Olympics

Hundreds of protesters in Italy have denounced plans to bring ICE agents from the US to the Winter Olympics in Milan that begin on Friday. Italy’s interior ministry says ICE will only operate at US diplomatic offices and won’t be patrolling on the ground.

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.”

Lindsey Vonn sat out a World Cup super-G race Saturday after crashing and injuring her left knee a day earlier but remains on track for the Milan Cortina Olympics, her coach told the Associated Press.

“No she is not racing today but preparing for Cortina as usual,” Chris Knight, Vonn’s personal head coach, said in a text message to the AP.

Vonn then posted on Instagram, “Unfortunately, I won’t be able to race today,” adding, “Thank you for all of the love and support I have received. Means the world to me.

“Doing my best right now….,” Vonn concluded with praying hands and fingers-crossed emojis.

Vonn crashed in a downhill in Crans-Montana, Switzerland, on Friday and ended up in the safety nets. After skiing down to the bottom of the course, she was airlifted away for medical attention.

It still wasn’t clear what her injury was.

“I crashed today in the downhill race in Switzerland and injured my left knee. I am discussing the situation with my doctors and team and will continue to undergo further exams,” Vonn wrote on Instagram on Friday.

Vonn, a 41-year-old American, is expected to be one of the biggest stars of the Winter Games, which open next Friday. Her first race comes two days later in the women’s downhill.

Saturday’s super-G was slated to be her final race before the Games.

Santagiulia is due to host many of the biggest ice hockey fixtures at the Games, including the men’s and women’s gold medal matches.

The first match is due to be held there on Thursday, 5 February, when hosts Italy face France in their first game of the women’s competition.

However, the stadium, less than a week before that game, is far from ready to host matches.

The stadium has been the centre of concerns throughout the build-up to the Games, including resulting in a boycott warning from the National Hockey League (NHL).

The rink in Milan, approved by the International Ice Hockey Federation, is shorter than the minimum requirement in the NHL, leading to suggestions there could be an increase in high-speed collisions. The quality of the ice has also been questioned.

“Obviously, if the players feel that the ice is unsafe, we’re not going to play,” NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly said in November. “It’s as simple as that.”

The NHL said it was “pleased” with the test event at the arena in January, although that did not pass without incident. During the event there was a short delay while a small hole in the ice had to be repaired.

Santagiulia is one of two ice hockey venues for the Games, with the Milano Rho Arena staging some group-stage matches.

The Rho Arena, a temporary venue constructed in the Fiera Milano exhibition centre, has a capacity of 5,800 – 6,000 fewer than Santagiulia.

BBC Sport visited all four venues in the Milan Cluster which will host events during the Games, which officially run between 6 and 22 February.

As well as the ice hockey venues, speed skating will take place at a temporary venue in Fiera Milano to the west of the city, while short track and figure skating are at Unipol Forum on the southern outskirts.

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has been contacted for comment.

Crans-Montana event was cancelled after Linsey Vonn was third of first six skiers to crash, but race was deemed safe.

Lindsey Vonn crashed out of a World Cup downhill on Friday that was hazardous to her Olympic medal hopes, though judged safe by race officials and team coaches.

Safe, it was agreed, at the place and exact time that Vonn lost control when landing a jump and spun into an awkward slide into the safety nets, injuring her left knee.

“It was probably good light in the spot where she completely missed the line and did the mistake,” World Cup race director Peter Gerdol said.

Gerdol spoke after the late-afternoon meeting of race and team leaders to debrief the day and detail the next morning’s schedule.

At the meeting in Crans-Montana – starting minutes after Vonn posted on social media her Olympic downhill dream next weekend was alive – a broad agreement was that the race had been safe. Some objected to it being cancelled at all.

About 25 minutes after Vonn crashed as the No 6 starter, with the race still paused, Gerdol and the race jury called it off for safety reasons.

“I feel for those guys, they have a tough job,” United States head coach Paul Kristofic said.

By 10:50am local time on an overcast day in the Swiss Alps, the light had dimmed since the 10am start and was forecast to get worse. It did.

The race may have seemed unsafe because three of the six starters failed to finish, and even leader Jacqueline Wiles barely made a tight final turn that caused one crash.

Still, the Austria coach said his racer Nina Ortlieb’s exit as the first starter, at the same spot as Vonn, was caused by a poor racing line, not poor light.

Roland Assinger later said racing had been much safer than two weeks ago at Tarvisio, Italy, where the women went “110 kilometres an hour (70 miles per hour) through the fog where you can see nothing”.

Assinger’s view echoed the view of Vonn’s teammate, Breezy Johnson, who was caught swearing on a television hot mic while chatting with racers in the warmup area when the cancellation news came.

World champion Johnson recalled the “(expletive) rain in Tarvisio” and added: “Then they are like ‘This is too bad a visibility.’ Like, what the …” Johnson later apologised for her choice of words in a social media post.

Swiss TV commentator Patrice Morisod, who had chuckled on air hearing Johnson’s words live, later said: “If we cancel such a race then we don’t have ski sport.”

What Gerdol and Morisod agreed on was disliking the tight turns into the finish line that sent Norwegian racer Marte Monsen into the fences and almost tricked Wiles.

“It’s not downhill,” Morisod said. “For me, that’s a big mistake for the FIS.”

Gerdol told the coaches’ meeting that the course design will be reviewed before the two-week world championships Crans-Montana will stage in one year.

“In view of the championships next year, we will definitely work on this,” the race director acknowledged.

The 2027 world seems far away when the Milan Cortina Olympics open next Friday, and the marquee women’s downhill is scheduled two days later.

Vonn faces a race to be fully fit for the Olympics she targeted in her remarkable comeback as the fastest 40-something in women’s ski race history.

She might even return on Saturday to start in a super-G on the same hill. “The coach just said he left her on the start list,” Gerdol said, “because he thinks that it could be (possible). Some of the athletes always want to race; this is clear, it is their job.”

The Milano-Cortina Winter Olympics open on Monday but one rapper Ghali’s inclusion draws criticism in his native Italy.

The inclusion ‌of Italian rapper Ghali in the cast of performers at the ‍opening ceremony of ‍the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics has led to a dispute in Italy.

The artist, born in Milan to Tunisian parents, has been criticised in Italy because of his comments on Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza.

Al Jazeera Sport takes a look at the latest example of sport and politics colliding and why this case has hit the headlines.

Who is criticising Ghali’s inclusion at the Winter Olympics?

Members of Italy’s right-wing League party, part of Prime ⁠Minister Giorgia Meloni’s government, have criticised the choice of Ghali to ‍perform at the event in the San Siro stadium on February 6.

What is Ghali criticised for saying about Israel?

Ghali was at the centre of a political spat two years ago during the popular Sanremo song contest, ‍when he ⁠called for a “stop to the genocide” in reference to Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza.

A League party source called Ghali a “pro-Palestinian fanatic” who hated Israel and the centre-right, in comments to the Italian ​media.

Is Ghali’s Winter Olympics opening ceremony role set to be controversial?

Sport Minister Andrea Abodi said he did not ‌expect Ghali to use the Olympic stage to make a political point.

“I am not embarrassed to disagree with Ghali’s views and the messages he has sent, but I believe that ‌a country must be able to absorb the impact of an artist who has expressed an opinion that ‌we do not share, which will not be ⁠expressed on that stage,” he said.

What other names will be alongside Ghali to open the Milano Cortino Games?

Ghali, who has not commented on the dispute, is likely to appeal to a younger audience more than other performers at the opening ceremony, who will ‌include tenor Andrea Bocelli and US pop singer Mariah Carey.

Franco-Malian pop star Aya Nakamura was the target of racist abuse online when it emerged that ‍she would sing at the opening of the Summer Olympics in Paris in 2024.

The latest cache of investigative files on Jeffrey Epstein released Friday include personal emails exchanged more than 20 years ago between Casey Wasserman, chairman of the LA28 Olympics organizing committee, and convicted sex offender Ghislaine Maxwell, Epstein’s former romantic partner.

In emails sent in March and April 2003, Wasserman — who was married at the time — writes about wanting to see Maxwell in a tight leather outfit, she offers to give him a massage that can “drive a man wild,” and the pair discuss how much they miss each other, according to files released and posted online by the U.S. Department of Justice.

Representatives for Wasserman did not immediately respond to The Times’ request for comment Friday.

In an email sent on March 14, 2003, Maxwell describes a “tight leather flying outfit” she wore recently and said she was thinking of Wasserman in inappropriate moments. He wrote back, “I think of you all the time … So what do I have to do to see you in a tight leather outfit?”

She then promises him, “Casey — I will be coming back to NY tom late afternoon. I shall be wearing a tight leather flying suit …”

Newly released Epstein files show emails exchanged between Casey Wasserman and Ghislaine Maxwell in March and April 2003.

(U.S. Department of Justice)

The exchange, part of a trove of documents about Epstein released on Friday, reveal that Wasserman was at one time friendly with Maxwell, who was convicted in 2021 on five counts related to sex trafficking and the abuse of minors in partnership with Epstein.

Other documents show that Wasserman and his then wife flew on Epstein’s private jet in September 2002 alongside Maxwell, Epstein, former President Clinton, actor Kevin Spacey and several others as part of a 10-day trip to explore the problems of HIV in Africa. (That trip had been documented in a 2003 Vanity Fair story).

During her trial, federal prosecutors established that Maxwell and Epstein — who died by suicide while in federal custody in 2019 — were engaged in a sex-trafficking scheme involving minors from the late 1990s through the early 2000s.

In an April 2, 2003, email to Wasserman, Maxwell offers to “continue the massage concept into your bed … and then again in the morning … not sure if or when we would stop.”

Newly released Epstein files show emails exchanged between Casey Wasserman and Ghislaine Maxwell in March and April 2003.

(U.S. Department of Justice)

Later that day she writes, “Umm — all that rubbing — are you sure you can take it? The thought frankly is leaving me a little breathless. There are a few spots that apparently drive a man wild — I suppose I could practice them on you and you could let me know if they work or not?”

A few days later, Maxwell tells Wasserman that “JE” says she should pick a week to go to Los Angeles and look at properties they can rent in Malibu that summer and offers to bring Wasserman something from Paris.

Wasserman wrote back, “I think you picking a week to be in LA is a really good idea … The only thing i want from paris is you”

The pair continue their exchange on April 6, with Maxwell then offering to bring him food from London such as KitKats, cheddar and baked beans to which he says, “Among all my desires, that combination is pretty low on the list … xoxo”

She asks him what combination would do it for him and he says “You, me, and not else much …”

Wasserman then explains the concept of June gloom, California’s famous seasonal fog, and Maxwell inquires whether it would be foggy enough “so that you can float naked down the beach and no one can see you unless they are close up?”

He responds, “or something like that …”

Newly released Epstein files show emails exchanged between Casey Wasserman and Ghislaine Maxwell in March and April 2003.

(U.S. Department of Justice)

Wasserman, a UCLA alumnus, is the grandson of Hollywood mogul Lew Wasserman. He built his own fortune through his sports marketing and talent agency Wasserman, which represents more than 30 No. 1 overall picks in major sports leagues including the MLB, NFL, NBA and WNBA. In 2023, the agency acquired Brillstein Entertainment Partners, a management production company that represents stars such as Adam Sandler and Brad Pitt and launched hit shows that included “The Sopranos.”

Wasserman was recruited by former Mayor Eric Garcetti in 2017 to help Los Angeles win its Olympic host bid. While Garcetti completed his mayoral term and faded from the Olympic spotlight, Wasserman remains the face of the city’s push to host a successful Games in 2028. He has led every major Olympic update presented to the IOC and met multiple times with President Trump to secure his support.

Wasserman is expected to join an LA28 delegation in Italy for the upcoming Milan Cortina Winter Olympics, the final Games before L.A.

Epstein, 66, was once a well-connected financial consultant who rubbed shoulders with many prominent politicians and celebrities, including Trump and Clinton. He was arrested and taken into federal custody in July 2019 and charged with sex trafficking of minors and conspiracy to commit sex trafficking of minors.

The indictment alleged that, between 2002 and 2005, Epstein sexually exploited and abused dozens of underage girls at his homes in Manhattan, N.Y., and Palm Beach, Fla., and other locations, by enticing them to engage in sex acts with him for cash. It also alleged Epstein paid several of his victims to recruit other underage girls to engage in similar sex acts.

The latest documents were disclosed under the Epstein Files Transparency Act, which was enacted after months of public and political pressure and requires the government to open its files on the late financier and Maxwell. Deputy Atty. Gen. Todd Blanche said the Justice Department was releasing more than 3 million pages of documents in the latest disclosure, as well as more than 2,000 videos and 180,000 images.

Times staff writer Jenny Jarvie and the Associated Press contributed to this report.

U.S. skiing great Lindsey Vonn says her “Olympic dream is not over” after crashing and injuring her knee during a downhill race that was meant to be her final warmup before the start of the Milan Cortina Games next week.

“I crashed today in the Downhill race in Switzerland and injured my left knee,” the 41-year-old former Olympic gold medalist posted Friday on her Instagram Story. “I am discussing the situation with my doctors and team and will continue to undergo further exams.

“This is a very difficult outcome one week before the Olympics… but if there’s one thing I know how to do, it’s a comeback.

“My Olympic dream is not over. Thank you all for all of the love and support. I will give more information when I have it. … It’s not over until it’s over.”

Taking part in a World Cup race in Crans Montana, Vonn lost control while attempting to land a jump on the upper portion of the course and slid into the safety netting. After receiving medical attention for about five minutes, Vonn slowly skied to the finish line, using her poles to support herself and stopping twice to clutch her knee.

She smiled and waved to the crowd after crossing the finish line and received a long embrace from teammate Jacqueline Wiles before entering the medical tent. She was later airlifted off the slope for further evaluation.

Vonn was the third skier to crash during the race, which was being held in difficult conditions with low visibility. The event was canceled after Vonn’s fall.

After nearly six years away from ski racing, Vonn made a comeback last year and has two victories and three additional podium finishes in five downhill races this season — all with a partial titanium implant in her right knee.

At the 2010 Vancouver Games, Vonn became the only U.S. woman to win Olympic gold in downhill skiing. She also won bronze medals in the super-G 2010 and downhill in 2018. On Dec. 23, Vonn announced on Instagram she had qualified for “my 5th and final Olympics!”

“When I made the decision to return to ski racing, I always had one eye on Cortina because it’s a place that is very, very special to me,” she wrote. “Although I can’t guarantee any outcomes, I can guarantee that I will give my absolute best every time l kick out of the starting gate. No matter how these games end up, I feel like I’ve already won.”

The opening ceremony for the Milan Cortina Games is Feb. 6. Vonn’s first scheduled event is the women’s downhill on Feb. 8. She had also planned on competing in the super-G and the new team combined event.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

For years, Katie Uhlaender had a goal that few athletes even dare to dream — to compete in both the Winter and Summer Olympics.

An injury derailed that attempt. Now another dream appears to have been dashed for the daughter of former major league baseball player Ted Uhlaender — representing the United States in a record sixth consecutive Winter Olympics.

Team Canada was found to have manipulated the outcome of the Lake Placid North American Cup in early January. Uhlaender, 41, won the race in skeleton, but the manipulation kept her from getting the requisite points to qualify for the upcoming Milan Cortina Winter Games.

An investigation by the International Bobsleigh and Skeleton Federation (IBSF) found that Canada purposely withdrew four athletes from the competition, reducing the number of points that could be awarded and making it mathematically impossible for Uhlaender to earn enough points to qualify.

Why did Canada hold back four athletes from competing? Because it ensured that a second Canadian would qualify for the Olympics rather than Uhlaender.

Canadian skeleton athlete Madeline Parra admitted as much, telling The Canadian Press that her coaches “explained to us that it would be in the best interest for the way points had worked for [Canadian skeleton racer Jane Channell], so that we as a team can qualify two spots to the Olympics.”

Yet despite the IBSF finding that Canada breached its Code of Ethics, no action has been taken because IBSF rules also state that National Federations may withdraw athletes from competition at any time.

The IBSF said it will “possibly suggest adjustments to the rules” when its sport committee meets in the spring, but that doesn’t help Uhlaender. The Winter Olympics begin Feb. 6.

“This is about the integrity of sport and code of ethics that upholds sportsmanship, fair play, integrity, respect and community,” Uhlaender said in a post on X.

A petition by the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee to the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to accept Uhlaender as a discretionary entry was supported by 12 other countries, but the request was denied. Discretionary Olympic spots are infrequent, but in 2023, fencer Olga Kharlan received a place at Paris 2024 from former IOC President Thomas Bach.

Uhlaender also felt a personal betrayal because she described Team Canada coach Joe Cecchini as a longtime friend and former fellow skeleton competitor. Cecchini called Uhlaender the night before the race to inform her that four Canadians were pulling out.

“I cried when I found out he went through with this plan,” Uhlaender said. “I didn’t know if it hurt more that my friend of 20 years just nailed my coffin, my Olympic dream is over. Or, that my best friend of 20 years is doing something so horrible that hurts so many people.”

Disappointment seems to haunt Uhlaender. In 2009, she shattered her kneecap in a snowmobiling accident and required eight surgeries, but she recovered in time to compete at the 2010 Vancouver Olympics.

She finished in 11th place in those Games, saying the death of her father in 2009 to cancer impacted her even more than recovering from the surgeries. Ted Uhlaender was considered one of the top center fielders in MLB from 1965-1972 for Minnesota, Cleveland and Cincinnati.

The injury ended her attempt to make the summer U.S. Olympic team as a weightlifter, a sport in which she had risen to a world-class level in the women’s 63-kilogram division. Uhlaender continued to dominate in skeleton, where a racer rides a small sled up to 80 mph head-first and face-down along a steep, banked ice track.

Although Uhlaender has not won an Olympics medal — coming closest with a fourth-place finish at the 2014 Sochi Games — she won the skeleton World Championship in 2012 and World Cup titles in 2007 and 2008.

The U.S. will send Kelly Curtis and Mystique Ro to the Milan Olympics in skeleton. Uhlaender’s last hope for a discretionary berth is an appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport. Should that fail, Uhlaender’s final Olympics impact might be a change in IBSF rules to prevent a recurrence of Canada’s scheme.

The IBSF alluded to the problem in its ruling that Canada was free to hold back its racers, regardless of motive: “The Canadian coach and the National Federation shall be reminded that, whilst acting within the letter of the IBSF Code of Conduct, it is expected that all parties concerned should also act within the spirit of the Code, whose aim is to promote fair play and ethical conduct at all times.”

Bangladesh cricket lost their place at T20 World Cup after refusal to play in India, but shooting team heads to New Delhi.

Bangladesh ‌has approved its shooting team’s tour to New Delhi for ‍next month’s Asian ‍Shooting Championships, days after the cricket team’s refusal to play in India due to safety concerns cost them a place at the Twenty20 World Cup.

Bangladesh have been replaced by Scotland in ⁠the T20 World Cup, which runs from February 7 to March 8, ​after they insisted they would not tour India, highlighting security ‍concerns following soured political relations between the neighbours.

The International Cricket Council (ICC), citing independent security assessment reports, dismissed Bangladesh’s demands to play their World Cup matches in Sri Lanka, the tournament ‍cohosts, ⁠instead, arguing the late change in schedule was “not feasible”.

However, media reports in Bangladesh said a three-member contingent comprising shooter Robiul Islam, his coach Sharmin Akhter and jury member Saima Feroze had received approval from the Ministry of Youth and Sports to compete in New Delhi.

The National Rifle Association of India (NRAI) secretary-general, Pawan Singh, confirmed the shooting team’s participation in India.

“Bangladesh’s participation was confirmed a month ‌ago. Our applications for clearances for all nations have been in process for almost three months,” Singh told the Reuters news agency.

“We have to follow ISSF norms as a ‌sport and comply with the IOC (International Olympic Committee) charter, and as NRAI, we have always received support ‌from the government,” he said, referring to the International Shooting Sport Federation.

Singh added that the Bangladesh contingent ⁠did not request any extra security measures.

“The Bangladesh team has come to our tournaments many times, so they know our strict protocols well. Maybe that’s why they are confident and ‌have not made any special requests.”

The Asian Shooting Confederation, which is organising the event, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The continental ‍rifle and pistol shooting championship will be held in New Delhi from February 2 to 14.

The 2026 Milano Cortino Winter Olympics are set to begin on February 6, with shock at the late news of ICE involvement.

Agents from the United States’ divisive Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) will help support US security operations for the Winter Olympic Games in Italy next month, a spokesperson told the AFP news agency.

“At the Olympics, ICE’s Homeland Security Investigations is supporting the US Department of State’s Diplomatic Security Service and host nation to vet and mitigate risks from transnational criminal organisations,” the agency said in a statement.

“All security operations remain under Italian authority.”

It added: “Obviously, ICE does not conduct immigration enforcement operations in foreign countries.”

The potential presence of ICE agents at the February 6-22 Milano-Cortina Games has prompted huge debate in Italy, following the outcry over the deaths of two civilians during an immigration crackdown in Minneapolis.

Italian authorities initially denied the presence of ICE and then sought to downplay its role, suggesting its agents would only help in security for the US delegation.

US Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio are attending the opening ceremony in Milan on February 6.

On Monday, the president of the northern Lombardy region, which is hosting several of the Olympic events, said ICE’s involvement would be limited to monitoring Vance and Rubio.

“It will be only in a defensive role, but I am convinced that nothing will happen,” Attilio Fontana told reporters.

However, his office then issued a statement saying he did not have any information on their presence, but was responding to a hypothetical question.

Thousands of ICE agents have been deployed by President Donald Trump in various US cities to carry out a crackdown on undocumented immigration.

Their actions have prompted widespread protests, and the recent killings of US citizens Renee Good and Alex Pretti, both 37, on the streets of Minneapolis, has led to outrage.

The US will host the 2028 Summer Olympics, with the Games being staged in Los Angeles.