The 2026 Olympics in Milano Cortina have recently come to an end, leaving us with countless emotions and intriguing stories to look back on. Team Canada sent 207 athletes to Italy, who competed in 16 disciplines and came home with 21 medals: 5 gold, 7 silver and 9 bronze. At the end of the Games, Canada ranked 11th in gold medals and 8th in total medals. The journey to this medal count included many ups and downs for Team Canada, with some of the most memorable stories involving school assignments and extensions, hockey records and tears, a bronze in ice dance, dads, boops and good ol’ Canadian boys.
The Top Three Stories
Madeline Schizas’ Assignment Extension
Madeline Schizas is the figure skater who earned the spot to compete in the women’s category in both the individual and team events for Team Canada. Coming into qualifying for Milano Cortina, she became quite known for her response when asked about looking to earn Canada’s only spot in her category at the Canadian Figure Skating Championships: “Over my dead body is anyone else going to the Olympics.”
After she arrived in Milan and completed her short program for the team event, Schizas realized she hadn’t submitted an assignment on time and, unseriously, shared her struggle of being a student athlete on social media. Much to her surprise, it went viral with many people tuning in to see if she would get her extension, which her professor did grant.
Hockey Heartbreak and Record Breaker: Marie-Philip Poulin
Canada is a hockey powerhouse in international competition. Both teams entered the Olympics with strong rosters and earned consistent wins during the round-robin matches and into the finals. One of those world-class roster talents was Marie-Philip Poulin, who beat Hayley Wickenheiser’s record for all-time goals scored at the Olympic Games in the women’s semi-final. Poulin scored both her record-breaking 19th goal and one extra in Canada’s 2-1 win over Switzerland, which sent them to the final and really showed why her nickname is Captain Clutch.
Both the men’s and the women’s teams punched their tickets to the final against the United States. Despite great showings from both teams, Canada ultimately went home with two silver medals after two overtime losses. The losses, as upsetting as they were for Canadians, left us with some hilarious reactions to the plushy tradition during the medal ceremonies. Both Daryl Watts on the women’s team and Nathan MacKinnon on the men’s team didn’t seem too thrilled about the miniature mascot they were handed alongside their silver medals.
Piper Gilles and Paul Poirier’s First Olympic Medal
Piper Gilles and Paul Poirier have been ice dancing together since 2011, and have previously competed in both the 2018 PyeongChang and 2022 Beijing Olympics. They’ve medaled together in the International Skating Union (ISU) World Championships three times, but especially wanted an Olympic medal, which they finally won in 2026. The pair won bronze in ice dance, which was an especially sweet accomplishment after Piper’s relatively recent run-in with cancer. The medal was Canada’s fifth ever in ice dance and was won by the pair after much struggle and hard work, making Canadians across the country proud.
Honourable Mentions
Proud Fatherly Tears
Maia Schwinghammer’s dad made his way from Saskatchewan to Italy to watch his daughter make her Olympic debut. When he took an interview with the CBC during the games, he immediately got emotional:
Not much later in the Olympics, Megan Oldham’s dad also spoke in an interview with CBC, recounting his emotions upon seeing his daughter win her first Olympic medal after missing the podium in Beijing by 1 point:
The Olympic Podium of Fathers
All three medalists in the Men’s dual moguls event took a photo together with their medals, partners and kids, making it one of the cutest moments of the Olympics. The podium of dads also included Canada’s first gold medal of the games, which was won by Mikaël Kingsbury.
“Boopgate”
Both the women’s and men’s Canadian curling teams got into some heated drama about whether or not they double-touched the rock. The drama and live coverage led to many memes that were posted throughout the rest of the games:
The Good Ol’ Canadian Boys
The Good Ol’ Canadian Boys are a group of friends who made their way to Milan to support their friend Seth Jarvis, who was playing on Team Canada’s men’s hockey team.