Final Medal Count for Stanford Athletes at 2026 Winter Olympics

The Winter Olympics in Milan-Cortina have come to a close. Over the course of two weeks, hundreds of athletes from all around the globe gathered to showcase their skills, hoping to bring medals back to their home country.

By the time the competition ended, Norway finished with the most medals won overall, while the United States came in second. But for Stanford University, multiple student-athletes from the school will return with medals around their necks, having represented multiple different countries.

Of the four Stanford athletes that participated—Eileen Gu, Zoe Atkin, Brandon Kim and Sammy Smith—Gu and Atkin took home medals, with Gu winning multiple medals to add to her already illustrious resumé. Now, Gu leaves Milan as the most decorated freestyle skier in Olympic history.

Gu won three total medals in Milan, winning silvers in the big air and slopestyle events while defending her gold medal in halfpipe. In 2022, Gu won the gold in the big air as well, but after struggling on her first run in this year's finals, Gu put together a good second run to jump into second place and ultimately take home the silver.

And what makes it most impressive is that that was Gu's first time competing in a Big Air competition since the 2022 Olympics.

In slopestyle, Gu was one of only two skiiers to score over 80 points, essentially putting her in a two-way competition for the gold against Switzerland's Mathilde Gremaud. But after Gremaud dominated her second run and Gu did not improve, she fell to second place. She still finished comfortably with a silver medal to add to her medal count.

In her final event, the halfpipe, Gu's flawless final two runs in the final saved her, as she fell on her first run to only score 30.00. But thankfully, she was near perfect after her fall, scoring a 94.00 in her second run followed by a high score of a 94.75 in run three, cementing her as the gold medalist.

Atkin, participating in her second Olympics, won her first-ever Olympic medal in Milan, taking the bronze medal in the freeski halfpipe event. Scoring a 92.50 in her third and final run, Atkin finished behind Gu and Li Fanghui, both of whom represent China.

But Atkin qualified for the final as the highest scorer in the qualifying round, scoring a 91.50 after a dominant first run. She was representing Great Britain this Olympics.

In terms of the other two Stanford participants, cross country skier Sammy Smith and speed skater Brandon Kim, neither medaled. Kim fell in the qualifying round for the 500m short track event and despite still finishing in second, video review revealed that he made contact from behind and was penalized, eliminating him from the final and ending his run in Milan without a medal.

Smith, who competed in the women's cross country classic sprint, finished 19th in the event and did not win a medal, but in her Olympic debut, she showed a lot of promise. She is also a member of the Stanford soccer team, which has been a dominant force in college in recent years.

With the Winter Games now over, the athletes will return to their normal lives while still staying in shape in case they want to try to compete in the next Winter Olympics. But now, the attention turns to LA 2028, where there is a high likelihood that more Stanford athletes will compete.

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