The 2026 Milan Cortina Olympics have been full of moments of impressive athletic achievements, but also have featured a number of scandals and a few surprises. From cheating accusations and disqualifications to condoms and “penisgate,” here’s everything you might have missed if you were only paying attention to who made it to the medal podium.
A Furry Challenger
Cross-country skiers encountered a surprise Wednesday morning during a preliminary qualifying round, as a dog escaped from a nearby bed-and-breakfast and found its way to the course. Nazgul, the two-year-old Czechoslovakian wolfdog, appeared on the home stretch of the course, but did not have a significant impact on any of the skiers or the race.
Trying to Win Her Back
On Feb. 10, Sturla Holm Lægreid won the bronze medal in the 20 km individual biathlon race, but he made headlines for a different reason. “Three months ago, I made my biggest mistake and cheated on her,” Lægreid said about his ex-girlfriend after winning bronze. He later described his former partner as “the gold medal in life” and said that not having her supporting him in Milan made it the worst week of his life. The Norwegian’s confession went extremely viral and drew the attention of his ex-girlfriend, who told VG he is “hard to forgive, even after a declaration of love in front of the whole world.”
Heated Rivalry at the Olympics
Ahead of the women’s hockey final between the United States and Canada, rumors began swirling that U.S. defenseman Caroline Harvey and Canadian forward Daryl Watts have broken up. Harvey allegedly deleted all pictures with Watts on her Instagram and her American teammate, Laila Edwards, referred to her as single in a TikTok comment.
Condom Outage
Just three days into the Winter Olympics, the supply of free condoms provided for athletes ran out. Since the 1988 Seoul Olympics, it has been tradition for the athletes to be provided with condoms, in an effort to raise awareness about STD prevention. It’s reported that the initial supply of condoms was less than 10,000, which pales in comparison to the 300,000 provided at the 2024 Paris Summer Olympics. Condoms were restocked and the Milan Cortina organizing committee said they will be “continuously replenished until the end of the Games to ensure continued availability.”
Penisgate
Male ski jumpers are being accused of receiving penis-enlarging injections of hyaluronic acid. The injections are reportedly given prior to competitors being fit for their suits, with the intent to to increase the suit’s surface area. During competition, the larger suits would act similarly to a sail, as The Athletic pointed out, helping to boost the distance of skiers’ jumps. Plastic surgeon Alessandro Littara told USA Today that he treated a ski jumper last month, but would not specify if the athlete is an Olympian. No specific ski jumper has been directly accused, but all three Americans competing denied receiving injections.
Cheating Curlers
Both the men’s and women’s Canadian curling teams have been accused of double touching the stone, a form of cheating in curling. In the men’s match on Feb. 13, Team Sweden’s Oskar Eriksson got into a verbal disagreement with Canadian third Marc Kennedy; Eriksson said they had video proof of Canada wrongly delivering the rock. Despite Eriksson’s accusations, the Canadian team was not penalized and won the match 8–6. The women’s match on Feb. 14 was a different story, with Rachel Homan being called for a rules violation for touching the stone in Canada’s 8–7 loss to Switzerland.
Credit Card Fraud Goes Gold
French biathlete Julia Simon, who was convicted of credit card fraud, won gold medals in the women’s 15 km biathlon and mixed relay. Simon spent over $2,300 on her teammate Justine Braisaz-Bouchet’s credit card, which earned her a $34,600 fine and a three-month suspended jail term. The biathlete previously faced accusations in 2021 of credit card fraud from the team physiotherapist. Simon initially denied the crime and claimed she was a victim of identity theft before confessing in court in October.
Political Commentary
Multiple athletes have used the Olympics to bring awareness to war and other political issues in their countries. Ukrainian skeleton racer Vladyslav Heraskevych was removed from competition for wearing a helmet that featured images of Ukrainian athletes and coaches who were killed during the war with Russia. American freestyle skier Hunter Hess was one of several Americans to comment about competing for the country under the second Trump administration, saying “it brings up mixed emotions to represent the U.S. right now.” Trump responded, calling Hess a “real loser” in a post to Truth Social.
