gold medals and Irene Schouten winning the women's mass start, 3,000m and 5,000m distances. Nils van der Poel of Sweden won the men's 5,000m and 10,000m distances, setting new Olympic records in both distances. Kamila Valieva of Russia was allowed to compete in the women's figure skating in spite of a failed doping test in December 2021. She failed, however, to win an individual medal after falling in her final routine. Russia's team gold medal remains in limbo to this day, pending investigation into Valieva's positive drug test. Finland claimed its first ice hockey gold ever, having beaten the Russian Olympic Committee in the men's final on the last day of the Games. Norway was first in the overall medal standings, claiming 37 medals in total and 16 gold medals, the highest number of gold medals of any country in a single Winter Olympics. This was the ninth time Norway claimed the highest number of gold medals in the Winter Games. Future The 2026 Winter Olympics will be in Milan-Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy and take place between 6 and 22 February 2026. The 2030 Winter Olympics will be in either Salt Lake City, United States or Sapporo, Japan and take place between 8 and 24 February 2030. Problems and politics Controversy The process for awarding host city honours came under intense scrutiny after Salt Lake City had been awarded the right to host the 2002 Games. Soon after the host city had been announced it was discovered that the organisers had engaged in an elaborate bribery scheme to curry favour with IOC officials. Gifts and other financial considerations were given to those who would evaluate and vote on Salt Lake City's bid. These gifts included medical treatment for relatives, a college scholarship for one member's son and a land deal in Utah. Even IOC president Juan Antonio Samaranch received two rifles valued at $2,000. Samaranch defended the gift as inconsequential since, as president, he was a non-voting member. The subsequent investigation uncovered inconsistencies in the bids for every Olympics (both Summer and Winter) since 1988. For example, the gifts received by IOC members from the Japanese Organising Committee for Nagano's bid for the 1998 Winter Olympics were described by the investigation committee as "astronomical". Although nothing strictly illegal had been done, the IOC feared that corporate sponsors would lose faith in the integrity of the process and that the Olympic brand