The 2026 Olympic Games are officially closed: Ukraine finished with an anti-record

The 2026 Olympics in Milan and Cortina have come to an end, leaving Ukraine with mixed emotions: the team failed to win any medals, and the result was the worst in the history of Ukraine's participation in the Winter Games. Despite this, some athletes were able to get close to the top level, and there were some high-profile events outside of the competition surrounding the team. Find out what made the 2026 Olympics memorable for Ukraine and what conclusions it left behind

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The 2026 Winter Olympics in Milan and Cortina d'Ampezzo have come to an end. For Ukraine, these Games were one of the most difficult in history: despite the presence of 46 athletes in 11 sports, the national team is returning home without any medals.

Moreover, this performance has been officially recognised as the worst in Ukraine's history of participating in the Winter Olympics. Although the ‘blue and yellows’ also failed to win any medals in Salt Lake City (2002) and Vancouver (2010), the athletes managed to finish in fifth place on those occasions. In 2026, the ceiling for our team was sixth place.

Chronicle of an anti-record

The last representatives of Ukraine at the Games were skiers in the 50 km mass start. Oleksandr Lysogor finished 40th, and Dmytro Dragun closed the list of participants, taking 43rd place.

However, in some disciplines, the Ukrainians were close to the elite:

Luge: The mixed relay was the team's main achievement. Yulianna Tunitska, Andriy Mandziy and other team members took 6th place. Olena Stetskiv and Oleksandra Mokh also achieved a historic result, finishing 7th in the women's two-man luge.

Freestyle: The team consisting of Angelina Brykina, Oleksandr Okipniuk and Dmytro Kotovskyi finished 6th in Ukraine's debut team tournament. Kateryna Kotsar became the first Ukrainian woman to reach the big air final (10th place).

Biathlon: Vitaliy Mandzyn delighted fans by breaking into the top 10 in the most prestigious race, the mass start. The mixed relay finished 8th, and the women's relay finished 9th.

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Heraskevych's ‘Helmet of Remembrance’

The main non-sporting event of the Olympics for Ukraine was the disqualification of skeleton racer Vladyslav Heraskevych. The athlete took to the track wearing a helmet with images of Ukrainian athletes who died as a result of Russian aggression.

The IOC considered this a violation of Rule 50 (prohibition of political propaganda). Despite pressure, Heraskevych refused to change his equipment, calling the ban discriminatory. The result was the athlete's suspension before the first race. In response, Vladislav demanded an apology from the IOC and humanitarian aid for sports halls in Ukraine.

Norway's dominance

While Ukraine set an anti-record, the Norwegian team rewrote the history of world sport.

The Scandinavians not only took first place, but also set a new historical benchmark with 18 gold medals.

This is the best result in the history of the Winter Olympics (the previous record also belonged to the Norwegians with 16 gold medals in Beijing 2022).

In total, Norway has 41 awards: 18 gold, 12 silver and 11 bronze. This is also a new best result in the history of the Winter Games.

In total, more than 3,500 athletes took part in the Games, competing for 116 sets of awards. The next Winter Olympics will be held in 2030 in the French Alps.

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Reminder! The Winter Olympics in Italy started with a record number of disciplines and an updated competition programme. The Games in Milan and Courchevel have become one of the largest in the history of the Winter Olympics, and the Ukrainian team is represented in several key sports. Find out in which disciplines Ukrainian athletes will compete and who are the main hopes for the 2026 Olympics.

Want to know more? Read the latest news and useful materials about Ukraine and the world in the News section.

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