Milano Cortina 2026 delivered more drama on Day 13 as the United States climbed to second place in the medals standings, highlighted by a gold medal victory in women’s ice hockey and a historic triumph in figure skating.

USA Moves Into Second Place

With three additional medals on Thursday, including a dramatic win in women’s hockey, Team USA moved ahead of host nation Italy in the overall tally.

Norway maintained its lead with 16 gold medals and 34 overall medals. The United States now has 27 total medals, followed closely by Italy with 26. Canada remains in 11th place with 15 medals, including four gold.

Women’s Hockey: USA Reclaims the Crown

The highly anticipated gold medal match between the United States and Canada lived up to expectations. Canada led 1-0 until the final minutes of regulation, appearing poised to secure a sixth Olympic title.

In a pivotal move, the U.S. pulled goaltender Aerin Frankel for an extra attacker. The strategy paid off when captain Hilary Knight scored the equalizer to force overtime.

Megan Keller sealed the victory 4:07 into sudden-death overtime, securing the gold and reclaiming the Olympic title last won by the United States at PyeongChang 2018.

The loss was a significant setback for Canada, particularly for star forward Marie-Philip Poulin, who had returned from injury with hopes of leading her team to gold.

Earlier, Switzerland defeated Sweden in the bronze medal match, earning its first Olympic medal in women’s hockey since Sochi 2014.

Alysa Liu Makes History in Figure Skating

In women’s figure skating, Alysa Liu delivered a landmark performance, becoming the first American woman in 24 years to win Olympic gold in the singles event.

Liu produced a career-best total of 226.79 points, rising from third after the short program to claim the title. She finished ahead of Japan’s Nakai Ami, who scored 224.90, and three-time world champion Sakamoto Kaori. Sakamoto took silver, while Nakai earned bronze.

The 20-year-old secured her second gold medal of the Games, adding to her earlier team event triumph.

Ski Mountaineering Debuts With Historic Champions

Ski mountaineering made its Olympic debut, crowning its first champions in the sprint events.

Marianne Fatton of Switzerland won the inaugural women’s sprint gold in 2:59.77. She finished just over two seconds ahead of France’s Emily Harrop. Spain’s Ana Alonso Rodriguez claimed bronze, marking Spain’s first medal of the Winter Games.

In the men’s sprint, Oriol Cardona Coll secured the first Olympic gold in the discipline with a time of 2:34.03. He edged Nikita Filipov by 1.5 seconds, while France’s Thibault Anselmet took bronze.

Norway Extends Lead in Nordic Combined

Norway added to its gold tally in Nordic combined, where Jens Luraas Oftebro claimed his third gold of the Games in the men’s team sprint alongside Andreas Skoglund.

The Norwegian pair finished ahead of Finland’s Eero Hirvonen and Ilkka Herola, with Austria’s Stefan Rettenegger and Johannes Lamparter earning bronze.

Oftebro overtook Finland’s Hirvonen on the final cross-country leg, finishing in 41:18.0, just 0.5 seconds ahead.

Olympic Record in Speed Skating

China celebrated gold in men’s speed skating as Ning Zhongyan set an Olympic record of 1:41.98 in the 1500m.

Ning secured his third medal of the Games, having previously won bronze in the 1000m and team pursuit. He finished ahead of American Jordan Stolz, who clocked 1:42.75, while Dutch skater Kjeld Nuis took bronze in 1:42.82.

With multiple events still to be decided, the race for medals continues to intensify as the Games approach their final stretch.

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