Late homework, lava cake, lovely lunacy: Viral moments from the 2026 Winter Olympics
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Canadian figuer skater Madeline Schizas in action during the women’s singles free skating team event at the 2026 Winter Olympics.
PHOTO: AFP
SINGAPORE – The 2026 Winter Olympics have produced a number of eye-catching results and performances, but it is not just the action on the ice grabbing attention.
The Straits Times has left no (curling) stone unturned to bring you the other stories from the Games that have made the rounds on social media.
Need a homework extension? Become an Olympian
Canadian figure skater Madeline Schizas found herself in the worst possible situation as a student-athlete when she missed an assignment deadline while competing in Milan.
She realised on Feb 7 that the deadline had been a day earlier, on Feb 6, when she was competing in the women’s figure skating team event short programme.
Schizas is an environment and society student at McMaster University in Hamilton, Canada.
The 22-year-old promptly e-mailed her professor to explain the mix-up. She also posted on Instagram a screenshot of her apology and plea for an extension, along with a press statement from the Canadian Olympic Committee announcing her participation in the Games.
She wrote in her e-mail to her professor: “I was competing in the Olympic Games yesterday and I thought the (assignment) was due on Sunday, not Friday.”
Her light-hearted post quickly went viral, and it paid off. She sent an update on the evening of Feb 7 saying she had been granted an extension.
“Since it seems everyone was quite invested, I did get my extension lol,” she shared with her 50,000 Instagram followers.
In his reply, her professor Victor Satzewich told her to focus on the Games first and wished her luck, and added that he believed she could pull off a “triple lutz triple toe combo”.
Poking fun at himself in the postscript, he added: “When I was 10, I scored a goal in hockey and that was challenging enough for me.”
Following Schizas’ participation in the team event on Feb 8, Prof Satzewich told Canadian broadcaster CBC News to pass a message along.
“Could you remind her that her midterm is due in a couple of days? No more excuses,” he said.
Momma Mia! This tyke’s adorable
Women’s 3,000m speed skating gold medallist Francesca Lollobrigida of Italy celebrating with her son after the victory ceremony.
PHOTO: REUTERS
Speed skater Francesca Lollobrigida won Italy’s first gold
She is the first Italian woman to win a speed skating gold at the Olympics.
But it was her two-year-old son Tommaso who stole the show after the race.
Carrying her son during an interview with Italian media, Lollobrigida was describing what the win meant to her as Tommaso battled for her attention.
He removed her headband, shushed her a few times and even attempted to bat the microphone away to get his mother to talk to him.
While some netizens commented that the boy was being rude, others thought the moment was precious and typical of a toddler.
Athletes have their (lava) cake – and eat it too
Most of us have heard of the famous chocolate muffin
Well, the Winter Olympics has its own popular sweet treat – a gooey chocolate lava cake.
Canadian speed skater Courtney Sarault posted a TikTok video of herself cutting into the decadent dessert, saying it was “perhaps better than the viral chocolate muffin”.
The video has since garnered more than 3.2 million views and 340,000 likes, while sending other athletes on the hunt for the dessert.
Her video has even reached the “muffin man” himself. Christiansen, however, remains sceptical.
He commented: “Idk (I don’t know) man, seems sketchy.”
‘Minions’ set for Olympic debut
The power of social media was on full display even before the Winter Olympics began.
Spanish figure skater Tomas-Llorenc Guarino Sabate started a frenzy on Feb 2 when he said he would not be allowed to use the music from the Minions film franchise he has skated to throughout the season at the Olympics because of copyright issues.
In videos of the routine, Guarino Sabate is dressed in a yellow t-shirt and blue overalls to resemble the popular animated characters.
The music also contains songs such as Heitor Pereira’s Vicious Funk and Freedom by Pharrell Williams.
His post went viral on social media, and many netizens rallied together to voice their disappointment on his behalf.
The outcry worked. A day later, he announced that Universal Pictures, which owns the Minions franchise, had reversed its decision.
He wrote: “Huge thank you to everyone who reposted, shared and supported. Because of you, Universal Studios reconsidered and officially granted the rights for this one special occasion.”
His Minions performance will be on full display when the men’s singles event begins on Feb 11.
Would you rather... run 100m or ski downhill at 100kmh?
The athleticism displayed at Milano Cortina 2026 has been capturing the attention of people online, with many posts on various social media platforms comparing the difficulty of winter sports to Summer Olympic events.
Many of these posts feature humorous comparisons, noting how some events at the Winter Games appear to be designed to see “who can... survive”, or feature outlandish (at least for the uninitiated) formats like firing a rifle while on skis.
ST columnist Rohit Brijnath has saluted the bravery of the athletes
If you are becoming an Olympian just to get your homework deadline extended, perhaps curling might be your safest bet.
