Lead
At the Milan Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics, U.S. athletes collected a wide-ranging set of medals across speedskating, skiing, skating and sliding events between Feb. 8 and Feb. 14 in northern Italy. Standouts included 21-year-old speedskater Jordan Stolz, who took two golds, and a mix of veterans and rising stars who produced podium finishes in Livigno, Bormio, Tesero and Milan. The results reinforced long-running U.S. strengths in freestyle skiing, figure skating and speed events while adding firsts — including the nation’s first Olympic mixed-doubles curling medal. These outcomes reshaped medal narratives for Team USA as the Games reached their midpoint.
Key Takeaways
- Jordan Stolz (speedskating) won two gold medals: the men’s 1,000 m on Feb. 11 and the 500 m in Olympic-record time on Feb. 14.
- Elizabeth Lemley and Jaelin Kauf combined for gold and silver in women’s moguls on Feb. 11; Kauf later earned a silver and Lemley added bronze in dual moguls on Feb. 14.
- Chloe Kim took silver in women’s halfpipe on Feb. 12, finishing behind 17-year-old Choi Gaon of South Korea.
- Madison Chock and Evan Bates earned silver in mixed ice dance on Feb. 11 after a tight, contested judging decision with France’s pair.
- Jessie Diggins claimed bronze in the women’s 10-km freestyle on Feb. 12 despite racing with bruised ribs in what she has said is her final season.
- Cory Thiesse and Korey Dropkin won the U.S.’s first-ever Olympic mixed-doubles curling medal, taking silver on Feb. 10.
- Other U.S. podiums included Breezy Johnson (gold, women’s downhill, Feb. 8), Ryan Cochran-Siegle (silver, men’s super-G, Feb. 11) and Ashley Farquharson (bronze, women’s luge, Feb. 10).
Background
The Milan Cortina Games brought alpine, Nordic and sliding events to multiple northern Italian venues, with competitions running across the first two weeks of February 2026. U.S. delegation planning emphasized medal depth in freestyle skiing and figure skating, while younger talents arrived with strong World Cup and World Championship form. Historically, American athletes have dominated certain winter disciplines at different eras — for example, Eric Heiden’s five speedskating golds in Lake Placid 1980 remain an outlier performance benchmark. Entering 2026, Team USA combined veteran leaders returning from Beijing and PyeongChang with a wave of younger competitors making Olympic debuts or early-career breakthroughs.
Weather and course conditions played a material role at several sites: heavy snow affected dual moguls in Livigno, and visibility concerns were reported during freeski slopestyle and some alpine runs. National governing bodies — U.S. Ski & Snowboard, U.S. Speedskating and USOPC — coordinated athlete logistics across dispersed venues, a logistical challenge at a Games split between Milan and mountain resorts. The program also included newer Olympic events and a continued emphasis on mixed-team formats, which opened opportunities for combined-discipline medals such as the mixed-doubles curling silver.
Main Event
Jordan Stolz emerged as the headline performer, winning the men’s 1,000 meters on Feb. 11 in 1:06.28 and following with an Olympic-record gold in the 500 meters on Feb. 14. Stolz’s 500 m victory added to the momentum he built earlier in the week and placed him among the youngest multi-gold speedskaters in Olympic history. He beat top international rivals, including 500 world champion Jenning de Boo of the Netherlands in the sprint event.
Freestyle skiing yielded multiple U.S. medals across moguls and dual moguls. On Feb. 11 Elizabeth Lemley won gold in women’s moguls with an 82.30 score, while Jaelin Kauf took silver (80.77). Both added more hardware on Feb. 14 in dual moguls, with Kauf claiming silver and Lemley bronze after a heavy snowstorm complicated runs and recovery between rounds.
Figure skating delivered both triumph and debate: Team USA defended the team event gold on Feb. 8, driven in part by Ilia Malinin’s head-to-head victory over Japan’s Shun Sato. In ice dance Chock and Bates produced a season-best free dance but finished second on Feb. 11 after the French pair of Laurence Fournier Beaudry and Guillaume Cizeron posted a marginally higher total. The tight scoring sparked discussion about judging margins and national preferences among judges.
Other notable podiums: Breezy Johnson captured the women’s downhill gold on Feb. 8; Ryan Cochran-Siegle won silver in the men’s super-G on Feb. 11, 0.13 seconds behind Switzerland’s Franjo von Allmen; Ben Ogden took silver in the men’s sprint classic on Feb. 10 behind Norway’s Johannes Høsflot Klæbo; and Jessie Diggins earned bronze in the women’s 10-km free on Feb. 12.
Analysis & Implications
Stolz’s pair of golds has immediate and longer-term implications for U.S. speedskating. At 21, his two-Olympic-gold start signals a possible shift in sprint dominance, reviving interest and investment in American long-track programs that have trailed Dutch and Norwegian depth in recent cycles. If Stolz maintains this trajectory, sponsors and national training centers may redirect resources to nurture sprint depth through the rest of the Olympic quadrennial.
The U.S. freestyle and freeski results underscore program continuity: a mixture of experienced podium producers and rapid risers sustained medal flows. Elizabeth Lemley’s early-career gold at 20 and Jaelin Kauf’s repeat silvers exemplify a pipeline that balances youth development with retainment of veteran form. Federations will likely use these results to refine athlete selection and prioritize conditions-specific training, particularly given the role weather played in final-round outcomes.
Figure skating’s contested ice dance decision is likely to renew calls for scoring transparency and judge rotation safeguards. Although judging variability is an established feature of judged sports, high-profile disputes at Olympic finals can trigger Federation-level reviews and potential rule clarifications. Internationally, the episode may accelerate dialogue on anonymized scoring, panel composition and clearer deduction criteria to maintain perceived legitimacy of results.
Comparison & Data
| Event | Athlete(s) | Medal | Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| Men’s 1,000 m (Speedskating) | Jordan Stolz | Gold | Feb. 11, 2026 |
| Men’s 500 m (Speedskating) | Jordan Stolz | Gold (Olympic record) | Feb. 14, 2026 |
| Women’s Moguls | Elizabeth Lemley | Gold | Feb. 11, 2026 |
| Women’s Moguls | Jaelin Kauf | Silver | Feb. 11, 2026 |
| Ice Dance (Mixed) | Madison Chock / Evan Bates | Silver | Feb. 11, 2026 |
| Women’s Halfpipe (Snowboard) | Chloe Kim | Silver | Feb. 12, 2026 |
| Mixed Doubles (Curling) | Cory Thiesse / Korey Dropkin | Silver | Feb. 10, 2026 |
| Women’s 10-km Free (Cross-country) | Jessie Diggins | Bronze | Feb. 12, 2026 |
The table above samples key U.S. podiums across dates and venues to illustrate distribution across disciplines. These results show medals clustered in freestyle skiing and skating events, with notable singles in alpine, luge and cross-country. Comparing to prior Winter Games, the U.S. mix at Milan Cortina 2026 includes a higher share of medals from freestyle and mixed-team formats, reflecting programmatic investments in those events.
Reactions & Quotes
Team USA officials framed the week as a validation of preparation and depth while acknowledging narrow margins in several finals. National federation spokespeople highlighted athlete recovery, course management and tactical decisions that produced podium results.
“We’re incredibly proud of the resilience and performance of Team USA in Milan Cortina.”
U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Committee (official statement)
The USOPC released a brief statement praising athlete preparation and teamwork across venues, noting both breakthrough moments for young competitors and resilient shows from seasoned Olympians. The remark was offered alongside logistical updates and athlete recovery notes as the Games progressed.
“Jordan Stolz has rewritten expectations for American speedskating this week.”
U.S. Speedskating (governing body)
U.S. Speedskating’s release highlighted Stolz’s Olympic-record 500 m and the 1,000 m victory as indicators that U.S. programs can produce world-class sprint results. Officials flagged follow-up plans for altitude and sprint-specific training camps to consolidate gains.
“The narrow ice-dance result underscores an ongoing debate about scoring clarity in judged sports.”
Independent figure skating analyst (media interview)
Analysts and some commentators called for clearer explanations of panel scoring after the Feb. 11 ice dance outcome; federations and the ISU historically review high-profile scoring controversies after major championships.
Unconfirmed
- Reports of systematic national bias in the ice-dance judging panel have circulated; formal investigations or official findings have not been released as of Feb. 14, 2026.
- Some accounts linked weather-related visibility to specific freeski scores; while course conditions were poor, direct causal links to individual judging decisions remain unverified.
Bottom Line
Milan Cortina 2026 has delivered a mix of expected podiums and surprising breakthroughs for the United States, from Jordan Stolz’s sprint domination to a first-ever mixed-doubles curling medal. Team USA’s medal haul to mid-Games reflects strategic depth in freestyle skiing and continued strength in figure skating and speed events, while also exposing areas — such as judged-sport transparency — that may prompt policy review.
Looking ahead, federations will likely prioritize follow-up training for medal hopefuls, targeted athlete support for younger breakout stars, and engagement with international bodies about judging protocols. For observers and fans, the results offer both fresh storylines for the next four years and immediate benchmarks for how the U.S. winter-sport pipeline is evolving.
Sources
- Chicago Tribune (news report summarizing U.S. medalists)
- Olympics.com (official Olympic results)
- Team USA / USOPC (official statements and team press releases)
- Associated Press (photo and event coverage)