Canada won fewer Olympic medals than past years. Why was 2026 a challenge?

With Canada finishing the 2026 Milan-Cortina Olympics with 21 medals, the country saw a significant decrease in hardware earned compared to previous Winter Olympic Games.

Now that the 2026 Milan-Cortina Olympic Games have come and gone, Canada ended up finishing lower in the medal count than in previous years.

At the 2022 Beijing Olympics, Canada secured 26 medals, and at the PyeongChang Olympics in 2018, the country won 29, marking these Games as the most successful Canadian performance in terms of overall medals at the Winter Olympics.

Canada also took home 25 medals at the 2014 Sochi Olympics and 26 medals at the 2010 Vancouver Olympics.

With Canada waving goodbye to the 2026 Olympic Games with just 21 medals, many Canadians may be wondering what was different this year.

Canadian Olympic Committee chief executive David Shoemaker spoke at a press conference on Sunday, emphasizing the need for increased funding.

“Core funding for national sports organizations has not increased in 20 years,” Shoemaker said. “It needs to.”

“It’s the money these organizations count on to fund operations, athletes, coaches and support staff. They safeguard the pathway from playground to podium.”

Ann Rucklinger, CEO of Own the Podium, a non-profit organization that “assists national sports bodies in Canada with their investment and training strategies,” said to Global News last week that Canada usually starts off the Winter Olympics slowly.