Fireworks are pictured during the closing ceremony of the Milan-Cortina 2026 Olympic Winter Games at Verona Olympic Arena in Verona, Italy, Feb. 22, 2026. (Xinhua/Sun Fei)
MILAN, Feb. 22 (Xinhua) -- The Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics concluded on Sunday, after 17 days of competition that saw broad participation, historic breakthroughs and China's best-ever performance at an overseas Winter Games.
For the first time in the history of the Olympic Winter Games, two cauldrons were extinguished simultaneously in two different cities, symbolizing the harmony between Milan and Cortina and the spirit of the Games.
China's medal tally at Milan-Cortina stood at five golds, four silvers and six bronzes.
This photo taken on Feb. 22, 2026 shows the closing ceremony of the Milan-Cortina 2026 Olympic Winter Games at Verona Olympic Arena in Verona, Italy. (Xinhua/Li Jing)
This photo taken on Feb. 22, 2026 shows the closing ceremony of the Milan-Cortina 2026 Olympic Winter Games at Verona Olympic Arena in Verona, Italy. (Xinhua/Li Jing)
Su Yiming of China reacts during the awarding ceremony for the snowboard men's slopestyle at the Milan-Cortina 2026 Olympic Winter Games in Livigno, Italy, Feb. 18, 2026. (Xinhua/Wang Peng)
Su Yiming of China competes during the snowboard men's snowboard slopestyle final at the Milan-Cortina 2026 Olympic Winter Games in Livigno, Italy, Feb. 18, 2026. (Xinhua/Xia Yifang)
Ning Zhongyan of China shows his medal during the awarding ceremony of the speed skating men's 1500m event at the Milan-Cortina 2026 Olympic Winter Games in Milan, Italy, Feb. 19, 2026. (Xinhua/Li Jing)
Ning Zhongyan of China competes during the speed skating men's 1500m event at the Milan-Cortina 2026 Olympic Winter Games in Milan, Italy, Feb. 19, 2026. (Xinhua/Du Xiaoyi)
Xu Mengtao of China displays her medal during the awarding ceremony for the freestyle skiing women's aerials at the Milan-Cortina 2026 Olympic Winter Games in Livigno, Italy, Feb. 18, 2026. (Xinhua/Zhang Hongxiang)
Xu Mengtao of China competes during the freestyle skiing women's aerials qualification at the Milan-Cortina 2026 Olympic Winter Games in Livigno, Italy, Feb. 18, 2026. (Xinhua/Wu Huiwo)
Wang Xindi of China celebrates during the awarding ceremony of the freestyle skiing men's aerials at the Milan-Cortina 2026 Olympic Winter Games in Livigno, Italy, Feb. 20, 2026. (Xinhua/Hu Chao)
Wang Xindi of China competes during the freestyle skiing men's aerials qualification at the Milan-Cortina 2026 Olympic Winter Games in Livigno, Italy, Feb. 20, 2026. (Xinhua/Wu Huiwo)
Sun Long of China celebrates after the short track speed skating men's 1000m final A at the Milan-Cortina 2026 Olympic Winter Games in Milan, Italy, Feb. 12, 2026. (Xinhua/Xue Yuge)
Gu Ailing of China competes during the freestyle skiing women's freeski slopestyle final at the Milan-Cortina 2026 Olympic Winter Games in Livigno, Italy, Feb. 9, 2026. (Xinhua/Hu Chao)
Liu Hanbin, Wu Yu, Li Wenhao and Ning Zhongyan of China celebrate after the speed skating men's team pursuit final B between China and the Netherlands at the Milan-Cortina 2026 Olympic Winter Games in Milan, Italy, Feb. 17, 2026. (Xinhua/Wu Wei)
Yin Zheng of China competes during the skeleton men heat at the 2026 Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics in Cortina, Italy, Feb. 12, 2026. (Xinhua/Ding Xu)
Huai Mingming/Wang Xuan of China compete during the Bobsleigh 2-woman heat 4 at the 2026 Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics in Cortina, Italy, Feb. 21, 2026. (Xinhua/Fei Maohua)
Chen Wenhao ®/Zhao Dan of China celebrate after the skeleton mixed team match at the Milan-Cortina 2026 Olympic Winter Games in Cortina, Italy, Feb. 15, 2026. (Xinhua/Ding Xu)
Lin Xiaojun of China competes during the short track speed skating men's 1500m quarterfinal at the Milan-Cortina 2026 Olympic Winter Games in Milan, Italy, Feb. 14, 2026. (Xinhua/Chen Yichen)
Zeng Ping of China competes during the ski jumping mixed team final round match at the Milan-Cortina 2026 Olympic Winter Games in Predazzo, Italy, Feb. 10, 2026. (Xinhua/Huang Wei)
Song Qiwu of China competes during the ski jumping men's normal hill individual of the Milan-Cortina 2026 Olympic Winter Games in Predazzo, Italy, Feb. 9, 2026. (Xinhua/Huang Wei)
Chu Yuanmeng of China reacts after the biathlon women's 7.5km sprint event at the Milan-Cortina 2026 Olympic Winter Games in Anterselva, Italy, Feb. 14, 2026. (Xinhua/Jiang Han)
Cidan Yuzhen (L) of China and her teammate Bu Luer pose after the ski mountaineering mixed relay event at the Milan-Cortina 2026 Olympic Winter Games in Bormio, Italy, Feb. 21, 2026. (Xinhua/Hu Huhu)
Sui Wenjing (L)/Han Cong of China react after the free skating match of figure skating pair skating event at the Milan-Cortina 2026 Olympic Winter Games in Milan, Italy, Feb. 16, 2026. (Xinhua/Li Ming)
Zhang Ruiyang of China competes during the short program match of figure skating women single skating at the Milan-Cortina 2026 Olympic Winter Games in Milan, Italy, Feb. 17, 2026. (Xinhua/Cheng Min)
Liu Mengting of China waits for her score during the free skiing women's freeski big air qualification at the Milan-Cortina 2026 Olympic Winter Games in Livigno, Italy, Feb. 14, 2026. (Xinhua/Wang Peng)
Liu Hanbin of China competes during the speed skating men's 5000m match at the Milan-Cortina 2026 Olympic Winter Games in Milan, Italy, Feb. 8, 2026. (Xinhua/Du Xiaoyi)
Tai Zhien of China competes during the speed skating women's 5000m final at the Milan-Cortina 2026 Olympic Winter Games in Milan, Italy, Feb. 12, 2026. (Xinhua/Du Xiaoyi)
Yang Jingru of China poses before the short track speed skating women's 1500m final A at the Milan-Cortina 2026 Olympic Winter Games in Milan, Italy, Feb. 20, 2026. (Xinhua/Chen Yichen)
Sheng Haipeng of China reacts during the freestyle skiing men's freeski halfpipe qualification at the Milan-Cortina 2026 Olympic Winter Games in Livigno, Italy, Feb. 20, 2026. (Xinhua/Wang Peng)
At the Milan-Cortina, we saw the purest form of athletes - beyond age and injury, driven only by passion.
Johannes Hoesflot Klaebo (1st R) of Norway competes during the cross-country skiing men's team sprint free final at the Milan-Cortina 2026 Olympic Winter Games in Tesero, Italy, Feb. 18, 2026. (Xinhua/Peng Ziyang)
Seventeen-year-old Choi Gaon of South Korea rebounded from a heavy crash on only her second trick to win women's halfpipe gold at Livigno Snow Park.
Choi Gaon (L) of South Korea is injured during the women's snowboard halfpipe final at the Milan-Cortina 2026 Olympic Winter Games in Livigno, Italy, Feb. 12, 2026. (Xinhua/Zhang Hongxiang)
The 21-year-old Mikhail Shaidorov delivered a technical masterclass with five clean quadruple jumps to secure Kazakhstan's first Olympic figure skating gold medal.
The 25-year-old Lucas Pinheiro Braathen of Brazil stunned the skiing world by winning gold in the men's giant slalom at the Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics, delivering South America's first-ever Winter Olympic medal.
Lucas Pinheiro Braathen of Brazil kisses his medal during the awarding ceremony of the alpine skiing men's giant slalom event at the Milan-Cortina 2026 Olympic Winter Games in Bormio, Italy, Feb. 14, 2026. (Xinhua/Hu Huhu)
Lucas Pinheiro Braathen of Brazil competes during the alpine skiing men's giant slalom run 2 at the Milan-Cortina 2026 Olympic Winter Games in Bormio, Italy, Feb. 14, 2026. (Xinhua/Hu Huhu)
Sport is competition, but we also witnessed emotional moments about love, memory, and the people who make the dream possible at the Winter Games.
At the Milano Ice Skating Arena, U.S. skater Maxim Naumov sat in the kiss-and-cry holding a photo of himself with his late parents.
Maxim Naumov of the United States shows a photo of his parents, who were killed in a plane crash last year, after the short program competition of figure skating men single skating at the Milan-Cortina 2026 Olympic Winter Games in Milan, Italy, Feb. 10, 2026. (Xinhua/Li Ming)
At the Tesero cross-country stadium, spectators applauded and cheered for Stevenson Savart of Haiti, who ranked 64 during the men's 10km+10km skiathlon of cross-country skiing event, no less enthusiastic than the moment the champion finished.
Stevenson Savart of Haiti reacts after the cross-country skiing men's 10km+10km skiathlon at the Milan-Cortina 2026 Olympic Winter Games in Tesero, Italy, Feb. 8, 2026. (Xinhua/He Canling)
In the competition of freestyle skiing aerials, the victory of China's Xu Mengtao and Wang Xindi made them a rare married couple to each win individual gold medals at the Winter Games.
Xu Mengtao ® of China hugs her teammate Wang Xindi during the freestyle skiing mixed team aerials final 2 at the Milan-Cortina 2026 Olympic Winter Games in Livigno, Italy, Feb. 21, 2026. (Xinhua/Wang Peng)
Wang Xindi of China reacts during the freestyle skiing men's aerials final 1 at the Milan-Cortina 2026 Olympic Winter Games in Livigno, Italy, Feb. 20, 2026. (Xinhua/Hu Chao)
Beyond wins and losses, every handshake, embrace, and gesture of respect gave living expression to the Olympic spirit.
Quentin Fillon Maillet, Emilien Jacquelin and Fabien Claude (L to R) of France react during the biathlon men's 4x7.5km relay at the 2026 Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics in Anterselva, Italy, Feb. 17, 2026. (Xinhua/Jiang Han)
Samaneh Beyrami Baher ® of Iran hugs Jessie Diggins of the United States after the cross-country skiing women's 10km interval start free match at the Milan-Cortina 2026 Olympic Winter Games in Tesero, Italy, Feb. 12, 2026. (Xinhua/He Canling)
Oskar Opstad Vike ® of Norway weeps with joy on the shoulder of gold medalist Johannes Hoesflot Klaebo of Norway after the cross-country skiing men's sprint classic final at the Milan-Cortina 2026 Olympic Winter Games in Tesero, Italy, Feb. 10, 2026. (Xinhua/Peng Ziyang)
Players of Switzerland celebrate victory after winning the curling men's bronze medal game between Norway and Switzerland at the Milan-Cortina 2026 Olympic Winter Games in Cortina, Italy, Feb. 20, 2026. (Xinhua/Li Gang)
Jens van 't Wout of the Netherlands celebrates after the short track speed skating men's 1000m final A at the Milan-Cortina 2026 Olympic Winter Games in Milan, Italy, Feb. 12, 2026. (Xinhua/Cheng Min)
Julia Simon of France crosses the finish line during the biathlon women's 4x6km relay at the 2026 Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics in Anterselva, Italy, Feb. 18, 2026. (Xinhua/Jiang Han)
Fukada Mari ® of Japan and Su Yiming (L) of China pose for photos after the snowboard women's slopestyle final at the Milan-Cortina 2026 Olympic Winter Games in Livigno, Italy, Feb. 18, 2026. (Xinhua/Wang Peng)
Players of the United States celebrate victory after the ice hockey women's gold medal game between the United States and Canada at the Milan-Cortina 2026 Olympic Winter Games in Milan, Italy, Feb. 19, 2026. (Xinhua/Zhang Haofu)
Two children kiss Dorothea Wierer of Italy after the biathlon women's 12.5km mass start event at the 2026 Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics in Anterselva, Italy, Feb. 21, 2026. (Xinhua/Jiang Han)
This photo taken on Feb. 6, 2026 shows the Olympic rings at the opening ceremony of the Milan-Cortina 2026 Olympic Winter Games at the San Siro Olympic Stadium in Milan, Italy. (Xinhua/Xue Yuge)■