The Top 10 Moments For Team USA From Week One Of The 2026 Winter Olympics In Milano Cortina

The first week of competition at the 2026 Winter Olympics in Milan-Cortina is officially over, and Team USA fans have plenty to talk about.

From surprising highs to heartbreaking lows, the opening week delivered exactly the type of drama you expect when you tune into the Olympic Games.

For those who haven’t been able to catch things in real time or watch them back in prime time, we’ve put together a handy rundown of the biggest moments for Team USA from week one.

Korey Thiesse And Cory Dropkin Claim Silver In Mixed Doubles Curling

The sport of curling became a must-watch event for a number of American fans in 2018 when John Shuster skipped the U.S. men’s team to a gold medal.

This time around, it was the mixed doubles tandem of the Corys (or is it the Koreys?) – Cory Thiesse and Korey Dropkin – who stole the show.

The duo began pool play 4-0 before a couple of losses put them in a precarious position. They got back on track, however, with wins over Sweden and Estonia to qualify for the medal round.

In the semifinals, Thiesse and Dropkin made a dramatic comeback, scoring two points in the final end to win 9-8 over the reigning Olympic champions from Italy.

That guaranteed a medal and set up a finals rematch with sibling Isabella and Rasmus Wrana of Sweden. Unfortunately, the sibling duo proved too much, scoring two points in the final end for a dramatic 6-5 victory. But Thiesse and Dropkin still stole the show to start the Olympics.

Heartbreak For Lindsey Vonn Leads To Elation For Breezy Johnson

Legendary Team USA downhill skier Lindsey Vonn knew the risk she was taking when the 41-year-old decided to compete in the Olympics just one week after tearing her ACL.

After two clean practice runs, Vonn, the 2010 Olympic gold medalist, felt good about her chances and the way her body was holding up. Unfortunately, when it came time for competition, she suffered a brutal crash, shattering her leg in multiple places in the process.

On the other end of the spectrum, reigning downhill world champion Breezy Johnson showed exactly why she holds that crown, throwing down an incredible run to claim gold, leading to some serious mixed feelings for Team USA skiing fans.

Team USA Goes Back-To-Back In The Figure Skating Team Competition

In 2022 in Beijing, Team USA narrowly defeated Japan, 65-63, to take home team figure skating gold.

Well, it turns out 2026 in Milan was more or less exactly the same. Although this time, things were even closer after Team USA star Ilia Malinin was upset in the men’s short program by Japan’s Yuma Kagayama.

Both the U.S. and Japan went into the final round, the men’s free skate, tied at 59. In that final round, Malinin, dubbed the “Quad God,” delivered, taking first place ahead of Japan’s Shun Sato and ensuring that Team USA held on to the crown as Olympic champs.

Controversial Ice Dancing Results Sends Shockwaves Through Games

Team USA ice dancing pair Madison Chock and Evan Bates have won everything there is to win … except individual Olympic gold. The pairing came in as the three-time defending world champions and were part of both the 2022 and 2026 gold medal winners in the team event.

This time, however, they’d face their biggest challenge in years, as defending Olympic champion Guillaume Cizeron, shrouded in controversy, returned to the games with a new partner, Laurence Fournier Beaudry, after a split from 2022 partner Gabriella Papadakis under messy circumstances.

Ultimately, it was the French pair, yet again, that took home gold, but only after some highly skeptical scoring from French judge Jézabel Dabois.

The scoring scandal in Olympic ice dance bugged me enough to visualize the data.

The French judge was a clear outlier. She scored the French couple higher and the US couple lower than every other judge. pic.twitter.com/t5UlCR19kk

— Amaç Herdağdelen (@amacinho) February 12, 2026

Chock and Bates ended up having to settle for silver in what was their last competition together.

Team USA Women Go 1-2 In The Freestyle Skiing Moguls

In 2022, Jaelin Kauf just barely missed out on Olympic gold in the women’s freestyle moguls event to Jakara Anthony of Australia.

Unfortunately for Kauf, she suffered similar heartbreak this time around, taking home yet another silver medal. However, this one was bittersweet, as Kauf finished second to 20-year-old teammate Liz Lemley, who like Kauf was born in Vail, Colorado.

It marked Team USA’s first and still only 1-2 thus far in the Olympic Games.

Mikaela Shiffrin Suffers More Olympic Heartbreak

Mikaela Shiffrin is widely recognized as the best women’s slalom skier on the planet. She has over 100 World Cup victories, something nobody else has achieved. She’s an eight-time world champion across several events, and she claimed Olympic gold in both 2014 at 18 years old and again in 2018.

However, the 2022 Olympics were a disaster for Shiffrin, who did not finish three of her five individual events and only finished as high as ninth in the other two.

This year, things didn’t start much differently. Shiffrin teamed with the afforement Breezy Johnson in the team combined event, and Johnson finished first in the downhill portion, sending Shiffrin out last and with the lead in the slalom.

However, Shiffrin looked uncomfortable right from the start and finished just 15th overall in her portion of the event, not just dropping the duo out of first, but off the podium altogether.

Jordan Stolz Delivers To Start His Remarkable Speedskating Quest

21-year-old Wisconsin native Jordan Stolz is the top men’s long-track speed skater on the planet. Stolz won world championships in the 500 meters, 1,000 meters, and 1,500 meters in both 2023 and 2024 and medaled in all three events in 2025 despite dealing with a severe respiratory illness.

He’s hoping to win all three, as well as the mass start event in Milan, and he’s off to a pretty dang good start.

Stolz, in the second-to-last pairing of the 1,000 meters, set a new Olympic record and a track record with a time of 1:06.28 to claim gold by over a second ahead of Jenning de Boo of the Netherlands.

His next event, the 500 meters, will take place on Saturday.

Team USA Women’s Hockey Lays Down A Marker With A– Whipping Of Canada

There are two preeminent powers in the world of hockey: the United States of America and Canada.

The USA won gold in PyeongChang in 2018, while Canada got its lick back in 2022 in Beijing. This time around, the two are the overwhelming favorites to meet again in the gold medal match.

However, they first met in the group stage after being drawn together in Pool A, and Team USA served notice is a huge way. The Americans didn’t just beat Canada, they routed them, 5-0, sending a message in the process.

It should be noted that the Canadians played with superstar Marie-Philip Poulin, who was out with an undisclosed lower-body injury. Poulin and Team Canada are confident of her return later in the tournament, but when and how effective she’ll be are unknown.

Team USA, meanwhile, rolled to a 4-0 record in pool play with a 20-1 goal differential. Canada finished second in the group, likely meaning they’ll have to square off with Sweden, widely considered the No. 3 team in the world, in the semifinals should each team advance.

Chloe Kim Falls Just Short Of History After Controversial Halfpipe Scoring

25-year-old California native Chloe Kim is the best women’s halfpipe snowboarder on the planet. Kim is the two-time defending Olympic champion and claimed gold at the world championships in 2019, 2021, and 2025.

Kim entered this year’s halfpipe event as the heavy favorite, looking for a three-peat even after dislocating her shoulder in training just a month before the games.

All was going according to plan after finishing first in the qualifying round, and then scoring an 88.00 on her first run of the finals to put herself into the lead.

However, 17-year-old Choi Ga-on, who fell hard on her first run of the finals and looked as if she’d withdraw from the tournament, put down a monster run on her third and final attempt, scoring 90.25 to take the lead. Kim tried to top her on her own final attempt, but fell in the process, giving Choi the gold.

Like in ice dancing, however, there was a significant amount of controversy over the scoring, as Choi did not land a single 1080, considered the most difficult trick in women’s halfpipe, while Kim put down a highly considered double-cork 1080 on her opening run.

USA Men’s Hockey Wears Down Latvia In 5-1 Win To Start Tournament

Like in women’s hockey, both Team USA and Canada are the favorites to reach the gold medal game, with Sweden as the dark horse.

Unlike in women’s hockey, the two teams are not grouped together and likely will not meet until a potential final.

The Canadians laid down on a marker in their opening game, hammering a solid Czechia team, 5-0. But Team USA wasn’t far behind, despite having two goals wiped out due to successful Latvian challenges, and having hit the post two more times. The Americans wore down Latvia en route to a resounding 5-1 victory.

They return to the ice on Saturday against Denmark, then finish pool play on Sunday against Germany.