Yes, unfortunately, the 2026 Winter Olympics are over and we all have to go back to real life on Monday.
After a little over two weeks of action-packed drama, the world’s biggest sporting spectacle has come to an end.
Canada’s medal haul at Milano Cortina 2026 ended up as five gold medals, seven silver medals, and nine silvers, for a total of 21 medals.
In terms of gold medals, Canada was tied for ninth on the official medal table, while they finished eighth on the total medal table.
But while comparing to other countries from around the world is always fun, it’s also a worthy exercise to compare within Canada’s past performances at previous Winter Olympics.
How did Canada’s gold medal haul compare to past Olympics?
Here’s the top five gold medal counts from previous Winter Olympics in Canada.
2010 Vancouver, 14
2018 Pyeongchang, 11
2014 Sochi, 10
2002 Salt Lake City, seven
2006 Turin, seven
If it felt like the 2010 Olympics were just a little bit more special, well, they were. Canada’s 14 golds were their all-time best mark at either a Winter OR Summer Olympics, which is notable considering the vast difference in total events and athletes at the warmer version.
In terms of total gold medals this year compared to past ones, Canada’s 2026 medal haul ranked seventh, with five. Men’s curling, freestyle skiers Mikaël Kingsbury and Megan Oldham (separately), Women’s team pursuit speed skating, and short track speed skater Steven Dubois were Canada’s five golds this go-around.
It’s an improvement on 2022, when they won four golds in the COVID-19 affected Olympics, with no spectators in attendance in Beijing. But it’s just half the projected gold total from Shoreview Analytics, who predicted they’d be on track for 10 gold medals.
Losses in both hockey gold medal games in overtime could’ve flipped that result another way, along with the seven other silvers they missed out on.
How did Canada’s total medal haul compare to past Olympics?
2018 Pyeongchang, 29
2010 Vancouver, 26
2022 Beijing, 26
2014 Sochi, 25
2006 Turin, 24
Canada’s total of 21 at these Olympics was their sixth-best all time for the winter edition, but their lowest total since 2002. Compared to the Shoreview Projections, Canada fell well short again, with the predicted total medal haul at 29.
Canada ends Milan Cortina 2026 with 21 medals, including five gold.
Canada’s lowest Winter Games total since Salt Lake City 2002 when it won 17 medals.
Lots to takeaway from these Games when it comes to Canada’s sporting system. pic.twitter.com/pqu6mgIPG0
— Ben Steiner (@BenSteiner00) February 22, 2026
In short, it was a disappointing Olympics for Canada in some perspectives, but also an extremely close one to looking entirely different. And for those individual special moments, there was still plenty to cheer on for Canadian fans, even if the result as a whole looks worse than many past Games.
For now, with four years until the next Winter Olympics in the French Alps, the powers that be will likely be evaluating what exactly they can do to bring Canada’s medal count up once again.
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