Big Ten Conference Captures 37 Medals at Milano Cortina 2026
Medal haul includes 24 golds, 10 silvers, and three bronzes
ROSEMONT, Ill. – Big Ten Conference athletes past and present won a total of 37 medals as the 2026 Winter Olympic Games concluded Feb. 22 in Milano Cortina.
A total of 60 athletes with ties to Big Ten Conference institutions traveled to Milano Cortina–a group that consisted of active student-athletes, alumni, and non-sport students. The Big Ten contingent represented eight nations with 33 athletes competing for the United States and 27 internationally. These athletes participated in seven sports: bobsled, curling, figure skating, ice hockey, luge, ski mountaineering and speed skating.
A look at some of the numbers from Milano Cortina:
- The Big Ten accumulated 37 total medals — 24 gold, 10 silver, and three bronze.
- Team USA, which won its first men’s hockey gold medal in 46 years, featured a roster with six Big Ten alumni. Kyle Connor, Quinn Hughes, Dylan Larkin and Zach Werenski became the first Michigan players to capture gold. Minnesota’s Brock Faber and Jackson LaCombe secured the 13th and 14th gold medals in program history.
- The gold-medal winning U.S. Women’s Ice Hockey Team featured 15 players form Big Ten programs. Included in that group are active players in Minnesota’s Abbey Murphy, Ohio State’s Joy Dunne, Penn State’s Tessa Janecke along with Wisconsin’s Laila Edwards, Caroline Harvey, Ava McNaughton and Kirsten Simms, all of whom compete in the Western Collegiate Hockey Association.
- School-affiliated hockey players also accounted for nine silver medals from the Canadian Women’s Ice Hockey Team with Minnesota’s Erik Haula and Ohio State’s Andrea Brändli claiming bronze for Finland and Switzerland respectively.
- Figure skater Alysa Liu, who is enrolled at UCLA, won dual golds competing in singles and the team event. Liu became the first American woman in 24 years to earn an individual gold medal in figure skating.
- Evan Bates of Michigan also earned multiple medals, seizing gold in the figure skating team event and securing silver in ice dancing.
- Ashley Farquharson, a business administration student at Purdue Global, earned a bronze in luge singles, becoming just the second American to medal in the event. She was also the first active student in the Purdue system to ever receive a Winter Olympic medal.
The Big Ten Conference will have representation at the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Paralympics Games, which take place March 6-15.
Listed below are the medal winners:
Gold (24):
Evan Bates, Michigan (United States) — Figure Skating, Team Event
Kyle Conner, Michigan (United States) — Men’s Hockey
Quinn Hughes, Michigan (United States) — Men’s Hockey
Dylan Larkin, Michigan (United States) — Men’s Hockey
Zach Werenski, Michigan (United States) — Men’s Hockey
Brock Faber, Minnesota (United States) — Men’s Hockey
Taylor Heise, Minnesota (United States) — Women’s Hockey
Jackson LaCombe, Minnesota (United States) — Men’s Hockey
Abbey Murphy, Minnesota (United States) — Women’s Hockey
Kelly Pannek, Minnesota (United States) — Women’s Hockey
Lee Stecklein, Minnesota (United States) — Women’s Hockey
Grace Zumwinkle, Minnesota (United States) — Women’s Hockey
Cayla Barnes, Ohio State (United States) — Women’s Hockey
Hannah Bilka, Ohio State (United States) — Women’s Hockey
Joy Dunne, Ohio State (United States) — Women’s Hockey
Tessa Janecke, Penn State (United States) — Women’s Hockey
Alysa Liu, UCLA (United States) — Figure Skating, Team Event
Alysa Liu, UCLA (United States) — Figure Skating, Women’s Singles
Britta Curl-Salemme, Wisconsin (United States) — Women’s Hockey
Laila Edwards, Wisconsin (United States) — Women’s Hockey
Caroline Harvey, Wisconsin (United States) — Women’s Hockey
Hilary Knight, Wisconsin (United States) — Women’s Hockey
Ava McNaughton, Wisconsin (United States) — Women’s Hockey
Kirsten Simms, Wisconsin (United States) — Women’s Hockey
Silver (10):
Evan Bates, Michigan (United States) — Ice Dancing
Jennifer Gardiner, Ohio State (Canada) — Women’s Hockey
Sophie Jaques, Ohio State (Canada) — Women’s Hockey
Emma Maltais, Ohio State (Canada) — Women’s Hockey
Natalie Spooner, Ohio State (Canada) — Women’s Hockey
Emily Clark, Wisconsin (Canada) — Women’s Hockey
Ann-Renée Desbiens, Wisconsin (Canada) — Women’s Hockey
Sarah Nurse, Wisconsin (Canada) — Women’s Hockey
Blayre Turnbull, Wisconsin (Canada) — Women’s Hockey
Daryl Watts, Wisconsin (Canada) — Women’s Hockey
Bronze (3):
Erik Haula, Minnesota (Finland) — Men’s Hockey
Andrea Brändli, Ohio State (Switzerland) — Women’s Hockey
Ashley Farquharson, Purdue Global (United States) — Luge, Women’s Singles