-country ski race. Team sprint |
||
|
1 |
Andreas Skoglund and Jens Oftebro (Norway) |
41 min 18 sec |
|
2 |
Jilkka Herola and Eero Hirvonen (Finland) |
+0.5 sec |
|
3 |
Stefan Rettenegger and Johannes Lamparter (Austria) |
+22.3 sec |
|
Ski mountaineering. Women. Sprint |
||
|
1 |
Marianne Futton (Switzerland) |
2 min 59.77 sec |
|
2 |
Emilie Arrop (France) |
+2.38 sec |
|
3 |
Ana Alonso Rodriguez (Spain) |
+10.45 sec |
|
Ski mountaineering. Men. Sprint |
||
|
1 |
Oriol Cardona Col (Spain) |
2 min 34.03 sec |
|
2 |
Nikita Filippov (Russia) |
+1.52 sec |
|
3 |
Thibaut Anselme (France) |
+2.31 sec |
|
Figure skating. Women |
||
|
1 |
Alyssa Liu (USA) |
226.79 points |
|
2 |
Kaori Sakamoto (Japan) |
224.9 points |
|
3 |
Ami Nakai (Japan) |
219.16 points |
|
Hockey. Women. Final and 3rd place match |
||
|
1-2 |
USA – Canada |
2:1 (win in overtime) |
|
3-4 |
Switzerland – Sweden |
2:1 (win in overtime) |
