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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 continued today, with wins for the U.S., Canada, hosts Italy and Britain.
In the women's ice hockey, Team USA secured a win against Czech Republic but Canada vs. Finland has been postponed as norovirus cases were identified among the Finnish team.
Elsewhere, the snowboarding big air qualifying is under way and there were also 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.
The Winter Olympics has long been a battleground for marginal gains. Just look at the International Bobsleigh and Skeleton Federation (IBSF) banning the new helmets Great Britain had planned to wear next week due to their aerodynamic ridges.
Thursday, however, took things to a new level in Milan Cortina — ski jumpers allegedly injecting their penises with hyaluronic acid to gain an edge.
So far, so lurid, but there is science behind the allegations. Injecting the penis with acid would increase its size and give the ski jumpers bigger genitalia at the point their suits are measured by 3D scanners.
Temporarily enhanced measurements would theoretically mean athletes being given a bigger, looser suit and, like a sail catching wind, could allow them to make longer jumps. Research from the scientific journal, Frontiers, published last October said that a 2cm change in a suit represented an extra 5.8 metres in the length of a jump.
GO FURTHER
Are ski jumpers enhancing their penises to fly further? WADA is ready to investigate
Snowboarders are cool.
Snowboard big air is cool and crazy dangerous, which always makes for good photos.
Qualifying continues, with the top 14 of 30 athletes advancing.
How about this for a fun one… there are three Team USA athletes with Winter in their name at this year’s games.
If that doesn’t bode well for success then what does?!
Winter Vinecki (freestyle skiing), Abby Winterberger (freestyle skiing) and Cody Winters (snowboarding) have all made the cut for Milan-Cortina.
Before you ask — we’ve checked and there aren’t any athletes named Olympia this time around for USA.
It is an important three wins from three for Britain’s Jennifer Dodds and Bruce Mouat, with the pair in the hunt for a medal after falling agonisingly short in 2022.
A tight 8-7 win, which went down to the last stone, against Czech Republic, was their latest result. Here’s how Mouat reflected on that match, when speaking to BBC Sport:
💬 “I wasn’t playing my best, I can’t blame the ice, I blame myself.
“It’s tricky out there but it’s manageable, we just need to work it out. This is exactly how we wanted to start the event, three wins is what we need. Jen is playing amazingly, I just need to help her out a bit more.”
And there it is!
Britain seals yet another win in a tightly fought match against Czech Republic. Switzerland also secures another win — here’s a look at those final scores:
Huge cheers for Estonia as they seal their first-ever mixed doubles victory at the Olympics!
A 7-5 result against Sweden is huge.
Turning my attention to the Sweden vs Estonia game in the eighth end, because that score just doesn't look right.
Estonia's never won an Olympic curling match, and Sweden's sibling duo Rasmus and Isabella Wranaa are a great team and could be medal contenders.
They currently are down 6-5 to Estonia with 10 stones to go.
Wow! First loss EVER for the Italian mixed doubles duo as Canada takes the game 7-2 to remain undefeated in round robin play.
Before today, Stefania Constantini and Amos Mosaner had never lost a game. This is history.
This is not what I expected coming into this tournament for mixed doubles. Canada was ranked third, but Italy were the easy favorites and I expected them to win. But the ice proved difficult, and they couldn't get in sync for the shots they wanted to make.
On the other side, the Canadians look as comfortable as ever on the ice at the Cortina Curling Olympic Stadium. They curled 81 per cent as a team, compared to Italy at 72per cent.
Some juice in Lovino!
Ian Mattioli, the 20 year of Italian, stood at the gate before his run, arms folded, looking deathly serious, as a cheers greeted in.
Moments later, Mattioli nailed his first jump in Run 1 of the men’s snowboarding big air qualification, earning a 93.75 and vaulting into first place for by far the loudest cheers of the night. Mattioli walk directly past me after, face unchanged.
Just in time for tomorrow’s opening ceremony, the Olympic flame is officially in Milan.
Scott Pfeiffer, Team Canada's head coach for this tournament, said one thing to Peterman and Gallant at the four-end break: you have to score when you have hammer (duh).
They continue it here, scoring one to take a 7-2 lead after five ends.
This is a big hole to come back from. Italy is very well known for big enders, but they're really struggling to figure out the ice.
Will we see a power play next?!
It’s a question we have all been asking — just kidding.
But it is certainly a headline that catches the eye, amid news that ski jumpers are allegedly injecting their penises with hyaluronic acid in order to fly that little bit further.
The claims were originally reported in German newspaper Bild, in January on the eve of the latest Winter Olympics beginning in Italy and subsequently addressed by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) president Witold Banka during a press conference.
They are ready to investigate if there are any signs of wrongdoing.
Here’s how things stand across the mixed doubles curling matches currently taking place:
Oh boy.
Italy's Amos Mosaner has really struggled tonight with the ice.
He hasn't quite gotten a read on how to throw the perfect shot, and comes up light and gives Canada an easier shot to take one. 6-1 for the Canadian couple.
Hello, Jake Canter. In his Olympic debut, making the first run under the lights in Livigno, the 22-year-old lands a clean backside 1980 melon and throws a fist through the air to get things started in men’s big air qualifying. Score: 89.00
I was just speaking to a team USA official who said she really likes Canter’s chances of making it through to Saturday’s finals. “He’s been on one.”
Hello from Livigno Snow Park, site of tonight’s men’s snowboard big air qualifications. Thirty athletes. Twelve advance.
Tonight’s favorites are expected to move on with little difficulty, setting up a Saturday final highlighted by one big, hovering question — can event favorite Yiming Su of China breakup a potential all-Japanese podium of stars Taiga Hasegara, Hiroto Ogiwara and Kira Kimura. Su won 2022 big air gold and slopestyle silver in Beijing
The Americans’ top hope to medal might just be young Ollie Martin, a 17 year old from Colorado. In a breakout 2025 season, Martin posted a World Cup slopestyle victory and took bronze in both slopestyle and big air at the world championships. Red Gerard, a familiar face, won slopestyle gold in the 2018 Games and finished fifth in big air in 2022.
American Sean Fitzsimmons is making his second Olympic appearance, while Jake Canter is not only debuting, but starting things off with the first jump of the night.
Count em up! One, two, three, four, FIVE for Team Canada against Italy!
Going into the tournament, Italy was favored for gold and Canada for bronze. But Brett Gallant and Jocelyn Peterman's chemistry has been off the charts. That's a huge start.
We're back with the evening draw of the mixed doubles round robin. I will be glued into the undefeated (and medal favorites) Italy versus Canada.
Around the rings, we have:
A reminder, mixed doubles is very different than teams: Eight ends, six rocks thrown, two pre-placed rocks and only two players per team. There is also this thing called a power play which we'll discuss more later.
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.
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