United States Takes Home 12 Gold Medals in 2026 Winter Olympics, Finish 2nd in Total Medals

(image via WCNC)

The 2026 Winter Olympics came and went. The United States performed in dominant fashion, including a sudden-death gold medal match against Canada and a new ice-skating queen who the United States won’t forget. 
By: Drew Caraway, Ty Cameron, Justin Andrio, and Harrison Smith

(image taken by Bruce Bennett / Getty Images)

(image from Monika Majer / Getty Images)

United States Takes Down Canada in Men’s and Women’s Hockey Gold Medal Matches
Forty-six years to the day after the Miracle on Ice, the United States of America achieved a historic moment in the Olympic hockey world. On February 22, the United States faced off against Canada for the 2026 Olympic hockey gold medal. It was a heated matchup, but the United States pulled through in sudden death, beating Canada 2-1 and taking home their first gold medal in men's hockey since 1980 and their third gold medal in men’s hockey history (the only other time was in 1960).

Both teams came out electric and passionate, trading goal attempts back and forth. With exactly six minutes remaining in the first period, Matt Boldy of the Minnesota Wild scored the lone goal for the United States in regulation. This goal against Canada went unanswered for the entire first period. The United States defense played strongly and only allowed eight shots to be attempted, while Canada struggled to connect passes and find their rhythm.

The number of penalties and physicality increased drastically in the second period. Canada scored their first goal two minutes into the period and ended the second period 1-1.

Despite strong attacks from Canada in the third period, the game remained tied 1-1 to go to sudden death.

Just one minute and 43 seconds into 3-on-3 overtime, Jack Hughes of the New Jersey Devils scored, winning the men's 2026 Olympic hockey gold medal for the United States. It was a powerful and emotional victory for everyone. After the game, Hughes, who had his front tooth cracked by a stick earlier in the game, said, “It doesn’t matter about the goal. Just an unbelievable team, unbelievable team win. We’re so proud to be American and to win for our country, to win for the USA Hockey brotherhood.” Jack Hughes and all of his teammates will return to the USA as American heroes, according to interviews from the Milano Cortina 2026 Olympics and stats from ESPN.

Bradin “Sully” Gouge, a senior, shows his patriotism, saying, “America is the best country ever… and that’s the bottom line.”
The United States women’s hockey team also defeated Canada, 2-1, to win gold. According to CBS Sports, this brought the women’s total gold medals for the United States of America to three in their hockey history, winning in 1998 and, more recently, in 2018.

The game opened slowly, with no goals in the first period. However, in the second period, Canada struck first, with Kristin O’Neill scoring with 54 seconds remaining until the second intermission.
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Although Canada came out strong, it was not enough to stop the United States from evening the score at one, with Hilary Knight scoring just over two minutes into the third period. Very similarly to the men’s gold medal match, the game went into sudden death, and of course, the United States came out victorious, with Megan Keller scoring the game-winning goal.

​Alysa Liu Takes Home Gold for First Time in Two Decades
At the young age of 13, Alysa Liu was a national champion in figure skating, marking her name as the youngest to ever do so. She was supposed to be one of the best figure skaters in the upcoming Olympics, but she had then fallen off and underwent a lot of training that offseason.

According to Fox News, Liu became the first gold medal winner since Sarah Hughes in 2002 for figure skating.
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In the 2026 Winter Olympics in Milan, Italy, Alysa Liu competed for the gold medal in figure skating once again; this time, she finally won it in a masterclass. Not only did she win one gold medal, but she then won another one in the free skating competition.


Although the 2026 Winter Olympics have concluded, fans will not have to wait long for the next big world event: the FIFA World Cup! The Americas (the United States, Canada, and Mexico) will host, with Atlanta and Mercedes-Benz Stadium hosting a few games!

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Total Medal Results (from Olympic Winter Games)
The United States finished 2nd in the total medal count at the Winter Olympics, as well as 2nd in Gold Medals. Here are the final results: 

1. Norway: 41 Total Medals (18 gold, 12 silver, 11 bronze)
2. United States of America: 33 Total (12 gold, 12 silver, 9 bronze)
3. Italy: 30 Total (10 gold, 6 silver, 14 bronze)
4. Germany: 26 Total (8 gold, 10 silver, 8 bronze)
5. Japan: 24 Total (5 gold, 7 silver, 12 bronze)
6. France: 23 Total (8 gold, 9 silver, 6 bronze)
7. Switzerland: 23 Total (6 gold, 9 silver, 8 bronze)
8. Canada: 21 Total (5 gold, 7 silver, 9 bronze)
9. Netherlands: 20 Total (10 gold, 7 silver, 3 bronze)
10. Sweden: 18 Total (8 gold, 6 silver, 4 bronze)
11. Austria: 18 Total (5 gold, 8 silver, 5 bronze)
12. China: 15 Total (5 gold, 4 silver, 6 bronze)
13. South Korea: 10 Total (3 gold, 4 silver, 3 bronze)
14. Australia: 6 Total (3 gold, 2 silver, 1 bronze)
15. Finland: 6 Total (0 gold, 1 silver, 5 bronze)
16. Great Britain: 5 Total (3, gold, 1 silver, 1 bronze)
17. Czech Republic: 5 Total (2 gold, 2 silver, 1 bronze)
18. Slovenia: 4 Total (2 gold, 1 silver, 1 bronze)
19. Poland: 4 Total (0 gold, 3 silver, 1 bronze)
20. Spain: 3 Total (1 gold, 0 silver, 2 bronze)
21. New Zealand: 3 Total (0 gold, 2 silver, 1 bronze)
22. Latvia: 2 Total (0 gold, 1 silver, 1 bronze)
23. Bulgaria: 2 Total (0 gold, 0 silver, 2 bronze)
24. Brazil: 1 Total (1 gold, 0 silver, 0 bronze)
25. Kazakhstan: 1 Total (1 gold, 0 silver, 0 bronze)
26. Denmark: 1 Total (0 gold, 1 silver, 0 bronze)
27. Estonia: 1 Total (0 gold, 1 silver, 0 bronze)
28. Georgia: 1 Total (0 gold, 1 silver, 0 bronze)
29. Belgium: 1 Total (0 gold, 0 silver, 1 bronze)