President Donald Trump welcomed the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic teams to the White House on Thursday, honoring the athletes who represented America at the 2026 Milano Cortina Winter Games in Italy.
The celebration recognized a strong American performance across both competitions, with Team USA bringing home a combined total of 57 medals from the winter events.
Medal Count and Performance
American athletes secured 33 medals during the Olympic competition, claiming 12 gold, 12 silver, and nine bronze medals across various winter sports disciplines. The balanced distribution across all three medal categories demonstrated depth in American winter sports programs.
Team USA’s Paralympic athletes added 24 more medals to the nation’s total, with an impressive 13 gold medals leading their haul. Paralympic competitors also earned five silver and six bronze medals during their events in Milano Cortina.
Historic Hockey Victories
Among the standout achievements from the 2026 Games was a clean sweep of gold medals in hockey competition against the United States’ northern neighbor and traditional rival. The U.S. men’s hockey team, women’s hockey team, and Paralympic hockey team all defeated their Canadian counterparts in their respective gold medal matches.
The triple victory over Canada in hockey finals marked a particularly notable accomplishment, given the intense rivalry between the two nations in the sport and Canada’s historical dominance in international hockey competition.
The White House ceremony provided an opportunity for the president to personally congratulate the athletes on their performances and celebrate their contributions to American success on the international stage. Such receptions have been a longstanding tradition for Olympic teams following major international competitions.
The 2026 Milano Cortina Games marked the second time Italy has hosted Winter Olympic events, with the competition spread across venues in the Milan metropolitan area and the Cortina d’Ampezzo region in the Italian Alps.
The combined 57-medal performance across both the Olympic and Paralympic Games represented a significant achievement for American winter sports programs, with gold medal success distributed across multiple disciplines rather than concentrated in just a few events.
Source: www.breitbart.com — https://www.breitbart.com/sports/2026/08/06/watch-live-donald-trump-hosts-team-usa-winter-olympians-at-white-house/