By Jasmine Serena (Y8) — creds to Romina Serena
The Winter Olympics, hosted in Milano and Cortina, started on the 6th of February and ended just last week on the 22nd. Across ice rinks and ski slopes, these games sparked moments of success and sportsmanship as athletes competed for their country, showing determination and teamwork. Here are some of the moments that shaped the Games.
Resilience on the Slopes
This year’s Winter Olympics showcased incredible talent and victories, as well as inspiring stories of perseverance. An athlete that really stood out was U.S’s downhill skier Lindsey Vonn. During her career, Vonn became one of the fastest female downhill skiers, dominating several international competitions. However, she battled many injuries along the way. She retired in 2019 saying, “My body is broken beyond repair”. In November 2024 at the age of 40, Vonn came out of retirement after a successful knee replacement surgery. Her goal was to compete in the 2026 Olympic Games. However, only 9 days before her race, Vonn tore her ACL in a crash. Determined to achieve her Olympic dream, she raced on a broken knee and managed to qualify for the finals. Unfortunately, 13 seconds into the race, her pole clipped a gate marker, and Vonn crashed. She was airlifted to the nearest hospital, where she was diagnosed with ACS (acute compartment syndrome). Nevertheless, in an Instagram post, Vonn said she had “no regrets” and added “it wasn’t a storybook ending or a fairy tale, it was just life.” Her resilience is admirable, and we wish her the best with her recovery.
Ukrainian Athlete’s Helmet Tribute
Vladyslav Heraskevych, the Ukrainian skeleton skater, was disqualified from the 2026 Winter Olympic Games for disobeying a repeated request from the International Olympic Committee to use a different helmet. Nicknamed the ‘helmet of remembrance’, his helmet honoured 24 athletes and coaches killed in the ongoing conflict between Russia and Ukraine. IOC president Kirsty Coventry said that she “did not disagree with the message of the helmet” but said it broke the rules, specifically rule number 50.2 that states: “No kind of demonstration or political, religious or racial propaganda is permitted in any Olympic sites, venues or other areas.” After a meeting with Heraskevych in which Coverntry emerged in tears, it was decided that he was to be disqualified. Heraskevych later vocalized his frustration with this decision, saying: “It’s frustrating, we put a lot of effort training for 4 years, and today I was denied to have my moment” Despite the disappointment that Heraskevych faced, he was later congratulated by President Zelensky, calling him a “hero” and awarding him a medal of freedom. These events evoked controversy on social media platforms, with people saying things like “remembrance is not violation”, while some encouraged the disqualification. Other Ukrainian athletes also felt the decision was unfair and protested.
South America’s First Medal
Lucas Pinheiro Braathen, a Brazilian athlete, earned South America its first medal when he won the gold medal in Men’s Giant Slalom. Braathen competed for Norway for most of his career since his father was Norwegian. Braathen left the Norwegian ski team in October 2023 following a dispute with the Norwegian Ski Federation regarding marketing rights and sponsorship deals. Before he returned to his mother’s hometown in Brazil, Braathen stated that he felt “restricted and disrespected”. He also told reporters after not being able to medal in Beijing 2022, “I reached a point where I felt I had lost the reason why I began skiing”. In Brazil, he felt he connected with his family and heritage. However, during his break, he rediscovered his passion for skiing and began training again, aiming to win the Olympics without “sacrificing his identity”. He wanted to bring his “Brazilian flair” to the Games and win, being his “authentic self”. Braathen definitely managed to; bringing home the gold medal! He is truly an inspiration to all.
Ski Mountaineering Makes Its Debut
History was made when the IOC announced a new Olympic event called ski mountaineering (“skimo”). Skimo is a sprinting event that is essentially the competitive version of ski touring. This type of skiing became increasingly popular when prices for lifts and ski passes rose in 2018. In the Olympics, SkiMo consists of an ascent on skis, a climbing section where athletes run up stairs with their skis attached to their backpacks, a short descent, and the final descent, where the gates are spread out approximately the same as the ones in the Giant Slalom event. The difference between SkiMo and other skiing events is that athletes use ‘skins’ to stop themselves from sliding down when they are climbing. These are made out of a core, a reinforcement and a base. The athletes compete in sprinting and relay races. A USA official, Anna Gibson, said “We had an absolute blast!” It is the latest event added to the Winter Olympic Games since 2002, when skeleton racing was introduced. This new addition shows that the Olympic Games are always evolving, and personally? I think it’s fun to be able to watch new events; this way we’ll never get bored!
U.S. Politics Seeps Into the Games
The Olympics are supposed to be a politically neutral place, but this year’s Games have become arguably the most politically influenced Olympics ever. With the booing of America’s vice president, JD Vance, at the opening ceremony through to protests against the presence of ICE agents, Milan Cortina’s goal to keep politics off the table has clearly not succeeded.
American skier Hunter Hess expressed his discomfort representing Team USA in a press conference, saying, “It brings up mixed emotions to represent the US right now, I think. There’s obviously a lot going on right now that I’m not the biggest fan of, and I think a lot of people aren’t.” In the same conference, Hess also made a bold statement saying: “Just because I’m wearing the flag, doesn’t mean I represent everything that’s going on in the U.S.” Two days later, President Trump lashed out at him on social media, calling him a “real Loser” and “hard to root for”. In his post, he said that “if that’s the case, he shouldn’t have tried out for the team, and it’s too bad he’s on it.” Despite being the only athlete to whom Trump responded directly, Hess was not the only person to communicate the struggle of competing for the USA. Other skiers, snowboarders and skaters like Chris Lillis, Chloe Kim and Amber Glenn felt it was hard to voice their opinions but said that leading with love and compassion would make things easier.
On a similar note, many protests were held in the streets of Milan regarding the presence of ICE agents and security during the Olympics. The agents were originally supposed to enforce extra measures of security for the American athletes, but many individuals and other parties thought that it was unsettling after what happened in Minesota saying: “I don’t want ICE” and “ICE out”. Gus Kenworthy, a skier who competes for the UK despite having both American and British citizenship, posted an explicit anti-ICE statement on Instagram that faced a lot of backlash. He responded to this saying: “I think it’s important to say what we feel and stand up for what we believe in and stand up to injustice.” In my opinion, although the Games are supposed to focus solely on the sport, the Olympic stage is a big one, and athletes should be allowed to take that advantage without facing hate.
In conclusion, although they faced problems with politics and views on ongoing matters in the world, this year’s Winter Olympics were truly inspirational.