The Milano Cortina 2026 Olympics ran from Feb. 6 to Feb. 22.
When the Winter Olympics began in 1924, women were only allowed to compete in figure skating. Since the games have slowly begun to expand to include women in more sports, this year, women made up 47% of the Winter Olympics. Additionally, four new women’s events were added, the most ever in Olympic history.
As women’s sports continue to grow, it’s important to acknowledge the women who contribute to this growth.
Adeliia Petrosian is a Russian figure skater who made her Olympic debut this year. She competed under the Olympic Individual Neutral Athletes (AIN) team. She was unable to compete under the Russian flag due to the International Olympic Committee banning Russia for invading Ukraine. Petrosian is a three-time Russian Figure Skating Champion known for landing the quadruple jump, a feat that figure skaters from other countries haven’t achieved in their programs. During her program, she was unable to land the quadruple jump and placed sixth in the women’s short program.
Alysa Liu became the first American woman to win a gold medal in the women’s figure skating singles since the 2002 Salt Lake Winter Olympics. She first competed in the 2022 Beijing Olympics at 16, retiring from the sport shortly after. Here she placed seventh and eighth in her two programs. After coming back in 2024, she won the figure skating World Championship. In her 2026 Olympic performance, she also won gold for the team event, followed by her women’s singles medal.
Amber Glenn made her Olympic debut this year as well, competing in the individual and team figure skating events. She placed fifth in the women’s singles and won gold in the team figure skating event. She became the oldest American woman to participate in the singles figure skating team. Glenn has won the last three U.S. national figure skating championships.
Eileen Gu became the youngest freestyle skiing champion at the 2022 Beijing Olympics, winning two gold medals and one silver medal. At the 2026 Milano Cortina Olympics, she won one gold and two silver medals, becoming the most decorated Olympic skier. She also holds the record for the most Freeski and Snowboard World Cup wins, with fifteen wins total. Outside of skiing, she is known for being one of the highest-paid Winter Olympians. Her income comes from modeling, influencer work, brand ambassadorship and major corporate partnerships in both the United States and China.
Elana Meyers Taylor extended her title as the most decorated Black winter Olympian, having earned six Olympic medals in bobsleigh and monobob. She originally received this title during the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics. Meyers Taylor earned her sixth medal, and her first gold, in the women’s monobob event. She was also part of the reason the women’s monobob event was added to the Winter Olympics in 2022.
Francesca Lollobrigida made her Olympic debut in speed skating in 2014. In 2022, she became the first Italian to win a Winter Olympic medal. In 2023, she gave birth to her son and contemplated retirement. In the 2026 Winter Olympics, she won the 3000 and 5000 metre events. She won the 3000 metre event on her 35th birthday. Before the Olympics, Lollobrigida announced her retirement from the sport. Being able to continue participating after years of competing and winning, then becoming a mother, Lollobrigida is an example of balancing personal milestones.
Lindsey Vonn has been competing in the Winter Olympics since 2002, and she won her first Olympic gold medal at the 2010 Winter Games in Vancouver, becoming the first American woman to win in the downhill. She retired from the sport in 2019 due to injury and returned in 2024. Before the 2026 Olympics, Vonn tore her ACL in a World Cup downhill crash and still competed. Thirteen seconds into the downhill run event, Vonn got stuck on a gate and fell. She had to undergo four leg surgeries to save her leg. After her injury, she has shown that she is moving forward with the sport.
Mikaela Shiffrin is the youngest Olympic gold medalist in slalom history. She was 19 when she won the gold medal at the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi. After competing in the Beijing Olympics, she left without a medal after crashing in both events she participated in. She came back in 2026 and won gold in the alpine skiing slalom. Her margin of victory was 1.50 seconds, the largest margin since 1998. She now holds four Olympic medals, three of which are gold.
US Women’s Hockey Team
Since the introduction of women’s hockey in the 1998 Nagano Winter Olympics, the U.S. Women’s hockey team has won a medal each year. In their final game against Canada in overtime, Megan Keller scored the winning goal, ending 2-1. This marked the team’s third gold medal and first since 2018. The U.S. and Canadian women’s teams have also faced each other in gold medal match-ups in seven out of eight of the event’s games since 1998. Caroline Harvey was named the Most Valuable Player and Best Defender in this year’s Winter Olympics. She scored nine points, tying with Keller. Laila Edwards made Winter Olympics history as the first Black woman to be part of the U.S. women’s hockey team.
While this is just a handful of the women who participated in the Milano Cortina 2026 Olympics, it is still important to acknowledge the number of women who were able to compete. The achievements and hard work of these women aren’t just about where they placed, but how they inspire young girls to pursue their sports. The increase in women’s participation in the Winter Olympics reflects the greater presence of women in sports.
