Elsie Collins (286)

The Winter Olympics are back again in 2026, and this year they are being held in Milan, Italy. Central students have been tuning in to the Winter Olympics even though Central does not offer any of those sports. However, some have expressed disappointment that they haven’t had time to watch it due to their workload. 

The Opening Ceremony was on Friday, February 6th. Mariah Carey was there to sing Italy’s national anthem. Of course, Snoop Dogg was at the ceremony and has been spotted at many events, decked out in USA gear; he has even been nicknamed “Coach Snoop.” As per tradition, the ceremony ended with the Olympic Cauldron being lit with a torch by Italian athletes. 

Figure skating is the most popular Winter Olympics event in America, and that is true in Central as well. Central’s own Ms. Date, a history teacher, said, “The only event I care about is the figure skating. That’s all I watch of the Winter Olympics.” Ilia Malinin, nicknamed “The Quad God,” has been the main focus of men’s figure skating in the 2026 Olympics. He is like the Simone Biles of figure skating, because he does things that no one else has done in terms of the sport. He is the first skater to execute the quadruple axel, which is a jump with four full rotations and one half rotation. The accomplishment is similar to Usain Bolt’s record of sprinting one hundred meters in 9.58 seconds. Ilia Malinin has also become known for his backflips, in which he lands on one foot and perfectly sticks the landing, all on ice.  

There are so many other impressive young athletes competing in the Olympics for the United States. For example, Alessandro Barbieri fought for gold in Men’s Half-Pipe Snowboarding. He is only seventeen – that would be a senior in class 285 here at Central! The youngest American athlete is Abby Winterberger, who is a fifteen-year-old women’s freestyle skier. On the other hand, an older competitor to watch is Dan Barefoot, who, at the age of twenty-six, Googled what Olympic sports were easy to learn. At the age of thirty-five, he is now at the Olympics for Men’s Skeleton for the USA. 

While Norway took home the most medals, we are proud of our American athletes for their thirty-three total medals. Overall, it has been a fun experience for Central students to watch the Olympics and the incredible feats the athletes pull off that we only get to see once every four years.