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The 2026 Milan Cortina Games continue with seven more gold medals on the schedule for today.
The women’s freestyle aerials qualification and snowboard slopestyle final are among the events postponed due to snow flurries.
Though Nordic combined athlete Jens Luraas Oftebro earned another gold for Norway in the ski jumping and cross-country event.
Play continues in the men’s and women’s curling, while in the men’s ice hockey qualification playoff round, Sweden needs to beat Latvia to reach a quarterfinal against the U.S.
Later medal events include the men’s freeski big air final, speedskating and bobsled.
Au revoir, la France. Ciao, Italia.
Germany knocked off the French 5-1 in a methodical win in its men’s hockey qualification playoff, while Switzerland ousted Italy 3-0 on Leonardo Genoni’s 15th(!) international shutout.
That means for the quarterfinals, Germany will play Slovakia at 12:10 p.m. local time (6:10 a.m. ET) tomorrow. The Swiss get Finland at 6:10 p.m. (12:10 p.m. ET).
The U.S. has never won gold in this event, but there is hope in 2026!
The men’s trio of Casey Dawson, Ethan Cepuran and Emery Lehman entered the Olympics on a six-race winning streak — which feels like a good place to start.
On the women’s side, Canada entered the Olympics with the top-ranked trio of Ivanie Blondin, Isabelle Weidemann and Valarie Maltais.
Keep your eyes peeled: action on the rink isn’t too far away and it’s rarely dull.
Biathlon is another mixed sport event, this time combining cross-country skiing with rifle shooting.
Norway does very well in biathlon individually and figures to have a deep bench for this men’s 4 × 7.5km relay.
The U.S. also has a team led by Campbell Wright, above, who finished eighth in men’s pursuit.
This one begins shortly.
We’re back for the afternoon session here at the Cortina Curling Olympic Stadium, for the afternoon women’s session.
Today it is:
Three of the games have major implications as we reach the tail end of round-robin play. The U.S., Switzerland and South Korea are all 4-2 and in spots 2-4 in the standings.
Denmark and Canada are 3-3, just on the outside looking in.
Sweden is unbeaten at 6-0 and looking to put a dent in the Canadians’ hopes. Italy and Japan are pretty much playing for fun at 1-5 each.
Woah! A big move from Norway’s Oftebro for gold!
It's Oftebro’s second consecutive gold here in Italy, after taking the win earlier this week in the normal hill.
And there it is!
The brilliant Norwegian, Jens Luraas Oftebro, wins it by about six seconds from Austria's Johannes Lamparter and Finland's Ilkka Herola.
Jens' elder brother Einar finished sixth, Americans Niklas Malacinski and Ben Loomis 13th and 27th respectively.
A gorgeous mountain backdrop for the men’s Nordic combined 10km event.
Jens Luraas Oftebro of Norway, the favorite, leads the way and in the last minute or so has opened up a significant gap to the chasing Finn Ilkka Herola and Johannes Lamparter of Austria.
They were locked together not so long ago but it has been a stunning kick at the end for Oftebro.
A quick reminder who the winners of the four men’s Olympic hockey qualification playoff games today, will be facing in the quarterfinals …
There could be something in that nominative determinism theory from Rebecca.
That’s why, as a soccer fan, I plan to name my firstborn Lionel Cristiano Kylian Erling.
Whether I can get that past my partner is another question.
There is something about the name Johannes and this Tesero stadium.
No, I’m not talking about Norway’s Johannes Hoesflot Klaebo, cross-country skiing’s king who has won four golds and counting so far these Games.
Today it’s Austria’s Johannes Lamparter, who took silver in the first event and now has an early lead on the course in today’s Nordic combined competition.
Correlation or causation?
Nordic combined has picked back up from the cross-country skiing stadium in Tesero, where the skiers take on a 10k, starting order determined by the jumping order this morning.
First to the finish wins!
France and Italy are both hanging in there more than expected through 40 minutes in the qualifying playoff games.
Germany is up 3-1 against France here at Santagiulia Arena, while Switzerland is just up 2-0 on Italy at Rho Arena across town.
In each case, a little too close for comfort for the favorites.
A reminder: Finland awaits the winner of Switzerland-Italy and Slovakia will play winner of Germany-France.
The most important minute of Henri Rivers IV’s life ended in about seven and a half seconds. Breaking free from the starting gate, the 18-year-old burst into a wall of white in the men’s slalom.
One skier after another succumbing to vanishing visibility and deteriorating course conditions. Seeing the ruin below, Rivers’ father offered some shrewd final advice: “Just finish.”
Jamaican flags waved as Rivers’ name was announced. Some of Rivers’ friends arrived out of nowhere, creating maybe the most unexpected home-course advantage the Alps have ever known.
It was fun while it lasted.
“I barely got out the gate, man!” said River to fellow teenager, Mexico’s Lasse Gaxiola, smiling, “What a f—ing loser.” Rivers was laughing, but not joking.
“A lot had to happen to get here,” he later says of his last few years climbing the ranks. “There’s a long way to go, you know. But this feels like the start.”
Outside the castle is the serene Fontana di Piazza Castello. There is something about a fountain that can be so tranquil and reflective.
Think the Trevi Fountain in Rome. Or the Bethesda Fountain in Central Park, New York City.
The Fontana di Piazza Castello sits in front of the Filarete Tower of the Sforza Castle. Its white stone structure is why it’s referred to as the “Wedding Cake”!
This is definitely a popular meeting spot for locals, tourists and visitors attending the Winter Olympics in Milan.
Listen to the peaceful sound of that fountain, which is illuminated at night with LED lights.
From my visit this fine morning in Italy, here is a 360° rotation inside the Castello Sforzesco courtyard.
Stunning Renaissance architecture amid the Olympic fan activations.
Biathlon is Milan Cortina’s sleeper hit. And I am not just saying that because I needed a nap after my first experience with this beautiful but utterly bonkers, mongrel of a sport.
What’s special about biathlon is you have to be an all-rounder. You need balance, patience and stamina. And that’s just the fans.
Pål, speaking to me outside the Anterselva Biathlon Arena’s beer tent, said:
💬 “They (athletes) are competing for 20 minutes. We’re doing this for 20 hours. Day after day. We’re the real Olympians.”
The sport itself is a combo of cross-country skiing and shooting. But you probably knew that.
Watching biathlon is a combo of Oktoberfest and the World Darts Championship at Ally Pally. For my American readers, think LSU’s Death Valley or WWE at Madison Square Garden.
No wonder it draws so many crowds!
Sweden coach Sam Hallam wouldn’t say who his starting goaltender would be tonight against Latvia, joking he wanted to keep as many secrets from his opponent as he can.
Jacob Markström was the first of the three goalies off the ice though, and that usually indicates the starter.
With the United States likely looming in tomorrow’s quarterfinal, it will be interesting to see if Hallam is willing to go with Markström on back-to-back nights, or if he’ll go back to Filip Gustavsson or even Jesper Wallstedt.
After one period, Germany leads France 3-0 on goals by Edmonton Oilers star Leon Draisaitl, his childhood friend Frederik Tiffels and J.J. Peterka of the Utah Mammoth.
Over at Rho, Switzerland leads Italy 2-0 on goals by Nashville Predators captain Roman Josi and San Jose Sharks forward Philipp Kurashev.
Thank you to Matt Slater — not just for his latest reporting, but also for the fact it required me to look for photos of Johannes Hoesflot Klaebo in action.
And BANG. I think I’ve found my new favorite photo from the Games, as he completed Norway’s final lap during in the men’s cross-country relay lined with a red crowd and red trees.
Beautiful.
📸 Ryan Pierse (Getty Images)
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