Winter Olympics 2026: First-time medal nations at Milano Cortina

There have been plenty of firsts in the last two weeks of the Olympic Winter Games Milano Cortina 2026.

It has been the first Winter Olympic Games to be held across two cities, the debuts of eight new events, a whole new discipline introduced, a plethora of Olympic records smashed, and a new world record created.

Among over 2,900 athletes from over 90 National Olympic Committees, some won their nation’s first titles, some were their sole representatives, and some have even shared the Olympic experience with their own children.

Others have been etched into their nation’s history as the first to bring home the greatest prize from the global stage.

In Milano Cortina 2026, two nations – and an entire continent – won a Winter Olympic medal for the first time.

Georgia

With a population of less than four million, Georgia have punched above their weight in the Summer Olympic Games, having celebrated titles in wrestling, judo, and weightlifting in recent years.

But before the pairs figure skating event in Milan, a medal from the Winter Games had remained elusive for their nine consecutive appearances since Lillehammer 1994.

Anastasiia Metelkina and Luka Berulava were the ones to change that.

After emerging from the figure skating short program in second place, they maintained their composed precision and affecting intensity in the free skate, earning 146.29 points to take their total to 221.75 points and silver medal status.

Amid a highly competitive field, Berulava and Metelkina – who have only performed together since 2023 – have consistently represented the Georgian flag with pride.

Regularly discussing their ambitions to make figure skating a more prominent force in the country, Berulava won bronze at the 2020 Youth Olympic Games.

Metelkina is one of the athletes at Milano Cortina 2026 to have benefitted from the Olympic Solidarity scholarship, helping to cover key costs and support for athletes of all backgrounds to thrive on the biggest stage.

"It's a big honour for us, and we are very proud of being able to represent Team Georgia at such a level,” Metelkina said after winning silver.

"We hope this medal will show little children that they can count, they can train in figure skating, and in the future we'll have a really big team of ice skating in Georgia."

Brazil

More associated with samba and sand than Alpine skiing, Brazil had never won a Winter Olympic medal since they began participating in 1992.

Milano Cortina 2026’s men’s giant slalom race was historic.

For the entire continent of South America, its first Winter Olympic medal was registered.

And it was golden.

Lucas Pinheiro Braathen describes himself as “a person of cultural duality” after growing up between his skiing-obsessed father’s home in Norway and his mother’s native Brazil.

After dreaming of being the world’s best in Brazil’s more culturally defining sport of football, Pinheiro Braathen gradually became enticed by the adrenaline of the slopes.

By the age of 22, he had moved home 21 times.

But he strongly feels connected to both countries.

"Norway taught me how to be an athlete, how to brave the cold. Brazil taught me how to be myself,” he told the BBC.

He’s a fashion fan, has an apartment in Milan, and has brought samba to the slopes and now the Olympic podium.

Now age 25, Pinheiro Braathen lined up against 81 starters from 62 nations in Milano Cortina. By the end of 14 February in Bormio, two sizzling runs down the Stelvio slope had secured gold.

The reaction back in Brazil has been momentous.

There has been a statement from the president, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, montage comparisons to the legendary Formula One driver Ayrton Senna, and a surge of snowy inspiration in the most unlikely of places.

"People seeing themselves in a sport they were told wasn't for them, that stays with me," he said before the Winter Games began.

"And the messages that say, 'I've never watched skiing before, but now I do.' Kids asking where they can try snow.

"I hope I can inspire some kids out there that, despite what they wear, despite how they look, despite where they come from, they can follow their own dreams and be who they really are.

"Because that is the real source of happiness in life."

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