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The 2026 Milan Cortina Winter Olympics’ early events continue today before Friday's opening ceremony.
Curling began the action yesterday and continues today, with wins for the U.S., Canada, hosts Italy and Britain.
In the women's ice hockey Team USA vs. Czech Republic is covered live here but Canada vs. Finland has been postponed as norovirus cases were identified among the Finnish team.
Elsewhere, the snowboarding starts later on and there are training runs for athletes in the alpine skiing and luge.
The Winter Olympics schedule is here, follow The Athletic’s Games coverage here, and read this week's live coverage schedule here.
It's all over at Milano Rho Ice Hockey Arena. Team USA has opened the 2026 Winter Olympics with a comfortable 5-1 win over Czech Republic. An expected result but still a strong performance nonetheless.
Follow more reaction here.
While USA-Czech Republic continues over at the ice hockey arena, a reminder that the other scheduled match of the day between Finland and Canada has been postponed.
It will now be played on February 12 after norovirus affected members of Team Finland. NHL deputy commissioner, Bill Daly has since commented:
💬 “We are obviously aware of the situation and will respond as necessary to protect the health of our athletes”.
We're less than 30 minutes out from the third and final curling session of the day here in Cortina. Full set of four matches — Great Britain vs. the Czechs, Estonia takes on Sweden, the Swiss face South Korea, and in the showcase game of the night, the Canadians battle the host Italians.
Canada is 2-0 after a win this afternoon over Norway. The Italian duo of Stefania Constantini and Amos Mosaner went undefeated in winning the 2022 Olympics and 2025 world championships and is 1-0 here. Something's gotta give! They're also on Sheet A, right in front of the largest fan seating section at the Cortina Curling Olympic Stadium, which should be fun.
Great Britain and Sweden are also 2-0. Switzerland 1-1. South Korea, the Czechs and Estonia are all 0-2.
P3 20:00 – United States 4, Czech Republic 1
As a reminder, we have live sport ongoing here at Milan-Cortina with USA currently up against Czech Republic in women’s hockey.
You can follow out coverage of that here.
Mascots have been a key part of both Summer and Winter Olympics since 1968, and they often play a significant role in the feeling and visualization of each Games.
They also come with a lot of … thought.
For example, Tina’s “liveliness and speed” embody the “Italian spirit.” The Olympic website continues:
💬 “Curious by nature, surprising for their ability to change the colour of their fur according to the seasons, they are resilient in adapting to a challenging habitat such as the mountains …
“Tina was born in Italy … then decided to move to the city because she has always been attracted to new things and to exploring the unknown.
“She likes to explore, try, change. She is passionate about art and music and believes in beauty, in its transformative power.”
I mean, you have to appreciate the effort — which feels suitably Olympic.
You may still be thinking about those appearances from Tina not so long ago. I know I was.
It got me thinking … who is this new mascot? And why is she called Tina?!
Well, to quote the official Olympics website, Tina (pictured front) and Paralympic mascot Milo are “two friendly stoats … brother and sister” who “embody the contemporary Italian spirit.”
That should make their names obvious. Tina comes from Cortina, and Milo from Milan — the two host cities of these Games.
Simple.
📸 Alex Slitz of Getty Images heard we'd handed out the picture of the day award already and wanted a word.
Manuela Heidenberger, the Italian hockey forward, also didn’t mind that the main dressing rooms aren’t in Milano Santagiulia.
“It’s nothing, not a big deal,” Heidenberger, pictured right, said.
French player Alice Philbert and Heidenberger said that the players remain at Milano Santagiulia during intermission in auxiliary dressing rooms.
Italy won 4-1 against France in the first Olympic women’s hockey game at Milano Santagiulia.
For Alice Philbert, the France women’s hockey goalie, today was a day filled with many firsts. It was her first Olympic game in between the pipes representing Team France.
The way of getting to the game was also a first.
Before the game, on the jumbotron at Milano Santagiulia Ice Hockey Arena, Philbert was seen on a golf cart underneath a tent on the outside, going from the practice arena to the main rink.
She said after the game that the dressing rooms for players were in the practice arena across the street and not Milano Santagiulia where the games are played. She had never experienced this before.
“First time,” Philbert said in the mixed zone postgame. The French goalie didn’t care about the extra time.
“We enjoy it,” Philbert said. “At the end of the day, we have a game to play.”
Bormio, the site of men’s alpine skiing and ski mountaineering, sits at the bottom of a soup bowl in the Alps. Getting into the valley is one thing. Getting out is another.
On one side of the valley, the famed Stelvio Pass, built between 1820-1825, has been called everything from “a ribbon of stone in the sky” to “a stairway to the gods.”
On the other side of the valley, the Via Al Forte and Via Alla Corva, which I’m currently climbing up, is far less famous but, at least to an outsider, still an audacious, gravity-defying feat of architecture.
Hairpin turns look impossible for buses to execute but are nevertheless navigated by Italian drivers carrying on full conversations and paying passing attention to the road.
Glad I packed the Dramamine for motion sickness!
Feel like these Olympics will pass in a blur? We're a day out from the opening ceremony but there's been plenty of action so far — and plenty more to come today.
Here's what's scheduled for the rest of the day:
If you look closely at the top of this photo, you'll see the downhill skiing starting line.
Yikes.
Hello from the mountains of Bormio.
This postcard of a town will be home to a handful of the alpine skiing events.
Team USA is pretty big at these Winter Olympics — and there are a strong contingent of former medal winners representing their country again this time around.
There are 33 previous medal winners (some are multiple winners!) pulling on the USA jersey again at these games.
From bobsled royalty Kaillie Armbruster Humphries, pictured, to ice hockey’s Grace Zumwinkle, there are plenty of medallists ready to go again.
Vonn, hoping to compete in the Alpine Ski event at the 2026 Winter Olympics, posted a video on Instagram of her training with the caption:
💬 “I can! I'm not giving up 💪 working as hard as I can to make it happen!
“Thank you to my team and everyone for your incredible support. Keep believing 🙏🏻❤️”
Italy wins the first game at Milano Santagiulia Ice Hockey Arena 4-1 against France in women's ice hockey.
Given all the issues with the ice and construction chaos leading up to the Milan Cortina Games, things went smoothly today.
With regards to the ice, there were no stoppages other than for normal snow shovels that occur during periods.
It was a lively atmosphere as Italian fans waved Italy flags and clapped “Italia!” A lot more people than I expected for the first game.
In the concourse, it definitely feels like an arena put together quickly.
The ground surface is like a construction site, with visible sand on the floor. There were merchandise stores that weren't open.
It will be interesting to see how this venue hosts the men's and women's Olympic ice hockey gold medal games in two weeks.
The sun is shining bright over Italy for the freestyle skiing men's slopestyle training session in Livigno.
What a day for it.
Canadian snowboarder Mark McMorris made an Instagram post detailing the crash last night which forced him to withdraw from the Big Air Olympic competition.
“I took a fall last night. I hit my head and I will not be able to compete in Big Air tonight unfortunately,” he said.
His Olympic hopes aren't over though. McMorris remains confident that he can compete in slopestyle, an event he is a three-time Olympic bronze medalist in, and praised the medical staff and fans for their support.
“Fortunately, things are looking up for slopestyle. So just trying to stay positive and shift my focus to that event.
“A massive thank you to the amazing medical staff, who took awesome care of me. Thank you all for reaching out. All the love and support…the messages do not go unnoticed.”
Team Canada will try to use as much time as needed before making a final call on Brayden Point.
“We’re hoping to have a decision before people have to get on planes, which is Saturday,’’ Team Canada GM Doug Armstrong told The Athletic. “Now, we can buy extra time… That’s our initial plan, but it’s fluid.’’
Point hasn’t played since suffering a knee injury Jan. 12. But he’s still hoping.
“Yes, he wants to play and we want him to play,’’ said Armstrong. “There’s no rush to this right now, so we’re not rushing.’’
Brad Marchand, meanwhile, came back to play Wednesday night after an injury absence. Armstrong spoke to him directly to get a feel for that situation. Marchand is good to go.