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Lizzy Yarnold
Best moment Matt Weston winning double gold. It was so well deserved. He fought hard for the victories and the emotions afterwards showed how much it meant to him.
Biggest disappointment Seeing the second GB skeleton relay team, Freya Tarbit and Marcus Wyatt, take fourth place. The sense of almost getting that medal, the sadness was so visible. I was so impressed by their performance, I wanted to hug them both.
Star of the Games Alysa Liu, the figure skater, who came back to elite sport on her own terms. Sport is joy and she reminded us of that.
Crowd-pleaser Jamaican bobsleigh. They had three sleds competing in 2026, matching their 2022 record. Having many different countries competing together is important. Well done to them all.
One to watch for France 2030 Kirsty Muir of Great Britain. With two fourth-place finishes in freeski, Kirsty’s fire may be lit brighter than ever. And Johannes Høsflot Klæbo, who may continue his incredibly impressive cross-country skiing reign.
New sport they should bring in for France 2030 I love the dual events, two athletes competing at the same time, and also the relays as they are so great to watch. Any more of those and I’ll be even more glued to it all!
Milan-Cortina Winter Games in three words Joyful, ambitious, impressive.
Sean Ingle
Best moment Sticking with events that I saw in person, it’s a dead heat between GB winning the mixed team snowboard cross, Eileen Gu’s extraordinary halfpipe gold, and skimo’s debut. But I will also remember being there for the Norwegian slalom skier Atle Lie McGrath walking into the woods, Andrea Bocelli’s Nessun Dorma, and, er, Penisgate.
Biggest disappointment Some will say Ilia Malinin, after the red-hot figure skating favourite fell twice in his free skate. But he still won a team gold and performed a backflip in the gala. To British eyes, seeing Kirsty Muir and Mia Brookes just miss out on a medal was harsh – especially for Muir who lost out in the freeski big air when the Italian Flora Tabanelli, who tore an ACL in November, landed a miraculous final trick.
Star of the Games On the female side: Gu. She divides opinion, to put it mildly, but she won three more medals and had everyone talking about her, including JD Vance. For the men, it’s hard to look beyond Norway’s Johannes Høsflot Klæbo after his six gold medals. An honourable mention should go to Vladyslav Heraskevych, the Ukrainian skeleton racer, who gave up his Olympic dream after he was banned from wearing his “helmet of memory”.
Crowd-pleaser Japan’s figure skaters Miura Riku and Kihara Ryūichi – or RikuRyū – for their stunning free skate gold medal performance. Runner up: men’s champion Mikhail Shaidorov for dressing up as a panda in the gala. Indeed, put the whole gala in there. Also: the gamechanging drones, for capturing the speed and drama of so many sports.
One to watch for France 2030 Japan have a host of potential skating stars, including 17-year-old Welsh-born Rio Nakata, who was too young to compete in Milan-Cortina. And maybe even Jakob Ingebrigtsen ….
New sport they should bring in for France 2030 Cross-country running and cyclocross will almost certainly be there. But I’d like to see a fell running, skimo-style event too. By then we could even have the likes of volleyball and handball in the Winter Games.
Milan-Cortina Winter Games in three words Exhilarating. Newsy. Fun.
Andy Bull
Best moment Midway through Matt Weston’s run in the mixed team skeleton relay, right before we all realised he really is quick enough to make up the full three-tenths of a second GB needed to win their third gold medal.
Biggest disappointment The greenwashing of these “sustainable Games”. Biodegradable cutlery and electric cars don’t count for much when you’re also draining rivers, felling trees, and gouging out mountains.
Star of the Games Johannes Høsflot Klæbo. Of course. The man won more medals than all Great Britain. If you’ve never watched cross country, take 10 seconds for this viral clip of him sprinting six-minute mile pace uphill in his skis.
Crowd-pleaser Canadian curler Marc Kennedy, who told the Swedish team to “fuck off” after they accused him of cheating. I’m not sure he enjoyed hearing the boos he got during the rest of the competition, but everyone else enjoyed giving them.
One to watch for France 2030 Lara Colturi, 19-year-old daughter of the former Olympic champion Daniela Ceccarelli. She finished in the top 20 of both the slalom and giant-slalom here, but I’ll wager she’ll win Albania’s first ever Winter Olympic medal.
New sport they should bring in for France 2030 Yukigassen! Which is the Japanese name for what we all call snowball fighting. It’s an organised sport, a sort of seven-a-side cross between dodgeball and capture the flag. They had the first world championships in 2024.
Milan-Cortina Winter Games in three words Amusing, exhilarating, exhausting.
Yara El-Shaboury
Best moment Marc Kennedy’s curling drama and all that came with it: the memes, TikTok edits and Canada’s men “booping” their way to gold.
Biggest disappointment The IOC struggling to navigate political expression – caught between its neutrality charter and the reality that athletes represent countries and carry histories, conflicts and identities on to the ice.
Star of the Games Team Italy. Federica Brignone and her tiger helmet making a comeback, Arianna Fontana becoming her country’s most decorated Olympian and the cauldron of noise their supporters made across the country.
Crowd-pleaser Snow cross and ski cross. Head-to-head racing, daring jumps, tight turns and photo finishes. And then we forget it exists for four years.
One to watch for France 2030 Canada’s Macklin Celebrini. Five goals and five assists in six ice hockey games and only 19 years old.
New sport they should bring in for France 2030 Women’s nordic combined is a must – the last Olympic discipline without gender equality. My more fun answer would be synchronised skating. Imagine the artistry!
Milan-Cortina Winter Games in three words Johannes Høsflot Klæbo.
Bryan Armen Graham
Best moment Alysa Liu’s hearty embrace of Ami Nakai after the Japanese teenager’s free skating scores were announced, giving her the bronze and Liu the gold. I’m not crying, you’re crying.
Biggest disappointment The sprawling footprint – the rough equivalent of staging an Olympics in New York and Pittsburgh – aligned with laudable sustainability-first goals but made seeing everything you wanted practically impossible.
Star of the Games In what universe could it not be Johannes Høsflot Klæbo, whose historic sweep of the men’s cross-country programme broke the record for most gold medals won at a single Winter Olympics?
Crowd-pleaser Veteran bobsledder Elana Meyers Taylor becoming the oldest Winter Olympic champion in an individual event, finally striking gold in her fifth Olympics in a win for Black athletes, mothers and the deaf and Down’s syndrome communities.
One to watch for France 2030 Japan wound up going 2-3-4 in women’s figure skating but the best may be yet to come. Keep an eye out for Mao Shimada – named after Mao Asada – the three-time world junior champion who missed Milano Cortina solely due to age-eligibility rules.
New sport they should bring in for France 2030 Snow volleyball, already a thing in Europe, could be fun. But the obvious pick for today’s audiences is ice cross downhill: essentially snowboard cross on skates inside a walled track with sharp turns and steep drops.
Milan-Cortina Winter Games in three words Scenic, scattered, spectacular.
Tom Jenkins
Best moment Had to be Matt Weston claiming Britain’s first gold of the Games. Delivered under pressure, going faster and faster with each run. A master of a crazy sport.
Biggest disappointment Seeing empty seats for the opening ceremony in the magnificent, and sadly soon to be demolished, San Siro. That night also saw the awkwardness of many countries being introduced to the crowd but no athletes there to parade – they were hundreds of miles away in the mountains.
Star of the games Vladyslav Heraskevych. He probably achieved more by being banned by the IOC than he ever would have done if he had actually competed.
Crowd pleaser Richardson Viano, Haiti’s alpine skier, who after completing his second run at the notoriously difficult slalom course, celebrated in front of an adoring crowd at Bormio by leaping out of his skis and showing off his hottest dance moves.
One to watch for 2030 Kirsty Muir, Britain’s freestyle skier. Surely the heartbreak of her two fourth-placed finishes at these games will give her all the impetus she needs to finally win a medal in the French Alps.
New sport for 2030 I’d love to see cyclo-cross in France. Be it in mud or on snow, a huge and very passionate crowd would be guaranteed.
Milan-Cortina Winter Games in three words Widespread, wonderful, wacky.
Billy Munday
Best moment Elana Meyers Taylor winning a first Olympic gold aged 41 in the women’s monobob, using sign language to tell her two young sons, who are deaf, about her achievement.
Biggest disappointment Without condoning violence, it was a shame the sweary curling spat between Canada and Sweden’s men did not descend into an ice hockey-style fistfight on the rink.
Star of the Games Franjo von Allmen is Switzerland’s new golden boy in alpine skiing but how can you look past “king Klæbo”? The final climb for gold No 6 was frightening.
Crowd-pleaser Speed skater Francesca Lollobrigida set the tone for Italy’s medal rush on day one, breaking an Olympic record in front of her two-year-old son and a bouncing Milan crowd.
One to watch for France 2030 “I have to defend my title, right?” smiled Jorrit Bergsma after his victory in the speed skating mass start. The Dutchman will be 44 next time around. Don’t rule it out.
New sport they should bring in for France 2030 Ice cross. Like snowboard/ski cross but on ice, in skates, with shoving. Current competitions run down a narrow walled track where spectators can get up close and personal.
Milan-Cortina Winter Games in three words Never too old.
