Olympics
Age, it turns out, still loses to experience—and speed.
Austrian snowboarder Benjamin Karl etched his name into Winter Olympic history Sunday, becoming the oldest individual gold medalist ever after defending his title in the 2026 Winter Olympics parallel giant slalom. At 40 years and 115 days, Karl topped a record that had stood since 2014, when Norwegian biathlete Ole Einar Bjørndalen won gold at age 40 years and 12 days, according to CBS Sports.
Karl secured the victory by just 0.19 seconds, edging South Korea’s Sangkyum Kim to claim his second straight Olympic gold in the discipline after winning in Beijing in 2022. The win marked Karl’s fourth Olympic medal overall, adding to a career that also includes silver from Vancouver 2010 and bronze from Sochi 2014.
Moments after crossing the line, Karl celebrated in unmistakable fashion—stripping down to his base layer, flexing, and diving bare-chested into the snow in front of a roaring crowd. The scene looked brutal, but Karl insisted it felt anything but. “We have four runs, it was really long, we are sweating full gas — it’s like you’re coming out from the sauna,” Karl told reporters via the Associated Press. “I wanted to lay longer in the snow to cool down.”
Karl is one of alpine snowboarding’s most durable competitors and a reminder that longevity, in the right hands, can still beat youth on the world’s biggest stage.
Team USA Strikes Gold in Figure Skating
Later in the day, the United States added another gold medal—this time on the ice.
Ilia Malinin’s EPIC free skate is the lift Team USA needed to win the gold! pic.twitter.com/jjgUJ2QAp2
— NBC Olympics & Paralympics (@NBCOlympics) February 8, 2026
Team USA captured gold in the team figure skating event, with 21-year-old phenom Ilia Malinin delivering a decisive performance in the final segment. Malinin posted a score of 200.03, pushing the Americans into first place and setting the bar high for Japan’s final skater.
Japan’s Shun Sato answered with a strong skate of his own, scoring 194.86, but it wasn’t enough to overcome Malinin’s advantage. The result secured back-to-back Olympic gold medals for the United States in team figure skating, continuing a recent run of dominance in the event.
With individual figure skating competitions beginning Monday, the U.S. will have additional chances to add to its medal tally—while Karl’s shirtless celebration is already shaping up as one of the enduring images of these Games.
