Norway tallied a record 41 medals, 8 more than the second-place Americans, who have a population over 60 times that of Norway. Norway's 18 gold medals at the 2026 games were also a record, with 6 of these golds coming from cross-country skier Johannes Høsflot Klæbo.
Pierre-Louis: If you really think about it, ice skating is just controlled slipping on ice. And whenever I go skating I can't help but think about the Winter Olympics, like the ones that are happening right now in Italy.
When the numbers were added up, the Green Mountain State took the crown with a score of 9.49 out of a possible ten. With an average of 81.2 inches of snowfall annually, Vermont's precipitation was bested by only two other states in the top ten-Wyoming with 91.4 inches and New York with an impressive 123.8 inches. Temperatures from December through February hover around a frosty 19.4 degrees, perfect for maintaining snow accumulation on trails throughout the season.
Some of the world's greatest winter sports athletes have called on the International Olympics Committee to stop taking fossil fuel industry money, including from Italian oil giant ENI, a "Premium Partner" of the 2026 Winter Olympics. "The time has come to question the ethical implications of...normalizing the connections between our sports and the detrimental effects of the product that [fossil fuel companies] sell," reads a petition delivered yesterday to IOC officials in Milan, Italy, where the Games' opening ceremony takes place on Friday.
The U.S. team released its 232-athlete roster for the Milan Cortina Olympics on Monday and it includes Lindsey Vonn and bobsledders Kaillie Humphries and Elana Meyers Taylor, who are among the seven Americans making their fifth trip to the games. Other five-timers are hockey player Hilary Knight, figure skater Evan Bates and snowboarders Faye Thelen and Nick Baumgartner. Meyers Taylor leads a group of 33 returning medalists.
Shaun White, five-time Olympian and three-time Olympic gold medalist in half-pipe snowboarding, is more than familiar with winter sports. He's lived and breathed it for years. But there was always one thing missing: No one was organizing or governing them. That's where White's latest venture, THE SNOW LEAGUE, has been a game-changer for winter sports athletes. With a mission to bring structure and excitement to skiing and snowboarding, he successfully completed his inaugural event in Aspen.
