What we covered here
• A Games to remember: With drama, thrills, moments of hilarity and plenty of gripping medal action, these have been a Winter Olympics to remember. They come to a close with the closing ceremony and the extinguishing of the Olympic flame.
• Team USA wins hockey gold: Jack Hughes scored the overtime winner for a 2-1 victory over Canada in the men’s hockey gold medal game.
• An instant classic: It was one of the most intense events of these 2026 Winter Olympics as the action flew across the ice for more than 60 minutes. Matt Boldy’s goal in the first period opened the scoring and Cale Makar tied it in the second. It was a frenetic final with both goalies making key saves.
• Eileen Gu goes golden: The Chinese star won her first gold of the Games and third medal overall in Milan Cortina as she defended her 2022 women’s freeski halfpipe title.
Goodbye 2026 Olympics. Here's a final day recap
With that, the Olympic flame is extinguished and this year’s Winter Olympics are finito.
The closing ceremony was an artistic and often surreal performance paying tribute to the Games’ athletes as well as Italian culture and heritage. We saw interpretive dances, electric club scenes and athletes beaming in the flag walk.
Here are the final Olympics’ medal moments from today:
US hockey victory: The US scored the crucial overtime goal that clinched gold in men’s final hockey game against Canada.
Eileen Gu defends golden title: China’s Eileen Gu won gold in the women’s freeski halfpipe, defending her 2022 women’s freeski halfpipe Olympic title.
Sweden’s gold win: Ebba Andersson earned the first gold medal of her career after winning the women’s 50km mass start cross country final today.
Germany sweeps in bobsledding: Germany clinched a 1-2 in the 4-man bobsled event today, following the country’s gold and silver winsin the 2-woman bobsled yesterday, too.
Curling victory: Sweden took the gold in women’s curling after a thrilling win against Switzerland.
Looking forward:
New host nation: The International Olympic Committee’s flag was passed onto representatives from France in the closing ceremony, meaning France will be the next host of the 2030 Winter Games.
A unique closing ceremony ends in Verona
Well, I’m not sure what to make of all that, but it’s over now.
The celebrations in Verona were certainly unique, but it seemed like the athletes were enjoying it all from the stands, especially the little party at the end.
The ceremony being over also means our Milan Cortina Winter Olympics coverage almost is too.
An amazing Games with just too many different storylines and moments to name, but you can catch a lot of them at CNN Sports.
Tage Thompson: "Tough" to put the gold-medal moment into words
Tage Thompson, a member of the Team USA gold-medal-winning men’s hockey team, told CNN’s Coy Wire the victory was a moment “every kid dreams about.”
Thompson said every kid grows up knowing about the “Miracle On Ice,” the 1980 game in which college-aged American kids beat the heavily favored Soviet Union on their way to the nation’s last gold medal in men’s hockey.
“Now we’re sharing that exact feeling that they had,” Thompson said. “It’s pretty special, honestly. It’s tough to put to words.”
Watch Thompson talk about what the gold means to him:
Much to everyone's surprise and glee, Major Lazer is playing a mini set
So we all expected it was over, but much to our pleasant surprise, Major Lazer is playing a set. Yes, the group of Diplo fame.
Athletes in the crowd and in the CNN chat are loving it though.
In pictures: The closing ceremony of the 2026 Winter Olympics
It’s time to say “arrivederci” to the Winter Olympics, which have provided us with so many inspiring moments this month in Italy.
The closing ceremony is taking place at the Verona Arena in the city of Verona. The venue is a World Heritage site that dates to the year 30 AD.
See more photos from the closing ceremony here.
Olympic flame extinguished at closing ceremonies
After closing speeches from Kirsty Coventry of the International Olympic Committee and Giovanni Malagò of the Organizing Committee for the Milan Cortina Winter Games, the Olympic flame was extinguished.
“The flame may soon go out, but its light will stay with us,” Coventry said. “The Olympic Games will continue to be a space where the athletes can inspire the world through sport – freely, safely and proudly.”
The extinguishing of the Olympic flame marks the official end of the Games.
“See you all in 2030,” Coventry said. And with that, the Milan Cortina Olympics are closed!
Meet the closing ceremony's oldest volunteer
Mario Gargiulo is one of the many volunteers in the Olympic closing ceremony. What makes the “King of Volunteers” stand out, however, is that he takes the stage today as the Games’ oldest.
The 89-year-old, originally from Naples, Italy, told the Associated Press this morning that when he first attended a volunteer meeting, he stood out amidst the many 20-something-year-old faces.
The widowed father and grandfather first traveled north of Rome to the 1956 Cortina d’Ampezzo Olympics because he wanted to “do something out of the ordinary.”
Seven decades later, he’s back.
“To be part of it is incredible,” said. “I’ll wake up tomorrow and I’ll be wondering what happened to me.”
“It’s beyond imagination,” he added.
IOC flag passed to France ahead of 2030 Winter Games
The IOC flag has now been passed onto representatives from France in a ceremonial handover of hosting responsibility.
The French flag is raised and the audience stands for the national anthem – any excuse to stretch the legs at this point.
France will be the next host of the Winter Games in four years time – it will be here before you know it!
Moment of remembrance set to "Madama Butterfly"
We are now being given a beautiful artistic performance set to Giacomo Puccini’s “Madama Butterfly” to remember all the people we’ve lost and are no longer with us.
Quite the lovely segue into another interpretive dance about the water cycle from ice and snow to meltwater and the return to ice.
And now it's the medal ceremony for the men's 50km cross-country mass start
If you saw the 50km cross-country mass start race yesterday, you were treated to some incredible drama as Johannes Høsflot Klæbo won his sixth gold of the Games and 11th overall in his career – a Winter Games record.
Well, tonight is a coronation for one of the greatest athletes ever, particularly from an Olympic perspective, and we hear a massive cheer for him from the crowd.
It’s an all-Norwegian podium and, as my colleague Don Riddell explores, it’s not likely the country will stop having success any time soon – in Winter and Summer Games.
Victory ceremony for the women's 50km mass start cross-country race
Organizers are now holding the medal ceremony for the women’s 50km mass start cross-country race, which was won by Sweden’s Ebba Andersson.
International Olympic Committee President Kirsty Coventry is handing out the medals to Andersson, silver medalist Heidi Weng of Norway and bronze winner Nadja Kaelin of Switzerland.
Big beaming smiles from these incredible women.
Electronic music and mirrors make way for beautiful scenery
After the athletes made their way off the stage and the band left the building, we had what looked like a late ’90s London club scene with dancers moving around to electronic music with mirrors that, according to the broadcast, were meant to represent the questions athletes asked to remain at the top of their craft.
We then had some more dancing with the mirrors with slightly more downbeat music before moving to a beautiful scene with beams projecting into the sky and what Antonia calls “stunning lighting.”
She also adds that it “looks very cool.”
One thing is for sure, it did keep our eyes on the screen.
CNN’s Antonia Mortensen contributed to this reporting.
OK, I have to comment on the France closing ceremony kit
I promised I wasn’t going to comment on every single outfit I dug, but the France closing ceremony kit is sensational. Great color coordination and overall look.
I also forgot how good Norway’s outfit was until they crossed the screen with their fantastic sweaters.
The band is growing on me too after seeming out of place originally. As Antonia says, “I’m loving the soundtrack.”
Italian classics being sung by a support band
As the hundreds of athletes pile through the arena, we are being serenaded by a support band led by a jovial lady and gentleman who are playing Italian classics from the 60s and 70s.
We have a lot of ecstatic faces here in the seemingly neverending stream of athletes and you can understand as these have been a fantastic Olympic Games.
The best photos from the Winter Games in Italy
A thrilling Winter Olympics comes to an end today with the closing ceremony in Verona.
Over the last two-and-a-half weeks, we have seen many inspiring moments and record-setting performances.
Relive the Games through our Olympics photo gallery.
The Olympic outfits are all fantastic and it's great to see them again
If you followed along our live commentary of the opening ceremony, you will have noticed that I was a massive fan of all the outfits and fashion on display by the athletes.
I am happy to report that all of them have returned to Verona, so we can all take in their glory again, like Mongolia’s sensational outfits.
The Olympic flame has arrived in Verona
The flame that lit the cauldrons in Milan and Cortina d’Ampezzo has arrived here in Verona.
It is being carried in a beautiful glass torch by some of the 1994 Lillehammer Games cross-country skiing champions.
The flame has now lit up the Olympic rings and we see the flags of all the delegations who have come for these Games.
And now, the flag bearers make their way into the venue with Greece leading the way.
Watch out for Hilary Knight and Evan Bates as USA's flag bearers at the closing ceremony
Team USA has chosen hockey hero Hilary Knight and veteran figure skater Evan Bates as its flag bearers for the closing ceremony of the Milan Cortina Games.
Knight called it a “tremendous honor.”
Knight scored a late equalizer against Canada in the women’s hockey final as Team USA completed an epic overtime comeback in the gold medal game. With that, she also became the US women’s leading goal and point scorer in Olympic Games history.
Bates also had a successful Olympics, winning a gold medal in the team figure skating and a silver medal in ice dancing.
He said he’s “deeply grateful to be selected as flag bearer.”
We have moved into a contemporary dance segment of the ceremony
While the previous segment very much felt like sitting in on the opera or the “Masquerade” scene of the “Phantom of the Opera,” we are now onto contemporary dance titled “The Faces of Italy.”
As my colleague Antonia in Verona puts it, it “feels very abstract and surreal, almost ethereal.”
To almost bring us back to reality, an Italian flag is brought onto the stage carried by representatives chosen by the various host venues.
The Italian medalists are brought on stage where the crowd erupts in applause as the Italian flag is raised.
CNN’s Antonia Mortensen contributed to this reporting.
Some classical Italian opera to guide us along
Among the opening scenes and soundtracks are the dulcet tones of Verdi’s opera, “La traviata.”
“Libiamo ne’ lieti calici” translates to “Let’s drink from the joyful cups” (or “Let’s drink from the happy chalices”) in English. This famous opening line from the brindisi (drinking song) in Act 1 of “La Traviata” celebrates love, youth, and the pleasures life.
Some amazing scenery and sets so far. Let’s see what else comes tonight.
