Olympics
2026 Winter
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The 2026 Milan Cortina Winter Olympics’ early events continued on day -1 ahead of Friday's opening ceremony.
After opening the games on day -2 as the first event to start competitive play, curling continued 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 was postponed as norovirus cases were identified among the Finnish team.
Elsewhere, the snowboarding big air qualifying saw 12 athletes advance including USA’s Oliver Martin 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.
It’s officially the start of the 2026 Milan Cortina Winter Olympic Games tomorrow, with the opening ceremony set to bring fireworks, fun and plenty more.
Before that, there is still plenty of sport on snow and ice as the curling continues with more mixed doubles round robin matches, as well as luge and alpine skiing practise sessions, more ice hockey and some figure skating, too.
It’ll be a busy one!
Seth Jarvis secured a late invite to join Team Canada at the Milan Cortina Olympics on Thursday after Brayden Point was forced to pull out of the event due to a knee injury.
Jarvis was part of last year’s 4 Nations Face-Off victory and was one of the final forward cuts when the original 25-man roster was selected in late December. The Carolina Hurricanes forward took the news hard, telling reporters, “Sometimes you gotta eat a s— sandwich and chew on it for a little bit. It doesn’t taste good, but you move on.”
As fate would have it, he booked a ticket to Italy anyway.
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Eteri Tutberidze, the coach who stood at the center of the controversy surrounding Russian figure skater Kamila Valieva during the Beijing Games, has reappeared on the Olympic stage, and her presence has reignited tensions at the highest levels of anti-doping enforcement.
Now accredited under Georgia as the coach of reigning European champion Nika Egadze, Tutberidze is once again inside the Winter Olympics bubble, a reality that isn’t sitting well with World Anti-Doping Agency president Witold Bańka.
Speaking Thursday at a news conference in Milan, Bańka stressed that Tutberidze’s presence was not a decision made by WADA.
“The investigation found no evidence that this person engaged in this doping, so there is no legal basis to exclude her,” Bańka said. “Of course, if you are asking me personally about my feelings, I don’t feel comfortable with her presence here in the Olympic Games.”
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Americans Red Gerard, Jake Canter and Sean Fitzsimons failed to advance in the big air event and will now focus their attention on slopestyle. Gerard, especially.
Martin’s hopes for medaling on Livigno’s scaffold ramp will depend on how he stacks up against Su and Japanese standouts Taiga Hasegara, Hiroto Ogiwara and Kira Kimura.
The other name to watch is Ian Mattioli, a 20-year-old Italian, who captured some homegrown love in qualification. After nailing his first run and delivering a dangerously modest mark on his second jump, Mattioli posted an 80.75 on his final jump to secure a runner-up finish in qualifications.
Walk down one of the streets surrounding the Duomo di Milano and this light show is up on the side of the building.
It's a montage of several different winter sports in the Olympic programme, including ski jumping, curling, hockey and bobsleigh.
Not long now until the opening ceremony and then 17 days of Olympic action. It's going to be quite the ride in Milan!
One of four Americans advanced out of tonight’s men’s snowboard big air qualifications, while Japan claimed four of 12 spots in Saturday’s final and Chinese star Yiming Su, the event’s defending gold medalist, advanced for a chance to defend.
Ollie Martin, a 17-year-old from Wolcott, Col., made it through the hard way. After botching his first jump of the night, Martin needed his second and third jumps to tally a total score high enough to make the cut from 12 out of 30 in the field.
Martin nailed a backside 1800 Indy on his second jump, earning a 82.25, and followed it with a frontside 180-mute, posting an 85.25 to advance. After his third jump, the usually deadpan Martin allowed for a grin and a thumbs up.
A remarkable sports winning streak has come to an end at the Winter Olympics.
Italy’s mixed doubles curling duo of Stefania Constantini and Amos Mosaner lost to Canada 7-2 on Thursday in their second round-robin match of the Games, snapping a stretch of 23 consecutive victories. They weren’t just any victories — they all came in the Olympics or world championships.
Constantini, 26, and Mosaner, 30, teamed for the 2022 Olympics in Beijing, then took time off from playing together before pairing again for the 2025 world championships. In both tournaments, they went 9-0 in round-robin play and 2-0 in the knockout rounds to win gold. They then won their opening Olympic match Wednesday night to push the streak to 23.
The Canadian team of Brett Gallant and Jocelyn Peterman, though, was too strong Thursday, thanks mostly to a first-end tidal wave.
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Unlike during the day, where the Piazza del Duomo is bustling with people, at night it's less busy. Especially when it’s raining.
That's why I could take this photo of the magnificent Duomo di Milano, all lit up at night, so close.
Near the Piazza del Duomo is this unique, cube-like structure. There's fake snow falling inside with a holographic version of the 26 found on the Milan Cortina logo.
There's also a countdown to the opening and closing ceremonies. Only hours remain until the Olympics officially kick off with the opening ceremony.
So many events at these games will demand athletes to stick the landing for good scores.
So expect plenty of contortion and leaning to keep gravity on side!
The sun and beautiful weather from the day is gone. The rain has returned.
But Milan’s iconic landmarks are lit up at night. Adding an extra bit of charm.
Here is a side view of the magnificent Duomo di Milano.
All three qualifying runs have now concluded in the men’s big air and we have our top 12 confirmed. They are:
Fact time — 93 nations are participating at the Milan Cortina Games.
Benin, Guinea-Bissau and the United Arab Emirates will make their Winter Olympic debuts in Milan Cortina.
Individual Neutral Athletes from Russia and Belarus not allowed to compete under their own flags after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
A team full of star power, the United States women got a balanced attack, including two goals from their 13th forward and a hard-working goal from their fourth line, as the Americans opened the 2026 Olympics with a 5-1 win against the Czech Republic, also known as Team Czechia.
The U.S. is now 8 for 8 to open the Olympics all-time.
In just 6:45 of ice time, Hayley Scamurra scored two goals and fourth-liner Joy Dunne scored her first career Olympic goal as the United States rolled. Czech goalie Klára Peslarová was tested early and often, making 37 saves on 42 shots, while Aerin Frankel stopped all but one of the 14 shots she faced.
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Ok, this is where I start my ‘Save San Siro’ campaign and the famous old football stadium acting as the venue for tomorrow’s Winter Olympics opening ceremony is the ideal spotlight.
Yes, the stadium is old and does not have a lot of the modern conveniences of the world’s ‘best’ stadia.
But are the world’s best stadia as beautiful? It’s an easy no, which is why future plans to knock San Siro down and rebuild another stadium in its place feel so wrong.
More images from central Milan, now, as the Olympic flame makes its way into the city ahead of tomorrow’s opening ceremony.
Italian Ballet Dancer Nicoletta Manni holds the flame here, in front of the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II.
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.
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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.
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