By Cyote Williams | Times Vedette
The Winter Olympics have come and gone, and, I have to say, as someone who hadn’t tuned in for the last few events, I thoroughly enjoyed the 2026 Milano Cortana Winter Olympics in Italy. It felt like a breath of fresh, cold air for a number of reasons. The three countries at the top of the medal table by the end were Norway with 41, the U.S. with 33, and the Netherlands with 20.
The most recent major headline to come from the event was that both the men’s and women’s hockey teams won gold medals. On the women’s side, Megan Keller scored the goal of a lifetime to secure the women’s place atop the hockey world. The overtime winning goal effortlessly shifted past the defender and slid underneath the goalkeeper. On the men’s side, they also won in overtime thanks to Jack Hughes. It was the men’s first gold medal since 1980, which many of you might remember as the Miracle on Ice.
Staying to the ice, Alysa Liu’s captivating free skate performance cemented a glorious comeback to competitive skating. Liu had retired from skating at 16 after the 2022 Beijing Olympics, hoping to find herself outside of skating. She was tired of the lack of autonomy she was given throughout her youth. Once she decided to return, she said to her coaches, “I get to pick my own program music. I get to help with the creative process of the program. If I feel like I’m skating too much, I’ll back down. If I feel like I’m not skating enough, I’ll ramp it up. No one’s gonna starve me or tell me what I can and can’t eat.” Sounds like she knew what she was talking about, as she dominated the competition on the way to a gold medal in an incredible performance.
Another skater took gold at this Olympics, but he has been in the limelight for a while now. Ilia Malinin is doing things on the ice that were once thought to be impossible. A backflip was once deemed too dangerous for competition. Malinin now regularly performs the move, much to his delight. France’s Surya Bonaly was the first to complete the move (3:55).
You likely heard or saw what happened to Lindsey Vonn, one of the United States’ most famous Olympians of the 2000s. Vonn’s story was less about victory and more about perseverance. She came out of retirement to compete at these Olympics. In the final event before the Olympics, she ruptured her ACL. Despite this, she decided to compete anyway. Vonn ended up crashing early into her Olympic performance, which included a complex tibia fracture. She said she nearly had to have her leg amputated due to the damage. Vonn has been open about her recovery.
I tuned in several times to the Olympics. One of the best parts was how it felt like it truly was the peak of sporting entertainment, one that has not yet been tainted by gambling and advertisements. What you tune in for is what you get — the best athletes, from all over the world, showing their skills at some of the most difficult sports the globe has to offer. And it was great.
Reach out with comments, complaints, story ideas and more to cyote@dmcityview.com.