U.S. wins a nationwide greatest 12 gold medals at Winter Games : NPR

Mikaela Shiffrin from Colorado reveals her gold medal of the alpine ski, ladies’s slalom race, on the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy, on Wednesday.

Robert F. Bukaty/AP

cover caption

toggle caption

Robert F. Bukaty/AP

MILAN — In the top it turned out to be a Winter Olympics for the document books.

U.S. athletes arrived in Italy dealing with protests and questions on their nation’s politics. In early competitors, a number of the greatest U.S. stars stumbled in dramatic vogue on the snow and ice.

But when the highlight shifted to the closing ceremony in Verona, the U.S. had scooped up 12 gold medals — its greatest tally ever in a Winter Games — with 33 medals total. That trails solely winter sport superpower Norway.

The medal got here on the energy of superstars like Alpine skier Mikaela Shiffrin and velocity skater Jordan Stolz, in addition to beautiful workforce performances by U.S. determine skaters, and the U.S. males’s and ladies’s hockey groups.

“The men of USA hockey are GOLDEN at the Winter Olympics for the first time since 1980,” the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee crowed on X.

In the top, the U.S. was additionally the one nation outdoors Europe to crack the highest 5 within the medal rely.

“I don’t think I’m going to process this for a while,” stated Elena Meyers Taylor from Georgia, who gained gold within the “monobob” bobsled occasion. “There were so many moments during this entire season, during this past four years, that we just thought it was impossible.”

Some U.S. states punched above their weight

One notable factor in regards to the sturdy medal harvest is that it got here even if winter sport stays a regional custom within the U.S.

The U.S. despatched its largest roster of athletes ever, 232 women and men, to those Winter Games, however 18 states despatched no Olympians in any respect. Even some states the place winters are lengthy, like Nebraska, Nevada and South Dakota, despatched no opponents.

That’s in line with the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee’s official tally of athletes and their “recognized home towns.”

It’s essential to notice elite athletes are sometimes cellular, dwelling and coaching in quite a lot of locations. Also, athletes from quite a lot of states contributed to workforce medal wins.

Still, it is clear {that a} relative handful of U.S. states punched far above their weight, with Alaska, Colorado, Minnesota, Vermont, Wisconsin and Utah fostering elite winter athletes and scooping up medals.

States with tiny populations deliver house gold for U.S.

Breezy Johnson from Wyoming reveals her gold medal within the alpine ski ladies’s downhill race, on the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy, on Feb. 8. Wyoming is likely one of the U.S. states that punches above its weight within the Winter Games.

Andy Wong/AP

cover caption

toggle caption

Andy Wong/AP

Colorado alone accounted for 5 medals, together with three gold. Vermont and Wyoming, two states with tiny populations, accounted for a gold and 6 silver medals.

“It’s been a tough road, but sometimes you just have to keep going because that’s the only option. And sometimes when you keep going, maybe you’ll make it back to the top,” stated Alpine skier Breezy Johnson from Wyoming, who gained gold in ladies’s downhill. “It’s really special.”

There’s one different accomplishment that makes the U.S. medal haul in Italy noteworthy: the vary of wins throughout sport.

Yes, Norway took house extra gold and extra medals total. But its wins got here in a comparatively slender group of sports activities, with 25 of 41 medals gained in simply two disciplines: cross-country snowboarding and biathlon.

The U.S., against this, medaled in eleven totally different sports activities disciplines, from bobsled to determine skating to hockey to hurry skating.

Jordan Stolz from Wisconsin gained two gold and a silver in velocity skating within the Milan Cortina Games.

Luca Bruno/AP

cover caption

toggle caption

Luca Bruno/AP

“It [the gold medal win] means a lot to me,” stated Stolz, from Wisconsin, who picked up two gold and a silver in Milan. “It’s every four years that you get the chance to win Olympic gold, so I’m super happy.”

A last footnote to this historic U.S. medal tally comes from Olympic historian Bill Mallon, who famous that this yr’s medal achievement “has to be considered against the fact that there are now many more events at the Winter Olympics.”

“Our previous best [gold medal tally] was 10 in 2002, there were 78 events. There are now 116 events,” Mallon instructed NPR.

Even so, this yr’s efficiency marks a big improvement from the final Winter Olympics, in Beijing 4 years in the past, when the U.S. gained solely 9 gold and 25 medals total.