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Get your tissues ready as we dive into some of the most touching and heartbreaking moments from the 2026 Olympics. From surprising acts of sportsmanship to emotional defeats, these unforgettable highlights showcase the true spirit of the Games. Whether it was an inspiring comeback or a bittersweet farewell, these scenes captured the hearts of fans worldwide.
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00:00She knows we're at a special game, and I said if Daddy was here, he'd probably be here too.
00:06Welcome to Ms. Mojo.
00:08And today, we're counting down our picks for the most viral, heartwarming, and heartbreaking incidents to take place during and
00:14away from competition at the 2026 Winter Olympics.
00:17You have to know that just because it's beautiful doesn't mean that it can't also hurt.
00:22It means that you have to go and make that possible.
00:26Number 5. Heartwarming. The Minions Dance.
00:29We have had a pretty good year ourselves, and you guys are all right in my book.
00:37A six-time consecutive Spanish champion, Tomás Llorenz Guarino Sabate had incorporated a ton of fun in his routine during
00:45the 2025-26 season by referencing the Minions from the Despicable Me franchise.
00:50However, massive disappointment seemed to be in the cards as days before the 2026 Olympics, his Minions music was banned.
00:57The rights holder, Universal Pictures, hadn't given Guarino permission to use the tune for the Yellow Creatures.
01:03Sabate, he was crushed.
01:06You see right there.
01:09He was forced to start practicing his Bee Gees routine from last year, just a week before the Olympics.
01:16But then an outcry from Minions and skating fans worldwide.
01:21A day after the figure skater went public with the news, Universal changed its stance and gave Guarino the go
01:27-ahead.
01:27When he took to the rank during the men's singles, he was able to showcase his delightful routine to the
01:32world.
01:33So being like this in the sky and being like this, changing the vision that people have in the skating,
01:39it's not only one thing, it can be many things.
01:41Once you do everything and you do everything in what you do, it will always be nice to see.
01:46Number five, heartbreaking, Malinan's fall.
01:49All athletes, we go through a lot in our life, no matter if it's outside pressure, external pressure, internal pressure.
01:57You know, just the tension, the noise, it's so much for us to handle.
02:01Competitive sports can be a rollercoaster of emotions.
02:04After all, Ilya Malinan was the talk of Milano Cortina after being the first figure skater to land a legal
02:10one-foot backflip at the Olympics in nearly 50 years,
02:13helping the U.S. win gold in the team event.
02:16Yet days later, he went from the highest of highs to the lowest of lows.
02:20I just felt ready getting on that ice, but I think maybe that might have been the reason.
02:24Maybe I was too confident that it was going to go well.
02:27So, you know, honestly, it just happened.
02:30I can't process what just happened, so it happens.
02:34During the men's individual, after topping the points table in the short program, Malinan struggled in the free skate, making
02:40several errors.
02:41As such, instead of being one of the favorites for gold, the quad god finished eighth overall.
02:47Following this, Malinan spoke publicly about the struggles of dealing with the pressure,
02:51and seemingly hinted at the media and online vitriol he received.
02:54Just a lot of on you, just so many eyes, so much attention, not only from people or, you know,
03:01fans, media.
03:02It's just so much, and it really can get to you if you're not ready to fully embrace it.
03:07So I think that might be one of the mistakes I made going into that free skate was I was
03:12not ready to handle that.
03:13Number four, heartwarming, historic hockey.
03:17Growing up, there was hardly anyone that looked like me.
03:20So I think to be their representation and that role model for other young girls just means a lot.
03:26Not only is Layla Edwards an icon for making history by becoming the first black woman to play for the
03:31U.S. senior women's ice hockey team,
03:33but she was also the first to do so at the Olympics when she took to the ice in 2026.
03:38The Ohio hero also became the first black woman to score for the U.S. at the Olympics during their
03:435-0 group game win against Canada.
03:45Yet Edwards wasn't done with breaking records.
03:48It's literally one of a kind, like one of one.
03:51There's nothing else like it.
03:52I think, obviously I'm biased, but in all of sports, it's considered one of the biggest rivalries.
03:57It's just the intensity level ramps up, the hunger, the grit.
04:01In the final, Edwards helped the U.S. take the gold from Canada with a 2-1 win.
04:06Their North American rivals were also the defending 2022 champions.
04:10As such, Edwards became the first U.S. black woman to win an ice hockey gold medal.
04:15What does that kind of history mean to you in this moment?
04:19Yeah, it means a lot to me, but to do it alongside this group is second to none, and I've
04:24just been loving life lately.
04:26Number four, heartbreaking, the missed element.
04:29I've been working so hard to reach my potential, and I knew that one day my potential could be making
04:36an Olympic team,
04:37and to finally do that is so satisfying.
04:39Skating into the 2026 Olympics, Amber Glenn had broken the mold for the U.S.
04:44by being the oldest individual woman to qualify for the women's figure skating team since 1928,
04:50and the first openly LGBTQIA plus skater for them.
04:53When she performed in the short program in the women's singles, everything looked great,
04:57especially when she landed the notoriously difficult triple axel.
05:01However, when Glenn went for the triple loop, she was only able to land a double.
05:05What was going through your mind, your thoughts, your emotions?
05:09Um, just disbelief.
05:12I'm still just, yeah.
05:16And we heard you coming off the ice, we heard you say, I had it.
05:20Yeah, I did the hard stuff, so I was just in shock.
05:24Due to missing this element, the Texan score plummeted, causing her to break down and later describe it as, quote,
05:29soul crushing.
05:30While Glenn came back strong in the free skate and placed first after her program,
05:35the damage was sadly done, and she missed the podium, finishing in fifth place overall.
05:40How would you describe what it's been like here for the 2026 Olympics?
05:44It has been a roller coaster.
05:46It has had its ups and downs, and I'm just grateful to be here and to be able to celebrate
05:51in my resilience.
05:52Yeah.
05:53Number three, heartwarming, Haiti's hero.
05:55J'ai du mal à réaliser le parcours, heureusement que le coach me rappelle de temps en temps de tout
06:04le travail qu'on a fait,
06:05parce que des fois quand je brins un peu du noir, j'ai du mal à , comment dire, relativiser lÃ
06:11-dessus.
06:11Everyone loves an underdog story.
06:14For the 2026 Winter Olympics, that recognition went to Stevenson Savard.
06:18Haiti isn't known for its Winter Olympic exploits.
06:21Instead, it historically focuses on the Summer Games.
06:24After all, in 2022, Richardson Viannault was the country's first Winter Olympic athlete.
06:30In 2026, Haiti sent Viannault to the Games with Savard.
06:42When the latter took part in the men's cross-country 20-kilometer ski-affalon event,
06:47he became the first cross-country skier to represent the Caribbean country at the Olympics.
06:52While Savard came 64th, the crowd and other athletes cheered him on regardless,
06:57causing him to bow as he crossed the finish line, becoming an iconic image.
07:01The message I would like to get across is that anyone can do it, even Haitians.
07:05Even if we don't have a lot of resources, we don't have the same resources as big nations.
07:10With the proof that today I am at the Olympics, we succeeded.
07:14Number three, heartbreaking, competing with grief.
07:17I'm normally a guy that's very good when it comes to perspective on things.
07:22And if I don't ski well in a race, I can at least tell myself that I'm healthy and my
07:26family's healthy
07:27and the people I love are here.
07:28So that's nice, but that's not been the case.
07:30You know, I've lost someone I love so much and that makes it really hard.
07:34Born in the U.S. and growing up in Norway,
07:37after Silver's success at the World Championship,
07:39Atle Lee McGrath was one of the favorites to win gold at the men's slalom event at the 2026 Games.
07:44Yet on the day of the opening ceremony,
07:47the Norwegian received the terrible news that his beloved grandfather had passed away.
07:51I bring him with me.
07:52The last thing I do is kiss my morning band before I go out of the start.
07:58And I kind of, I can't think too much about it because then I'll just start crying.
08:01But he's like, he's there with me and I can kind of feel it in some ways.
08:05Ten days later, McGrath took to the slopes.
08:08After an incredible first run, putting him in first place,
08:11disaster struck in the skier's second attempt when he missed a gate.
08:14Causing him to be eliminated.
08:16With grief and disappointment overwhelming him, McGrath needed to get away.
08:20He walked off towards the woods before lying in the snow as he took a moment to compose.
08:25With everything that's been going on, I've really, really struggled to handle myself these past two weeks.
08:31And I was so proud of my first run today, considering everything.
08:35And then when I don't get anything out of it, that it just stings a different way.
08:39Number two, heartwarming, easy breezy.
08:42How does redemption feel?
08:44It's pretty sweet.
08:46Sometimes good things maybe do come to those who wait.
08:48Having missed the previous winter games with an injury, Breezy Johnson had a point to prove at the 2026 edition.
08:54So the U.S. skier took the gold medal in the women's downhill event.
08:57I haven't heard the U.S. national anthem played for me very often in my career.
09:02I think that the first time was actually at the world championships last year.
09:06And it was a very emotional moment then.
09:08And to hear it be played again yesterday at the Olympics was really just a surreal moment.
09:15Johnson then participated in the women's Super G.
09:18However, she unfortunately crashed and didn't finish.
09:21Yet it's what happened after that that made Johnson's tale heartwarming.
09:25While near the finish line, her partner Connor Watkins dropped to one knee.
09:29On top of holding a piece of wood etched with a quote from Taylor Swift's song The Alchemy, he also
09:34opened a ring box and proposed.
09:36Johnson happily accepted the request, leaving the 2026 Olympics with a gold medal and a fiancé, making it a very
09:43successful tournament for her.
09:44I didn't even know that there were white gold medals.
09:46I didn't know either until I was talking to the jeweler about it.
09:49Wow.
09:49Sapphire and white sapphire.
09:51That's right.
09:51Cool.
09:52And the band?
09:53White gold.
09:54White gold.
09:55Wow.
09:55So now you have both golds.
09:58Number two.
09:59Heartbreaking.
10:00The heartfelt helmet.
10:01People now, you already heard about conditions in Ukraine and with, let's say, like war fatigue, understand that we had
10:10it in the world media, people feel in Ukraine sometimes to be forgotten.
10:14And it's important to remind the world what happens now in Ukraine.
10:17Since Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022, it's estimated that tens of thousands have lost their lives.
10:23To remember the devastation, Ukraine's Vladislav Hereskiewicz wore a helmet as he trained for the 2026 Olympics that featured images
10:31of athletes who were killed.
10:33However, seeing the helmet's design as a political statement, the International Olympic Committee prohibited him from wearing it during the
10:39skeleton competition and suggested sporting a black armband as a, quote, compromise.
10:44Hereskiewicz refused, resulting in his disqualification from competing.
10:49It was a Russian flag already on the helmet of one of the athletes.
10:55So they didn't receive any sanctions, any penalties.
10:58So if it's equal treatment to me, it should be the same, yeah?
11:02He attempted to appeal the decision with the Court of Arbitration for Sport, but it was rejected.
11:07Other athletes supported Hereskiewicz and criticized the IOC.
11:10One of whom was fellow Ukrainian Olena Smaha, who wrote, quote, remembrance is not a violation on her gloves.
11:17I believe that this describes our situation right now, our daily fight.
11:23And I hope that they will hold us together in these Olympic games, and I believe that we didn't do
11:33anything.
11:33Number one, heartwarming.
11:36The student becomes the master.
11:38Gaon Choi, today's World Cup winner.
11:42She is a real threat in this Olympic winter season.
11:46Keep an eye on this young man, folks.
11:48In 2023, teenager Gaon Choi received the mentorship of one of the greatest Olympic snowboarders around, Chloe Kim,
11:55who'd won two consecutive gold medals in 2018 and 2022 in the women's halfpipe as she broke records.
12:02When Choi was hospitalized away from her home following an injury, Kim, who has South Korean heritage, reportedly translated for
12:09her protege.
12:10In 2026, the 17-year-old Choi made her Olympic debut for South Korea, competing against her U.S. teacher.
12:17In the end, the South Koreans stole the show, even after suffering an injury from a crash in the first
12:22run.
12:22She is such a force, and I knew she was going to give me a run for my money tonight.
12:26And I think that I'm so proud, knowing that I was kind of able to lead and push this progression
12:32in a way.
12:33And to see that, you know, someone like Gaon is out here doing it all is pretty amazing.
12:38She became the youngest women's halfpipe gold medalist as Kim settled for silver.
12:42However, the American was delighted for Choi.
12:45I'm aware that I can't do this forever.
12:47And I think seeing that this sport is left in very good hands.
12:53I mean, Gaon is the hardest working.
12:55She's talented, but she works hard.
12:58And I think that's why she is as amazing as she is today.
13:01And so I couldn't be more proud of her.
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13:20Number 1. Heartbreaking.
13:22Lindsey Vonn's Final Olympics.
13:24There's always a moment where you break down and you realize the severity of things and that your dreams are
13:34slipping through your fingers.
13:36But I didn't have that this time.
13:38I'm not letting this slip through my fingers.
13:41I'm going to do it.
13:44Following many medals and accolades, Vonn returned to competitive skiing in 2024 after recovering from a severe injury that forced
13:52her retirement in 2019.
13:53In the run-up to the 2026 Olympics, Vonn competed at the World Cup.
13:58However, disaster struck when a crash ruptured her ACL.
14:01In the podium, in every race this season, twice a winner.
14:06And in the last downhill before the Winter Olympic Games, Vonn has crashed into the netting.
14:13With incredible resilience, she still planned to compete at the Games, which would be her last as an athlete.
14:19However, for those hoping this would be a Hollywood swan song for the legendary Vonn,
14:23it wasn't to be.
14:24As she took to the air during the women's downhill, her pole clipped a gate, causing her to crash into
14:29the snow.
14:30Vonn was airlifted to the hospital with a fractured leg that required multiple surgeries to stabilize.
14:36I can't tell you how painful it's been.
14:39It's been really hard.
14:41And it was definitely not the way I wanted to end my Olympics.
14:47But it's been really inspiring to watch my teammates.
14:50What moment, good or bad, of the 2026 Winter Olympics stuck out for you as an iconic incident?
14:56Let us know below.
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