As the 2026 Winter Olympics come to a close this weekend, we look back on some of the Games’ most sensational moments.
Shit, the Olympics are good. For two weeks every four years, we become mesmerised by a spectacular sporting extravaganza where the planet’s best athletes compete in a variety of obscure sports like biathlon, bobsleigh, and short-track speed skating. The 2026 Milan Cortina Winter Olympics has been filled with emotional victories, inspiring performances and heartbreaking results, but it has also treated us to some of the most dramatic moments in sporting history. Sport brings out both the best and the worst in people, so here’s some of the biggest scandals to come out of the 2026 Winter Olympics – so far.
Curling gets the finger
Nobody expected the sedate sport of curling to provide one of the most shocking cheating scandals of the entire Olympics – until a Canadian athlete stuck his pointy finger into an ice storm of controversy. Canada was competing against defending champions Sweden when Canadian curler Marc Kennedy was accused of using his big digit to give an extra jab to the curling stone after he released it. Double-touching the stone is a big no-no, and when Swedish curler Oscar Eriksson openly accused Kennedy of the act, curling’s good vibes were frozen forever more. “I haven’t done it once… you can fuck off,” Kennedy and his apparently sneaky phalanges shouted at the Swede.
Ukrainian athlete disqualified over helmet
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) banned Vladyslav Heraskevych from competing in the skeleton race after the Ukrainian vowed to wear a helmet adorned with more than 20 images of Ukrainian athletes killed since Russia invaded Ukraine. The IOC ruled that Heraskevych’s helmet violated a rule banning any form of political statement or demonstration, but Heraskevych refused to comply by wearing a different helmet or black arm band. Heraskevych told CNN he will appeal the decision with the Court of Arbitration for Sport, and the decision has raised accusations of IOC double standards. “We are proud of Vladyslav and of what he did. Having courage is worth more than any medal,” Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy said.
Man has a moment on mountain
We’ve all wanted to chuck a massive tanty when things haven’t gone our way, so spare a thought for Norwegian skier Atle Lie McGrath, who crashed out big time after his Olympic dreams suddenly slid away. McGrath was a contender for men’s slalom gold when he accidentally straddled a pole on the downhill course, instantly eliminating himself from the competition. The mistake landed on top of grief – his grandfather died on the day of the Olympics opening ceremony – and McGrath hiffed both poles into the air, kicked off his skis and walked across the mountain to enjoy a quiet lie down in the snow. He then disappeared into the nearby forest. “I just needed some time for myself,” McGrath later told journalists.
Condom crisis
Welcome to the 2026 Rooting Olympics, where the world’s finest athletes have been rutting like gold-medal champions. Ten thousand condoms were supplied to the 2,800 residents of the Olympic Village at the beginning of the Games, but supplies reportedly ran out after just three days. “We can confirm that condom supplies in the Olympic Villages were temporarily depleted due to higher-than-anticipated demand,” the Olympics organising committee confirmed, adding that they have since replenished supplies. Valentine’s Day has a lot to answer for.
Man celebrates bronze medal by confessing huge personal secret
Another day, another emotional Norwegian skier. When Sturla Holm Lægreid won the bronze medal in the 20km biathlon, he celebrated by making an unexpected confession in his post-race interview: three months earlier, he cheated on the love of his life. “I told her a week ago, and it’s been the worst week of my life,” an upset Lægreid told Norwegian Broadcasting Corp. “I had a gold medal in life, and there’s probably a lot of people out there who look at me differently now, but I only have eyes for her… I wish I could share this with her.”
The medals keep breaking
The IOC may as well have been handing out chocolate coins hotglued to pipe cleaners, given the state of some of the first medals awarded. Winning athletes quickly discovered their medals were prone to falling off their ribbons or snapping in half, like American skier Breezy Johnson, whose gold medal fell apart when she jumped in celebration. Even New Zealand silver medalist Zoi Sadowski-Synnott’s medal fell off its clasp, after she whacked it on her snowboard.
Ski jumper crotch scandal
It seems some athletes are prepared to do whatever it takes to win, including injecting hyaluronic acid into their penises. Rumours that competitive male ski jumpers are trying to gain an aerodynamic advantage by increasing the surface area of their girth has plagued these Olympics, with one Italian plastic surgeon claiming he has injected 3000 penises during his career, including that of a recent ski jumper. However, that same surgeon declined to say if the ski jumper in question was even competing at the Olympics, the International Ski and Snowboard Federation has dismissed the story as “pure hearsay”, and the World Doping Association has promised to investigate the claims “if anything comes to the surface”.
Finland’s drunken scandal
Finland’s ski jumping campaign went off-piste last week when their head coach Igor Medved was sent packing from the Olympics due to “alcohol-related” issues that Finnish officials said violated team conduct rules. Medved issued an apology, and explained that he had attended a gold medal celebration with the Slovenian team on an empty stomach. “I am not proud of myself,” Medved told YLE Sport.
Husky is denied a medal
Who let the dog out? In what may prove to be one of the biggest travesties in the history of sport, a random dog decided to enter the final stages of the women’s team sprint cross-country race, bounding along behind several skiers to cross the finish line. Sadly, the husky gatecrashed a qualifying round rather than a finals race, and was thus denied the opportunity for a podium finish and a medal that would break after one jump. Justice for this good dog.
