The time has come — the Winter Olympics are here! This set of Olympic events marks the 25th Winter Olympic Games. Every four years a new country has the honor of hosting the Olympics. This year the Winter Olympics is being held in Milano Cortina, Italy from Feb. 6 to 22. The Olympics is an opportunity for athletes to show the world their talent and fight to bring home a medal for their country.
How It Began
A time of robust nationalism and patriotism, people are excited to root for their countries during the Olympics; but how did we get here? The history of the Olympics can be traced back as far as 3,000 years ago in Ancient Greece. The year 776 B.C. is attributed as the date for the first Olympics. During this time the Olympics were held every four years At the time the four year period between the games was regarded as the Olympiad. This can be attributed to the fact that time was counted in Olympiads rather than years (International Olympic Committee).
The Olympic Games that we know and love today was started by a man named Pierre de Coubertin. Seeing the vision for the Olympics he dedicated himself to reviving the Games. His plan started in 1894 and would be successful just two years later when the first modern set of Games occurred in 1896 in Athens, Greece.
The creation of the Winter Olympic Games did not come until 28 years later. In 1924, the first Winter Olympic Games took place in Chamonix, France. During the 1925 International Olympic Committee session in Prague, they decided to create a separate Winter Olympic Games cycle.
Memorable Moments
During the figure skating event, 21-year-old Ilia Malinin, aka “Quad God” stole the show when he dared to do a back-flip.
On Feb. 7, 2026 Malinin took the world by surprise when he did a backflip during the Men’s Free Skate Team Event. The move was marked as memorable after the backflip was banned from figure skating by the International Skating Union in either 1976 or 1977 (sources say different things).
When speaking on this Malinin said “the backflip is something that I’m sure a lot of people know, just the basics of what it really is. So I think just having that really just can bring in the non-figure skating crowd.”
Many deserving women also made groundbreaking achievements at these Olympic Games. One woman being 27-year-old Dutch speed skater Jutta Leerdam.
Representing her country of the Netherlands, Leerdam is a top speed skater. Her outstanding skills have been showcased long before the 2026 Winter Olympic Games. During the 2022 Beijing Games she won a silver medal in 1000 meter (m) speed skate. However, her list of accolades goes on. She also is the proud winner of 12 world champion medals, six of which are gold.
Her top performance at this years Olympics allowed her to add to her already extensive list of achievements. Leerdam would come back four years later to the women’s 1000m speedskating competition with a vengeance. This time she would go onto win gold and additionally breaking a record. She set a new record time of 1:12:31, beating the old record of 1:12:59.
Where the United States Stands
Amongst all the countries participating in the 2026 Winter Olympics competing to be number one, the United States ranks third. The United States has a total of 17 medals — five gold, eight silver and four bronze. Leading in front of the United States, Italy holds second with a total of 22 medals, while Norway dominates in first place with 24 total medals.
The United States took home gold in various events. They won gold in Alpine skiing, women’s downhill; Figure skating, team event; Freestyle skiing, women’s moguls; Speed skating, men’s 1000m and Speed skating men’s 500m.
In addition to gold, the United States has multiple silver medalist in different categories. These are Cross country, men’s sprint classic final; Freestyle skiing, men’s slopestyle; Curling, mixed doubles; Alpine skiing, men’s Super-G; Freestyle skiing, women’s moguls; Figure skating, ice dance; Snowboard, women’s halfpipe and Dual moguls, women.
Lastly, those that received bronze medals and contributed to the total number of medals the United States won. The U.S. got bronze in the events Alpine skiing, men’s Super-G; Luge, women’s singles; Cross country skiing, women’s 10k freestyle and Dual moguls, women.
What is your favorite Olympic Event in the 2026 Winter Olympics? Let us know at @VALLEYmag!
