Debutants and first-time medallists as NOCs make history at Milano Cortina 2026

NOCs from across the globe made history at the Olympic Winter Games Milano Cortina 2026, as debut appearances and first-time medallists created headlines in Italy.

Benin, Guinea-Bissau and the United Arab Emirates each competed at the Olympic Winter Games for the first time, continuing the steady growth of the global winter sports community. Benin skier Nathan Tchibozo was also kitted out in Peak kit, through the first operational deployment of the ANOC-Peak Uniform Program.

Meanwhile, Brazil and Georgia both won their first-ever Olympic Winter Games medals, with the two nations’ triumphs coming in contrasting disciplines – alpine skiing and figure skating.

Brazilian skier Lucas Pinheiro Braathen delivered one of the Games’ most celebrated performances, claiming gold in the men’s giant slalom, while Georgian duo Anastasiia Metelkina and Luka Berulava won the silver medal in the figure skating pairs event.

Photo by Elsa/Getty Images

The two nations joined 27 others on the medal table, which was topped by Norway with 41 medals, including 18 gold, across a total of 92 competing NOCs.

Milano Cortina 2026 set new standards for gender equality in the Olympic Winter Games, with women making up 47 per cent of all athletes and 50 women’s events on the programme, both records.

Twelve of the 16 sport disciplines were fully gender balanced, while 98 nationalities were represented among the 18,000 volunteers who helped bring the Games to life.

With the more than 1.3million paying spectators joined by billions following the action on television and digitally, with record figures announced by broadcasters and the IOC, Milano Cortina 2026 set a new standard for the Winter Games.