Ukrainian Athlete's Helmet Highlights War Casualties
Ukrainian skeleton athlete Vladyslav Heraskevych competed wearing a helmet depicting Ukrainian athletes killed in the Russia-Ukraine war. This follows his "No War in Ukraine" sign at the 2022 Beijing Games. The helmet featured images of weightlifter Alina Perehudova, boxer Pavlo Ishchenko, ice hockey player Oleksiy Loginov, actor and athlete Ivan Kononenko, diving athlete and coach Mykyta Kozubenko, shooter Oleksiy Habarov, and dancer Daria Kurdel.
The Olympic Committee reportedly contacted the Ukrainian team regarding the helmet, citing the Olympic Charter's prohibition of "any kind of demonstration or political, religious or racial propaganda."
New Zealand Snowboarder Honored with Haka
Sydney-born New Zealand rider Zoi Sadowski-Synnott secured a silver medal in snowboard big air, adding to her previous Olympic medals. Following her achievement, her team performed a haka in her honor.
Sadowski-Synnott expressed feeling "very honored" to represent New Zealand, Aotearoa, and to have her family and teammates' families present.
Steven Bradbury Comments on Jake Paul's Partner's Victory
Jutta Leerdam, a speed skating athlete with over 6 million Instagram followers and fiancée of YouTuber-turned-boxer Jake Paul, won gold in the women's 1,000 meters with an Olympic record time of 1:12.31. Jake Paul was present and shared a video on Instagram showing his emotional reaction to her victory.
Australian Winter Olympic medalist Steven Bradbury, commentating for Channel Nine, remarked on Leerdam's performance, stating, "I reckon she's a better skater than he is a boxer."
Married Skeleton Athletes Compete
Belgium's Kim Meylemans and Brazil's Nicole Silveira, a married couple and top-ranked skeleton athletes (first and ninth in the world respectively), competed against each other in official training. Meylemans finished eighth. The couple, married in 2025, previously competed together at Beijing 2022.
Meylemans noted in an Instagram post that competing in Italy, where same-sex marriage is not permitted, provided an opportunity to "shine a light on marriage equality."
Unprecedented Shared Medals Occur
Two instances of shared medals occurred on a single day at the Winter Olympics, increasing the historical total of shared medals from 30 to 32.
In men's team alpine skiing, Austria's Vincent Kriechmayr and Manuel Feller recorded the same time (2:45:03) as Switzerland's Marco Odermatt and Loïc Meillard, resulting in both teams receiving silver medals. The bronze medal was not awarded.
Hours later, in men's normal hill ski jumping, Japan's Ren Nikaido and Switzerland's Gregor Deschwanden both achieved 266 points, leading to a shared bronze medal.
The last shared medals before these instances were in 2018, with shared gold in two-man bobsleigh and shared bronze in women's cross-country skiing.