Here’s a quick glance at everything that happened in the professional sports world this past week …
2026 Winter Olympics
The 2026 Winter Olympics officially wrapped up on Sunday, with the closing ceremony in Verona marking the conclusion of the Milano Cortina games.
Norway led the final tally for both gold and overall medals with 18 and 41, respectively. The United States followed in second for both categories, including 12 gold medals that mark the most in American history in a single winter Olympics. Host nation Italy rounded out the top three. The 2030 Winter Games are set to be hosted in France.
Here are the biggest storylines from the final week in Italy:
Women’s Figure Skating
American figure skater Alysa Liu capped off a remarkable career comeback by winning the gold medal in the individual competition, the first gold for an American woman since 2002.
The current UCLA student sat in third place following the short program, but put on a dazzling performance in the free skate round, scoring a personal best of 150.20 to propel herself to gold. Liu overtook her two Japanese competitors, as veteran Kaori Sakamoto and rookie Ami Nakai took silver and bronze, respectively.
Liu’s journey marks incredible personal growth, as after winning back-to-back U.S. Championships in 2019 and 2020 and competing in Beijing at the 2022 Winter Olympics, Liu retired from skating in 2022 at 16 years old. However, after rediscovering her passion for the sport, she came out of retirement in 2024, quickly regaining her world-class form on the way to Olympic glory.
Women’s Ice Hockey
The U.S. women’s hockey team completed an improbable comeback of their own by defeating Canada 2-1 in overtime of the gold medal game.
After Canada drew first blood at the start of the second period, the Americans were left trailing up to the final two minutes of regulation, when captain Hilary Knight tipped a slap shot into the net to send the final into overtime. Five minutes into overtime, American Megan Keller slipped around her defender and scored the goal to clinch the gold medal.
Men’s Ice Hockey
Not to be outdone, the U.S. men’s hockey team won the gold medal on the final day of the Winter Games, prevailing 2-1 over Canada in overtime.
In the first period, forward Matt Boldy’s stunning solo dash opened the scoring for the Americans. However, Canada’s Cale Makar equalized in the next period, setting up another golden goal overtime period for the gold medal. That goal would come from forward Jack Hughes, who slotted home the winner within minutes of the start of overtime. The American men claimed their first Olympic hockey gold since the Miracle on Ice in 1980.
NBA: Rule changes loom as injuries shake contenders
NBA commissioner Adam Silver announced the league’s plans to enact anti-tanking rule changes for next season. While no specific plan was laid forth, the ideas proposed included adjusted lottery odds, restricting top picks in consecutive years and alterations for protecting draft picks in trades.
The Dallas Mavericks announced that all-star point guard Kyrie Irving will miss the rest of the 2025-26 season to fully recover from a torn ACL suffered last March. The Mavericks currently sit in 12th place in the Western Conference with a record of 20-36.
Phoenix Suns guard Dillon Brooks will miss four to six weeks after suffering a broken left hand during a game on Feb. 21 against the Orlando Magic. Brooks has enjoyed a career year, with averages of 20.9 points, 3.7 rebounds and 1.0 steals per game. The Suns (33-25) have returned to playoff contention as the 7th seed in the West, and will miss Brooks’ defensive intensity and newfound scoring capability.
NFL: Remembering Moore; Cowboys re-sign Javonte Williams
NFL wide receiver Rondale Moore passed away on Feb. 21 in his hometown of New Albany, Indiana.
Moore most recently played for the Minnesota Vikings, and spent time with the Atlanta Falcons after being drafted in 2021 by the Arizona Cardinals. He was sidelined for the last two seasons after suffering consecutive knee injuries in 2024 and 2025. Police report Moore was found with a suspected self-inflicted gunshot wound. He was 25 years old.
The Dallas Cowboys agreed to re-sign running back Javonte Williams to a three-year, $24 million contract with $16 million guaranteed. Williams is coming off a career year after his first season in Dallas, where he finished with 1,201 rushing yards and 11 rushing touchdowns.
