From medals breaking to condom shortage: All the biggest viral moments from the Winter Olympics

The final days of the Milano Cortina 2026 Olympic Winter Games are upon us, and it has certainly been an eventful time.

During the past couple of weeks there has been sporting glory, from Norwegian cross-country skier Johannes Hoesflot Klaebo earning five gold medals to second-most decorated gold medalist in Olympic history, American figure skater Alysa Liu becoming the first US woman to win Olympic figure skating gold in 24 years, to Team GB's Matt Weston winning two gold medals in the skeleton.

Additionally, there has also been a lot of viral talking points outside the competitions, such as the Olympic Village reportedly running out of condoms, to a dog becoming an unexpected breakout star.

Here is a round up of the biggest viral moments from the Winter Olympics.

Norway’s Sturla Holm Laegreid's cheating confession after bronze medal win

When Norway's Sturla Holm Laegreid won bronze in the men's Olympic 20km individual biathlon race, nobody could've anticipated what he was going to say in his post-race interview where he confessed to cheating on his ex-girlfriend.

"Three months ago, I made my biggest mistake and cheated on her. I told her about it a week ago. It's been the worst week of my life," he tearfully told NRK.

This quickly went viral on social media, and led to the ex-girlfriend (who wanted to remain anonymous) responding to Laegreid's confession by telling Norwegian publication VG she "did not choose to be put in this position, and it hurts to have to be in it".

She added that Laegreid's infidelity was "hard to forgive, even after a declaration of love in front of the whole world".

A few hours later, Laegreid admitted, "Maybe it was really selfish of me to give that interview."

French biathlete Julia Simon wins gold three months after being convicted of stealing her teammate’s credit card

Julia Simon won Olympic gold medal for France in the women’s 15km biathlon, after being convicted of committing credit card fraud against one of her national teammates.

Last October, the 29-year-old was €15,000 fine and a three-month suspended sentence when she was found to have spent more than €2,000 using card details belonging to Justine Braisaz-Bouchet, who finished in 80th place.

Meanwhile, a six-month ban was imposed on Simon by the French Ski Federation, but ultimately five months of it were suspended meaning so she only missed out on one event at the beginning of this season and remained eligible for the Olympics.

“I confess the accusations but I don’t remember committing them,” Simon said at the time, as per The Guardian. “It’s like a blackout.”

Olympic Village has run out of condoms

Getty Images/TikTok (@oliviasmartxox)

In just three days, 10,000 condoms were handed out among the 2,871 athletes staying in the village – and they were depleted within just three days "due to higher-than-anticipated demand," according to the International Olympic Committee (IOC).

Fortunately for athletes, condoms have since been restocked, with the sports body ensuring they are "continuously replenished until the end of the Games to ensure continued availability".

IOC spokesperson Mark Adams believes one of the factors was timing, joking that it "shows that Valentine's Day is in full swing in the village, and I don't think I can add very much more to that".

Man on the run for 16 years arrested after visiting Italy for Olympic hockey

Photo by Alexander Nemenov - Pool/Getty Images

Many people have been showing up to Olympic events to support their country's team - including a Slovak fugitive who had been on the run for 16 years who ended up getting arrested after he turned up to watch Slovakia's opening game against Finland.

The man had been on the run for 16 years and following his arrest was taken to Milan’s San Vittore prison to serve a pending sentence of 11 months and 7 days, according to Italy's military police.

Skijumping 'penisgate' scandal

Photo by Maja Hitij/Getty Images

Ski jumping made headlines ahead of the Olympics over "penisgate" scandal - yes, you read correctly...

It's thought that the competitor suits were stiffened and had added surface area, because a large part of scoring comes down to the time and distance of a jumper's leap.

Back in August 2025, Norwegian Olympic medallists Marius Lindvik and Johann Andre Forfang were handed three-month suspensions for the tampering of their suits during the men's large hill event at the World Ski Championships in Trondheim, Norway, earlier in the year but both served their time off the slopes and competed at the Olympics (Marius Lindvik winning silver and Johann Andre Forfang winning bronze).

While the athletes themselves weren't aware of the tampering, the International Ski and Snowboard Federation (FIS) claims their teams used reinforced thread in their jumpsuits to give them an advantage.

Canada's curling team accused of cheating

Photo by Mattia Ozbot/Getty Images

There's been plenty of drama between Canada and Sweden's curling teams after Sweden accused their opponents of cheating as they alleged that Canada players were touching the stone following release, asking officials to take a closer look.

Tensions were apparent, as Eriksson told Kennedy he could show him video of him touching the stone, Kennedy replied: “I haven’t done it once. You can f*** off.”

The Olympic medals breaking

Photo by David Ramos/Getty Images)

Multiple medal-winning athletes have recently complained that their medals have broken, causing Winter Olympic officials to investigate.

Ski gold medallist Breezy Johnson advising, "don't jump in them"."I was jumping in excitement, and it broke. I’m sure somebody will fix it. It’s not crazy broken, but a little broken," she shared.

US figure skater Alysa Liu shared a clip of her gold medal detached from its ribbon, and Biathlete Justus Strelow also noted how his bronze medal had suddenly fallen off the ribbon around his neck.

Olympic figure skater gets music rights approved to perform to Minions soundtrack

Tomas Guarino Sabate of Team Spain competes in Men's Single Skating - Short Program on day four of the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympic games at Milano Ice Skating Arena on February 10, 2026 in Milan, Italy. Photo by Elsa/Getty Images

Spanish figure skater Tomàs-Llorenç Guarino Sabaté wanted to perform his fan-favorite “Minions” routine (dressed in the signature uniform of a yellow shirt and blue overalls), at the Winter Olympics but this looked to be doubt over a copyright dispute.

However, after an outpour of support from social media, Universal has since reconsidered and granted the rights to him.

Taking to his Instagram Story, Sabaté wrote, “Huge THANK YOU to everyone who reposted, shared, and supported,”

"Because of you, Universal Studios reconsidered and officially granted the rights for this one special occasion. I’m so happy to see that the minions hitting Olympic ice is becoming real again!!”

Dog becomes breakout star

Eurosport, Olympic Winter Games

Two-year-old Czechoslovakian wolfdog named Nazgul became an unexpected sports star after the four-legged friend gatecrashed the women's team sprint cross-country qualifying race in Tesero on Wednesday.

As the athletes were on the finishing straight, the pooch decided to join the race - much to the delight of spectators who could be heard cheering the unexpected visitor on.

The dog then crossed the finish line ahead of the skiiers making the perfect photo finish.

Elsewhere from Indy100, Who is Eileen Gu? The divisive breakout star of the Winter Olympics, and How two plush toys have become the hottest Winter Olympics trend.

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