The 2026 Winter Olympics in Milano Cortina were a reminder of why the Games remain one of the few truly global cultural moments in sport. For a couple of weeks the world tunes in together, discovering new athletes and stories in real time. This year those moments travelled fast – from Ilia Malinin landing the first legal backflip in Olympic figure skating history to a USA men’s ice hockey player losing a tooth mid-game before scoring the winner minutes later. But the Olympics are never just about medals; Lindsey Vonn’s comeback attempt brought one of winter sport’s biggest names back to the stage. The USA women’s ice hockey team delivered the drama audiences crave, while US star Laila Edwards made history as the first Black woman to win gold in her sport. And even the human moments cut through – Norwegian biathlete Sturla Holm Lægreid using a bronze medal interview to publicly apologise to his ex-girlfriend, and Norway’s dominance continuing with a biathlon star reaching nine Olympic gold medals.

And it wasn’t just the athletes shaping the narrative. The presenters played a huge part too – all of them added something, but the standout voices for me were the two snowboard commentators squeezed together in their now iconic tin hut, keeping the energy high and helping audiences feel every moment. They brought a mix of expertise, humour and pure joy that made the men’s Big Air final (already being talked about as one of the best ever), feel even bigger.

With millions watching on TV and huge streaming numbers on the BBC, Milano Cortina made one thing clear – and the Paralympics will only build on it, the moments we remember aren’t just the medal wins. It’s the sportsmanship, the raw human moments and the unreal athleticism that pull global audiences into the same story and remind us why the Olympic and Paralympic Games still matter.