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

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.

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

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.

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.

ATLANTA, GA, UNITED STATES, January 22, 2026 /EINPresswire.com/ -- Special Olympics Georgia (SOGA) will host the 2026

The two-times world champions scored a whopping 158.13 points for their spellbinding free program to music from 'Gladiator,' performed by Andrea Bocelli, to earn a combined total of 231.24, setting the bar sky-high for the four teams that skated after them.