The Women of Team USA in Milano Cortina

By: Peyton Clark

On At the end of the 2026 Milan Cortina Winter Olympics, Team USA went home with the most gold medals they have ever won at a Winter Olympic Games. Of the 12 gold medals, women won 8 of them. Overall, women won 63.6% of the total Team USA meals.

Of these leading ladies, Cleveland Heights’ own Laila Edwards made history at the 2026 Milano Cortina Olympic Games. She became the first Black woman to represent the United States on the women’s Olympic ice hockey team. During the Olympic tournament, she scored two goals and made six assists, including an assist to Hilary Knight on the game-tying goal in the gold medal game against Canada. She is now the first Black American woman to win a gold medal at the Winter Olympic Games.

Alyssa Liu, the child of a Chinese immigrant, won gold in both the women’s singles figure skating event and the team event. She made headlines with her retirement in 2022, and in 2024, she began skating again. Now, she is a two-time Olympic gold medalist. Her teammate, Amber Glenn, finished 5th in the women’s short program segment after an invalid jump and won gold alongside Alyssa in the team event.

In alpine skiing, Breezy Johnson and Mikaela Shiffrin won gold. Elana Meyers Taylor, former President of the Women’s Sports Foundation, also won gold in the monobob. Elizabeth Lemley won gold in the freestyle moguls. Cory Thiesse became the first American woman to medal in Olympic curling.

These feats can be attributed directly to Title IX and the ability for women to compete competitively at the collegiate level. But women are still having to break barriers to be treated with the fairness and equity they deserve. After the very last event of the games, a video of the Team USA men’s hockey team laughing about the women’s team with the President of the United States was leaked. Even when women lead the country in gold, misogyny breaks through.

The importance of women in sport and Title IX continues today. Women face pay gaps in professional leagues and receive less media coverage. With many collegiate women still practicing in run-down facilities and their funding being cut, the success of women in competitions like the Winter Olympics is so impactful. The creation of professional leagues like the Professional Women’s Hockey League (PWHL), Major League Volleyball (MLV), and Unrivaled, a 3v3 women’s basketball league, allows women the opportunity to continue to play sports beyond the collegiate level and get paid for it. Because, at the end of the day…

Everyone watches women’s sports.