AJ Ginnis, who gave Greece a first ever winter sport medal, ended his skiing career on Monday with a ceremonial run down the Olympic slalom course after a latest injury did not allow him a competitive run.

Behind the glamour and prestige of Olympic medals are secrets about their creation, cost, and worth. We've uncovered them just in time for the 2026 Winter Games.

Olympic medals look like the simplest part of the Games: shiny circles, three colors, quick photo, move on. However, history refused to keep things that tidy. The most basic idea of what a medal is has changed more than most people realize.

The word "Olympics" is rooted in ancient Greece. In Greek mythology, the gods would descend from Mount Olympus into the town of Olympia to gather and socialize with humans, according to Matthew Llewellyn, co-director of the Center for Sociocultural Sport and Olympic Research at California State University, Fullerton.

Emotional scenes unfolded at the Winter Olympics as Greek skier AJ Ginnis took to the slopes for the final run of his career

But, a handful of countries are surprising analysts and ranking higher than expected. One of those countries is Japan, which sits at No. 10 in the medal count as of the end of the Games on Thursday. Another one is Australia, which only has one lone gold medal, but that still puts them at No. 14 on the ranking.