MILAN - February 18, 2026: Athletes at the Milan Cortina Olympics are sharing their raw emotions following intense competitions.
Canadian short-track speedskater Steven Dubois described his gold medal win in the men's 500-meter race as "the toughest thing you can achieve." He reflected, "It was the one I was missing. I can’t say it’s never been on my mind, but I never wanted to really give myself hope, or make it an objective, because it’s so hard."
Teammate Florence Brunelle, a bronze medalist in the women’s 3000-meter short-track relay, emphasized the team's unity and the honor of being an Olympic medalist. "It’s really special. We all know that short track is a very intense sport. So coming to the finals, I think we knew we had a really strong team, and we were going to give it (our) all."
Canadian snowboarder Mark McMorris, who finished eighth in the men's slopestyle after an injury comeback, expressed mixed feelings. "I’m so thankful I was able to be out there. I was starting to taste it, I was riding well, I felt good, I knew I had what it takes. But I wasn’t able to just put all the pieces together, and that always stings, it hurts the heart."
Curling's Brad Jacobs, discussing his team's 8-3 win over Italy, highlighted the importance of focus. "We could have gotten pretty upset and pretty angry early in that game when we were down 3-0, but we didn’t. We decided to focus our energy on the right things, which was, how do we make shots out here? How do we figure out what’s going on with the ice and our stones?"
Laurie Blouin, a Canadian snowboarder who placed fifth in the women's slopestyle, found solace in avoiding a lesser result. "At least it’s not fourth, honestly. I’ve had too many fourths in my career. I’m just happy I had fun."
Forward Blayre Turnbull spoke about the intensity of gold-medal games. "You’re playing for an Olympic gold medal. It’s going to be the hardest game you play in in your whole life."
American skier Mikaela Shiffrin described her gold medal win in the women's slalom as "like … being born again," marking an end to a medal drought.
Norwegian cross-country skier Einar Hedegart reacted to teammate Johannes Hoesflot Klaebo's record-breaking 10th Winter Games gold medal, asking, "Michael Phelps is still ahead?"
