MilanCortina

Welcome to the Olympic Edition of the Sports Report, an L.A. Times newsletter published every morning during the Winter Olympics. To sign up to receive it via email (it’s free), go here and select the Sports Report. If you’ve already signed up for the Sports Report, you will receive the Olympics edition as well.

Welcome to your daily review and preview of this year’s Milan-Cortina Olympics. My name is John Cherwa and I’m your tour director for the Games as we enter the final day with the U.S. setting a record for golds and closing in on total medals.

Guessing we can call these Games a success for the U.S. after it won its 11th gold medal Saturday — the most ever for the U.S. in a single Winter Olympics. Now the U.S. is hoping to beat or tie its best mark of 34 medals set at Salt Lake City in 2002. With five events yet to be completed, the U.S. is at 33 counting a guaranteed medal in men’s hockey. (A few days ago, we predicted the U.S. would finish with 33.)

There is no chance the U.S. will catch Norway, which has 40 total medals, including 18 golds.

So, with five events remaining does the U.S. have a chance to tie or set a record?

• Cross-country skiing. The final event is the women’s 50-kilometer mass start. The podium is likely to be populated by Sweden and Norway, but Jesse Diggins of the U.S. has an outside chance of making the podium.

• The U.S. is ninth and 12th heading into the final two runs of the four-man bobsled. Could be another Germany sweep.

• The U.S. is out of the women’s curling tournament. Switzerland and Sweden play for the gold.

• The U.S. has a guaranteed silver in ice hockey when it plays Canada.

• The U.S. will not likely medal in the women’s freestyle skiing halfpipe but it could have. One of the favorites is Eileen Gu, who is from the Bay Area but competes for China. Vice president JD Vance criticized her, among other athletes.

Getting them onto the cusp of tying or breaking the total medal record and breaking the gold medal total on Saturday was the U.S. mixed team freestyle aerials group of Kalia Kuhn, Connor Curran and Christopher Lillis, who gave the U.S. back-to-back golds in this event. It was the 11th gold medal.

The U.S. also picked up a bronze when Mia Manganello came in behind the Netherlands and Canada in the speedskating women’s mass start. The men’s mass start was also won by the Netherlands. Three-time medalist Jordan Stolz of the U.S. was fourth.

The U.S. finished the day with a bronze in the two-woman bobsled. Kaillie Humphries and Jasmine Jones were in the sled where, as usual, Germany took gold and silver. Kaysha Love and Azaria Hill finished fifth.

So the U.S needs one more to tie the record. That means either Jesse Diggins or the four-man bobsled have to have career-defining performances.

The big event today is the men’s hockey gold medal game between the U.S. and Canada. The tournament is so much better with the return of NHL players after 12 years.

Here’s a look at NHL players on each team:

United States: Matt Boldy (Minnesota), Kyle Connor (Winnipeg), Jack Eichel (Vegas), Jack Hughes (New Jersey), Jake Guentzel (Tampa Bay), Clayton Keller (Utah), Dylan Larkin (Detroit), Auston Matthews (Toronto), J.T. Miller (NY Rangers), Brock Nelson (Colorado), Brady Tkachuk (Ottawa), Matthew Tkachuk (Florida), Tage Thompson (Buffalo), Vincent Trocheck (NY Rangers), Brock Faber (Minnesota), Noah Hanifin (Vegas), Quinn Hughes (Minnesota), Jackson LaCombe (Ducks), Charlie McAvoy (Boston), Jake Sanderson (Ottawa), Jaccob Slavin (Carolina), Zach Werenski (Columbus), Connor Hellebuyck (Winnipeg), Jake Oettinger (Dallas), Jeremy Swayman (Boston).

Canada: Sam Bennett (Florida), Macklin Celebrini (San Jose), Sidney Crosby (Pittsburgh), Brandon Hagel (Tampa Bay), Bo Horvat (NY Islanders), Seth Jarvis (Carolina), Nathan MacKinnon (Colorado), Brad Marchand (Florida), Mitch Marner (Vegas), Connor McDavid (Edmonton), Sam Reinhart (Florida), Mark Stone (Vegas), Nick Suzuki (Montreal), Tom Wilson (Washington), Drew Doughty (Kings), Thomas Harley (Dallas), Cale Makar (Colorado), Josh Morrissey (Winnipeg), Colton Parayko (St. Louis), Travis Sanheim (Philadelphia), Shea Theodore (Vegas), Devon Toews (Colorado), Jordan Binnington (St. Louis), Darcy Kuemper (Kings—injured), Logan Thompson (Washington).

Elsewhere on Saturday

• France picked up gold and silver in the biathlon women’s 12.5-kilometer mass start. There were no U.S. competitors.

• The U.S. closed its curling competition by losing the women’s bronze medal match 10-7 to Canada. Canada won the men’s gold, beating Britain, 9-6.

• Finland beat Slovakia, 6-1, for the men’s bronze in ice hockey.

• The men’s 50-kilometer mass start in cross-country skiing was an all Norway medal stand as they swept the medals and lengthened its lead in total medals. Gus Schumacher of the U.S. was 13th.

• The new must-watch sport of ski mountaineering (skimo) finished with the mixed relay, which was won by France. The U.S. pair of Anna Gibson and Cameron Smith was fourth.

Best thing to watch on TV today

The centerpiece of Sunday’s final day is the closing ceremony, which is less of a ceremony than a party. Athletes just flood the zone and the party begins. The event is not in Milan or Cortina d’Ampezzo but Verona, the city of Romeo and Juliet fame. (Speaking of Shakespeare, the movie Hamnet is a must watch.) It starts at 11:30 a.m. PST and should last about 2½ hours. But, before all that is the gold medal hockey game between the U.S. and Canada. It starts at 5:10 a.m. PST. The final heat of the four-man bobsled is at 3:15 a.m. PST.

Favorite photo

Times photographer Robert Gauthier is at the Winter Olympics. Each day, Times newsletter editor Houston Mitchell will select a favorite photo from the many Gauthier has taken.

Sunday’s Olympic TV and streaming schedule

CLOSING CEREMONY
11:30 a.m. — NBC

MULTIPLE SPORTS
2 p.m. — Best of the 2026 Milan-Cortina Olympic Games | NBC
9 p.m. — “Primetime in Milan” (delay): Closing ceremony, bobsled, cross-country skiing, curling, hockey. | NBC

BOBSLED
1 a.m. — Four-man bobsled, Run 3 | Peacock
3:15 a.m. — 🏅Four-man bobsled, final run | Peacock
3:35 a.m. — 🏅Four-man bobsled, final run (in progress) | USA
4:15 a.m. — Four-man bobsled, final run (delay) | NBC
8 a.m. — Four-man bobsled, runs 3-4 (re-air) | NBC

CROSS-COUNTRY SKIING
1 a.m. — 🏅Women’s 50-kilometer mass start classic | USA
4 a.m. — Women’s 50-kilometer mass start classic (re-air) | USA
8:45 a.m. — Women’s 50-kilometer mass start classic (re-air) | NBC

CURLING
🏅Women’s gold-medal match
2:05 a.m. — Switzerland vs. Sweden | Peacock
4 a.m. — Switzerland vs. Sweden (delay) | USA, NBC
10:30 a.m. — Switzerland vs. Sweden (re-air) | USA

HOCKEY
🏅Men’s gold-medal match
5:10 a.m. — United States vs. Canada | NBC
1:30 p.m. — United States vs. Canada (re-air) | USA

In case you missed it …

Check out the following Milan-Cortina Olympics dispatches from the L.A. Times team on the ground in Italy:

Pack mentality prevents Jordan Stolz from adding to his Olympic medal count

Americans earn bronze medal in two-woman bobsled

Snoop Dogg embraces NBC Olympic ambassador of joy role as Games shift to his hometown

Winter Olympics Day 15 live updates: Klaebo wins record sixth gold medal

U.S. men rout Slovakia, will play Canada for hockey gold medal

After shedding pressure, American Alysa Liu rides wave of joy to Olympic gold medal

‘A magical moment.’ Hilary Knight caps off U.S. women’s hockey career with Olympic gold

Olympians Hilary Knight and Brittany Bowe get engaged before gold-medal hockey match

Jordan Stolz takes silver in Olympic 1,500 meters; China’s Ning Zhongyan wins gold

U.S. bobsledder Azaria Hill adding to her family’s rich Olympic Games legacy

Until next time…

That concludes today’s Sports Report Olympic Edition newsletter. If you have any feedback, ideas for improvement or things you’d like to see, email newsletter editor Houston Mitchell at houston.mitchell@latimes.com. To get this newsletter in your inbox, click here and select the Sports Report.

Welcome to the Olympic Edition of the Sports Report, an L.A. Times newsletter published every morning during the Winter Olympics. To sign up to receive it via email (it’s free), go here and select the Sports Report. If you’ve already signed up for the Sports Report, you will receive the Olympics edition as well.

Welcome to your daily review and preview of this year’s Milan-Cortina Olympics. My name is John Cherwa and I’m your tour director for the Games as the U.S. surpassed the gold total of its last five Winter Olympics early Saturday. The U.S. men’s hockey team could add to that mark.

It’s been two pretty good Olympic hockey tournaments. And the U.S. could win both of them. On Friday, the U.S. men beat Slovakia, 6-2, in the semifinals and will meet Canada for the gold on Sunday. The better game was Canada and Finland. Our once-friendly neighbor to the north fell behind 2-0, tied the game with 9½ minutes to go and then won with 35 seconds left. We’ll preview that game more tomorrow.

And, who can forget the U.S. women beating Canada, 2-1, in overtime in a gold-medal quality game.

The ninth gold for the U.S. was in the men’s freestyle halfpipe Friday when, as we predicted in yesterday’s newsletter, Alex Ferreira got the gold on his last run. It completed the lifetime gold, silver, bronze trifecta for the 31-year-old from Colorado. The U.S. also had the bronze until the last run when Nick Goepper was bumped to fourth.

The only other U.S. medal of the day was Corinne Stoddard’s bronze in the women’s 1,500 meters in short track speed skating. South Korea was first and second. The Netherlands won the men’s 5,000 relay. The U.S. did not make the finals.

It’s kind of a light day, so let’s do some random thoughts on the TV coverage.

• Snoop Dogg was fresh and exciting in Paris. The act isn’t as fresh or exciting in Italy. Snoop and buddy Martha Stewart remind me of CBS’ Gayle King’s unofficial “I’m Privileged and You’re Not Tour” where she goes to awards shows, Broadway plays, Jeff Bezos’ wedding, Bad Bunny in Puerto Rico and into “space.” Well, Snoop and Martha seem almost as privileged, getting into all the best places that you or I couldn’t. Just saying, for a reported $500,000 a day for Snoop, it wasn’t as good as Paris. No idea how much Martha is making, but she’s not likely being paid in garden vegetables.

• I’ve heard the Captain and Tennille’s “Love Will Keep Us Together” more times the last two weeks than in all of 1975, when it was No. 1 for four consecutive weeks.

• Do you think an NBC executive made the wrong decision to put the women’s figure skating on NBC and the U.S.-Canada women’s hockey game on USA? I do. You could have shown the game, use the time between periods to cut to the figure skating and it would seem as if you had the pulse of the Games. And the hockey game was over before the medal skaters took the ice.

• Tara Lipinski and Johnny Weir on figure skating get our vote for best analysts.

• Kenny Albert (hockey) and Dan Hicks (skiing) have been the best play-by-play announcers.

• Did you know that most of the Games are being called from Connecticut and not Italy? Sports called from stateside are curling, biathlon, cross-country skiing, ski jumping, Nordic combined, speedskating and most freestyle skiing. And a lot of the studio shows were also from Stamford. (In fairness, this newsletter is being done from Florida. But Thuc Nhi, Sam, Kevin and Robert are in Italy.)

• The Games have been a ratings success for NBC with numbers almost double what they were in 2022 in Beijing. The time difference between the U.S. and Italy was six hours and it worked to the benefit of U.S. viewers.

• Mike Tirico is very good at whatever he does. Glad to see they gave him some afternoon time.

• When Hoda Kotb interviewed the “Blade Angels” on Friday, I told those around me she would tell them that she loved them. I was right.

Best Thing to Watch on TV today

• The gold medal chances of the U.S. women’s curling team died on the last shot in the last frame when Switzerland, holding the hammer, knocked the U.S. rock out of the house and got two points to win, 7-4. Switzerland will now play Sweden, a 6-3 winner over Canada, for the gold while the U.S. will play Canada for the bronze. On the men’s side, Switzerland won the bronze by beating Norway, 9-1. Britain plays Canada for the gold.

• No surprise that Norway picked up a gold and silver in the biathlon men’s 15-kilometer mass start. Campbell Wright of the U.S. was 29th.

• Besides the U.S. gold in freestyle skiing halfpipe, Germany won the women’s ski cross. The U.S. did not make the final. And, China got gold and bronze in the men’s aerials. Christopher Lillis was the top U.S. athlete in eighth.

Favorite photo

Times photographer Robert Gauthier is at the Winter Olympics. Each day, Times newsletter editor Houston Mitchell will select a favorite photo from the many Gauthier has taken.

Saturday’s Olympic TV and streaming schedule

MULTIPLE SPORTS
8 p.m. — “Primetime in Milan” (delay): Cross-country skiing, bobsled, figure skating, freestyle skiing and more. | NBC

BIATHLON
10:30 a.m. — 🏅Women’s 12.5-kilometer mass start (re-air) | USA

BOBSLED
8 a.m. — Four-man bobsled, runs 1-2 | USA
10 a.m. — Two-woman bobsled, Run 3 | NBC
12:05 p.m. — 🏅Two-woman bobsled, final run | Peacock
12:15 p.m. — 🏅Two-woman bobsled, final run (in progress) | NBC
2:15 p.m. — Two-woman bobsled, runs 3-4 (delay) | NBC

CROSS-COUNTRY SKIING
8:30 a.m. — 🏅Men’s 50-kilometer mass start classic (delay) | NBC

CURLING
🏅Women’s bronze-medal match
5:05 a.m. — U.S. vs. Canada | Peacock
7:20 a.m. — U.S. vs. Canada (delay) | USA
🏅Men’s gold-medal match
10:05 a.m. — Britain vs. Canada | CNBC
Women’s bronze-medal match
1 p.m. — U.S. vs. Canada (re-air) | CNBC

FIGURE SKATING
11 a.m. — Exhibition gala | Peacock
11:55 a.m. — Exhibition gala (in progress) | NBC
12:50 p.m. — Exhibition gala (in progress) | NBC

FREESTYLE SKIING
8:45 a.m. — 🏅Men’s skicross, finals (delay) | USA
9:15 a.m. — Mixed team aerials, final (re-air) | USA
10:30 a.m. — 🏅Women’s freeski halfpipe, final | NBC
1:30 p.m. — Mixed team aerials, final (re-air) | NBC

HOCKEY
🏅Men’s bronze-medal game
11:40 a.m. — Finland vs. Slovakia | USA

SPEEDSKATING
6 a.m. — 🏅Men’s and women’s mass start, semifinals and finals | Peacock
7 a.m. — 🏅Men’s and women’s mass start, semifinals and finals (in progress) | NBC

In case you missed it …

Check out the following Milan-Cortina Olympics dispatches from the L.A. Times team on the ground in Italy:

Winter Olympics Day 15 live updates: Klaebo wins record sixth gold medal

U.S. men rout Slovakia, will play Canada for hockey gold medal

After shedding pressure, American Alysa Liu rides wave of joy to Olympic gold medal

‘A magical moment.’ Hilary Knight caps off U.S. women’s hockey career with Olympic gold

Olympians Hilary Knight and Brittany Bowe get engaged before gold-medal hockey match

Jordan Stolz takes silver in Olympic 1,500 meters; China’s Ning Zhongyan wins gold

U.S. bobsledder Azaria Hill adding to her family’s rich Olympic Games legacy

Until next time…

That concludes today’s Sports Report Olympic Edition newsletter. If you have any feedback, ideas for improvement or things you’d like to see, email newsletter editor Houston Mitchell at houston.mitchell@latimes.com. To get this newsletter in your inbox, click here and select the Sports Report.

Feb. 6 (UPI) — A handful of events began earlier in the week — curling, figure skating and ice hockey — but the 2026 Milan Cortina Winter Olympics officially got underway Friday afternoon in Italy.

The opening ceremony started at 2 p.m. EST at Milan’s historic, 100-year-old San Siro Stadium in Milan, a nearly 4-hour celebration of the Games that is expected to include a range of performances, the parade of nations and, finally, the lighting of the Olympic cauldron.

The Milano Cortina Olympics will be the first to include two venues in the opening ceremony and the first to light two caldrons for the Games: one in Milan at the Arco della Pace and another at Piazza Dibona in central Cortina d’Ampezzo.

Organizers have said that lighting two cauldrons is meant to represent harmony between the two cities of Milan and Cortina — which are jointly hosting the Games — as well as other areas that the Games are being held.

In addition to dance, light and special effects shows at San Siro, performances by Maria Carey, Andrea Bocelli, The White Lotus and The Paper star Sabrina Impacciatore, Italian actor Pierfrancisco Favino and Italian singer Laura Pausini have been announced.

Events at this year’s Winter Games have been spread among several towns in northern Italy, in addition to the two towns, which the Olympic ceremony director, Maria Laura Iascone, told NBC News is among the efforts of Italy chart “a new course” and innovate “a new spirit” of the opening ceremonies.

The Big Show

The majority of the intricate, ornate opening ceremony is being held at San Siro Stadium, which opened in 1926, has hosted several World Cup-linked events and is home to two Italian soccer clubs.

The Olympics is set to be its final event before the owners of those two teams demolish the stadium to build a newer, more modern facility for the two clubs.

In addition to San Siro, the cauldron will be lit elsewhere in Milan, and athlete parades are set to be held at other venues in the city as organizers have sought to show off Milan, Cortina and other parts of the country. Overall, there are 13 venues hosting Olympic competition this year.

The two cauldrons — at Milan’s Arco della Pace and Corina’s Piazza Dibona — are in addition to opening ceremony events in Cortina, Livigno and Predazzo.

On top of splitting up the ceremonies, there are multiple Olympic villages that athletes are staying in, a decisions made so that they will not need to travel far between lodging, sporting venues and the opening and closing ceremonies.

Events get underway

The ceremony opened with the Italian Olympic Committee spotlighting the southern European country’s position as a “Winter wonderland,” which included video presentations of mountains and towns that gave way to dance routines focused on community, love and harmony, according to organizers.

The glittery winter look moved toward an ode to Italian operat with actors dressed as Gioachina Rossini, Giuseppe Verdi and Giacomo Puccini performing to Rossini’s William Tell Overture.

Maria Carey, who performed for free, sang the Italian classic “Volare” in Italian blended with some of her song “Nothing Is Impossible,” and wowed the crowd ahead of introductions of the President of Italy and of the International Olympic Committee were introduced.

In a significant tribute to legendary fashion designer Giorgio Armani, dozens of models decked out in loose red, white and green suits — the colors of the Italian flag — filed out into the center stadium.

Model Vittoria Ceretti, who is also known for dating Leonardo Dicaprio, carried an Italian flag out to an honor guard before Pausini sang the Italian national anthem, “Fratelli d’Italia” and Favino recited the Giacomo Leopardi poem “L’inifnito.”

As dancers once again filled the center of the arena, two rings — with actors reclining on them — floated out to the stage. Once the actors got off the rings, they joined three others high above the crowd to form the Olympic rings.

This is a developing story. Please check back for updates throughout the afternoon and evening.

Friday’s live TV and streaming broadcasts unless noted (subject to change). All events stream live on Peacock or NBCOlympics.com with a streaming or cable login. All times Pacific.

OPENING CEREMONY: 11 a.m.| NBC, Peacock
(replay at 8 p.m. on NBC)

MULTIPLE SPORTS
7 p.m. — “Primetime in Milan” (delay): Figure skating, curling, hockey, skiing and more.| NBC

ALPINE SKIING
2:30 a.m. — Men’s downhill, training | Peacock
2:30 a.m. — Women’s downhill, training | Peacock

CURLING
Mixed doubles (round robin)
1:05 a.m. — U.S. vs. Canada | Peacock
1:05 a.m. — Italy vs. Switzerland | Peacock
1:05 a.m. — Sweden vs. Britain | Peacock
5:35 a.m. — Czechia vs. U.S. | Peacock
5:35 a.m. — Estonia vs. Italy | Peacock
5:35 a.m. — South Korea vs. Britain | Peacock
5:35 a.m. — Sweden vs. Norway | Peacock
5:55 a.m. — Czechia vs. U.S. (in progress) | USA

FIGURE SKATING
Team competition
1 a.m. — Rhythm dance | USA
2:35 a.m. — Pairs, short program | USA
4:35 a.m. — Women, short program | USA

HOCKEY
Women (group play)
3:10 a.m. — France vs. Japan | Peacock
5:40 a.m. — Czechia vs. Switzerland | Peacock

Italy has foiled “Russian origin” cyber-attacks targeting the Winter Olympics, says Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani.

He said websites linked to the Games, hotels in host town Cortina d’Ampezzo and foreign ministry facilities, including an embassy in Washington, were targeted.

Cortina d’Ampezzo, one of five host clusters for the Olympics, will stage alpine skiing, biathlon, curling, and sliding events.

“We prevented a series of cyber-attacks against foreign ministry sites. These are actions of Russian origin,” said Tajani.

The Games officially begin on Friday, although the first action got under way on Wednesday.

Image source, Getty Images

ByJess Anderson

BBC Sport journalist in Cortina

Around 2,900 athletes from more than 90 countries will compete on the ice and snow at Milan-Cortina 2026.

The world’s biggest winter sports stars will descend on northern Italy from Friday 6 February and there’s certain to be thrills, drama and breakout performances.

BBC Sport takes a look at some of the global stars and stories to look out for.

Lindsey Vonn – alpine skiing

Image source, Getty Images

Age: 41 Nation: United States

Just five days before the women’s downhill event takes place in Cortina, Olympic champion Lindsey Vonn announced that she had ruptured her left anterior cruciate ligament but is still hopeful that she can compete on Sunday.

Vonn was airlifted to hospital in Switzerland after crashing in the final World Cup race of the season but remains determined to compete in her fifth Olympics, despite the serious injury.

The veteran skier is no stranger to a comeback having retired in 2019 because of injury before undergoing partial replacement knee surgery on her right knee and returning to the sport in 2024.

The four-time overall World Cup winner is unsure whether she will be able to compete in the super-G and team events but, as a heavy favourite for the downhill gold before suffering the injury, she is determined to make the start gate at what will likely be her last Olympics.

Mikaela Shiffrin – alpine skiing

Image source, Getty Images

Age: 30 Nation: United States

Mikaela Shiffrin is the greatest alpine skier of all time and, competing at her fourth Olympics, has said she wants to “make peace” with the Games following disappointment in Beijing along with serious injury and mental health struggles.

The five-time overall World Cup winner has 108 World Cup wins, securing victory in the opening five slalom events of the season which, when added to her victory in the final slalom of last season, equalled her own record of six consecutive wins in the discipline.

But the two-time Olympic champion will be targeting a return to the podium in Cortina while her fiance Aleksander Aamodt Kilde is also on the comeback trail from a bad injury.

Maxim Naumov – figure skating

Image source, Getty Images

Age: 24 Nation: United States

American figure skater Maxim Naumov’s participation in the Milan-Cortina Games could be emotional as he makes his Olympic debut after his parents were killed in a plane crash in Washington DC last year.

Naumov’s dream to make Team USA was one of the last things he spoke about with his parents before they were killed.

His parents, Vadim Naumov and Evgenia Shishkova, skated for Russia and were world champions in pairs figure skating in 1994.

Emily Harrop – skimo

Image source, Getty Images

Age: 28 Nation: France

Ski mountaineering, or ‘skimo’, is making its Olympic debut at Milan-Cortina and, while Great Britain have failed to qualify an athlete in the Games’ new sport, France’s Emily Harrop is the next best thing.

With English parents, Harrop could have competed for Team GB but having relocated to the French Alps as a child she opted to represent France.

Harrop is well placed for an Olympic medal having finished the 2025 season with seven wins out of seven races at the ski mountaineering World Cup, winning the sprint and overall crystal globe for the fourth consecutive season.

Jutta Leerdam – speed skating

Image source, Getty Images

Age: 28 Nation: Netherlands

Dutch speed skater Jutta Leerdam will compete in the 1,000m and 500m in Milan.

A former world sprint champion, Leerdam also won a silver medal in the 1,000m at the 2022 Beijing Olympics.

She is also engaged to YouTuber-turned-boxer Jake Paul, who can often be spotted at competitions and will be cheering her on from the sidelines in Italy.

Finley Melville Ives – freestyle skiing

Image source, Getty Images

Age: 19 Nation: New Zealand

Teenager Finley Melville Ives arrives in Italy as one of the most exciting prospects on the freestyle skiing circuit.

Ives’ parents are both snowboard instructors and his twin brother followed in their footsteps, but Ives opted instead for skis from a young age.

His breakout season came last year when he claimed his first World Cup victory in Calgary then weeks later became the halfpipe world champion in Engadin, Switzerland, beating Olympic greats Alex Ferreira and Nick Goepper along the way.

Eileen Gu – freestyle skiing

Image source, Getty Images

Age: 22 Nation: China

Born and raised in California, freestyle skier Eileen Gu was China’s poster girl for Beijing 2022, where – aged 18 – she won gold in the big air and freeski halfpipe competitions and silver in the slopestyle.

In addition to her Olympic triumphs, she is also a two-time world champion and three-time Winter X Games champion.

Away from the snow, Gu is one of the most famous winter sports athletes in the world and has modelled in New York, Barcelona, Paris and at Milan Fashion Week while also studying quantum physics at Stanford University.

NHL stars – ice hockey

Image source, Getty Images

For the first time since Sochi 2014, the National Hockey League is permitting its athletes to participate in the Winter Olympics.

NHL stars did not travel to the 2018 or 2022 Games because of financial disputes and pandemic-related complications but will return to the ice this year.

In their absence, the last two men’s titles have been won by Olympic teams from Russia and Finland while the United States failed to win a medal at both events, but this could be a huge boost to their hopes of returning to the podium.

Chloe Kim – snowboarding

Image source, Getty Images

Age: 25 Nation: United States

Eight years after winning gold as a 17-year-old in Pyeongchang, American halfpipe snowboarder Chloe Kim is going for a three-peat in Italy.

She successfully defended her title in Beijing four years ago but her preparations for Milan-Cortina have been disrupted after she dislocated her shoulder at the beginning of the year.

She said in an update on Instagram she was “good to go” for the Games, where she will aim to become the first woman to win three consecutive Olympic gold medals in the halfpipe.

Francesco Friedrich – Bobsleigh

Image source, Getty Images

Age: 35 Nation: Germany

Legendary German bobsleigh pilot Francesco Friedrich arrives in Italy hoping to become the first man do the treble double – winning two and four-man gold for the third Games in a row.

He is a 16-time world champion across the two and four-man events while he has well over 100 World Cup podium finishes, claiming a 50th victory in the two-man earlier this year.

Germany tend to dominate the Olympic bobsleigh events and the question is whether anyone can stop him from making history.

Arianna Fontana – speed skating

Image source, Getty Images

Age: 35 Nation: Italy

Competing at her sixth Games, Arianna Fontana is an 11-time Winter Olympic medallist and has won medals at her five previous appearances – including as a 15-year-old in Turin.

Twenty years later, the short track skater is also aiming to compete in long track speed skating.

Two-time Olympic champion Fontana will also be one of Italy’s flag bearers at the opening ceremony at the San Siro.

Lucas Pinheiro Braathen – alpine skiing

Image source, Getty Images

Age: 25 Nation: Brazil

Norwegian-born skier Lucas Pinheiro Braathen could make history in Italy by winning a first Winter Olympics medal for a South American country after he switched allegiance to compete for his mother’s home country of Brazil.

The slalom and giant slalom expert retired in 2023 having competed for Norway but returned in 2025 to represent Brazil and became the first Brazilian to finish on a World Cup podium last year before claiming the country’s first victory this season to add to his five for Norway.

A charismatic and deep-thinking character, Braathen says that people don’t believe him when he tells them he represents Brazil in alpine skiing.

Adeliia Petrosian – figure skating

Image source, Getty Images

Age: 18 Nation: Independent Neutral Athlete

Russian skater Adeliia Petrosian is one of around 20 Russian or Belarusian athletes competing under a neutral flag in Italy.

The teenager had not competed internationally at senior level until the Olympic qualifiers because of the ban on Russian athletes but is a genuine medal contender having won the qualifying event.

She is coached by the controversial Eteri Tutberidze, who coached Kamila Valieva during the Beijing 2022 Olympics. Valieva was given a four-year ban for doping after she helped Russia to win team gold before it was then revealed she had failed a drug test before the start of the Games.

Ilia Malinin – figure skating

Image source, Getty Images

Age: 21 Nation: United States

Ilia Malinin is the only skater to have successfully landed the quadruple Axel, skating’s most difficult jump, in competition, earning him the nickname the ‘Quad God’.

The American, born to Olympic figure skaters Tatiana Malinina and Roman Skorniakov, is the hot favourite for the men’s singles title in Italy with previous routines including seven quads and a back flip.

The reigning world champion will be competing at his first Olympics having controversially been left out of the US team in Beijing.

MILAN — A partial knee replacement in her right leg wasn’t enough to stop Lindsey Vonn from pursuing her Olympic comeback. Neither will a recent left torn anterior cruciate ligament.

Vonn revealed Tuesday she suffered a completely ruptured ACL in a crash last week but remains focused on racing in the Milan-Cortina Olympics.

“If my knee is not stable, I can’t compete and at the moment, it is stable and it is strong,” Vonn said during a virtual news conference from Cortina d’Ampezzo. “… So far so good but we have to take it day by day. But if it remains the way it is now, I think I’m pretty solid.”

The 41-year-old Vonn said she skied Tuesday to test her knee. She is not in any pain and the swelling has gone down, but with bone bruising and additional meniscus damage, she still has to tackle full-speed downhill training runs beginning on Thursday before the downhill competition starts Sunday.

Vonn, who also has hopes to race in the super-G and the team event, said her “intention is to race everything.”

“I am not letting this slip through my fingers,” she said. “I’m going to do it, end of story. I’m not letting myself go down that path. I’m not crying. My head is high, I’m standing tall and I’m going to do my best, whatever the result is.”

Vonn is no stranger to knee injuries. She retired from the sport in 2019 and underwent a partial knee replacement in April 2024. Since announcing her comeback in November 2024, Vonn has already defied expectations by becoming the oldest skier to win a World Cup race when she won at St. Moritz, Switzerland, in December and by making the Olympic team seven years after her retirement.

“I think if anyone can do it, it’s Lindsey,” U.S. teammate Bella Wright said of competing with a torn ACL. “I think we all know how strong of a skier she is, but I think that her mental game is what makes Lindsey Lindsey.”

Vonn was racing at a World Cup event Jan. 30 at Crans-Montana, Switzerland, when she lost control while attempting to land a jump. She slid into the safety netting and was later airlifted to a hospital. While a torn ACL typically sends athletes straight to the operating room, Vonn said surgery was not a discussion.

“The Olympics are the only thing that I’m thinking about,” Vonn said.

Despite the crash occurring so close to the Games, Vonn said her knee feels better now than when she has battled other injuries, including in 2019 when she competed at the world championships without a lateral collateral ligament and three tibial plateau fractures. She still won the bronze medal.

“I know what my chances [at the Olympics] were before the crash, and I know my chances aren’t the same as it stands today,” Vonn said, “but I know there’s still a chance and as long as there’s a chance, I will try.”

But such optimism comes with a word of caution, given the Beijing Olympics four years ago.

With a target of three to seven medals, Team GB were left to “lick their wounds” after ending the Games with only two curling medals – won on the last two days of competition – to show for a fortnight of upsets and near-misses.

GB Snowsport chief executive Vicky Gosling later told BBC Sport that athletes had flown to China with a “slight arrogance”.

Speaking before the 2026 Games, she said: “We’ve always got it in the back of our minds.

“We can’t bank on anything because literally anything can happen. There’s that sense of jeopardy.”

Team GB chef de mission Eve Muirhead added: “What a great opportunity we have, but we’ve also got to take into account the high risk of winter sport – and that’s why everyone loves it.”

But this time it does feel different.

Take the 2024-25 season, for example. Britain’s winter athletes won nine World Championship medals across the sports.

British skiers and snowboarders achieved 28 major podiums in Olympic disciplines, won three Crystal Globes (overall World Cup titles) and one World Championship title for Atkin.

In skeleton, British athletes won three World Championship medals and 19 on the World Cup circuit – seven of which were gold – while Weston and Wyatt secured a one-two in the overall rankings.

Despite injuries threatening to derail some athletes’ march towards the Olympics, such widespread success has continued into the current season.

At the X Games, in which the world’s best freestyle skiers and snowboarders are invited to compete, Brookes, Atkin and Muir came away with five medals between them – three of them gold – in a statement performance only two weeks before Milan-Cortina.

And in men’s skeleton, Weston won five of the seven World Cup races this season and Wyatt won the other two.

“I’m really excited,” said Gosling. “When you look at the strength in depth of the team that we have, we couldn’t be in a better place.

“We’ve punched way above our weight.”

Over the four-year cycle leading into the Milan-Cortina Games, UK Sport has ploughed £25.5m into winter sports on the Olympic programme, up from £22.2m for the Beijing cycle.

The 2022 figure was almost double the investment for Sochi 2014.

However, Olympic winter sports federations in the US received about £24m for the year of 2022 alone from the US Olympic Committee.

“We’ve gone from a nation happy to be at the start line to a nation that’s truly capable of winning,” said Gosling.

“Not only do we expect to be on the start line, but we expect a medal.

“The Eddie the Eagle days are over.”