Juraj Slafkovsky scored his second goal 49 seconds before he set up captain Nick Suzuki for the tiebreaker with 4:33 to play, leading the Montreal Canadiens’ rally for a 4-3 victory over the Kings on Saturday night.
Jake Evans also scored and Jakub Dobes made 35 saves for the Canadiens, who salvaged the final stop of their three-game California trip with a late surge led by their offensive stars.
Shortly after Slafkovsky tied it on Montreal’s only power play, Cole Caufield forced a turnover that went from Slafkovsky to Suzuki for a one-timer that slipped underneath Darcy Kuemper’s arm.
Montreal had its NHL-leading 20th comeback victory one night after making a late rally — and then blowing a lead — in a wild 6-5 shootout loss to the Ducks.
Alex Laferriere scored the tiebreaking goal early in the third period for the Kings, who have lost seven of nine — including two of three under interim head coach D.J. Smith.
Scott Laughton scored in his debut for the Kings, who acquired the center in a trade with Toronto on Friday. Kuemper stopped 19 shots.
Captain Anze Kopitar opened the scoring with his seventh goal late in the first period. The Kings’ 38-year-old captain, who is retiring this spring after 20 seasons with the Kings, ended his 21-game goal drought since Dec. 8.
Slafkovsky put Montreal ahead late in the second when he skated in off the boards. The 21-year-old Slovak’s first goal since January was also his 50th point, making him the first Canadiens player to record three 50-point seasons before turning 22.
The Kings didn’t take a penalty until Trevor Moore went off for slashing with 5:53 to play, but Slafkovsky tied it moments later.
Phillip Danault got a lukewarm reception during his first game in Los Angeles since the Kings traded him back to Montreal in December. Danault had four solid seasons for the Kings, but then played 30 goalless games this fall and reportedly requested an exit.
Up next for the Kings: at Columbus on Monday to open a five-game trip.
Han Byung-do, floor leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, answers reporters’ questions during a press briefing at the National Assembly in Seoul on March 2. Photo by Asia Today
March 3 (Asia Today) — South Korea’s exports are riding a semiconductor boom, but lawmakers risk undermining that momentum by delaying legislation tied to a major U.S. investment plan.
According to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, exports in February reached $67.4 billion, the highest ever for the month, despite fewer working days due to the Lunar New Year holiday. Exports have set new monthly records for nine straight months since June.
Still, vulnerabilities are emerging. Automobile exports fell 20.8% from a year earlier in February, reflecting the impact of U.S. tariffs on specific items. Even after the U.S. Supreme Court struck down reciprocal tariffs, the administration of President Donald Trump has continued to pursue tariff measures. Lawmakers should move swiftly to pass the Special Act on Investment in the United States to remove potential grounds for further trade friction.
Semiconductors once again drove export growth. Chip exports surged 160% from a year earlier to $25.1 billion, marking the third consecutive month above the $20 billion mark. The gains reflect increased artificial intelligence investment by global technology firms and a sharp rise in memory chip prices. The price of DDR4 8Gb DRAM has climbed 863% over the past year, while 128Gb NAND prices have risen 452%.
But heavy reliance on semiconductors has deepened disparities across industries. Of the country’s 15 key export categories, only five posted gains last month, including computers, wireless communication devices, ships and biohealth products. Exports of auto parts, petrochemicals and steel declined amid global oversupply and tariff pressures.
Geopolitical risks add further uncertainty. The recent U.S. airstrikes on Iran have heightened concerns about instability in the Middle East. According to the Korea International Trade Association, every 10% increase in global oil prices reduces South Korea’s export volume by 0.39%. A prolonged conflict could jeopardize the government’s goal of achieving $800 billion in annual exports this year.
Against this backdrop, the ruling Democratic Party and the opposition People Power Party remain locked in a dispute over passage of the Special Act on Investment in the United States, which would support a planned $350 billion investment in America.
On Sunday, Han Byung-do, floor leader of the Democratic Party, warned that his party would take “a major decision” if the opposition continued to block proceedings. The People Power Party has boycotted related committee activities in protest of separate judicial reform bills passed by the majority party.
While the ruling party bears responsibility for pushing through controversial judicial legislation, it is also unwise to hold a bill tied to national economic interests hostage to partisan conflict. The government has already conditionally approved Google’s request to export high-precision map data in an effort to avoid giving Washington grounds for additional tariffs.
Failure to pass the investment bill in the coming days could carry further costs. Both sides should exercise strategic flexibility to safeguard national interests amid mounting external risks.
They are the core of the Lakers, the engines that make this team go, but health issues have prevented them from playing together for far too much of the 2025-26 campaign.
During their first game since the NBA All-Star break, Doncic, Reaves and James carried the the Lakers to a 125-122 win over the Clippers Friday night at Crypto.com Arena.
Doncic had 38 points, 11 assists and six rebounds.
Lakers guard Austin Reaves celebrates after Clippers guard Bennedict Mathurin (9) was called for an offensive foul Friday at Crypto.com Arena.
(Gina Ferazzi/Los Angeles Times)
Reaves had 29 points, six assists and made a big defensive play late in the game.
And James had 13 points and 11 assists, his fifth straight game with 10 or more assists.
Up 118-115 with 1:49 left, Reaves took drew a charge on Bennedict Mathurin, the Clipper’s sixth foul that sent him to the bench with 26 points.
Still, the Lakers didn’t escape until Doncic made two free throws with 21.2 seconds left to give the Lakers a five-point lead that barely stood.
With a 125-122 lead and the ball, James threw a dangerous cross-court pass intended for Doncic that Nicolas Batum instead stole.
But Batum missed a potential game-tying three-pointer and James got the rebound to secure the win.
The Lakers put two defenders on Kawhi Leonard, double teaming the Clippers’ best offensive weapon, keeping a crowd of defenders around him, especially when they employed their zone defense.
Leonard was giving it to the Lakers, but he left late in the fourth quarter with left ankle soreness, departing with 31 points on 11-for-19 shooting.
Lakers coach JJ Redick said pre-game that Leonard is back to being a force on both sides of the basketball.
That’s why so much of the Lakers’ gameplan centered around trying to slow down Leonard, who is eighth in the NBA in scoring (27.8) and tied for first in steals (2.0).
“He’s more consistently taking the tougher assignments right now, and he’s back to being just an elite two-way player on both ends of the floor,” Redick said. “And you know, he’s playing as well as anybody in the NBA right now for the last two months, whatever the starting point would be, but it really is on both sides of the ball.”
Leonard is a primary reason why the Clippers are still rolling despite having traded away two key pieces in guard James Harden and center Ivicia Zubac.
The Clippers started the season 6-21, looking nothing like a playoff team.
But then they beat the Lakers on Dec. 20 and that got the Clippers rolling to a 21-7 stretch entering Friday night’s game, a two-month period that saw them get to one game under .500.
Clippers coach Tyronn Lue said none of the Clippers ever gave up on the season, adding they were always “playing to win” no matter whether they had “young, old, toddlers” on the court.
“I just feel confident,” Lue said. “I just feel confident in our players, confident in our coaching staff and I just feel confident in the environment and the culture that we’ve set. Why wouldn’t we want to play to win? That’s our mindset. That’s my mindset every single night. As tough as it may be or you start 6-21 whatever it may be, you’re playing to win. So, we make it to the playoffs and anything can happen. So our goal is to make it to the playoffs. I don’t know why somebody would scoff at that.”
SheGulls, representing fans of WSL club Brighton & Hove Albion, had suggested seeding “elite level teams” would only widen the gulf in quality across the game.
“The sporting merit in our game is slowly being eroded in favour of ‘super matches’ between elite level teams,” the fan group wrote on X.
“The rich will only get richer and teams up and down the pyramid will fade into obscurity with the knowledge that without tens of millions of pounds, they won’t even sniff the big time.”
Fulham Women Supporters’ Club, whose side play in the fourth tier, labelled it a “ridiculous idea” and added: “[It] goes against all the principles of the FA Cup. I’d like to see WSL teams actually come in a round early.”
“And there goes the magic of the FA Cup! Subway Cup [League Cup] is a farce, now this?” added Everton Women’s Official Supporters Club.
“All about the money. Didn’t take long to ruin the women’s game too did it…”
The Women’s FA Cup currently follows the same format as the men’s competition, with a draw following each round.
There is a preliminary round and three qualifying rounds featuring teams from tiers four to seven of the pyramid, with Women’s National League teams entering in the first-round proper, WSL2 teams in the third round and sides from the top division a round later.
The proposals came to light less than a fortnight after a major revamp of the Women’s League Cup was announced, with the competition set to get a new name and follow the format of the Champions League from the group stage next season.
That was the toughest thing to watch. That was what seared into the mind. That’s what made you want to fire Mick Cronin on the spot.
It was a look of embarrassment. It was a look of confusion. It was the look of a young man who had just been cruelly pushed around by someone with more power.
Mick Cronin is a classic bully, and the fact that UCLA continues to empower him with new contracts and no questions is misguided malfeasance.
So, he wins games. He doesn’t win enough to compensate for incidents like Tuesday night in East Lansing, Mich., where Cronin became perhaps the first college coach in history to eject his own player from the game and order him to the locker room in the middle of the game.
Yes, Cronin holds players accountable. That’s fine, as long as he also holds himself accountable, but that didn’t happen when, after his team was beaten by 23 points by Michigan State in a second consecutive humiliating loss, he publicly criticized Jamerson for the hard foul that led to the ejection incident and then wrongly assailed a reporter for allegedly raising his voice during postgame questioning.
From Ryan Kartje: Alijah Arenas sank into a folding chair, his face buried in a towel, his breathing heavy.
For the last few days, smack dab in the middle of his long-awaited breakthrough at USC, Arenas was sick. He’d spent the last few days worn down and missed practice Tuesday, leaving his status for Wednesday night’s critical tilt with No. 10 Illinois uncertain until a few hours before. But the Trojans star freshman refused to sit out, resolving instead to tough it out against a true Big Ten contender, even if he wasn’t at 100%.
“That takes real courage,” USC forward Jacob Cofie said.
Indeed, it was a noble effort, albeit one that meant little by the time Arenas collapsed into the bench, breathless, midway through the first half Wednesday. By that point, Illinois was already rolling, well on their way to a 101-65 victory that left USC gasping for air.
“It’s pretty simple,” USC coach Eric Musselman said. “We were not good enough tonight. We’ve got to get better in all aspects.”
From Jack Vita: A slimmer Teoscar Hernández reported to Camelback Ranch this week, willing to take on a new role in the Dodgers’ quest for a three-peat.
Hernández acknowledged Tuesday that he played through a nagging left groin injury last year, which forced him to miss time early in the season.
“I didn’t get back in my health,” Hernández said. “When I got back from the injury, I was fighting through it. Obviously, I didn’t say anything. I just wanted to be on the field and try to help the team.”
Hernández says he was overweight in 2025, and took better care of his body this past winter.
“It’s a combination of eating really good or knowing what you’re eating, and working a little harder than normal,” Hernández said. “But, right now I’m feeling really good. Back to the way I used to be. My whole career I used to be 204-205 [lbs.], in that range. Last year, I was a little over [that], but I’m back to normal right now.”
Galaxy ready for another season without Riqui Puig
From Kevin Baxter: On Jan. 1, Galaxy coach Greg Vanney sent a text to his best player, wishing him a happy new year. The next day Riqui Puig responded, but his answer didn’t alter the resolutions Vanney had made for 2026.
Puig, who missed all of 2025 because of a torn ACL in his left knee, told his coach he needed another surgery, one that will sideline him this season as well. Yet after the shock wore off, Vanney and general manager Will Kuntz decided to stick with the plans they took into the offseason rather than blowing them up because Puig would again be sidelined.
“We wanted to reinforce the back line. We needed to look for a [striker]. We’ve done both of those things successfully,” Vanney said. “The difference is that we don’t have Riqui’s qualities, which I think over the course of last year we learned a little bit about ourselves and how to deal with it.”
Indeed, after going winless in their first 16 games — the worst start ever for a reigning MLS champion — the Galaxy figured out how to play without their playmaker in the second half, going 7-6-5 in MLS and beating three of Mexico’s top teams in the Leagues Cup.
1928 — Canada wins the gold medal in ice hockey at the Winter Olympics in St. Moritz, Switzerland. Canada, represented by the 1926 Toronto University team, receives a bye to the final round. The Canadians beat Sweden 11-0, Britain 14-0 and Switzerland 13-0.
1955 — Bernie Geoffrion of the Montreal Canadiens scores five goals in a 10-2 victory over the New York Rangers.
1977 — Rod Gilbert of the New York Rangers gets his 1,000th point with a goal in a 5-2 loss to the New York Islanders.
1982 — Atlanta’s 127-122 four-overtime win over Seattle equals the fourth-longest game in NBA history and the second-longest since the institution of the 24-second clock.
1984 — Phil and Steve Mahre of the United States become the first brothers to finish 1-2 in an Olympic event, the men’s slalom, at the Winter Games in Sarajevo, Yugoslavia. The Soviet Union beats Czechoslovakia 2-0 to win the gold medal in hockey.
1984 — Cale Yarborough sweeps into the lead two turns before the finish to win the Daytona 500. He becomes the second driver to win consecutive Daytona 500s; Richard Petty was the other.
1993 — Wendel Suckow edges two-time world champion Georg Hackl of Germany by 0.106 seconds to capture the first world luge championship medal of any kind for the United States.
1994 — Speedskater Bonnie Blair wins the fourth gold of her Olympic career with her third consecutive 500-meter victory.
2002 — In Salt Lake City, bobsledders Jill Bakken and Vonetta Flowers give the United States 21 medals in the Winter Games.
2005 — Lindsay Kennedy becomes the first woman to play in a Major Indoor Soccer League game. Kennedy, a St. Louis forward, participates in the final 76 seconds of Milwaukee’s 7-3 win over the Steamers at Savvis Center.
2005 — Schreiner ends its NCAA-record losing streak at 83 games, beating Sul Ross State 75-69 in a women’s basketball game. It’s the Division III Mountaineers first win since Jan. 17, 2002, when they also beat Sul Ross.
2012 — American star Hannah Kearney’s all-discipline record for consecutive FIS World Cup victories ends at 16 with a semifinal loss in a dual moguls event at Naeba, Japan. Kearney’s streak began in Lake Placid, N.Y., on Jan. 22, 2011.
2012 — Steven Holcomb and brakeman Steve Langton win the two-man bobsled in Lake Placid, N.Y., the first time the U.S. captures this event at the world championships.
2014 — Norway wins the first Olympic mixed relay in biathlon at the Sochi Games and Ole Einar Bjoerndalen becomes the most decorated Winter Olympian ever with 13 medals. Ted Ligety wins the giant slalom with a dominating performance, becoming the first American man to win two Olympic gold medals in Alpine skiing.
2017 — Laura Dahlmeier wins the world title in the women’s 12.5-kilometer mass start, becoming the first to win five gold medals at a single biathlon world championship.
2017 — Anthony Davis scores 52 points, 10 more than Wilt Chamberlain’s All-Star record that had stood for 55 years. The Western Conference beats the Eastern Conference 192-182 in the highest-scoring game in league history.
2021 — In a softening of 4-year WADA ban on Russia from all international sport, Russia to compete under acronym “ROC” after name of the Russian Olympic Committee.
Compiled by the Associated Press
Until next time…
That concludes today’s newsletter. If you have any feedback, ideas for improvement or things you’d like to see, email me at houston.mitchell@latimes.com. To get this newsletter in your inbox, click here.
Delegations from Russia and Ukraine are set to meet for another round of peace talks in Geneva, as United States President Donald Trump pushes for an end to Europe’s biggest conflict since World War II.
The two-day talks, which begin on Tuesday, are likely to focus on the issue of territory and come just days before the fourth anniversary, on February 24, of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
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Trump is pressing Moscow and Kyiv to reach a deal soon, though Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has complained that his country is facing the greatest pressure from Washington to make concessions.
Russia is demanding that Kyiv cede the remaining 20 percent of the eastern region of Donetsk that Moscow has failed to capture – something Kyiv refuses to do.
Trump again increased the pressure on Ukraine late on Monday.
When asked about the talks on board Air Force One, he described the negotiations as “big” and said, “Ukraine better come to the table, fast.” He did not elaborate further, saying, “That’s all I am telling you.”
The talks, which the Kremlin said will be held behind closed doors and with no media present, come after two earlier rounds held this year in Abu Dhabi. Those talks did not yield a breakthrough.
“This time, the idea is to discuss a broader range of issues, including, in fact, the main ones,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Monday. “The main issues concern both the territories and everything else related to the demands we have put forward,” he said.
Ukraine, meanwhile, said Russia was unwilling to compromise and wants to keep fighting.
“Even on the eve of the trilateral meetings in Geneva, the Russian army has no orders other than to continue striking Ukraine. This speaks volumes about how Russia regards the partners’ diplomatic efforts,” Zelenskyy said in a social media post on Monday.
“Only with sufficient pressure on Russia and clear security guarantees for Ukraine can this war realistically be brought to an end,” he added.
‘Serious’ intentions
The Russia-Ukraine war has spiralled into Europe’s deadliest conflict since 1945, with tens of thousands killed, millions forced to flee their homes and many Ukrainian cities, towns and villages devastated by the fighting.
Russia occupies about one-fifth of Ukraine, including Crimea and parts of the eastern Donbas region seized before the 2022 invasion. It wants Ukrainian troops to withdraw from swaths of heavily fortified and strategic territory as part of any peace deal. Kyiv has rejected the demand, which would be politically and militarily fraught, and has instead demanded robust security guarantees from the West.
The Kremlin said the Russian delegation would be led by Vladimir Medinsky, an aide to President Vladimir Putin.
However, the fact that Ukrainian negotiators have accused Medinsky in the past of lecturing them about history as an excuse for Russia’s invasion has further lowered expectations for any significant breakthrough in Geneva.
Military intelligence chief Igor Kostyukov will also take part in the talks, while Putin’s special envoy Kirill Dmitriev will be part of a separate working group on economic issues.
Vladmir Sotnikov, a political scientist based in Moscow, said the Russian team will consist of about 20 people, many more than delegations in previous rounds of talks.
“I think the Russian intentions are serious. Because you know, the situation here in Russia is that ordinary people are just tired of this war,” he told Al Jazeera.
Kyiv’s delegation will be led by Rustem Umerov, the secretary of Ukraine’s national security and defence council, and Zelenskyy’s chief of staff, Kyrylo Budanov. Senior presidential aide Serhiy Kyslytsya will also be present.
Before the delegation left for Geneva, Umerov said Ukraine’s goal of “a sustainable and lasting peace” remained unchanged.
As well as land, Russia and Ukraine also remain far apart on issues such as who should control the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant and the possible role of Western troops in post-war Ukraine.
US envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner will represent the Trump administration at the talks, according to the Reuters news agency. They are also attending talks in Geneva this week with Iran.
CORTINA D’AMPEZZO, Italy — World-class athletes, thrilling events, stirring medal ceremonies, I will remember all of those from the Winter Olympics. But what I experienced Sunday on my 45-minute bus ride from my hotel to Cortina will stay with me longer.
There was a young woman sitting across the aisle. She looked to be in her mid-20s, about the age of my daughter, and was wearing a knit cap with a Switzerland logo. Her dark hair was in long, thin braids and framed her friendly face.
“How’s it going?” I asked, setting down my backpack.
“Nervous,” she said with a faint smile.
That started the conversation, one that would have me repeatedly wiping my eyes with my sleeve.
Her name was Michelle Gloor. She’s 25 and from a small town outside of Zurich. Her boyfriend, Cedric Follador, is pilot of the Swiss bobsled team and has races throughout the week. She was heading to watch him practice.
Michelle knows all about the sport. In fact, she had been the brake woman on the Swiss national team and had hoped to be competing in these Olympics herself. She grew up as a track-and-field athlete, a sprinter, and only took up bobsled in 2022.
Women’s bobsled — or bobsleigh, as Europeans call it — is a two-person operation with a pilot in front and brake woman in back.
“The first responsibility is pushing the sled as fast as I can, together with my pilot,” she said in a German accent and near-flawless English. “I have to sit still and count the curves until we reach the finish line, when I have to pull the brakes. I’m responsible that the sled won’t crash into something.”
Her best friend had made the transition from track to bobsled, was looking for a brake woman, and convinced Michelle to give it a try.
“My first bobsleigh ride was in St. Moritz and I was so nervous,” said Gloor, a third-year law student at the University of Zurich. “I think I was crying in the back of the sled because I’d never felt anything like that, all the G-forces and you don’t have any cushion in the sled. It all hurts.
“But after the second run, I felt the adrenaline and it was great. It caught me from then. It took me two runs.”
She was 22 and the future was bright. They entered the Swiss championships and won. Michelle got serious about her new sport, training every day, eating right, building muscle.
Immersed in that world, she met Cedric but for the first 1½ years they were just casual friends. Their conversations were all bobsled-related.
“Then in spring 2024 he texted me and asked, ‘How are you?’” she said. “More personal stuff.”
They had been dating for about six months when a discovery would dramatically change their lives.
In November 2024, during a routine check-up, a gynecologist found evidence of cancer in Michelle’s ovaries. If there were signs she was ill, Michelle hadn’t noticed them. She had been tired the prior summer, yes, but she attributed that to her training.
“It was pretty advanced,” she said of the cancer. “I went to the women’s doctor every year and they couldn’t explain why they couldn’t see it earlier. I don’t know. I’m not questioning that anymore. It’s just … yeah.”
There was no time to wait. By December, she was in surgery. Doctors opened her abdomen from her breast bone down, looking for more growths. They deemed the operation a success, and six months of chemotherapy began in February.
“I lost my hair,” she said. “I had long, black hair. Losing that wasn’t bad. But I lost the hair on my face — my eyebrows, my eyelashes — that was hard. But I always knew it just had to be.”
Her doctor told her her cancer was Stage 3.
“That means it’s on the other organs too,” she said. “But the difference between Stage 3 and Stage 4 is it’s not in my lungs. It’s in my tummy area but not more upwards.”
“Women or even men my age, you live in your world, you are following your dreams. And you don’t think about something happening in your life.”
— Michelle Gloor, on being diagnosed with cancer at a young age
Cedric was by her side.
“I asked him after the diagnosis if he wants to join me in this journey or not,” she said. “I can understand if he won’t because we were together not even half a year, and I can understand if he said, ‘Hey, it’s too much for me. I can’t do that.’
“Then he took time for himself, and he came back and said he wants to stay with me. He wants to support me in every imaginable way.
“He drove me to therapy when he was in town because he had a bobsleigh season going on from November until March, in my toughest time. Every time he was home, he was there for me. When he wasn’t there, we were phoning every day. He was there all the time, even when he wasn’t there physically.”
Her parents and younger brother were there for her too, of course, but she wanted to give them some time to themselves. Cedric was her rock.
There are elements in his job as a driver that both help him in his sport, and her in her disease.
“As a driver, you really need to focus on what’s going on straight ahead of you,” she explained. “You can’t really switch away your thoughts. You have one minute of full concentration. I think you can compare it to Formula One because you only see the next curve in front of you.
“He’s very calm and I think that helps him in a sporting way to not overreact emotionally and stuff like that. But also for me as a partner, I’m very emotional. When I’m too excited or too sad or too angry, he can calm me down to a normal level. On a stress-less level, and to be stress-free is very important for someone who has cancer.”
Switzerland’s Cedric Follador, right, and Luca Rolli compete in two-man bobsled at the Milan-Cortina Olympics on Monday.
(Richard Heathcote / Getty Images)
Michelle, petite and pale, has lost about 40 pounds over the past year. Mostly muscle.
“I was avoiding sugar in the beginning of the illness,” she said. “You read so much stuff. But after losing so much weight, doctors told me just eat what you want to eat. Because having energy is more important than eating too much sugar.”
In August, doctors discovered more cancer in her. Another surgery to open her abdomen.
“They said it’s still there,” she said. “Those microcells which they couldn’t remove because they couldn’t see them, they grew. But once all those microcells have grown up and been removed, or have been killed by therapy and medication, there won’t be any new cells because the ovaries have been removed, so they don’t produce any more.”
She tries not to Google her illness anymore. It doesn’t help her frame of mind. She’s changed in other ways, too.
“I was a very direct person before my illness,” she said. “Now I’m even more direct and straight-forward. I say no, and I don’t explain myself. If I don’t want to do something, I don’t have to. I just say no.
“Before that, I had a bad feeling about myself and explained myself just because I say no. I don’t do that anymore.”
In December, she began radiation. She has another scan after the Olympics.
There are times she just can’t believe this is happening.
“Women or even men my age, you live in your world, you are following your dreams,” she said. “And you don’t think about something happening in your life. I only know young people in Switzerland, so I can only speak for them. But they don’t talk about that.
“They are not sensible about what can happen, and that’s why it’s important for me to speak out about it. For example, with a women’s doctor, you have to go. It can happen to anyone.
“I’m a young woman. I do sports since I’m 10 years old. I don’t drink alcohol. I don’t smoke. But it still can happen.”
Her illness has shined a spotlight on her friendships. Lots of her old friends showed concern at first, then went on with their lives. A handful checked in on her frequently. Some are new.
“I got in touch with a woman during chemotherapy, she was there too,” Michelle said. “She has breast cancer. She saw my cross necklace, and we were talking about faith and how it helped in those hard times.
“We are still in contact now. We are writing letters to each other. We’re not texting or phoning, just writing letters and sending postcards. She’s as old as my mom, but it’s very cool to have someone with almost the same story.”
How will that story end? Michelle has her hopes, this fearless young woman who took to bobsledding on her second time down the track.
“My goal is to be in the Olympics in four years,” she said. “I’ll be 29 by then. The age is still good — even better than now for a bobsleigh athlete. And I have a great team. My bobsleigh pilot is very supportive and she said she always has a place for me in the sled.”
This week, Michelle is supporting Cedric — just a sliver, she said, of the way he has supported her. They got engaged in December. It happened at sunset in his little hometown in the Swiss Alps.
“He was talking about himself and us, and then he proposed to me,” she said. “I said yes. Of course.”
