In a video posted to Instagram on Monday, the U.S. ski racing legend said she has been released from the hospital more than two weeks after suffering a complex tibia fracture and other damage that led to compartment syndrome in the leg.
Vonn credited Dr. Tom Hackett, an orthopedic surgeon who works for Vonn and Team USA, for salvaging the limb. She also gave some indirect credit to the complete rupture of the anterior cruciate ligament in her left knee that occurred during another crash on Jan. 30, just a week before the start of the Winter Olympics.
“I always talk about everything happens for a reason,” Vonn said. “If I hadn’t torn my ACL … Tom wouldn’t have been there. He wouldn’t have been able to save my leg.”
Vonn has won 84 World Cup races and three Olympic medals, including gold in the downhill at the 2010 Vancouver Games. She returned to competitive skiing last year after a six-year hiatus. Vonn did not allow the torn ACL to prevent her from competing in what she has called her “fifth and final Olympics.”
Despite completing multiple test runs, Vonn’s Feb. 8 downhill race lasted 13 seconds before she crashed. She was airlifted from the Olimpia delle Tofane course in Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy.
In addition to the previously reported complex tibia fracture, Vonn said Monday that she also fractured her fibular head and tibia plateau on her left leg during the crash.
“Just kind of everything was in pieces,” said Vonn, who added that she also broke her right ankle during the accident.
Vonn said that all the trauma in her left leg caused a condition called compartment syndrome, which involves excessive pressure building up inside a muscle, either from bleeding or swelling, and can restrict blood flow and possibly lead to permanent injury.
“When you have so much trauma to one area of your body that there’s too much blood and it gets stuck, and it basically crushes everything in the compartment so all the muscle and nerves and tendons, it all kind of dies,” Vonn said.
“And Dr. Tom Hackett saved my leg. He saved my leg from being amputated. He did what’s called a fasciotomy, where he cut open, like both sides of my leg, and kind of filleted open, so to speak, let it breathe. And he saved me.”
At one point since the crash, Vonn said, she received a blood transfusion to raise her hemoglobin levels.
“I can’t tell you how painful it’s been,” she said.
Vonn still has a long road to recovery. She said she’s “very much immobile,” confined to a wheelchair for the time being and then on crutches for at least two months.
“It will take around a year for all of the bones to heal and then I will decide if I want to take out all the metal or not,” Vonn wrote in the Instagram post, “and then go back into surgery and finally fix my ACL.”
She added in the video: “We have to take the punches as they come, so I’ll do the best I can with this one. It really knocked me down, but I’m like Rocky. I’ll just keep getting back up.”
US skier Lindsey Vonn revealed that her leg was injured so severely in her Olympic crash that amputation was a possibility until her doctor was able to relieve the traumatic injury.
Milan-Cortina Olympics hero Jack Hughes is likely looking at a dental implant to replace teeth knocked from his mouth in the third period of the men’s hockey final between the United States and Canada on Sunday.
Once the euphoria of scoring the winning goal in overtime subsides and celebrations cease, Hughes will undergo a surgical procedure that most dentists agree is far superior to alternatives such as dental bridges or partial dentures.
Titanium posts will be inserted into his jawbone, serving as new roots for the teeth. Once the posts are secure and his mouth has healed, custom crowns matched to his natural teeth in shape, color, and size will be placed on top of each post.
Hughes, who is in year four of an eight-year, $64 million contract with the New Jersey Devils of the NHL, has no worries about affording the best care possible. Sure, health care is free in Italy and he could have remained there for the procedure, but he told reporters he wants it done on home turf.
The United States’ Jack Hughes reacts after receiving his gold medal after Team USA defeated Canada in the men’s ice hockey gold medal game.
(Luca Bruno / AP)
“I’m lucky I’m from the best country in the world, and we’ve got great dentists there, too,” Hughes said while caressing the gold medal hanging from his neck. “I’m lucky I’m American, and they’re gonna fix me right up.”
When Canadian forward Sam Bennett’s high stick slammed into his mouth in the third period, Hughes looked down and rolled his eyes.
“I looked on the ice and saw my teeth,” said Hughes, who had a tooth knocked out in an NHL game a few years ago. “I was like, ‘Here we go again.’ The last time that happened, it wasn’t very fun.”
Losing teeth is an occupational hazard for hockey players. They know implants can be as good as the real thing. Hughes played on even while resembling a Jack-o-lantern.
“Who cares at this point, to be honest?” U.S. teammate Matt Boldy said. “I think more people are looking at his medal than his teeth. I’m sure he’ll be OK.”
Attention certainly focused on Hughes’ heroics in overtime. He re-entered the game a minute into the 3-on-3 overtime and quickly found himself the only U.S. player between Canadian superstar Connor McDavid and the goal.
Oh, and McDavid had the puck on his stick.
Hughes retreated slightly, bracing for another painful collision by using his body as a barrier. McDavid couldn’t get off a clean shot and goaltender Connor Hellebuyck — whose game-long heroics will forever be remembered — slapped the puck away.
Less than a minute later, Hughes fielded a cross-ice pass from Zach Werenski and fired it past Canadian goaltender Jordan Binnington. Game over.
“I got it to the right guy,” Werenski said. “He’s been hot all tournament.”
That hasn’t been true for long. Hughes underperformed in last year’s 4 Nations Face-Off — which Canada won — before shoulder surgery ended his NHL season. This season, he missed five weeks with the Devils after slicing his right thumb open on broken glass at a team dinner.
His older brother and teammate Quinn Hughes, who led the U.S. team with eight points during the Olympics, knows the emotional roller-coaster that Jack has endured. The thrill ride couldn’t have ended any better.
“[Jack] is an animal,” Quinn said. “He’s gone through a lot with his shoulders. He takes a lot of [crap]. No one loves the game more than him. He’s got so much passion. He’s a gamer. He made it happen.”
Their parents, Jim and Ellen, were in attendance. Ellen Weinberg-Hughes is a Player Development Consultant for the U.S. women’s hockey team, which also won gold. No doubt mom will be scheduling that dentist appointment for Jack sooner than later.
The Winter Olympics ended as the twin flames in host cities Milan and Cortina d’Ampezzo were extinguished during a closing ceremony at the ancient Verona Arena, roughly mid-distance between the far-flung mountain, valley and city venues that made these the most spread-out Winter Games ever.
In declaring the 2026 Games over on Sunday, International Olympic Committee President Kirsty Coventry told local organisers that they “delivered a new kind of Winter Games and you set a new, very high standard for the future”.
The next Winter Games will be held in neighbouring France, which received the Olympic flag in the official handover earlier in the ceremony. Following the same spread-out model, the 2030 Winter Games will stage events in the Alps and Nice, on the Mediterranean Sea, while speed skating will be held either in Italy or the Netherlands.
A total of 116 medal events were held in eight Olympic sports across 16 disciplines, including the debut of ski mountaineering this year, over the course of 17 days of competition. With the final events wrapping up just hours before the ceremony, the 50km mass start men’s and women’s cross-country medals were awarded by Coventry inside the arena.
Hosts Italy won their highest Winter Olympic tally of 30 medals, including 10 gold and six silver, surpassing the previous record of 20 medals, set at the Lillehammer Olympics in 1994.
The closing ceremony paid tribute to Italian dance and music, from lyric opera to Italian pop of the 20th century to the DJ beat of Gabry Ponte, who got the 1,500 athletes on their feet and dancing while colourful confetti exploded on stage. Italian artist Achille Lauro delivered the last word with the song “Incoscienti Giovani”, or “reckless young people”, just before athletes who had so aptly harnessed their youthful energy for these games filed out.
The Milano Cortina Winter Olympics spanned an area of 22,000sq km (8,500sq miles), from ice sports in Milan to biathlon in Anterselva on the Austrian border, snowboarding and men’s downhill in Valtellina on the Swiss border, cross-country skiing in the Val di Fiemme north of Verona, and women’s downhill, curling and sliding sports in Cortina d’Ampezzo.
The closing ceremony concluded with the Olympic flames extinguished at the unprecedented two cauldrons in Milan and Cortina, viewed in Verona via videolink. A light show substituted for fireworks, which are not allowed in Verona to protect animals from being disturbed.
The Milan Cortina Paralympics’ opening ceremony will also take place in the Verona Arena, on March 6, and the games will run until March 15.
VERONA, Italy — In fair Verona, L.A., unofficially, takes the torch.
While the Olympic flag passed from Italy to France at Sunday’s closing ceremony, handing off the Winter Games from Milan-Cortina to the French Alps, the flame will burn next in L.A.
In just over two years, the United States will host the country’s first Summer Games since 1996, welcoming an Olympic movement that is surging in popularity but unsteady in a changing world, as the Games return to Los Angeles for the third time.
The Milan-Cortina Olympics are expected to rake in record TV numbers for NBC. They already produced the most-watched women’s hockey game on record when an average of 5.3 million viewers took in the United States’ thrilling overtime win over Canada. The rivalry game contributed to the largest weekday audience for a Winter Games since 2014 with an average of 26.7 million viewers who also watched U.S. star Alysa Liu win the country’s first Olympic gold medal for women’s singles figure skating in 24 years.
The smiling 20-year-old with horizontal stripes in her hair became a sensation in Milan just as 41-year-old mother of two Elana Meyers Taylor did in Cortina d’Ampezzo after the five-time Olympian won her first gold medal in bobsled, jumping into the arms of her nanny and, through tears, signing to her deaf children, “Mommy won.”
No matter protests, politics or planning hurdles, the Olympics sought to remain a stage for those athletes to shine.
“You showed us what excellence, respect and friendship look like in a world that sometimes forgets these values,” International Olympic Committee President Kirsty Coventry said to the Olympians in her speech while standing on a platform in the stands placed in front of the Italian delegation. “You showed us that the Olympic Games are a place for everyone. A place where sport brings us together.”
After record numbers from the 2024 Paris Summer Games, the Milan-Cortina Games sold 1.3 million tickets, which, accounting for 80% of the expected tickets, was “beyond our expectations,” Milano Cortina 2026 chief executive officer Andrea Varnier said at a news conference. Of the 63% of international fans who attended the Games, the United States, at 14%, bought the second-most tickets.
Fans filled arenas that were finished just in time in Milan. They withstood snowstorms in Livigno, cheered the debut of ski mountaineering in Bormio and held their breath while multiple skiers got airlifted off the downhill course in Cortina.
The most widespread Games in history created distinct pockets of Olympic spirit separated by hours on trains and miles of winding mountain roads. The Olympics that preached harmony finally united in a single city known for love, beauty and grudges. The Milan-Cortina Games represented seemingly every Shakespearean theme.
Athletes got engaged. Sponsors organized hair and makeup sessions in the Olympic villages, which went through an average of 365 kilograms of pasta and 10,000 eggs a day. A cheating scandal rocked curling.
The closing ceremony set at the Roman amphitheater at the heart of the city that inspired “Romeo and Juliet” celebrated the Games as “beauty in action.” But beneath the glittering gold medals, there was pain.
Alpine skier Lindsey Vonn suffered a horrific crash and has already undergone four surgeries on her broken leg. Ukrainian skeleton athlete Vladyslav Heraskevych was disqualified when he refused to compete without his helmet honoring Ukrainian athletes who’ve been killed in the war with Russia.
Artists perform during the closing ceremony of the 2026 Winter Olympics in Verona, Italy.
(Bernat Armangue / Associated Press)
Already holding the weight of their personal dreams, U.S. athletes faced additional pressure answering questions about the country’s political landscape. After freestyle skier Hunter Hess he said he had “mixed emotions” representing the United States at the Olympics, President Trump called the 27-year-old “a real loser” on social media.
Two weeks later, Hess held his thumb and forefinger in the shape of an “L” to his forehead after his first qualifying run.
Athletes pleaded for assistance navigating an onslaught of social media threats as the Olympic spotlight grows with every Games. Coventry said at a news conference last week that the IOC has a safeguarding unit that monitors the organization’s social media platforms for hateful messages. More than 10,000 such comments were taken down during the Paris Games, IOC spokesperson Mark Adams said. The number for the Milan-Cortina Games hadn’t been finalized.
With the largest delegation of any country at the Games, the United States won the second-most medals with 33, including 12 golds, the most Olympic titles for the country at any single Winter Games. The total gold medals surpassed the 10 won in Salt Lake City in 2002, the last time the United States hosted an Olympic Games.
After more than two decades away, the Games will return to the United States twice in the next eight years. L.A. will host the 2028 Games and Utah will have the 2034 Winter Games.
Approaching the final stretch of an 11-year planning period, the L.A. Games confronted another challenge this month when a growing number of local politicians called for LA28 chairman Casey Wasserman’s resignation after racy emails he exchanged with Ghislaine Maxwell were revealed in the Epstein files. After initial hesitation, L.A. Mayor Karen Bass and other leaders joined the chorus calling for Wasserman’s dismissal.
But LA28 doubled down on his role. The executive committee of the LA28 board stood by Wasserman after a review from an outside legal firm found that the Hollywood mogul’s relationship with Maxwell “did not go beyond what has already been publicly documented.”
As with his 2026 organizing committee counterpart Giovanni Malago, Wasserman would be expected to deliver speeches in 2028.
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
Oceane Michelon of France approaches the finish line to win gold in the women’s 12.5-kilometer biathlon mass start on Saturday.
(Harry How / Getty Images)
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
U.S. speedskater Mia Manganello celebrates after earning a bronze medal in the women’s mass start final in Milan on Saturday.
(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
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:
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.
But it is the coalescence of their personalities that amplifies all that sporting talent. And underpinning the team are two key things – total honesty and trust.
As McMillan puts it, “If one of us is in the wrong, the rest can say so”, while the more measured Mouat describes it as “knowing the different things to say to get the best out of each other”.
Individually, they are all very different.
Hype man McMillan is lively enough for all four of them; Hardie is the logic guy, an engineer by trade; Mouat is thoughtful, reflective and calm; Lammie is the quiet, reliable presence; and Waddell the experienced head in the background.
It might be labelled as ‘Team Mouat’ – as per the convention of naming a rink after its skip – but this is very much a collective. In fact, Mouat is keen to share the spotlight.
“Bruce is very different from a lot of skips,” explains BBC Sport pundit and 2022 gold medallist Vicky Wright. “A lot of them are clearly the leader but the GB team operates so well because they function on a level playing field.
“The dynamic they’ve got works because they all bring a different aspect to the table and they all respect that. That’s a massive part of why they’re so successful.”
It is instructive to see how comfortable they are in each other’s company and with the position in which they find themselves.
All five have been right in among it in Cortina these past couple of weeks, be it stopping for a chat in the street or in restaurants, meeting friends and relatives, watching other British athletes compete.
Or – in Mouat’s case – going pillowcase shopping and “spending far too much money” on the morning of the semi-final.
Even in the moments before the final, McMillan and Hardie were sharing a laugh with a journalist; Mouat was picking out familiar faces in the crowd for a smile and a wave, and Lammie and Waddell were casually studying the Canadians warming up.
How does Mick Cronin survive this, sending his own player off the court after hustling hard on defense to get a piece of the ball but unfortunately too much contact and drew a foul. Does he not constantly rip his team for weak defense?
Steven Jamerson, you deserved better from your coach and I won’t be surprised if your teammates and UCLA’s decision-makers agree going forward. Except …. he just recently got an extension. Way to go, Martin Jarmond.
Ron Mortvedt San Bernardino
How can UCLA’s combustible coach possibly demand discipline, hold his players responsible, or blame them for failing to take accountability when, night after night, he’s the most unhinged person in the building? Hey Mick, as my grandma used to say, “When you point a finger at someone, three point back at you.”
Steve Ross Carmel
Bill Plaschke nailed it in his column today. Mick Cronin just seems to be angry all the time prowling the sidelines. What does that look like to a kid still playing in high school? How AD Martin Jarmond gave him an extended contract with a $22.5-million buyout is beyond me. It’s going to cost UCLA to move on from him. It would be a lot easier if he only starts throwing chairs.
Paul Atkinson Ventura
The sky has fallen! For the first time I can remember I agree with something Bill Plaschke has written!
Julian Pollok
Palm Desert
As a lifelong fan and proud alumnus, I believe it’s time for UCLA to seriously evaluate the direction of its men’s basketball program. Why would we want a head coach who appears angry every time he’s in the spotlight? Leadership sets the tone, and right now that tone feels tense and joyless. Players want to compete for someone who inspires them and makes them better — not someone whose public demeanor seems rooted in frustration.
Watching from the outside, it often looks like the team is playing tight rather than confident, and that reflects leadership. Mick Cronin has had success and deserves credit for that, but UCLA basketball is bigger than any one résumé; if the standard is sustained excellence and a culture players are proud to represent, then it’s fair to question whether this is the right long-term fit for the program.
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 attends mixed doubles curling in Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy, on Feb. 6.
(Fatima Shbair / Associated Press)
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
U.S. forward Jack Eichel celebrates after scoring in the second period of a 6-2 win over Slovakia in the men’s hockey semifinals Friday at the Milan-Cortina Winter Olympic Games.
(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
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
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:
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.
Norway’s Johannes Hoesflot Klaebo sets the record for the most golds won at a single Winter Olympics, winning his sixth, and the 11th of his career, in the men’s 50km mass start.
Sunday’s live TV and streaming broadcasts for the Milan-Cortina Olympics unless noted (subject to change). All events stream live on Peacock or NBCOlympics.com with a streaming or cable login. All times Pacific. 🏅 — medal event for live broadcasts.
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
Polish short track speed skater Kamila Sellier has undergone surgery after she was struck in the face by a blade in a serious crash at Milan-Cortina 2026.
Sellier was racing in the quarter-finals of the women’s 1500m on the final night of short track competition at the Milano Ice Skating Arena.
She was brought down along with 14-time Olympic medallist Arianna Fontana of Italy and American Kristen Santos-Griswold, who was penalised for attempting an illegal pass that contributed to the crash.
As Santos-Griswold fell, her skate caught Sellier and sliced her under her left eye.
Racing was paused while Sellier received attention behind the privacy of a white sheet. She was then stretched off the ice, managing to give a thumbs up to the crowd as she left.
USA meanwhile have stars of their own, but don’t have the attacking gifts of the Canadians.
“The Tkachuk brothers [Brady and Matthew], and Jack Eichel, that attacking line has worked well together,” Bennett said.
“What they have not had is much scoring from captain Auston Matthews, he has not yet taken any of the games by the horns. They are OK, but not more than that.”
However, the Americans have the best defenceman at the Games in Quinn Hughes, who scored the crucial winner against Sweden.
“He might be the best three-on-three player in the world,” said Bennett. “He loves to keep possession, and is always looking to make an exciting play.”
It sets up a mouth-watering finale of an Olympic ice hockey competition which has benefitted hugely from the return of National Hockey League (NHL) players for the first time since 2014.
The attendance of players from the top North American league was in doubt for a time over concerns about the ice quality at the unfinished Milano Santagiulia Ice Hockey Arena, but they have been a major boon for the Games.
“This is the highest level of hockey we have ever seen at an Olympics,” said Bennett. “The NHL players have made it a different world.
“At the last two Olympics, games have been good but have missed the quality in the final third, the big moments. Players didn’t have the skillset to break a game, so saw a lot of tight, dull games
“Some of what the players have been doing here has been mind-blowing. One of the goals scored for Canada, McDavid saucered this pass from the back door [behind the goal], it lands as McKinnon is shooting, on the half-volley. That’s when you recognise it.
“I have been getting phone calls from people in the hockey world, all they have been saying is, this is so good. There have been periods where Kent [Simpson, BBC co-commentator] and I have just been sat watching, smiling, laughing.”
Canada have won gold in three of the five Olympics when NHL players have featured and will fancy their chances in a game on Sunday which could be as fascinating in the stands as it is on the ice.
It is highly likely that Canadian prime minister Mark Carney will be in Milan for the game.
Not only is Canada as a country hockey-mad, but so is Carney – when working as governor of the Bank of England, he would play for a recreational team in Haringey, north London.
The big question is whether his American counterpart will also be in Italy.
We grew up with that line from “ABC’s Wide World of Sports” show.
But really, it’s the spaces in between, that can resonate and bring a sense of mortality to these world-class athletes.
As I witnessed these memorable events in this year’s Winter Olympics, I tried to keep in mind the frail dynamics of our collective psyche while performing against a spectacular backdrop of the Dolemites, or walking the historic, ancient streets of Milan.
There are dozens of photographers working at each event. They, like the athletes on the field of play, are in a competition.
Competing with each other to make the best image. Competing with the elements at outdoor venues, like bitter cold, rain, wind and snow. And most of all, competing with themselves to rise above their personal standard of what constitutes an outstanding photograph.
Witnessing what is probably an athletes greatest moment is both a thrill and an honor.
Here are some of the visual surprises.
Mikhail Shaidorov shows his metal as he takes a bite of the gold medal he won in the Men’s Single Skating Final.
French skier Laura Gauche sails against the backdrop of the Dolomites on her way to the finish line in the Women’s Team Combined Slalom.
Figure skater Ilia Malinin feels the pain of a bad performance during the finals for Men’s Single Skating at Milano Ice Skating Arena.
Megan Keller is mobbed by teammates after scoring the winning goal to beat Canada 2-1 in overtime in the Women’s ice hockey final.
Team USA are reflected in the ice during the Women’s Team Pursuit at Milano Speed Skate Stadium.
Swiss skier Melanie Meillard weeps in the arms of her teammate Janine Schmitt after missing a turn on her slalom run Women’s Team Combined Slalom.
Lindsay Vonn is airlifted off the mountain after crashing during the Women’s downhill Alpine skiing event.
USA skier AJ Hurt wags her tongue after a successful slalom run at the Women’s Team Combined Slalom.
Gloves were flying when Tom Wilson, left, of Team Canada engaged with Pierre Crinon, of Team France, at Milano Santa Giulia Ice Hockey Arena.
Americans Madison Chock and Evan Bates practice before competing in the ice dancing free skate competition.
USA skater Amber Glenn weeps after completing an imperfect routine in the single skating short program.
USA skaters Eunice Lee and Corinne Stonnard crash in the Women’s 3,000m short track speed skating.
French skater Adam Siao Him Fa performs a flip during the finals for Men’s Single Skating.
Medals and a selfie for Italy, Korea and Canada at the Women’s Team Short Track Speed Skating finals.
The Swiss Women’s ice hockey team leaves their equipment on the ice while celebrating an overtime win over Sweden in the bronze medal match.
Saturday’s live TV and streaming broadcasts for the Milan-Cortina Olympics unless noted (subject to change). All events stream live on Peacock or NBCOlympics.com with a streaming or cable login. All times Pacific. 🏅 — medal event for live broadcasts.
MULTIPLE SPORTS 8 p.m. — “Primetime in Milan” (delay): Cross-country skiing, bobsled, figure skating, freestyle skiing and more. | NBC
BIATHLON 5:15 a.m. — 🏅Women’s 12.5-kilometer mass start | USA 10:30 a.m. — 🏅Women’s 12.5-kilometer mass start (re-air) | USA
BOBSLED 1 a.m. — Four-man bobsled, Run 1 | Peacock 2:55 a.m. — Four-man bobsled, Run 2 | Peacock 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 2 a.m. — 🏅Men’s 50-kilometer mass start classic | Peacock 3:10 a.m. — 🏅Men’s 50-kilometer mass start classic (in progress) | USA 8:30 a.m. — Men’s 50-kilometer mass start classic (delay) | NBC
CURLING 🏅Women’s bronze-medal match 5:05 a.m. — Teams TBD | Peacock 7:20 a.m. — Teams TBD (delay) | USA 🏅Men’s gold-medal match 10:05 a.m. — Teams TBD | CNBC Women’s bronze-medal match 1 p.m. — Teams TBD (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 1 a.m. — Men’s skicross, qualifying | Peacock 1:45 a.m. — 🏅Mixed team aerials, final | USA 2:55 a.m. — 🏅Men’s skicross, finals | Peacock 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. — Teams TBD | USA
SKI MOUNTAINEERING 4:30 a.m. — 🏅Mixed team relay | Peacock
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
The rapper reportedly sent five tickets for the men’s snowboard halfpipe final to the owners of a local restaurant who covered his dinner after there were some troubles with the credit card payment. Sofia Valmadre, whose parents own Cronox in Livigno, Italy, said Snoop had placed an order for a cheeseburger, chicken wings, chicken nuggets and French fries at her family’s eatery. Unfortunately, the credit card the mogul’s staffer tried to use was declined for an unknown reason.
“My mother told him it was OK [to take the food] without paying,” Valmadre told Reuters. “[The next day] he sent us five tickets to see the final.”
The “Gin and Juice” rapper has become a familiar presence at the Olympics, especially since NBC made his involvement official starting with the 2024 Paris Summer Games. In addition to cheering on American athletes including curlers Cory Thiesse and Korey Dropkin, snowboarder Chloe Kim and speedskater Erin Jackson at their events — usually in custom apparel celebrating the sports stars — Snoop has been spending his time in Italy hanging out with bestie Martha Stewart, learning how to ski from Picabo Street and getting chummy with Olympians like “Quad God” Ilia Malinin.
For those curious about Snoop’s dining habits, Stewart recently described him as a “very fussy eater.” She even surprised him with a bowl of spaghetti with meatballs topped with cheddar cheese during a recent fine-dining outing.
Alina Muller repeats history from Sochi in 2014, scoring an overtime winner as Switzerland beat Sweden 2-1 to claim bronze in the women’s ice hockey at the 2026 Winter Olympics.
Muller scored the winner 12 years ago as a 15-year-old against the same opponents in a 4-3 victory to win the bronze medal.
MILAN — Jordan Stolz’s run for the speedskating triple crown came up short in the 1,500 meters Thursday, with the American settling for silver behind China’s Ning Zhongyan at the Milan-Cortina Games.
Ning set an Olympic record, blazing the oval at Milano Speed Skating Stadium in 1 minute and 41.98 seconds. Stolz, who won gold in the 500 and 1,000 meters to become the first U.S. man to win in both distances in the same Olympic Games since 1980, had the fastest finishing kick of the top eight skaters, but reached for the line 0.77 of a second behind Ning at 1:42.75.
Stolz was the top-ranked racer in the 1,500-meter distance and raced in the final pair. Watching the speedskating superstar, Ning clasped his hands in prayer during the final race. When the final time flashed across the screen, his coach held Ning’s hands in the air. He began to sob. The 26-year-old earned his first Olympic gold medal after earning bronze in the 1,000 and the team pursuit.
Hoping to win four gold medals in Milan, Stolz still has an opportunity to add a third in the mass start on Saturday.
CORTINA D’AMPEZZO, Italy — In some families, children are expected to attend the same college as their parents or root for mom or dad’s favorite team.
In Azaria Hill’s family, the children were encouraged to go to the Olympics. Not to watch, but to compete.
Hill’s father Virgil, a boxer, earned a silver medal at the 1984 Summer Games. Hill’s mother, Denean Howard, met Virgil at the 1984 Games and won Olympic gold that year running with her sister, Sherri Howard, in the 4×400-meter relay. The sisters won silver medals in the 4×400 at the 1988 Olympics before Denean earned another silver at the 1992 Games.
“At a very young age, since I could understand what the Olympics were and knew what my family did as Olympians, I knew that’s something that I wanted to do and wanted to experience,” Hill said.
But her top marks of 11.70 seconds in the 100 meters and 23.93 in the 200 didn’t rank in the top 100 for U.S. women in 2021, her senior year at Nevada Las Vegas. So if she was going to continue the family tradition, she knew she’d have to find another sport.
Jadin O’Brien was in a similar fix. She won two NCAA titles in the pentathlon but finished seventh at the U.S. trials ahead of the 2024 Games. To realize her Olympic dream, she’d have to change sports too.
Luckily for both women, there was a well-worn path from the track to the Winter Olympics: Just hop onto a sled. On Friday, Hill and O’Brien will complete their journeys when the two-woman bobsled competition gets underway at the Cortina Sliding Centre.
“I never thought that this would even be a possibility or an opportunity,” Hill said. “It just kind of fell into my lap and I was really good at it. I stuck it out and worked hard and here I am a Winter Olympian.”
She has Kaysha Love, a UNLV teammate, to thank for that. An 11-time high school track champion in Utah, Love was encouraged by her college coach to take part in a 12-day bobsled rookie camp after COVID shortened the track season her senior year. That led to more auditions and 14 months later she and pilot Kaillie Humphries won a World Cup race.
U.S. bobsledders Azaria Hill, left, and Kaysha Love take part in a training run Wednesday in Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy.
(Aijaz Rahi / Associated Press)
After just six races, Love made the 2022 U.S. Olympic team as a brakewoman. She then tried to sell Hill on the sport.
“She was like ‘I think you should try it. Let’s see if you can do it,’” Hill remembered. “I went to my first rookie camp and I did really well, got invited back to some more camps, and ended up making my first World Cup team.”
That was in December 2023. Two years later she made it to the Olympics as the brakewoman for Love, who is now a driver.
“That’s completely opposite of what I thought I’d be doing,” Hill said. “The first time it is definitely scary. I was like, ‘I don’t know if I can do this. I don’t know if I even want to do this.’ It is an acquired taste.
“But Keisha Love was just super positive.”
O’Brien’s rise to Olympian in the two-person bobsled, the second-fastest sliding sport of the Winter Games, has been even swifter. Elana Meyers Taylor, a five-time Olympian and five-time medalist, began recruiting O’Brien to be her brakewoman after the Beijing Games. At first she resisted, but last summer O’Brien decided she needed a rest from track “and bobsled seemed like a good alternative, so I took it up.”
Jadin O’Brien, left, and Elana Meyers Taylor prepare for a bobsled training run at the Milan-Cortina Olympic Games on Wednesday.
(Aijaz Rahi / Associated Press)
In her World Cup debut four months later, O’Brien pushed Taylor to a fourth-place finish, earning a spot on the Olympic team.
“There was so much I needed to learn,” she said. “Luckily there were quite a few girls who were very patient with me, who helped me understand the sport, understand form.”
One of the most important things she had to learn is when to pull the brake.
“If you do it too early, then you’re going to drastically hurt your time. If you do it too late, there’s a chance you’re going to ruin the runners because the track ends at a certain point,” O’Brien said.
And that decision has to be made in a heartbeat at the end of a mile-long ice chute covered at speeds exceeding 90 mph.
“It’s terrifying. You’re going super, super fast. As a brakeman you can’t see what’s going on because your head is down,” she said. “But at the same time it’s very thrilling. You feel like you’re flying if the run is done right. It’s almost addicting.”
Track athletes like Hill, 27, and O’Brien, 23, have a long history of success in bobsled, where speed and power at the start are important. Lauryn Williams won a gold medal on the track in the 2012 London Games and a silver on the back of Taylor’s sled two years later in Sochi. Lolo Jones won three world championships on the track and two in a bobsled. Most of the Jamaican team in Cortina is made up of sprinters who couldn’t catch Usain Bolt, so they climbed in a bobsled instead.
“They’ve got just an athleticism that is very applicable to pushing sleds,” said Curtis Tomasevicz, a former football player at Nebraska who won gold and silver Olympic medals in the four-man bobsled before becoming a coach with the U.S. team. “We’re recruiting athletes that have a sprinting ability and we feel like we can teach them to be bobsledders in a short amount of time.”
For Hill, that transition from the sprints to a sled has allowed her to carry on a family tradition. And she’ll have 11 relatives — including two Olympic medalists — at the Cortina Sliding Centre on Friday when she creates her own memories as the first Hill to compete in the Winter Games.
“They’re super excited seeing me on this journey, being that I’ve been able to kind of follow my own mission, create something for myself,” she said. “It’s almost like they’re kind of experiencing it again, but just in a different way.
“This has definitely exceeded my expectations of what I thought being an Olympian would be. It’s so much fun.”
Friday’s live TV and streaming broadcasts for the Milan-Cortina Olympics unless noted (subject to change). All events stream live on Peacock or NBCOlympics.com with a streaming or cable login. All times Pacific. 🏅 — medal event for live broadcasts.
MULTIPLE SPORTS 8 p.m. — “Primetime in Milan” (delay): Bobsled, speedskating, curling, hockey and more. | NBC
BIATHLON 5:15 a.m. — 🏅Men’s 15-kilometer mass start | USA 9:15 a.m. — 🏅Men’s 15-kilometer mass start (re-air) | NBC
BOBSLED 9 a.m. — Two-woman bobsled, Run 1 | NBC, Peacock 10:50 a.m. — Two-woman bobsled, Run 2 | Peacock 1:15 p.m. — Two-woman bobsled, runs 1-2 | USA
CURLING Women semifinals 5:05 a.m. — Teams TBD | Peacock 5:05 a.m. — Teams TBD | Peacock 6 a.m. — Teams TBD (in progress) | USA 🏅Men’s bronze medal match 10:05 a.m. — Teams TBD | Peacock
FREESTYLE SKIING 1 a.m. — Women’s skicross, qualifying | USA 3 a.m. — 🏅Women’s skicross, finals | USA 10 a.m. — Women’s skicross, finals (re-air) | USA 10:30 a.m. — 🏅Men’s freeski halfpipe, finals | NBC
HOCKEY Men’s semifinals 7:40 a.m. — Canada vs. Finland | Peacock 8:50 a.m. — Canada vs. Finland (in progress) | USA 12:10 p.m. — U.S. vs. Slovakia | NBC
SHORT TRACK SPEEDSKATING 11:15 a.m. — 🏅Women’s 1,500 meters; men’s 5,000-meter relay finals | USA
SPEEDSKATING 7:30 a.m. — 🏅Women’s 1,500 meters | USA
South Korea win the women’s 3000m speed skating relay gold medal as Italy finish in second, meaning Arianna Fontana wins her 14th Olympic medal to become her country’s most decorated Olympian.
Lindsey Vonn has been through a lot over the last few weeks, even more than we previously knew.
The legendary U.S. ski racer revealed Wednesday that on the day after she crashed violently while competing at the Milan-Cortina Olympics, Vonn lost someone very close to her.
Her dog, Leo.
Vonn wrote in a lengthy Instagram post that Leo has joined two of her other canine companions, Lucy and Bear, “up in heaven.”
“This has been an incredibly hard few days. Probably the hardest of my life. I still have not come to terms that he is gone…” Vonn wrote. “The day I crashed, so did Leo. He had been recently diagnosed with lung cancer (he survived lymphoma a year and a half ago) but now his heart was failing him. He was in pain and his body could no longer keep up with his strong mind.
“As I layed in my hospital bed the day after my crash, we said goodbye to my big boy.”
Vonn adopted Leo from an animal shelter in January 2014, days after she came to the realization she would not be able to compete in that year’s Winter Games because of a knee injury. She wrote on social media at the time that Leo had been hit by a car and, like her at the time, had “a bad knee.”
“My boy has been with me since my second ACL injury, when I needed him most,” Vonn wrote in Wednesday’s post. “He held me on the sofa as I watched the Sochi Olympics. He lifted me up when I was down. He layed by me, and cuddle me, always making me feel safe and loved. We have been through so much together in 13 years.”
On Jan. 30, a week before the start of the Milan-Cortina Games, Vonn crashed during a downhill race in Switzerland and suffered a complete rupture of the anterior cruciate ligament in her left knee, along with meniscus and bone damage.
Nonetheless, Vonn was determined to compete in the Olympics. After successfully completing multiple training runs, the 84-time World Cup winner started her downhill run at the top of the Olimpia delle Tofane course in Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy.
It lasted 13 seconds. Vonn lost control on the first jump as her pole hit a gate, spun sideways in the air and slammed to the ground. She was airlifted by helicopter to a clinic in Cortina, then transferred to a larger hospital in Treviso.
The crash had left her with a complex tibia fracture.
After multiple surgeries in Italy, Vonn was transported by plane to a U.S. hospital this week.
“Thankful to all of the medical staff who helped me get home 🙏🏻❤️ and seriously looking forward to my next surgery when I can get the X-fix out of my leg and will be able to move more,” Vonn wrote Tuesday on Instagram.
“My injury was a lot more severe than just a broken leg. I’m still wrapping my head around it, what it means and the road ahead… but I’m going to give you more detail in the coming days.”
Vonn’s post announcing Leo’s death came on the morning of her next surgery and included more than a dozen photos and videos of her beloved pet.
“There will never be another Leo. He will always be my first love,” Vonn wrote. “Heading in for more surgery today. Will be thinking of him when I close my eyes. I will love you forever my big boy.”
Hours later, she wrote on her Instagram Story: “Going in for surgery soon… lot on my mind but hoping this will be a big step forward.”
That post also included a photo that Vonn appears to have taken from her hospital bed. It shows her injured leg stretched out on the mattress. Sitting next to the bed is her laptop, which displays a close-up photo of Leo playing in the snow.
