As the curtain fell on the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics at the Verona Arena on Sunday (February 22), the final medal tally confirmed a familiar hierarchy at the top and a quiet, historic milestone for India. While Norway cemented its status as the Gold Standard of winter sports, India’s two-man contingent returned with a performance that signals a positive sign for the country’s winter athletes.
Arif Khan’s historic leap
India finished the Games without a medal but the two-man contingent of Arif Mohammad Khan and Stanzin Lundup delivered an impressive performance.
Alpine skier Arif Khan delivered India’s best-ever finish in the Men’s Slalom. Finishing 39th with a combined time of 2:41.60, he shattered the previous national record of 49th set at Calgary 1988, as per Olympics’ official website.
Improving by 10 places from the previous best, Khan’s performance in Bormio has re-rated India’s ‘Technical Equity’ in alpine disciplines, especially as he was among the only 44 athletes to finish the grueling, snowstorm-hit first run.
Milano Cortina 2026: Final Medal Tally
| Rank | Nation | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total |
| 1 | Norway | 18 | 12 | 11 | 41 |
| 2 | United States | 12 | 12 | 9 | 33 |
| 3 | Netherlands | 10 | 7 | 3 | 20 |
| 4 | Italy (Host) | 10 | 6 | 14 | 30 |
| 5 | Germany | 8 | 10 | 8 | 26 |
| 6 | France | 8 | 9 | 6 | 23 |
| 7 | Sweden | 8 | 6 | 4 | 18 |
| 8 | Switzerland | 6 | 9 | 8 | 23 |
| 9 | Austria | 5 | 8 | 5 | 18 |
| 10 | Japan | 5 | 7 | 12 | 24 |
| 11 | Canada | 5 | 7 | 9 | 21 |
| 12 | China | 5 | 4 | 6 | 15 |
| 13 | South Korea | 3 | 4 | 3 | 10 |
| 14 | Australia | 3 | 2 | 1 | 6 |
| 15 | Great Britain | 3 | 1 | 1 | 5 |
| 16 | Czech Republic | 2 | 2 | 1 | 5 |
| 17 | Slovenia | 2 | 1 | 1 | 4 |
| 18 | Spain | 1 | 0 | 2 | 3 |
| 19 | Brazil | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 19 | Kazakhstan | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 21 | Poland | 0 | 3 | 1 | 4 |
| 22 | New Zealand | 0 | 2 | 1 | 3 |
| 23 | Finland | 0 | 1 | 5 | 6 |
| 24 | Latvia | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| 25 | Denmark | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 25 | Estonia | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 25 | Georgia | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 28 | Bulgaria | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| 29 | Belgium | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| — | India | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Stanzin Lundup also competed for India
Meanwhile, Ladakh’s Stanzin Lundup finished 104th in the Men’s 10km Freestyle Cross-Country. “The Indian Army man clocked 28 minutes, 26.7 seconds (28:26.7) in the time-trial race – 7:50.5 behind the gold medal winner Johannes Hoesflot Klaebo of Norway,” confirmed the tournament’s official website.
Norway at the top of the table
Norway officially topped the table for the third consecutive Winter Games, finishing with a record-breaking 18 Gold medals and 41 total medals, the highest gold count by any nation in a single Winter Olympics.
Cross-country hero Johannes Hoisflot Klaebo accounted for six golds himself, more than the total tally of all but seven other countries in the top 20.
Team USA’s final day Surge
The United States secured second place with 12 Gold and 33 total medals.
The Americans’ campaign concluded with a high-yield win in the men’s ice hockey final, defeating Canada 2-1 in overtime to claim their first gold in the event since 1980.