Over the next five days, the Americans flipped their Winter Games from a potential bust into its best-ever showing. That haul was still an entire Johannes Hoesflot Klaebo behind the mighty Norwegians , whose 18 golds shattered the Winter Games record they set four years ago. Meanwhile, a few kilometers away, another American took the ice to skate for gold in the signature event of the Winter Games. It was no coincidence that the gold medals that changed an entire team’s fortunes last Thursday went to women. As the men’s hockey team won its first gold medal since 1980, the U.S. said arrivederci to the Games with the one thing that could unite America in 2026: beating Canada.

Source: Wall Street Journal February 24, 2026 12:35 UTC