The Winter Olympics 2026 have provided us with a wealth of entertainment, whether you’ve been watching the games live or scrolling social media. There’s been cheating scandals, figure skating dramas, disqualifications, marriage proposals and a whole lot of romance (the Olympic Village has officially run out of condoms), not to mention the avalanche of memes comparing the life-threatening Winter Olympics to the cute-in-comparison Summer Olympics. It’s the gift that keeps on giving, and luckily for us, there are still five days left. Since the games began 10 days ago, however, we’ve been introduced to the next wave of Gen Z Olympians. From Alysa Liu and her halo hair to the Winter Olympics’ first-ever transgender athlete, Sweden’s Elis Lundholm, below, we take you through the brightest breakout stars of the Milano Cortino 2026 (so far).
Arguably the biggest breakout stars of this year’s Games, the trio of US women’s figure skaters have become a dream team both on and off the ice. Between triple Axels, gravity-defying spins, and gold medals for Glenn and Liu, their friendship has won over the internet – with the trio naming themselves The Blade Angels or Babes of Glory. Even if you’re not watching the coverage, it’s hard to miss the flood of fancam edits clipped from performances and live streams and set to pitched-up fakemink or Addison Rae tracks. (T)
As we’ve been introduced to new stars, we’ve also been introduced to their catchy nicknames. As well as The Babe Angels, we’ve met The Minion, The Tiger and The Flying Dutchman, but the one that we’ve seen make global headlines more than any other is The Quad God, otherwise known as Team USA’s Ilia Malinin. The 21-year-old Virginia-born figure skater made his Olympic debut at Milano Cortina last week, going viral for landing a backflip on ice. The internet applauded Malinin for the risky move, while others were quick to point out that he wasn’t the first to pull it off.
The first person to do a backflip at the Olympics was American figure skater Terry Kubicka in 1976, which resulted in its ban, since it was seen to be too dangerous. Then, in 1998, France’s Surya Bonaly broke the rules for her final performance as a professional figure skater, ending the last routine of her career with a backflip and landing on just one blade. In 2024, the backflip ban was lifted, meaning that Malinin made history, becoming the first person to legally land a backflip on one skate in the Olympics. Although Malinin was widely expected to score a gold medal last week, in a shocking turn of events, he fell twice during his routine and ended up placing eighth. “On the world’s biggest stage, those who appear the strongest may still be fighting invisible battles on the inside,” he wrote on Instagram. (IVD)
Swapping sand for ice, Kazakhstan’s Mikhail Shaidorov skated in a Dune-inspired outfit to a mash-up of the movie’s soundtrack, complete with a shaggy brown middle part that could rival Timothée Chalamet’s. The result was a win that even shocked the star himself, as the 21-year-old earned gold, his country’s first ever, with a near‑flawless free skate. Shaidorov wasn’t alone in mining the sci‑fi epic for inspiration: Spanish duo Olivia Smart and Tim Dieck also drew from the movie for their performance. (T)
Laila Edwards made history just by being at the Olympics: she is the first Black woman to play for the US ice hockey team at the tournament since the sport debuted in 1998. The 22-year-old, who plays at the University of Wisconsin, then almost immediately became the first Black woman to score a goal at the Olympics for Team USA.
Since then, in the five games they’ve played, Edwards has scored a total of two goals and four assists – pretty impressive for someone in defence. And if the Americans go on to take the gold medal this year, which seems likely (a tough sentence to write for me, a Canadian who can still fondly remember the first match I ever watched: team Canada’s 16-0 game against Italy at the 2006 Olympics), she’ll be just the second Black woman to win an ice hockey gold medal, following Canada’s Sarah Nurse at the 2022 Olympics, providing some still much-needed representation in hockey. (AP)
This year’s Olympic uniforms have had everyone talking. Whether it’s been watching the athletes unbox their new kits on TikTok or coming together to support Team Haiti’s political uniforms, the Winter Olympics have been a sartorial feast. But, as Team Haiti discovered, the International Olympic Committee has strict guidelines about what athletes can and can’t wear. While competing last week, Ukrainian skeleton racer Vladyslav Heraskevych wore a “helmet of memory”, showing the images of 24 Ukrainian athletes and children killed by Russia during its military invasion. As a result of wearing the helmet, Heraskevych was disappointingly disqualified from the race. Over the weekend, however, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy honoured Heraskevych with the Order of Freedom, stating that “Remembrance is not a violation.” (IVD)
23-year-old freestyle skier Elis Lundholm has made history at Milano Cortina as the first transgender athlete to compete at the Winter Olympics. Although the Swedish skier identifies as a trans man, he competes in the women’s category and placed 25th in the qualifiers, meaning that he sadly didn’t make it to the finals. “I want everyone to be able to be themselves and just do what they want to do,” Lundholm said in an interview. “You can hear the voices out there. But then I do my thing, and I don’t give a damn.” (IVD)
Another one for the history books, on Saturday, Lucas Pinheiro Braathen clinched Brazil’s first-ever Winter Olympic gold medal while competing in the giant slalom. The win also marks the first medal won by any South American country in the Winter Olympics. “I was skiing completely according to my intuition, and my heart today, and that’s what enabled me to become an Olympic champion,” he said in an interview. “It had nothing to do with the medal, it had nothing to do with the history that I had the potential of writing, I just wanted to ski as the person I am.” Beyond making history, the skier has also won hearts with his samba dancing and painted nails. (IVD)
Of all the athletes giving us a behind-the-scenes rundown of the Olympics, one of our favourite new TikTokers has been Team GB’s Kirsty Muir. The 21-year-old Scottish freestyle skier has been bringing us daily updates from the games, where she placed fourth last week in the slopestyle final. “Fourth place at the Olympics, the toughest place to come,” she wrote on Instagram. But today, (Feb 16), she’s got another chance at the podium and will no doubt be going for gold in the big air finals. Go Kirsty! (IVD)
When you’re watching the death-defying feats of the Winter Olympic athletes (I don’t mean you, Curling teams), it’s easy to pay no mind to the markings on the snow helping keep the skiers in bounds, or overlook the fact that the camera is perfectly keeping up with the dizzying speeds and spins of the figure skaters. But pull back the curtain, and you’ll realise that the people who keep the games running are also immensely skilled in their own right.
This year, we’ve seen these behind-the-scenes heroes get some well-deserved recognition on social media, where videos are being shared of people like Jordan Cowan, a former US competitive ice dancer turned camera operator, who captures intimate moments of figure skating that the overhead cameras can’t. I personally would be fully invested in a documentary that follows the volunteers who ski down the mountain in a snow-plough, marking out the courses with their paint tanks and sprayers (the correct technical term, I’m sure). (AP)
Success at the Winter Olympics is, understandably, dominated by athletes from wintery countries. But every tournament, our imaginations and hearts are captured by those delegations from the snow-less nations. This year, Trinidad and Tobago have brought seven athletes to the Olympics, from the sports of bobsleigh (five athletes) and alpine skiing (two athletes), and the occasion marks a series of firsts. It’s the first time that the Caribbean nation will compete in alpine skiing, and the first time they will compete in both the four-man and two-man bobsleigh events.
Speaking to the BBC, bobsleigh athlete De Aundre John said it was a dream come true to even be competing. “The feeling is unreal, just to be here – I’ve dreamt about it.” The team have modest hopes, joking that they are on “operation don’t come last”, but whatever the results, their appearance at the games is a testament to determination, following your dreams and the ever-growing diversity of the Olympics. (AP)
Despite the fact that there really isn’t very much hockey in the show, one of the side effects of the popularity of Heated Rivalry is that it has brought new fans and driven up ticket sales to both Olympics Ice Hockey and the NHL. This also means that a whole new set of people have been introduced to Quinn Hughes.
Quinn Hughes, a defenseman for the Minnesota Wild, is one of the best players in the NHL. He also looks like he is being constantly tormented by at least several ghosts. His haunted expressions, moments of disassociation and general resemblance to a troubled Victorian child have become popular fodder for memes among NHL fans, and now the whole world gets to enjoy them too. (AP)
