These moments of unbridled joy at the Winter Olympics could offer a brief escape from the relentless doom and gloom news cycle.
As the Winter Games come to a close this weekend, watch some of the most inspiring scenes from Milan Cortina 2026 below – from the athletes’ touching reunions with their families to their sheer ecstasy at realizing that all their hard work has paid off with a prestigious place on the podium.
Italy’s Francesca Lollobrigida celebrates with her son Tommaso after winning the gold medal in the women’s 3,000 meter speed skating race.
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Canada’s Valerie Maltais (left) and Ivanie Blondin celebrate winning gold in the women’s team pursuit speed skating race.
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Switzerland’s Nadine Faehndrich celebrates with teammate Nadja Kaelin after winning the silver medal in the women’s cross-country skiing team free sprint.
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USA women’s ice hockey head coach John Wroblewski after the team’s gold medal game against Canada.
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American freestyle skier Kaila Kuhn after competing in the women’s freestyle aerial skiing final.
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Gold medalist American figure skater Alysa Liu celebrates with Japanese bronze medalist Ami Nakai.
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Femke Kok of the Netherlands celebrates after the 500 meter speed skating event.
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The Dutch Xandra Velzeboer celebrates after the 1,000 meter short track speed skating test.
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South Korea wins gold in the 3,000-meter short track speed skating event.
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Brazilian Lucas Pinheiro Braathen jumps for joy after winning gold in the men’s giant slalom.
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China’s Su Yiming celebrates after winning the men’s slopestyle final.
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Canadian Steven Dubois celebrates his 500 meter short track speed skating.
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German bronze medalists Tobias Wendl (left) and Tobias Arlt celebrate the finish during a men’s doubles luge race.
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Ukraine’s Kyrylo Marsak reacts to his scores after competing during the men’s figure skating short program.
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United States players celebrate after beating Canada in overtime to win the women’s ice hockey gold medal game.
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China’s Ning Zhongyan celebrates winning gold after the 1,500 meter speed skating event.
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Japan’s Kaori Sakamoto (center) reacts to her score after competing in the women’s figure skating short program.
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American figure skater Amber Glenn celebrates winning the gold medal after the figure skating team event.
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Fans applaud before the figure skating ice dance team event.
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Italy’s Francesca Lollobrigida celebrates after winning gold in the women’s 5,000 meters of speed skating.
