MILAN, Feb 16 (Reuters) - Anastasiia Metelkina and Luka Berulava made history for Georgia on Monday, winning the tiny South Caucasus country's first Winter Olympic medal by claiming silver in the pairs figure skating event of the Milano Cortina Games.

Although it was not gold like they had hoped going into Monday's pairs figure skating final at the Winter Olympic Games, Anastasiia Metelkina and Luka Berulava made history for the country they represent. For the first time in history, Georgia has a medal at the Winter Olympics.

Georgia's sole Winter Olympics representative, Elana Meyers Taylor, took home her first Olympic gold medal in women's monobob.

For the first time, Elana Meyers Taylor has won an Olympic gold medal; Milan Cortina is her fifth Olympic appearance. Taylor, a Douglasville native, has won medals at all four of her previous Olympics — three silvers and two bronze. Gold has always been her goal.

The five-time Olympian from Georgia secured gold, becoming Georgia's sole representative on Team USA to win at the Games.

Japan won its first Olympic pairs gold and Georgia earned its first Winter Games medal at Milan Cortina 2026, rewriting figure skating history.

At the ongoing Winter Olympics Milan–Cortina 2026, Georgian figure skaters Anastasia Metelkina and Luka Berulava have written a new chapter

For people in the Down syndrome community, Meyers Taylor’s willingness to willingly and proudly share her son Nico on a global stage is uplifting.

She's one of the fiercest bobsledders to compete in the sport, and she calls metro Atlanta her hometown. Olympian Elana Meyers Taylor is now a first-time Gold medalist, after winning the monobob in the Milan-Cortina 2026 Winter Games. This is her fifth Olympics.

Last updated: Tuesday, Feb. 17, 2026 at 8:00 p.m. ET Top takeaway: Norway has stretched its lead to 14 gold medals and 31 total medals, while host Italy is up to 9 gold (24 total) and Team USA has climbed to 6 gold (21 total) as another wave of finals hits the standings

The pair won a surprise gold at the 2024 World Championships, and continued to push forward toward the 2026 Olympics even as the obstacles grew higher and higher, from tougher competition to lingering illness and injury. Still, they persisted, and in January were named to the Canadian Olympic team and slated to skate in the team event.