Viral Moments You Might Have Missed From the 2026 Winter Olympics

The Milano Cortina 2026 logo. The logo was nicknamed “Logo Futura” to represent the themes of sportsmanship, sustainability, and solidarity among the teams. Photo Cred: Olympics.com

Sofia Carmichael, Community Desk Lead

The 2026 Winter Olympics, held in Milan Cortina, Italy, took place from February 6, 2026 to February 22, 2026. The opening ceremony on February 6 started the games in spectacular fashion, featuring performances by Mariah Carey and Andrea Bocelli. Over 93 countries participated in these games, with Norway coming out on top with 41 medals, 18 of which being gold. While the athletes are the main focus of the event, there are some viral moments that overshadow others. Here are some of my favorite moments if you missed them:

Cheating is always a worry in competitive sports, but you would think it would be while competing, not cheating on your girlfriend and announcing it to the whole world. The biathlete from Norway, Sturla Holm Laegreid, after winning his bronze medal, publicly admitted to cheating on his girlfriend in hopes of winning her back. After completing his 20m Biathlon, Laegreid confessed to the world that he had made the “biggest mistake” for cheating on the “love of his life” nearly 3 months before. His ex-girlfriend was not willing to forgive, despite the public nature of his confession, leaving this as an outrageous and embarrassing moment instead of an endearing love confession. Despite this poorly-received announcement, Laegrid still went on to win two bronze medals and one silver. 

Speaking of cheating, there was a lot of discourse surrounding Canadians in the curling matches. Both the Women's and Men's teams faced accusations about “double touching the stones,” which is where an athlete touches the granite of the curling stone after they have already released it down the ice. This first came about in the Men’s match between Canada and Sweden, where Swedish player Oskar Eriksson accused Marc Kennedy of Canada of “double touching”. The accusation led to a fiery confrontation between the two athletes, where the Canadians threw manners aside and passionately denied any claims of cheating. Despite accusations and videos purporting to show evidence of said accusations, the Men’s team from Canada went on to beat Sweden and win Gold overall in this event. Rachel Hoffman, of the Canadian Women’s team, faced similar allegations the next day. These also went nowhere, and the team ultimately placed 3rd and secured a bronze medal. While there is still some debate over whether the cheating allegations were unfounded, this moment at least brought some intrigue to curling and made it a little more fun to watch. 

Female excellence was widely celebrated during these games, especially for the U.S. teams, where 17 of the 33 medals won by the U.S. were won by women, 6 of which were gold. One of the most popular of these female athletes was figure skater Alysa Liu. Known for her striped hair, alternative style, and carefree attitude, she was a crowd favourite among viewers. After being a first-time World Champion at just 13, she went on to compete in the 2022 Olympics held in Beijing, which led to her retirement at only 16 years old. After a multi-year hiatus, she decided to make a return and carve her own path. The reason she's so entertaining to watch is that she is focused on showing her art and performing, without care for a medal finish. This didn’t stop her from winning, not only gold in the Team Event, but also in the Women’s Singles. 

The hockey teams for the USA both garnered a lot of attention, both positive and negative. The Men’s and Women’s teams both brought home gold in the hockey event. For the women, this returned them to the gold medal status they achieved in 2018. The teams went into overtime with the score being 1:1 until Megan Keller from the U.S scored the game-winning shot, and set a record for the Women’s Hockey Team. Watching the Women’s team fight and play was really enjoyable, because I haven’t ever watched female hockey before, and it was very enlightening. For the men, this was the first gold medal won in this event in 46 years. While there has been a lot of discourse surrounding the Men’s team and the lack of attention to the Women’s team, these are still such great accomplishments for both teams and such entertaining games to watch. 

One of my favourite moments to watch was when figure skater Tomas- Llorenc Guarino Sabate, from Spain, competed with a Minions-themed routine. Donned in the familiar Minion attire of a yellow t-shirt and overalls, with a symphony of “Minions” songs playing in the background, this skater captured the attention of people from around the world. However, Universal Studios had initially refused to grant Sabate the music rights, making it impossible for him to perform his routine. When this news hit the public, supporters banded together and demanded that they give him the rights to the music, and, with the eventual help of Pharrell Williams, Sabate was able to perform his routine in the games. Even though he only placed 25th, the individual and creative routine captured the hearts and attention of audiences across the world. 

There are so many more highlights and entertaining moments to watch for the 2026 Olympic Games that you should check out, but these are just a few of the most viral. And while you should definitely pay attention to some of these more outrageous and entertaining moments, it is also important to watch replays of the events and celebrate the athletic excellence of everyone involved.