Ten Olympic Gold Girlhood Moments Gen Z Loved Best
Images via Getty | Team USA | Instagram
After a Winter Olympics packed with gold medal moments, next gen athletes know they have big skates to fill. And Gen Z girls are here for it.
With the women's ice hockey gold medal game between the United States and Canada bringing an unprecedented 7.7 million viewers in overtime, Laila Edwards making history as the first Black woman to compete for the U.S. team, Hilary Knight setting records for Olympic goals, Aerin Frankel seeing 99 shots on goal but only letting two in, and Megan Keller's final goal sealing the deal, the U.S. women's hockey team served as an example of what the 2026 Winter Olympics meant to girls watching - teamwork, friendship and barrier-breaking goal-setting.
Themes that women carried aloft throughout the games like...well, a torch being passed.
Images via Getty | Team USA | NBC Olympics
While nearly impossible to capture every breathtaking and heart-bursting moment, below are Être's Top Ten gold girlhood moments from the 2026 Games. And if you love the photos as much as we do, note that even Olympic photographers served as role models for girls - at one point 7 out of 8 were women.
ALYSA LIU - After stepping away from competitive skating at 16, Liu returned 2 years later to become the first American woman to medal in Olympic figure skating since 2006 and the first to win gold since 2002! From her joy-filled performance to this explanation of what the moment meant, or her legendary convo with iconic skater Tenley Albright and then grabbing her lipstick to celebrate in a viral moment with Ami Nakai, Liu showed us how to come back on our own terms - heart first.
LAILA EDWARDS – At 22 Edwards became the first Black woman to compete for the U.S. Olympic women's ice hockey team and then scored a goal, earning not only a gold medal but a place in our history books forever. Her example on the ice? Game-changing. Her fist bumps and heart hands? Our new screensavers.
CHLOE KIM - Winning silver at 25, Kim not only took our breath away on the slopes but sent us cheering on the podium as she praised her 17-year-old mentee Choi Gaon, now the youngest snowboarding winner at any Winter Olympics and the first South Korean woman to win an Olympic snowboarding medal. "I always wanted to be there for her and I still do,” said Kim in a press conference afterwards. “She’s my baby…there’s no one else I would have rather stood next to on the podium than her.” Consider the podium torch passed.
Images via Getty | Team USA
EILEEN GU - Amid controversy over her decision to represent China rather than the United States, this double Olympic champion and most decorated women’s freestyle skier at 22 secured her third 2026 medal and won her first gold - with a role model top of mind. "I just found out that my grandma passed away," Gu said in tears at the news conference podium. "She was a really big part of my life growing up and someone I looked up to immensely. She was a fighter. And I think what's so interesting is that a lot of people just cruise through life, but she was a steamship."
MIKAELA SHIFFRIN - Missing out on medaling in Beijing, Shiffrin came to Milan Cortina ready to play, dominating the slalom course 1.50 seconds over second place. From podium milestones to Instagram moments with Taylor Swift and face times with Billie Jean King, Shiffrin's joy took us by storm...and learning that this gold was her first Olympic medal since losing her dad in 2020 brought us to our knees.
Images via Getty | NBC Olympics | Instagram
ERIN JACKSON - Stunning viewers from day one with her lightning fast transition from inline skating to becoming the first Black woman to win an Olympic individual speed skating title for the U.S., Jackson, at 33, may have missed the podium this year but she hit the mark in terms of mentorship. "I was, of course, bummed to not get a medal," she told NPR, "but putting everything in perspective...This is a sport that I owe a lot of my life to. You know, it's a sport that's gotten me to where I am. And if I can give back, then I definitely want to."
TALLULAH PROULX - Making history at 17 as the youngest and first female Filipina to compete in the Winter Games, Proulx called her experience in Milan Cortina transformative. "It's amazing," she commented in an interview, "and I'm so grateful for all the people I've met here...I've gained so much inspiration and so much more passion just from being here, and I'm extra motivated now that I've been at the Olympics and I've experienced it once. It's honestly been life-changing."
ELENA MEYERS TAYLOR - Signing the words Mommy won in ASL to her two sons, both of whom are deaf, Meyers Taylor became the most decorated female bobsledder in the sport’s history after winning the gold. In that moment she also became the oldest U.S. woman to win a Winter Olympic medal (at 41), the second-oldest woman to win a Winter Olympic gold medal, the most decorated U.S. woman in Winter Olympic history (tied with speed skater Bonnie Blair), and one of only four U.S. Winter Olympians with six or more medals.
AMBER GLENN - Bouncing back from a disappointing short program to wow the crowd with her electric free skate, and then breaking the internet with a viral moment when she stopped photographers from filming a sobbing Kaori Sakamoto after she missed her chance at gold, Glen at 26 remains a gleaming example of Olympic energy and empathy. "I told myself, no matter how the program was going to go, I was going to look up and tell myself, ‘You're at the Olympics,’" Glenn told reporters, "and I did that. I'm just really proud of that moment."
LINDSEY VONN - In a race intended to celebrate her return to a beloved sport, Vonn came out of retirement at 41 with a torn ACL but a warrior's heart ready to claim gold. The crash that followed 13 seconds into the run scared and scarred us all, but recovering for 4 surgeries Vonn has only inspo to share. “The ride was worth the fall," she told fans in an interview. "When I close my eyes at night I don’t have regrets and the love I have for skiing remains. I am still looking forward to the moment when I can stand on the top of the mountain once more. And I will.”
She will. And even after our top ten favorite moments, there were more.
Images via Getty
Other injury comebacks like...
Federica Brignone winning her fourth and fifth Olympic medals but first gold on home snow after a broken leg and torn ACL - see other medalists biowing to her above
USA cross-country skier Jessie Diggins laying on the ground and gasping for air after winning her medal with bruised ribs but unbroken spirit
Other gold-standard family moments like...
Breezy Johnson winning gold and then getting engaged
Francesca Lollobrigida answering all gold medal-related questions with her son in her arms
Inaugural gold moments like...
First gold medals in brand new Olympic events for Norway’s Anna Odine Strøm in ski jumping and Sweden’s Ebba Andersson in cross-country skiing
Italian short track skater Arianna Fontana becoming the first woman to win a medal at six consecutive Winter Olympic Games for a career total of 14 — the most of any Italian Olympic athlete.
Who will be next?
Who will be the next record setter? The next barrier breaker? The next goal tender, jump creator, injury rebounder or expectation defier?
I'll bet you anything she's one of the 7.7 million who sat open-mouthed on her couch watching a team of women beat the odds and skate to victory in overtime.
Or maybe she was standing on the couch...knowing she has big skates to fill.
I'll also bet she can't wait.
Looking forward,
Illana
ÊXTRAS: Three last Olympic moments you won't want to miss: This clip of young fans watching new idols, this moment when elementary school students paused class to watch an alumna compete, and this professor watching his student compete after granting her an extension on her paper.
