2026 Milano Cortina Winter Olympiad Post Mortem: How The Winter Games Are Having Its Social Media Moment and Attracting New Fans?
By Sanjeev Wignarajah
The 2026 Milano Cortina Winter Olympics… uniting the world of two weeks of competition in the Italian winter. How can you not be romantic about Milan? The food, the mountainous landscapes, fashion, the arts, and much more. While the Winter Olympiad may be over. People are still buzzing about it from the drama, the golden memories, to the controversy.
Memes and Social Sentiment
The 2026 Milano Cortina Winter Games provided a lot of memes for everyday life with or without context. There are a few that stood out. One of them was Canadian curler Marc Kennedy getting into a heated and profane argument with Swedish curler Oskar Eriksson over allegations of cheating. While people perceive Canadians as nice and polite. When it comes to competition, “And I took that personally,” Michael Jordan.
Photo Credit: Mr Keeper
Another iconic meme comes from Spanish figure skater Tomas Guarnino Sabate. His unusual routine involves dressing up like a Minion from the Despicable Me franchise and dancing to the Minions soundtrack, which definitely raised eyebrows and laughs.
The cherry on top is Tate McRae’s ‘Y’all know I’m Canada down’ meme. The Calgary-based pop artist appeared in NBC’s Olympic promo, which drew heavy backlash over the ad appearance despite being a Canadian and the strained Canada-U.S. relations. She responded with the famous meme, which spawned all over social media for all things Canadiana evoking Canadian pride from pop culture to everything in between.
The Drama
Spill the tea… as the kids say these days. One of which comes from Norwegian biathlete Sturla Holm Laegreid confessed that he cheated on his girlfriend on live television after winning gold in 20km individual biathlon.
The Controversy
Canadians are still not over the United States Men’s National Olympic hockey team winning gold only to get a video phone call from President Donald Trump congratulating them and sending an invite to the White House and later appearing at the State Of The Union address.
Even FBI Director Kash Patel was seen partying in the locker room with the players. From a PR perspective, it adds salt to the wound given what the USA is going through during Trump’s second presidency. Canada was the better team in the Gold Medal Game. They played with heart, pride, and passion.
Closing Ceremony
The Milan Cortina Winter Olympiad has garnered a lot of interest thanks in part to increasing viewership and social media. Some people are saying that the Winter Olympics are better than the Summer Olympics because of how athletes are willing to survive and compete under the harshest conditions.
Arrivederci Milano Cortina. Bonjour le French Alps in 2030.
Sanjeev Wignarajah is a freelance writer and photographer working with select clients and publications. He has a background in journalism and public relations from Centennial College.