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MAYA Jama has posed with nothing but a fur stole after wowing at the Brit Awards.

The Love Island host, 34, presented the award for Artist of the Year at Saturday’s ceremony in a figure-hugging white, custom-made David Koma dress.

Maya completed the look with a white faux-fur stole and later stripped down to nothing except that wrap.

She took to Instagram to recap her Brit Awards night and shared the photo of her completely nude, with just the stole covering her modesty.

“Brit awards was so much fun! Presented Artist of the year to the absolute angel Olivia Dean & got to see all my pals wearing the dreamiest custom David Koma gown. Such a good year for British music,” she captioned the post.

People were quick to compliment her on the chic outfit and sexy poses.

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Maya Jama turns heads at Brits as she’s snapped holding a pink vape backstage

“Hot 🔥,” wrote one person, while another added: “Lushhhh.”

And Big Brother host AJ Odudu commented: “STUNNING.”

This year’s Brits were held Manchester for the first time in the show’s 50 year history, so Maya did not have travel far from her new home with Man City footballer Ruben Dias.

Maya and Ruben have been dating for around 18 months and she confirmed during the Brits broadcast that she’d made the move to Manchester to live with him.

Maya took to the stage alongside music legend James Blunt and said to the crowd: “Hello Manchester, I’ve just moved here so this is my new home. Love it. And James?”

The You’re Beautiful singer replied: “This is the most important award of the evening this is for best artist and I have to say that when I was relevant it was far easier.

“There were only 4 other people in the category but tonight we have 10 people.”

After sharing the nominated artists, the pair then revealed the winner as Olivia Dean who was nominated for five awards, and took home four.

RUTH Langsford helped herself to a £585,000 pay day last year, new figures have revealed

The telly star runs a firm called Hey Ho Limited to take in cash from her TV work and endorsements from firms like Tesco.

Accounts for the 12 months to the end of May 2025 show Ruth, 65, paid herself a dividend of £585,000. In 2024, she took £770,000.

The figures show the firm retained £741,000 in cash.

The Sun has contacted Ruth’s representative for comment.

And she’s on course for another big payout  because her new book is already a best-seller just hours after it was published.

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The memoir – called Feeling Fabulous – shot to number 11 in the Amazon book charts and was number 1 in the Beauty and Fashion category.

Publishers said of the £11 work: “Up and down the country, people love Ruth Langsford’s zest for life and ability to find the humour in any situation. Every day through her work at Loose Women, she meets people who have been through the most astonishing highs and lows. Her warm and open interviewing style has made her one of the UK’s favourite broadcasters.

“Now, in her first-ever book, she’s opening up about her own ups and downs like never before.

“From her rebellious school days to starting out in telly, Strictly Come Dancing and her close bond with her family, she’s sharing the experiences that have shaped her and the lessons that she’s learned along the way.

“Throughout everything, Ruth has retained her trademark humour and sense of fun, and now she wants to share how she’s found her way back to feeling fabulous, no matter what.”

The popular presenter split from husband Eamonn Holmes in May 2024.

She said the breakup was “devastating”, admitting it felt “impossible to survive” in the initial period.

In her book, she revealed she would often cry in the shower before work following the separation.

She expressed a “deep loss” and found it “incredibly hard to come to terms with” the end of their 26-year relationship, having expected to be with Holmes “forever”.

Ruth stated she has accepted the end of her marriage, despite not being happy about it, finding that fighting against the inevitable was “exhausting and pointless”.

The Loose Women presenter, who is not ready for a new relationship, also acknowledged that the public nature of their divorce was the “hardest” aspect.

Italian cricket is in crisis days after the country’s T20 World Cup debut, as it emerged that a senior national governing body official has been investigated over a sexual assault allegation.

Federazione Cricket Italiana (FCRI) women’s cricket co-ordinator Prabath Ekneligoda, 57, was the subject of a criminal investigation relating to a claim he inappropriately touched a member of the Azzurri women’s national team.

Multiple members of the Italy board are said to have resigned over this case and other governance issues, BBC Sport has been told.

The sexual assault allegation was made to police in Rome in March last year by a player who has represented the national team.

The player, whose identity is protected for legal reasons, alleged that the sexual assault occurred during a massage on a knee injury at a training session, and she had been scared to report the incident because she feared it would cost her a spot in the team.

An investigation was concluded by a Rome prosecutor in November 2025 and Ekneligoda was interviewed by police the following month.

A decision is now set to be made on whether there is sufficient evidence to bring it to trial. Ekneligoda’s lawyer said his client denies the allegations, that there are ulterior motives to the allegations, and that a witness supports his version of events.

FCRI said in a statement to BBC Sport it “noted proceedings are currently under way before the federal prosecutor’s office” and will “co-operate with the relevant authorities”.

“The Italian Cricket Federation reiterates that its conduct is guided by principles of fairness, transparency and the protection of its registered members, as well as by the ethical and civic standards that underpin the sporting system,” added the statement.

“The federation therefore defers to the competent judicial authorities for any determinations arising from the matter.”

Ekneligoda, who is originally from Sri Lanka, was suspended from his role with the FCRI in November but has remained a visible presence on the Italian cricket scene.

He is the partner of FCRI president Maria Lorena Haz Paz and accompanied her to India for the men’s T20 World Cup.

BBC Sport has seen evidence that Ekneligoda attended Italy’s matches wearing official accreditation and was permitted to sit with the rest of the FCRI party.

Ekneligoda was also seen at various events laid on for Italy’s cricket delegation, including a reception at the Italian consulate in Kolkata for officials, players and coaching staff.

The FCRI, its president Haz Paz, and safeguarding officers, had full knowledge of the seriousness of the claims made against Ekneligoda before the World Cup.

Last weekend, Il Messaggero, external and Corriere della Sera, external reported the allegations in the Italian media for the first time.

As of Monday, Ekneligoda was still listed as the women’s cricket coordinator on the FCRI website.

Sources have told BBC Sport that some members of the FCRI’s board have resigned over the matter, and other governance issues, which has placed Haz Paz’s position under greater scrutiny.

Senior officials in Italian cricket fear potential reputational damage, and the possibility of legal cases, will hamper opportunities to capitalise on their debut T20 World Cup appearance and grow the game further in the country.

Haz Paz was appointed president of the Italian cricket federation in February 2025 until 2028.

Italy’s debut at the T20 World Cup, and the stories of some of their players, had captured the imagination of the cricket world.

The Azzurri failed to make the Super 8 stage but beat Nepal in Mumbai and gave England a scare in Kolkata in their Group C fixtures.

When women take the ice for Thursday’s Olympic free skate in the global fashion capital of Milan, five skaters will compete in dresses made by Los Angeles-based designer Lisa McKinnon.

McKinnon has become the must-have name in figure skating couture, dressing the entirety of the U.S. and South Korea women’s teams. Americans Alysa Liu, Amber Glenn and Isabeau Levito wore McKinnon’s designs in the short program and will do so again in the free skate.

And one of those dresses may be featured on the medal podium. Liu stands in third place after Tuesday’s short program, while Levito is in eighth and Glenn tumbled to 13th with the free skate still to come.

McKinnon knows exactly how clothing needs to fit on bodies moving across the ice — for spins, for jumps, for everything it takes to win. The fabric must be able to stretch in all directions, which necessitates a four-way stretch fabric. Design with a two-way stretch and a skater might not be able to lift their arm. Dress skaters in spandex, power mesh and stretch velvet, and they’ll move like they do in training.

American Amber Glenn competes in the figure skating short program at the Winter Olympics in Milan on Tuesday.

(Robert Gauthier/Los Angeles Times)

McKinnon sources most of the fabric locally from the fashion district in downtown L.A.

“It’s really great to just go in person because sometimes it’s the fabric that can inspire you to create something with,” McKinnon said.

McKinnon’s time on the ice that taught her how to create fashion for an athlete tailored for movement and aesthetic appeal. She grew up as a competitive figure skater in Sweden, and she started making bodysuits and dresses — which she wore to practice — for herself at age 11 or 12. By 16, she was designing dresses for elite skaters in her hometown, Mariestad, Sweden, including a Swedish national champion. At the time, they shared a coach, and the coach asked McKinnon to design a dress for the skater.

“They had seen the dresses that I made for other skaters,” she said. “They were just — you know — putting their faith in my hands that I could do this.”

After high school, McKinnon skated in tours in Europe and then North America. In the United States, she first settled in Las Vegas, where she designed dresses for local skaters. When she moved to L.A., bigger name skaters started calling. She designed for Ashley Wagner, three-time U.S. champion, and Karen Chen, who competed in her dresses at the 2018 Olympic Games. McKinnon says they were the ones who “got her noticed.” Noticed to the point that Milan is by no means the designer’s Olympic debut. In 2018, she outfitted pairs gold medalists Aljona Savchenko and Bruno Massot from Germany.

Since then, McKinnon has become the go-to designer for elite women’s figure skaters in the United States. At U.S. nationals in St. Louis in January, eight of the 18 senior women competed in McKinnon’s dresses. In the final warm-up alone — composed of the six skaters leading after the short program — five wore McKinnon designs. There, Glenn, Liu and Levito stood on the podium in her dresses.

In St. Louis, McKinnon hand delivered a dress to Liu, the reigning world champion who debuted a long-awaited Lady Gaga free skate routine. Liu practiced in the dress and McKinnon was able to make on-the-spot adjustments.

Surprisingly, hand delivery isn’t the norm for the dresses that run from $3,000-$8,000, averaging around $5,000 (McKinnon charges by the hour). Because McKinnon designs for skaters who train all over the country — Liu in Oakland, Glenn in Colorado Springs, Colo., and Levito near Philadelphia in southern New Jersey — FedEx shepherds the dresses across the country. Skaters make sure the dresses fit OK before McKinnon and her four-person seamstress team add sparkle, which usually means a crystal count in the thousands. Beads, paillettes and pearls are often mixed into the shine. Each crystal is hand affixed with E6000 glue.

American Christina Carreira and partner Anthony Ponomarenko compete during the ice dancing free skate at the Winter Olympics on Feb. 11 in Milan.

(Robert Gauthier/Los Angeles Times)

McKinnon affixed faux rose pedals to a dress for American ice dancer Christina Carreira to debut during the skater’s own Olympic debut. Midway through the skating season, Carreira and partner, Anthony Ponomarenko, returned to their free dance from two years ago, “Perfume: The Story of a Murderer.” They needed new costumes to differentiate from their performances two years ago, and McKinnon had already designed costumes for the team’s rhythm dance to La Bouche’s “Sweet Dreams.” McKinnon made the new dress in a little over a week, and it was set to arrive three days before Carreira left her training base in London, Canada, for the Games.

Except the dress didn’t arrive.

McKinnon learned that the package was stuck at a FedEx facility in Memphis, Tenn., after Winter Storm Fern pummeled the region.

“We would call and sometimes they’d say it’s in L.A., sometimes they’d say it’s in Memphis, so we didn’t know where it was,” Carreira said. “We weren’t getting answers, but going on social media actually helped.”

Carreira woke up after her flight to Milan to find an Instagram message with a photo of her dress. A woman told Carreira that her husband had found the package and put it on the first plane to Detroit, where Carreira’s coach, Scott Moir, retrieved the package to bring to Milan.

Carreira first tried on the dress in Milan. “It fit perfectly,” she said. “Lisa has never met me. She’s only seen me over FaceTime, and the two dresses she’s made fit perfectly.”

Carreira and Ponomarenko placed 11th in their Olympic debut.

“I wanted a dress that made me feel special at the Olympics,” Carreira said. “And both of those dresses did that.”

Carreira came to McKinnon’s designs through Glenn, who skated her short program to Madonna’s “Like a Prayer” wearing a McKinnon design based on the 1989 music video. After admiring McKinnon’s designs, Carreira talked it over with Glenn at an early season competition in Oberstdorf, Germany.

“She said Lisa was super easy to work with,” Carreira said. “The dresses fit perfectly.”

McKinnon designs from her studio, which occupies the first floor of her apartment in West Hollywood. There, McKinnon and her team watch their dresses take the runway in Milan. Except the runway is made of ice and the skaters will do much more than walk.

MILAN — She’s the only U.S. skater still in medal contention. Alysa Liu is the last person to care.

The unbothered 20-year-old is the only American who finished in the top six of the women’s short program Tuesday and is holding the weight of an Olympic medal drought that’s as old as she is. But after placing third in the short program, she said she hadn’t even looked at the standings. She is angling more for an invitation to the post-competition gala than a medal.

“A medal?” Liu asked with a sarcastic scoff and giggle. “I don’t need a medal. I just need to be here, and I just need to be present. And I need people to see what I do next.”

Next will be the women’s free skate Thursday, where Liu will try to be the first U.S. woman to stand on an Olympic podium for singles figure skating since Sasha Cohen in 2006.

The United States entered the Milan-Cortina Games with three strong contenders to end the drought, but will need comeback performances from the other two “Blade Angels.”

Alysa Liu is the top hope for the U.S. in women’s singles figure skating after finishing third in the short program.

(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)

Isabeau Levito skated cleanly in her Olympic debut but finished the short program in eighth with 70.84 points, almost eight points back from leader Ami Nakai’s 78.71.

Amber Glenn appeared poised to join Liu in medal contention after she started her “Like a Prayer” program with a steady triple axel. Looking inspired from a good luck message from Madonna this week, Glenn executed a strong triple-triple combination with her second jumping pass. The crowd at Milano Ice Skating arena roared.

Then Glenn popped her last planned triple jump. She earned zero points on the element. Her face fell immediately.

Glenn went through the motions of her step sequence but she looked lifeless, and after her program, she clutched the necklaces on her burgundy lace dress and knelt at center ice. She broke down in tears when she hugged her coach.

“I had it,” Glenn said through sobs.

With 67.39 points in 13th place, the three-time national champion is well outside the medal race led by Nakai and three-time world champion Kaori Sakamoto, who is in second with 77.23 points. Levito, skating in her mother’s hometown and paying homage to iconic Italian actress Sophia Loren with her short program, is less than six points out of podium position behind Liu’s 76.59 points.

Snoop Dogg and Martha Stewart, wearing bedazzled headphones in a booth at the top of the arena, were shown on the video screen after Glenn’s skate clapping for her performance. U.S. teammate Ilia Malinin cheered behind them.

Malinin could empathize as Glenn held back tears on the ice. The United States won the team figure skating competition with a dramatic one-point victory but hasn’t secured any of the individual gold medals that appeared likely. Malinin, whose free skate collapse was one of the most stunning moments of the Milan-Cortina Games, cited the intense Olympic pressure.

Isabeau Levito competes during the women’s short program Tuesday.

(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)

After a shaky performance in the team competition, Glenn tried to escape the spotlight by training with U.S. teammates at a facility in Bergamo, 50 minutes outside of Milan. She tried to commit to rest and recovery and shy away from social media. She said after training Monday that she felt physically strong and had refocused enough to make the competition feel like any other world championship.

Knowing how hard it was for Glenn to get one jump away from putting herself into medal contention made the sight of her mistake all the more painful for Liu.

“She works so freaking hard,” Liu said after seeing Glenn’s skate on TV screens in the interview area. “Genuinely, such a hard worker, and she’s overcome a lot, and I just want her to be happy.”

Liu received some of the loudest applause of the night. Before beginning her program, she skated by the boards and high-fived both of her coaches, who hugged and hopped for joy when Liu executed her tricky triple lutz-triple loop combination jump. After hitting her ending pose, Liu covered her face to hide the tears that often well up in her eyes after her program set to “Promise.”

The reigning world champion returned to her second Olympics seemingly oblivious to any sort of pressure after a two-year retirement changed her perspective on skating. In Beijing, she was a 16-year-old who skated as she was told. She executed the jumps, performed to the music and wore the costumes that she was given.

But she laid the road to Milan all by herself and on her own terms.

One strong free skate away from her first individual Olympic medal — and second overall after helping the United States to team gold last week — Liu can’t be bothered to fret about how she’ll prepare for her last Olympic competition. Instead, she said she wants fans to see her new gala program.

A new dress just arrived and the choreography is almost done. All she needs is an invitation.

The Norwegian diplomat who was a key architect of the 1993 Oslo Accords is facing a storm of corruption and blackmail allegations after new documents revealed he was deeply embedded in the inner circle of late sex offender and financier Jeffrey Epstein.

Terje Rod-Larsen, a central figure in the Middle East “peace process” in the 1990s, is implicated in newly released United States Justice Department files and Norwegian media investigations that expose a relationship involving illicit loans, visa fraud for sex-trafficked women, and a beneficiary clause in Epstein’s will worth millions of dollars.

The revelations have sent shockwaves through the diplomatic community and led to the resignation of Rod-Larsen’s wife, Mona Juul – herself a pivotal figure in the Oslo negotiations – from her post as Norway’s ambassador to Jordan and Iraq this month. Her security clearance was also revoked.

Palestinian leaders are now questioning whether Oslo’s foundational agreements of the two-state solution were brokered by a mediator vulnerable to elite blackmail and foreign intelligence pressure.

The plan was heralded in the Western world at the time, and in the 30 years since, has been trampled on by successive Israeli governments, with the far-right leadership now openly pushing for annexation of the occupied West Bank.

Investigations by the Norwegian broadcaster NRK and newspaper Dagens Næringsliv (DN) detail how Rod-Larsen used his position as president of the International Peace Institute (IPI) think tank in New York to launder the reputation of Epstein’s associates.

According to the files, Rod-Larsen wrote official letters of recommendation to US authorities to secure visas for young Russian women in Epstein’s orbit, claiming they possessed “extraordinary abilities” suitable for research roles.

In reality, these women were often models with no academic background who were allegedly trafficked and abused by the financier. One victim told NRK she believed Epstein sent her to Rod-Larsen’s institute “to manipulate” her, while another described how the diplomat facilitated her visa after a direct request from Epstein’s assistant.

The transactional nature of the relationship was explicit. Documents show Epstein loaned Rod-Larsen $130,000 in 2013. More damningly, reports indicate that Epstein’s last will and testament included a clause bequeathing $5m each to Rod-Larsen’s two children – a total of $10m.

‘Oslo was a trap’

For Palestinians living under the reality of the failed agreements Rod-Larsen forged, the scandal offers a disturbing explanation for a “peace process” that many believe was rigged.

Mustafa Barghouti, general secretary of the Palestinian National Initiative political party, told Al Jazeera he was “not surprised at all” by the corruption allegations.

“We never felt comfortable with this person from the very first moment,” Barghouti said. “Oslo was a trap … and I have no doubt that Terje Rod-Larsen was being effectively influenced by the Israeli side all along.”

Barghouti argued that the revelation of millions of dollars potentially flowing from a Mossad-linked figure like Epstein to the Rod-Larsen family suggests the corruption was “directed to serve Israel’s interests against the interests of the Palestinian people”.

The ties between the disgraced Epstein and Israel have come into sharp focus after the release of millions of documents.

The documents have revealed more details of Epstein’s interactions with members of the global elite, including former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak. But they also document his funding of Israeli groups, including Friends of the IDF (Israeli army), and the settler organisation the Jewish National Fund, as well as his ties to members of Israel’s overseas intelligence services, the Mossad.

The missing archive

The scandal has reignited calls in Norway to open the “private archive” Rod-Larsen kept regarding the 1993 secret negotiations.

Media investigations have revealed that documents from the critical period between January and September 1993 are missing from the official Foreign Ministry archive. Critics argue these missing files could obscure the extent to which personal leverage or blackmail played a role in the concessions extracted from the Palestinian leadership during the secret talks.

Governing by blackmail

Analysts argue the Rod-Larsen case is symptomatic of a wider system of global governance driven by systematic blackmail and intelligence operations.

Wissam Afifa, a political analyst based in Gaza, drew a parallel between the exploitation of minors on Epstein’s island and the geopolitical treatment of Palestinians.

“We, as Palestinians, were treated as minors … considered as having no right to demand our rights,” Afifa said. “Today we discover that a large part of the international system is essentially ‘Epstein Island’”.

Afifa suggested that the “silence” of the international community regarding the current genocidal war on Gaza could be linked to similar networks of influence and extortion.

“The world was managed from Epstein’s island … in dark rooms,” Afifa added. “We are victims of the influence network that Epstein managed with politicians, leaders and states”.

As Norwegian authorities, including the economic crime unit Okokrim, open investigations into the scandal, the legacy of the diplomat who once shook hands on the White House lawn lies in tatters, casting a long shadow over the history of deeply flawed Middle East peacemaking.

Kate Ferdinand has shared her concerns about the growing pressure on people to use the so-called “skinny jab”.

Showing off her toned physique in an exclusive new shoot with Women’s Health, the 34-year-old opened up about her worries surrounding weight-loss medication.

Donning sportswear for the shoot, the reality star, who is married to former Manchester United footballer Rio Ferdinand, admitted she fears the impact of the rising popularity of GLP-1 drugs.

Speaking about the pressure she believes some women are feeling, Kate said: “I know a lot of people who do them, and if it makes them happier, then great.

But I think it’s become this thing where the woman who doesn’t want to jab feels pressure to do so because everyone else is.

“And it can feel harder for them to do things in the natural way – to exercise and eat well – because it takes so much longer and the results aren’t as immediate.”

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In the accompanying photos, Kate is seen posing in a white tennis skirt and sports bra, with a towel draped around her neck.

She credits her own physique to a holistic approach to health and fitness.

“I want to look good and I’m happier when I look good, I have to be honest. 

“But I would always choose to exercise because I work out for my mental health, too. 

“I also want to be a healthy role model for my children: they see me working hard in the gym and that makes a difference…I’m quite aware of how I feel and what I need to do in order to make myself feel better. 

“If I need help, I’ll have therapy. If I’m struggling, I’ll go outside and go for a walk, I’ll talk to people.”

Kate is the current Women’s Health cover star and a guest on its Just As Well podcast.

Meanwhile, Rio has teamed up with his wife to front the men’s edition of the magazine, Men’s Health.

The Ferdinands are the first British couple to appear on the covers of Women’s Health and Men’s Health UK simultaneously.

The couple recently moved to Dubai, a move that Kate has admitted she has struggled to adjust to.

Kate got emotional during a recording of her podcast Blended as she admitted it’s not been easy for her.

Starting off positively, she said: “I think it’s an amazing place to live, I think it’s amazing for the children. The children are thriving and happy and living a life of just outside freedom.

“Rio loves it so much. I am enjoying it, but I miss home quite a lot. I can’t talk about it because I get upset,” said Kate as she grappled with tears.

Kate and Rio have a blended family of five children, which consists of their two kids Cree and Shae, and Rio’s children Lorenz, 19, Tate, 17, and Tia, who he welcomed with his late wife Rebecca.

The latest issue of Men’s Health UK and Women’s Health UK go on sale on 10 February.

Feb. 8 (UPI) — A Hong Kong court on Monday sentenced Jimmy Lai, a prominent pro-democracy figure and the founder of the now-defunct progressive Apple Daily, to 20 years in prison on charges stemming from protests that brought the Chinese territory to a standstill in 2019 and 2020.

Lai, 78, has been in police custody since the summer of 2020 and was convicted in mid-December following a 156-day trial that tested three charges that alleged he and his publication produced articles that encouraged foreign countries to sanction the city.

“Having stepped back and taking a global view of the total sentence for Lai’s serious and grave criminal conduct, applying the totality principle, we are satisfied that the total sentence for Lai in the present case should be 20 years’ imprisonment,” the High Court of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region said in its order.

The sentencing is expected to draw staunch criticism from human rights and pro-democracy advocates and condemnation from Western nations who have denounced his December conviction, trial and the National Security Law he was charged under.

“Today is a very dark day — for Jimmy Lai and his family, for his friends, supporters and advocates worldwide, and for all who cherished the rights and freedoms that were once enjoyed by Hong Kongers, but are now dismantled by the draconian National Security Law imposed on the city by Beijing,” Benedict Rogers, co-founder and chair of the Trustees of Hong Kong Watch, a Britain-registered charity, said in a statement.

“This outcome was predetermined. The trial of Mr. Lai was never fair or just, and never in line with the common-law protections central to Hong Kong’s judicial system prior to 2020.”

This is a developing story.

MILAN — Believe in the Quad God.

Ilia Malinin’s clutch free skate that scored 200.03 points gave the United States its second consecutive team figure skating gold medal Sunday at the Milan-Cortina Olympic Games.

After Amber Glenn fought through a shaky free program that finished third and lost the United States its two-point lead, Malinin stepped up as only he could. He executed five quad jumps and won by nearly six points, even if he did not perform his signature quad axel. He even put his hand down after a jump, but the mistake only seemed to fuel him as he finished with a flourish, changing the back-half of his program to earn back extra points.

His U.S. teammates, cheering from the sideline box rose to their feet and pumped their fists after each of Malinin’s jumping passes. When he landed his back flip, skating flawlessly through one foot, the packed crowd at Milano Ice Skating Arena roared.

While Japan’s Shun Sato scored a season’s best to finish the competition, he could not match the technical prowess of Malinin, who is also the favorite to win individual gold this week.

In front of a raucous home crowd, Italy held off Georgia for the bronze medal behind a dazzling free skate from Matteo Rizzo, who dropped to his knees on the ice and cried after his performance had fans chanting “Italia!” before he even finished. He cried into the Italian flag in the kiss-and-cry after his season’s best 179.62 points.

With the first figure skating medal of the Milan-Cortina Games on the line, every skater fought for every fraction of a point. U.S. pairs skater Ellie Kam went deep into a one-legged squat to hold on to the first throw jump. The United States led by five points entering the final day, but still had no room for error as Japan finished first in qualifying in all of Sunday’s disciplines. With the dominance of Japan’s Riku Miura and Ryuichi Kihara in pairs, Kam’s partner Danny O’Shea knew the strategy for the U.S. pair was to simply try to stay as close as possible.

Ellie Kam and Danny O’Shea perform in pairs figure skating during the team competition at the Milan-Cortina Games on Sunday.

(Stephanie Scarbrough / Associated Press)

Kam fought for the landing on a throw loop so hard that she could feel her leg cramping.

“I was like, ‘I’m not going down,’” Kam said, “I got this. We got this.”

They looked at each other before their next element and said “calm.” Their message cut through the energized crowd that cheered louder and louder with each jump. At the end, Kam’s and O’Shea’s celebratory screams simply joined the crowd’s roar. As they saluted the crowd, O’Shea pointed toward Kam to acknowledge her effort.

The pair’s fourth-place finish in the free program was a one-point improvement from their qualifying spot, earning a slim, but vital cushion entering the men’s and women’s free skates.

Instead of sending world champion Alysa Liu back for the free skate after she performed the short program, the U.S. selected the three-time national champion Glenn. The 26-year-old was making her Olympic debut.

On the Olympic stage for the first time, Glenn has tried to embrace the opportunity while treating the competition as if it were any other one. But the larger stage has created additional stress for Glenn after she was asked in a news conference about President Trump’s approach to the LGBTQ+ community in recent years and how it’s affected her personally.

U.S. figure skater Amber Glenn competes during the team competition on Sunday at the Milan-Cortina Games.

(Ashley Landis / Associated Press)

Glenn, who identifies as bisexual and pansexual, encouraged people in the queer community to “stay strong in these hard times” and recognized that it wasn’t the first time the community had to unite to “fight for our human rights.” Glenn then received threats on social media after the news conference and posted on Instagram that she would be taking a break from social platforms to focus on the competition.

But it wasn’t the social media hate that rattled Glenn, she insisted. She was simply tired, sore and disoriented from the unfamiliar Olympic team competition format.

All of Glenn’s other competitors did the short program portion of the competition on Friday. She came in with several good days of training at the venue, but did not get the same kind of opportunity to get used to the stage. Glenn fought through a shaky triple axel to open her program and stepped out of a triple flip that prevented her from completing a planned combination for her second jumping pass.

Waiting in the kiss-and-cry, Glenn bowed her head and stared at the ground. She struggled to muster even a fake smile.

“I’m grateful that the team is so supportive.” said Glenn, who finished behind Japan’s Kaori Sakamoto and Italy’s Lara Naki Gutmann. “But I do feel guilty that I could be the reason that we don’t win the gold, and I don’t know how I will ever apologize for that.”

Glenn clasped her hands in her lap waiting for Sato’s score after the Japanese skater performed a clean program that had his teammates in tears. But his technical score was about five points less than Malinin’s. Glenn was the first skater to hug Malinin in the United States’ team celebration, lifting him off the ground as he extended arms out wide.

MILAN — Alysa Liu glided past her boards and held her hand out. She high-fived her coaches with a wide smile on her face.

She was ready.

Liu calmly skated through minor technical missteps on two jumps in her short program of the team competition at Milano Ice Skating Arena to finish second and earn nine points for the United States that leads the team competition after the first day.

Led by 10 points from rhythm dance leaders Madison Chock and Evan Bates, the United States has 25 points entering Saturday’s men’s short program to lead over second-place Japan (23 points) and third-place Italy (22). Japan’s Kaori Sakamoto finished first with a score of 78.88 ahead of Liu’s 74.90.

After the men’s short program, the top five teams advance to the long program portion. The United States selected two-time world champion Ilia Malinin to skate in the men’s short program.

Liu, competing in her second Olympics, was selected for the team competition for the first time. The reigning world champion worked through slight errors, including on her tricky triple lutz, triple loop combination. Her coach Phillip Diguglielmo grabbed the arm of choreographer Massimo Scali nervously as Liu floated through the air on the crooked loop. When she finished her program to a loud ovation, Diguglielmo wiped his brow in relief.

Liu was the second world champion competing for the United States on Friday. Chock and Bates edged out French pair Laurence Fournier Beaudry and Guillaume Cizeron by less than two points in an early showdown of individual gold medal contenders.

In March 2025, Fournier Beaudry and Cizeron rocked the ice dance world by announcing their partnership. He was the reigning Olympic champion. She was a former Canadian champion. But it wasn’t just that the pair became instant gold medal contenders 11 months before the Olympic Games. The reason for the sudden pairing caused a stir.

Madison Chock and Evan Bates of the U.S. finished first in the ice dance portion of the team competition Friday.

(Stephanie Scarbrough / Associated Press)

In October 2024, Fournier Beaudry’s partner Nikolaj Sorensen was suspended by Skate Canada for at least six years for alleged sexual assault. The pair competed for both Denmark and Canada over their decade-long partnership, winning three Danish championships and a Canadian national title and placing ninth in the 2022 Olympics.

Cizeron hadn’t skated since 2022. He and his ice dance partner of 20 years Gabriella Papadakis announced their retirement in December 2024, but wanted to return to competition. He had trained in Canada for more than a decade and maintained a friendship with Fournier Beaudry. The opportunity was open, but it would be complicated.

After pairing with Fournier Beaudry to launch Cizeron’s comeback, the new team expressed support for Sorensen in an interview with Canadian French-language newspaper La Presse. Fournier Beaudry continues her romantic relationship with Sorensen.

When asked of the allegations Friday, Fournier Beaudry said she did not have anything to add to her previous comments. The pair proceeded through the mixed zone.

Since teaming up, Fournier Beaudry and Cizeron have won five of six competitions, a nearly inconceivable rise for such a new pair. The only blemish is a silver medal finish at the Grand Prix Final.

Chock and Bates’ 15-year partnership has yielded three world championships, a record seven U.S. titles and four trips to the Olympics. On one of the most talented teams the United States has ever sent to an Olympic Games, Chock and Bates still stand out for their experience. Of the 14 other U.S. figure skaters, only Liu has participated in the Games before.

“I think we have the best generation of figure skaters within the U.S. right now,” said pairs skater Danny O’Shea, who finished fifth with his partner Ellie Kam to earn six position points toward the team total. “Amazing people helping each other, supporting each other, and Madi and Evan leading the charge being the just experienced elders.”

O’Shea, making his Olympic debut at 34, laughed as he clarified Chock, 33, is younger than him.

“Huge thank you to everyone who reposted, shared and supported,” Sabate said.

“Because of you, Universal Studios reconsidered and officially granted the rights for this one special occasion.

“There are still a couple of things to be tied up with the other two music of the program, but we are so close to accomplishing it! And it’s all thanks to you.

“I’m so happy to see that the Minions hitting Olympic ice is becoming real again!”

The routine in Sabate’s short program – the first of two routines in singles figure skating – has proved a hit in competitions, including in Sheffield at this year’s European Figure Skating Championships, where he finished 18th but became a fan favourite.

Sabate, a six-time Spanish champion set to make his Olympic debut in Milan, said he followed all required procedures and submitted the music through the International Skating Union’s (ISU) ClicknClear system in August.

If he is unable to perform to the Minions mix, he may use music by the Bee Gees for his short program, as this was the routine he performed to in 2024-25.

The men’s event starts in Milan on Tuesday.

“As soon as we have more details on this specific case, we will share them as appropriate,” read an ISU statement.

“Copyright clearances can represent a challenge for all artistic sports.”

Who’s ready for a Minions happy dance?

Spanish figure skater Tomàs-Llorenç Guarino Sabaté said Tuesday that he may be able to skate his Minions-themed program at the Olympics after all. He shared on Instagram that Universal is allowing him to use the music from its popular animated franchise for the “special occasion” and said he is working to clear the remaining hurdles.

“There are still a couple things to be tied up with the other 2 musics of the program but we are so close to accomplishing it!” Guarino Sabaté wrote in his update thanking his supporters. “I’m so happy to see that the minions hitting Olympic ice is becoming real again!! I’ll keep you posted!”

A six-time Spanish national champion, Guarino Sabaté said on Monday that he had been informed Friday — exactly a week before the opening ceremony of the Milan-Cortina Games — that the medley of “Minions” music he had skated to, while dressed in blue overalls and a yellow shirt, through the entirety of the season could not be used at the Olympics due to copyright issues. This meant that Guarino Sabaté, who had been set to make his Olympics debut with his Minions-themed short program on Feb. 10, would need to change his plans last minute. How bananas.

The cheery yellow creatures are a signature of Universal and Illumination’s “Despicable Me” film franchise. NBCUniversal owns the U.S. media rights to the Olympics.

“Finding out about this … so close to the most important competition of my life, was incredibly disappointing,” Guarino Sabaté wrote in his post sharing the initial news. “This season I competed with my Minions short program to bring joy and playful style to the ice while still meeting every required element to show that skating as a male Olympic figure skater can be fun. … Nevertheless, I will face this challenge head on and do my best to make the best of it.”

The Olympian said then that he had followed the proper procedures and submitted his music through the International Skating Union’s recommended rights clearance system in August. The situation has brought to attention to the complexities of music licensing and how it affects artistic sports like figure skating. Contemporary music is not in the public domain and skaters are responsible for clearing their own music.

For now, fans will just have to remain hopeful that Guarino Sabaté’s dream of bringing joyous Minion mayhem to the Olympic ice will come true in the end.