Twenty-two days have come and gone.

The 2026 Winter Olympics have concluded, with every medal dished out to hundreds of athletes. A total of 29 countries won at least one medal, while 20 of those countries had at least one gold medal.

For the United States, it was certainly a successful Olympics. Their 12 gold medals and 33 total medals both ranked second among all countries. But while there were plenty of peaks and highlights for American stars, there were also some disappointments.

Here are some of the biggest winners and losers for the United States from the 2026 Winter Olympics. 

MORE: Final medal count, full table from 2026 Winter Olympics

Winter Olympics winners and losers

Winners 

Alysa Liu

There’s a good case to be made that among individual U.S. athletes, none shined brighter than Alysa Liu. It wasn’t just her dominant figure skating performances, winning gold medals in both the women’s singles and team event — it was also the history behind them and Liu’s path to get there that made her a star.

The 20-year-old became the first American woman to medal at the Olympics since Sasha Cohen in 2006 and the first to win gold since Sarah Hughes in 2002, a figure skating drought that was finally broken. Liu posted a 226.79 total score in the women’s singles event, including an outstanding 150.20 in the free skate. 

Liu, who stepped away from figure skating four years ago, completed a comeback of sorts — one that she wanted to accomplish on her own terms, dictating her own figure skating career. She triumphed in a massive way, putting together a masterful figure skating performance in Milan while becoming a sensation — even with an F-bomb on live television.

MORE ALYSA LIU NEWS:

The United States’ national hockey program

Has the state of ice hockey in the United States ever been better, at least on the international stage? The U.S. claimed gold in both the men’s and women’s hockey tournaments in Milan, with both star-studded squads taking down Canada in the gold-medal game thanks to thrilling, overtime finishes.

Entering the tournament, NHL players returning to the Olympics made the U.S. a co-favorite with Canada on the men’s side, while the longtime U.S. vs. Canada Olympic rivalry on the women’s side was always expected to add another chapter. But just because the United States was expected to medal in hockey didn’t mean it would happen, and plenty of big names helped secure gold medals. 

The men’s team won its first gold medal since the famous “Miracle on Ice” team in 1980, returning to the Olympic throne for the first time in 46 years. And the women’s team got its get-back vs. Canada after settling for silver in 2022, winning the third gold medal in program history.

There will be high expectations for the Americans on the ice in 2030 thanks to the 2026 performance of players like Megan Keller, Laila Edwards and Aerin Franklin on the women’s squad, along with Connor Hellebuyck, Jack Hughes and Auston Matthews on the men’s team.

Jack Hughes and Megan Keller

Particularly, two U.S. hockey players deserve their own section. After all, if it weren’t for them, the Americans could be bringing home two silver medals in ice hockey home from Italy.

Both hockey gold-medal games went to overtime. And in both, there was a hero with a golden goal. 

First, it was Keller, the star of the Boston Fleet in the PWHL, who made a clean move down the ice and danced to the net against Canada, sealing a 2-1 win for the U.S. in the women’s ice hockey bracket.

Hughes must have been motivated by Keller’s overtime score. A few days later, he found himself with the opportunity of a lifetime, the puck in front of him with the chance to win gold at the Olympics.

He had the second golden goal for Team USA in one weekend.

Mikaela Shiffrin

Shiffrin cut it close to being considered a “loser” for these Olympics — but she salvaged her performance in Milan with dominance, the way she has done throughout her decorated skiing career.

Coming into the 2026 Winter Olympics, Shiffrin didn’t exactly need a medal to prove anything, as she’s already considered one of the best athletes in her sport ever. But at the same time, the last time she was in the Olympics, she had an extremely disappointing showing in Bejing by competing in six events, but not medaling in any of them. For one of the best alpine skiers ever, it was a surprising result.

Initially, it appeared the struggles were continuing for Shiffrin. She and Breezy Johnson finished fourth in the team combined, then Shiffrin finished a mere 11th in the giant slalom. Entering her final event, the slalom, Shiffrin was staring down the possibility of a second-straight medal-less Olympics. 

Instead, she turned in one of the most impressive slalom performances in Team USA history. Her total of time 1:39.10 wasn’t just enough for gold — she beat out second place by 1.5 seconds, a massive margin of victory that rarely happens in the event. 

Shiffrin returned to her Olympic slalom throne for the first time since 2014.

MORE: Mikaela Shiffrin’s full Olympics timeline, career accomplishments

Jordan Stolz

There were plenty of American athletes who got some hype entering the 2026 Winter Olympics, but not all of them lived up to that hype. That cannot be said of Jordan Stolz in any fashion.

He came in as one of the medal favorites in plenty of speed skating events, as he was already the first male skater to win three individual gold medals at a single World Single Distances Speed Skating Championships — and he had done that twice. 

Stolz dominated the Olympics in a way that may have even surpassed expectations. He won gold in both the 500m and 1000m, also setting Olympic records in both events. By the time the 1500m came around, a silver medal felt slightly disappointing, but only because of the high bar Stolz had set for himself. 

With his three medals in Milan, Stolz had the second-best medals performance by an American in a single Olympic Winter Games in history, trailing only Eric Heiden’s five gold medals in 1980. The 21-year-old made speed skating look easy with his run in Italy.

MORE: What to know about Jordan Stolz’s family’s taxidermy business

Aging athletes

One of the most entertaining parts of the Olympics is typically the age-related challenges that athletes put themselves through. Sometimes, it’s a young phenom who has emerged to the pinnacle of a sport at a rapid pace. Other times, it’s a veteran Olympian still performing at a high level after decades in their sport.

At the 2026 Games, there were a few elder Team USA stars who made some noise. Perhaps the most successful older athlete was Elana Meyers Taylor, who, at age 41, became the oldest individual champion in Winter Olympic history by winning the women’s monobob.

However, Taylor wasn’t the only American athlete challenging Father Time. Lindsey Vonn pushed her incredible comeback to the maximum, as the 41-year-old decided to compete in alpine skiing on a torn ACL suffered just weeks prior to the Games. At age 36, Hilary Knight won her second gold medal with the women’s hockey team.

Another 36-year-old, Evan Bates, won silver in the figure skating pairs event despite figure skating typically being a younger person’s sport — something that can even be said of 26-year-old Amber Glenn. And Nick Baumgartner, at 44, had a strong run in the men’s snowboard cross event despite coming up short of a medal.

The oldest U.S. athlete in Milan, however, was 54-year-old curler Rich Ruohonen, who became the oldest American ever at a Winter Olympics.

MORE: Full list of future Olympics locations

Losers

‘Disappointing’ silver medals

One of the biggest debates of the Olympics, whether Winter or Summer, pops up every time a dominant athlete receives a medal, but not the golden one they were favored to receive. To this point, it should be made clear: winning an Olympic medal is extremely difficult, and a triumph that even the most elite of elite athletes will go a career without experiencing. So, a silver medal in any sport is the achievement of a lifetime.

However, with that being said, expectations for top-notch athletes are expectations for a reason. By winning countless events in their careers, some athletes made first-place finishes their normal — and at the 2026 Winter Olympics, there were a few stars who had a clear path to gold as one of the leaders in their sport, but “settled” for a silver medal.

Chloe Kim was one of those athletes. After winning gold in the women’s halfpipe in 2018 and 2022, Kim had a chance to become the first snowboarder, regardless of country or gender, to three-peat in an Olympic event. She came very close, but finished second to Japan’s Choi Ga-on.

Again, a silver medal was another terrific accolade for Kim at 25 years old, but with her past performances, Team USA fans were hopeful for her to make history.

In the figure skating world, there was another U.S. favorite in the ice dancing event. Madison Chock and Evan Bates were expected to contend for 2026 gold as a pair of multi-time Olympians, including a 2022 gold medal. But in the end, Chock and Bates were edged out by France’s duo in the free dance, resulting in a silver medal.

Ilia Malinin

In terms of one performance in a singular event, there may not have been a more disastrous  showing from a U.S. athlete than Ilia Malinin’s free-fall in the men’s figure skating singles event due to his falls in the free skate portion.

Malinin, the “Quad God,” came into Milan as a sensation, thrilling figure skating fans with his ability to pull off difficult jumps, namely the quadruple axel. After helping the United States win gold in the 2026 team event — which would help salvage his other Olympic results — Malinin was in the spotlight for the singles event, where he was a big favorite as one of the most talented figure skaters in the world.

He proceeded to build a great lead in the two-day event, posting the highest short program score (108.16) of any skater. Entering his free skate, Malinin just needed a solid showing, at least by his standards, to contend for a medal, likely gold. 

Instead, he would be heard saying after his free skate: “I blew it.” Malinin uncharacteristically fell twice during his skate, plummeting his overall score to finish eighth in the event. It became a high-profile example of how pressure can get to an Olympic star.

MORE: Every mistake that cost Ilia Malinin in shocking Olympic result

Amber Glenn’s short program performance

If it weren’t for one bailed triple-loop, Amber Glenn may have been a 2026 medalist in the women’s figure skating singles event alongside Alysa Liu, two members of the “Blade Angels.”

Glenn and Liu were both considered contenders for gold in singles, but only one would medal. While Liu held strong through both the short program and free skate, Glenn had a one-sided performance that ultimately held her back from reaching the podium.

In the short program, the first part of the event, Glenn was docked a significant chunk of points for bailing on a triple-loop jump, one of the foundational portions of the skate. It immediately made her path to gold near-impossible.

However, Glenn bounced back in amazing fashion, posting a season-best score in the free skate (147.52) to temporarily take the lead, threatening to make a historic comeback in the event. At the end of the day, her short program score was a bit too much to overcome, as she finished in fifth. 

Glenn’s overall singles performance certainly does not contend as a “loser,” as she displayed incredible fortitude to even contend for a medal. But if it wasn’t for her short program result, Team USA could have had two medalists in the event.

Lindsey Vonn’s leg

Lindsey Vonn deserves every ounce of respect for what she attempted: a 41-year-old skier, one of the most decorated in history, making an Olympic comeback on a torn ACL after initially retiring seven years prior due to knee injuries. Her journey was arguably the biggest storyline of all entering the 2026 Winter Olympics, aiming to show that she was capable of anything on the slopes.

Unfortunately, it wasn’t meant to be. In her qualification runs, Vonn looked like she would be able to ski with her usual smoothness even with a torn ACL. But when it came time for the actual women’s downhill event, Vonn crashed, and it was a scary moment for an athlete who was already challenging typical physical limitations.

She would be airlifted to a hospital, being diagnosed with a complex tibial fracture that ended her Olympic run — and presumably, her career. It was a heartbreaking exit for Vonn as one of the feel-good stories in Milan. In the following weeks, she has shared that she’s undergone multiple surgeries to repair her leg.

Very quickly, Vonn’s Olympic run went from an incredible athlete attempting something unprecedented, to major concern for her health and future wellbeing. All appears currently OK from Vonn as she recovers from her broken leg — and all American Olympics fans are certainly hoping she continues to prioritize her full recovery and health after proving she could push some human limits.

MORE: Lindsey Vonn’s full injury timeline

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