Alpine skier Mikaela Shiffrin spent 12 years on her way to her second Olympic gold medal in slalom and the third in her career // Photo: outsideonline.com
Johannes Klebo continues his triumphal march on the Olympic track. French biathletes followed the example of the men and also defeated the Scandinavians in the 4×6 km relay. Freestyle skier and snowboarder brought China its first gold medals, while “slalom queen” Mikaela Shiffrin confirmed her status as the strongest in the alpine skiing discipline. In the men’s hockey tournament, there were no sensations, despite the Czech Republic, Switzerland and Sweden’s worthy resistance to the traditional favorites.
Norwegian “supplier” of gold medals
Johannes Klebo became a ten-time Olympic champion, pairing up with Einar Hedegart to win the ski team sprint. He won half of his gold medals at the Olympics in Italy.
This was Norway’s 15th top medal, and the gap to Italy in the team standings increased to six medals.
Olympic success after 12 years
American alpine skier Mikaela Shiffrin won the gold medal in her crowning discipline – slalom. Despite years of dominance in the World Cup, she didn’t win at the Winter Games for 12 years – she first became an Olympic champion in Sochi, Russia, in 2014.
Now 30-year-old Shiffrin is a three-time Olympic champion. She also won the Olympic giant slalom event – in Pyeongchang, South Korea in 2018.
With this award, Team USA pulled away from its closest pursuers in the battle for third place in the team standings. American athletes have climbed to the top step of the podium seven times.
China’s double success
Snowboarder Su Yiming was the best in the slopestyle discipline, while his Chinese teammate, freestyle skier Xu Mengtao, defeated her rivals in acrobatics.
For Yiming, this victory was a gift on his 22nd birthday. At the current Olympics, he won bronze in the Big Air discipline. In total, he has won four medals at the Olympics, two of them gold.
Xu Mengtao defended the title she won at her home Games in 2022. She outscored Australia’s Danielle Scott by more than 10 points. China’s Shao Qi, who scored just 0.27 points less than her Australian rival, also reached the podium.
Both gold medals were the first for China at the Games. This allowed the Celestial Empire to climb to 14th place among 26 national teams.
French dominance in biathlon
The French women’s biathlon team triumphed in the relay, just as the men’s team did a day earlier. In a similar scenario, the team fell behind after the first leg, run by Camille Béné. Lou Jeanmonneau, who replaced her, reduced the gap to a minimum.
Océan Michelin and Julie Simon left no chance to the representatives of Scandinavia. The Swedes lost more than 50 seconds and the Norwegians finished more than a minute behind the Olympic champions.
France is back in the fight for fourth place in the team standings. It has six gold medals, the same number as the Netherlands and Sweden. But the French are higher, thanks to more silver and bronze medals.
Worthy resistance
Semifinalists in the men’s hockey tournament have been determined. Only Slovakia, which beat Germany 6:2, made it to the 1/4 finals easily. The rest had to prove their status as favorites in overtime.
The reigning Olympic champions Finns had to come back from 0:2 down in the match with Switzerland (3:2), and the score was equalized only in the penultimate minute of the third period. The Canadians defeated the Czechs (4:3) and the Americans defeated the Swedes (2:1).
In the semifinals, Canada will play Finland, and Canada will play Slovakia. The matches will take place on February 20.
On the evening of February 19, the final of the women’s hockey tournament will take place, with the Canadians defending their title against the Americans. The bronze medal match between Switzerland and Sweden will take place before that.
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Olympic results for February 18, 2026 |
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| № | Athlete / Team |
Result |
|
Biathlon. Women. Relay. 4×6 km |
||
|
1 |
France |
1 shp/lap + 6 extra/patrons; 1 hr 10 min 22.7 sec. |
|
2 |
Sweden |
1 shp/lap + 7 extra cartridges; +51.3 sec. |
|
3 |
Norway |
0 shp/lap + 7 extra laps; +1 min 7.6 sec. |
|
Alpine skiing. Women. Slalom |
||
|
1 |
Mikaela Shiffrin (USA) |
1 min 39.1 sec |
|
2 |
Kamil Rast (Switzerland) |
+1.5 sec |
|
3 |
Anna Svenn-Larsson (Sweden) |
+1.71 sec |
|
Cross-country skiing. Women. Team sprint |
||
|
1 |
Jonna Sundling and Maja Dahlqvist
(Sweden) |
20 min 29.99 sec |
|
2 |
Nadja Kälin and Nadine Fendrich
(Switzerland) |
+1.4 sec |
|
3 |
Laura Himmler and Coletta Ridzek
(Germany) |
+5.87 sec |
|
Cross-country skiing. Men. Team sprint |
||
|
1 |
Johannes Klebo and Einar Hedegaart (Norway) |
18 min 28.98 sec |
|
2 |
Ben Ogden and Gus Schumacher (USA) |
+1.37 sec |
|
3 |
Elia Barp and Federico Pellegrino (Italy) |
+3.31 sec |
|
Snowboarding. Women. “Slopestyle |
||
|
1 |
Mari Fukada (Japan) |
87.83 points |
|
2 |
Zoe Sadowski-Sinnott
(New Zealand) |
87.48 points |
|
3 |
Kokomo Murase (Japan) |
85.8 points |
|
Snowboarding. Men. “Slopestyle |
||
|
1 |
Su Yiming (China) |
82.41 points |
|
2 |
Taiga Hasegawa (Japan) |
82.13 points |
|
3 |
Jake Kanter (USA) |
79.36 points |
|
Freestyle. Women. Acrobatics |
||
|
1 |
Xu Mengtao (China) |
112.9 points |
|
2 |
Daniel Scott (Australia) |
102.17 points |
|
3 |
Shao Qi (China) |
101.9 points |
|
Hockey. Men. 1/4 finals |
||
| Slovakia – Germany |
6:2 |
|
| Canada – Czech Republic |
4:3 (win in overtime) |
|
| Finland – Switzerland |
3:2 (win in overtime) |
|
| USA – Sweden |
2:1 (victory in overtime). |
|
|
Short track speed skating. Women. Relay. 3.000 м |
||
|
1 |
South Korea |
4 min 4.014 sec |
|
2 |
Italy |
+0.093 sec |
|
3 |
Canada |
+0.3 sec |
|
Short track speed skating. Men. 500 м |
||
|
1 |
Stephen Dubois (Canada) |
40.835 sec |
|
2 |
Melle van Wout (Netherlands) |
+0.087 sec |
|
3 |
Jens van Wout (Netherlands) |
+1.073 sec |
