Olympics - Milano-Cortina 2026 - Day 16/February 19

 

Some absolutely amazing events and finishes today!  Just fantastic!!!

Ladies and Gentlemen:  Making it's Olympic debut - SKI MOUNTAINEERING!!!  What an interesting sport to watch!  Never saw it before, and likely won't see it again until Utah in 4 years!  But it was interesting, and we have two gold medalists who will forever be remembered as the first gold medalists in Ski Mountaineering history.

The women went first in the sprint, and Marianne Fatton of Switzerland wins gold!  She was joined on the podium by Emily Harrop of France and Ana Alonso Rodriguez of Spain!!!  On the Men's side, Oriol Cardona Coll of Spain took gold, with Nikita Filippo of the "Athletes from Independent Nations" earned the silver and Thibault Anselmet of France won bronze!

The Men's Nordic Combined Team Sprint was held, and Norward wins gold AGAIN!!!  Finland earned silver and Austria won bronze.  As a member of the Norwegian team, Jens Luraas Oftebro won his third gold medal of these games, to go with a gold and silver in Beijing!

In curling, the US women secured a spot in the semi-finals be defeating Switzerland 7-6.  In this match, Switzerland tied the US by scoring 3 in the 10th.  Despite being a bit deflated after not being able to hold a 3-point lead in the last end, the US used its hammer position to pick up the winning point as skip Tabitha Peterson threw a gorgeous draw into the house to just narrowly beat 3 Swiss stones that were previously laying shot rock!

On the men's side, the Semi-Finals kicked off with Great Britain defeating the Swiss team 8-5, and Canada beating Norway 5-4.  Those two winners will challenge for the gold.

In Speed Skating, the men's 1500-meter race did not disappoint as 4 skaters all beat the previous Olympic Record.   But when the dust all settled, it was Zhongyan Ning of China that won gold, with Jordan Stolz of the US taking the silver and Kjeld Nuis of the Netherlands winning bronze.  This race marked Jordan Stolz's first loss at this distance all season, having won all of the previous 8 races.

On another type of rink, the women's Free Skate was held to conclude the figure skating portion of these games.  As reported previously, Japan was sitting in first, second, and fourth places after the short program, with only Alysa Liu of the US nestled among them in third.  And Liu executed a magnificent performance, technically and artistically, to become the first American since Sarah Hughes in 2002 to win the Women's Figure Skating gold!!!  Kaori Sakamato and Ami Nakai of Japan took home silver and bronze respectively.

Now, ordinarily, Women's Figure Skating would be the culmination of my blog post - being the best and highest-profile competition of any given day - EXCEPT THIS DAY!  This day belonged to Women's Hockey.

In the appetizer, Switzerland won the bronze medal by defeating Sweden in overtime 2-1. Swiss Captain Alina Mueller scored the game and medal-winner in Overtime to win Switzerland's first women's hockey medal since Sochi in 2014, a match in which an overtime winner was scored by the then-youngest member of the Swiss team - ALINA MUELLER!!!

But, that was only a precursor as the match EVERYBODY wanted to see took place for the gold medal, featuring the two giants of women's hockey - Canada and the United States.  And this game lived up to the hype.  Canada took a 1-0 lead in the second period, and both teams kept fighting but couldn't slip one past either of the magnificent goalies. Until ... with about 2 1/2 minutes remaining, the US pulled the goalie for an extra attacker, and less than 30 seconds later - at 2:04 in the third - Captain America Hillary Knight scored her 15th Olympic goal - most of all-time for the US.  But of those 15, none were bigger than this one as it sent the game into overtime.  In overtime, Megan Keller - one of the team's alternate captains - scored the game winner just over 4 minutes into the three-on-three overtime!!!  The Americans win gold, and I may or may not have woken my dog from her nap with my yelling!!!

Athlete of the Day - Alysa Liu, United States, Figure Skiing

Women's Figure Skating Champion often becomes the darling of the Olympics, and Liu earned that!!!

U.S. Athlete of the Day - Hillary Knight, Hockey

Scored a goal when the United States needed it most!

Upset of the Day - Jordan Stolz, United States, Speed Skating

Winning a silver is almost never a true upset, unless that person has not lost that race all season.

Team of the Day - Women's Hockey, United States

They have been the best team all tournament, and won a hard-fought, well-earned Gold medal!

U.S. Team of the Day - Women's Curling

Secured a semi-final birth!

Olympic Term of the Day:  Skip - In curling, the Skip is the team captain responsible for strategy, directing shots, and often throwing the last shots of an end.  For the US, Tabitha Peterson has done that masterfully so far.

Olympic Events Watched:   Curling, Figure Skating, Hockey, Ski Mountaineering, Speed Skating

USA Closing Ceremony Flag-Bearer Possibilities (listed alphabetically):  Evan Bates, Madison Chock, Kendall Coyne, Jessie Diggins, Korey Dobkin, Ashley Farquharson, Quinn Hughes, Breezy Johnson, Jaelin Kauf, Hilary Knight, Elizabeth Lemley, Austin Matthews, Mikaela Shiffrin, Elana Meyers Taylor, Ben Ogden, Jordan Stolz, Cory Thiesse, 

Olympics - Milano-Cortina 2026 - Day 15/February 18

 

Some old favorites winning more medals, men's hockey quarterfinals, Cross-Country Skiing events, and a whole lot more!

We are going to kickoff today's report with the Biathlon 4x6km women's relay, which was a tremendous race won by France by 51 seconds over silver medalists Sweden, with Olympics leading Norway in third.  The French team has lots of bling from Milano-Cortina as leadoff leg Camille Bened won her first gold, but the Lou Jeanmonnot won her second gold of these games to go with a silver and a bronze.  The penultimate racer Oceane Michelon won gold to go with a previous silver, and anchor Julia Simon won her third gold medal to take home along with a silver.

On the ice, both Curling teams faced off against Great Britain, with the women winning 8-7 and the men losing 8-7.  The men's loss was devastating as they were tied with Great Britain for one of the last two medal round spots heading into the fixture.

The men's hockey quarterfinals were absolutely amazing, with Slovakia starting things off with a 6-2 win over Germany, and then three straight overtime games!  Canada defeated Czechia, but only after tying the game late before winning 4-3.  Finland outlasted Switzerland 3-2 and the United States won 2-1, behind a spectacular overtime goal from Quinn Hughes - his first - and most timely - of the tournament.  Hughes's shot came after he waived off a substitution from the bench!!!  These semi-finals are going to be amazing!

Short Track Speedskating had two tremendous duals, with Korea, Italy and Canada winning the three medals in the Women's 3000-meter relay.  It was another medal for Italy's Arianna Fontana.  Korea meanwhile won its 7th gold medal in this event in the 10 years that it has been contested! 

Meanwhile, the men raced the 500 meters, with Canadian Steven DuBois winning gold.  Dutch brothers Melle van'T Wout and Jens van'T Wout finished second and third respectively.  Jens had previously won the 1000-meter gold medal and also finished first in the 1500-meter.  Meanwhile Melle stated his goal was to stand on the podium with his brother, whether because they both earned a medal in an individual event or as members of the same relay team did not matter to him!

In Cross-Country, Johannes Hoesflot-Klaebo won another gold medal - his fifth of these games - as Norway wone the men's team spring, with the United States behind Ben Ogden and Gus Schumacher really taking the race to the rest of the world not named Norway and winning silver.  This was OGden's second silver behind Klaebo in these games.  Host Italy won bronze.

For the women, Sweden won the Women's team spring, with Switzerland and Germany rounding out the podium.  

And on the slopes, American favorite Mikaela Shiffrin won the slalom, her best event, by 1.5 seconds over Camille Rast of Switzerland, with Anna Swenn Larssen of Sweden coming in third.  The 1.5 second differential between first and second was the same differential as between second and thirteenth place!

Athlete of the Day - Mikaela Shiffrin, United States, Alpine Skiing

Seriously, who else?

U.S. Athlete of the Day - Gus Schumacher, Cross-Country Skiing

Yes, Ogden put Schumacher in a great position, but Schumacher answered Klaebo's push on the last lap, and although he couldn't keep up with Klaebo (who can?) that push powered the US team past everyone else for the silver.

Upset of the Day - Mikaela Shiffrin Haters

For everyone that was hating on her for failing to win as many medals as her talent would suggest, hers was a dominating performance today.

Team of the Day - Korea Women's 3000-meter Team Relay, Speedskating

7 out of 10 golds in this race - IN HISTORY!

U.S. Team of the Day - Men's Hockey

A great performance by all to advance to the semi-finals!  Quinn Hughes' goal was so important!

Olympic Term of the Day:  Jib Style - In Snowboarding, jib style refers to a creative and technical approach to riding that involves using non-snow surfaces like rails, boxes, and other features found in terrain parks.

Olympic Events Watched:   Alpine Skiing, Cross-Country, Hockey, Short Track Speedskating, Snowboard

USA Closing Ceremony Flag-Bearer Possibilities (listed alphabetically):  Evan Bates, Madison Chock, Kendall Coyne, Jessie Diggins, Korey Dobkin, Ashley Farquharson, Quinn Hughes, Breezy Johnson, Jaelin Kauf, Hilary Knight, Elizabeth Lemley, Austin Matthews, Mikaela Shiffrin, Elana Meyers Taylor, Ben Ogden, Jordan Stolz, Cory Thiesse, 

Olympics - Milano-Cortina 2026 - Day 14/February 17

 

A day light on medal competitions, which was great for me since I did not have the opportunity to watch as much as I ordinarily would.  Lots of curling and men's playoff hockey, as 8 teams vied for the right to play the top 4 seeds in the quarterfinals.  So, let's get to the action that did occur.

Men's curling really hurt itself with 2 losses on the day, falling to China and Italy to identical scores of 8-5.  The women fared much better soundly defeating Denmark 10-3.  The men's medal round chances faded, but the women are firmly in medal contention.

In the most dominating performance of the day, German sleds swept the podium in the 2-man bobsled, with the sled piloted by American Opening Ceremony Flag-Bearer Frank del Duca finishing only .44 seconds out of the bronze in 4th.  Johannes Lochner won gold to go with his two silvers from Beijing.  Georg Fleschheiser also won gold as Lochner's brakeman.  They wer closely followed by legend Francesco Friedrich, who added a silver to go with his 2 golds in the 2-man (Pyeongchang in 2018 and Beijing in 2022) and his 2 golds in the 4-man in those same Olympics.

In the Men's Biathlon Relay, the French team of Fabien Claude, Emilien Jacquelin, Quentin Fillon Maillet and Eric Perrot won gold over Norway (silver) and Sweden (bronze).  For Claude, the gold can be paired with the silver he won in Beijing in the same event.  This is Jacquelin's second medal of these games (bronze in men's pursuit), to bring his total to 4 (two silvers in Beijing).  Fillon Maillet won his third gold of Milano-Cortina, and his 5th gold and 8th medal overall.  In his first games, Eric Perrot anchored this gold, which was his second in these games (and third overall).

Although Norway finished second in the Biathlon relay, they did win two golds on the day.  The first in the Nordic Combined, which combines the large hill Ski Jumping with a 10km Cross-Country Race.  Jens Luraas Oftebro won gold, with Austria's Johannes Lemparter earning silver, and Ilkka Herola from Finland receiving bronze.

Norway's other gold came via the Men's Big Air final in Freestyle Skiing.  Torand Frist won yet another gold for Norway, as American Mac Forehand came in second for silver, followed closely by Matej Svancer from Austria (bronze).

The United States picked up another silver in the Men's Speed Skating Team Pursuit, finishing just behind Italy in the A Finals.  On the women's side, Canada was victorious over the Netherlands.

And one of the marquee events of every Winter Olympics - the women's figure skating, the short program was held and Japan is sitting in first, second and fourth places behind performances by Ami Nakai, Kaori Sakamato and Mone Chiba respectively.  Only American Alyssa Liu is currently preventing a Japanese sweep as she sits in third heading into the Free Skate.

Athlete of the Day - Johannes Lochner, Germany, Bobsled

His gold after 2 silvers in Beijing behind Francesco Friedrich feels like the ultimate passing of the torch.

U.S. Athlete of the Day - Mac Forehand, Freestyle Skiing

Silver medal, the best of the day for the United States!

Upset of the Day - Francesco Friedrich, Germany, Bobsled

Not that a silver medal is disappointing, and not that Lohner isn't a worthy champion, but again, this feels like the ultimate passing of the torch in one of Germany's national sports.

Team of the Day - France, Biathlon, Men's Relay

Fabien Claude, Emilia Jacquiline, Quintin Fillon Maillet, and Eric Perrot have been bringing it all Olympics.  Men's Relay gold just seems fitting.

U.S. Team of the Day - Speedskating, Men's Team Pursuit

Earned an impressive silver medal behind host Italy.  Ethan Cepuran, Casey Days and Emery Lehman deserve their roses today.

Olympic Term of the Day:  Pursuit - In speedskating, it is a long-track race where three skaters skate together as one unit, aiming to record the fastest time over a set distance while staying tightly grouped to maximize drafting and efficiency.  The team is timed when the third skater crosses the finish line, and all three must stay together to achieve a top time.

Olympic Events Watched:   Bobsled, Figure Skating, Freestyle Skiing

USA Closing Ceremony Flag-Bearer Possibilities (listed alphabetically):  Evan Bates, Madison Chock, Kendall Coyne, Jessie Diggins, Korey Dobkin, Ashley Farquharson, Breezy Johnson, Jaelin Kauf, Hilary Knight, Elizabeth Lemley, Austin Matthews, Elana Meyers Taylor, Ben Ogden, Jordan Stolz, Cory Thiesse, 

Olympics - Milano-Cortina 2026 - Day 13/February 16

 

Day 1 of the last full week of this edition of the Winter Olympics, and a couple of very influential story from today!!!!

In Women's Curling, the United States lost to Italy 7-2, but maintain a strong position in the standings with a few matches left.

In Ski Jumping, the Super Team event was held, with Austria winning the team event, Poland winning silver, and Norway capturing the bronze.  The Austrian team of Jan Hoerl and Stephan Einbacher taking home the gold.

In the Women's Big Air event for Freestyle Skiing, Canda took home the gold behind two fabulous runs by Megan Oldham, who was able to defeat Eileen Gu from China (silver) and Flora Tabanelli of the host country (Italy).

On the ice, the Pairs Figure Skating Free Program wrapped up the pairs, and the uber-talented team of Miora and Kihara vaulted from fifth to first to win the gold.  The Georgian tandem of Metelkina and Berulara won silver - AND A LOT OF NEW FANS - with the German team winning bronze.

On a different ice surface, Dutch skater Xandra Velzeboer won her second gold of these games by capturing the 1000-meter race, with Canadian skater Courtney Sarault winning silver and Kim Gilli of Korea winning bronze.

The women's hockey semi-finals concluded the way everybody wanted, with a Canada-US final.  Canada narrowly defeated Switzerland 2-1 and the United States defeated Sweden 5-0, behind the efforts of 5 different goal scorers!  Special note should go to Goalkeeper Aerin Frankel, as the United States has won all of its games by a collective score of 31-1, with that lone goal be surrendered in the very first match.  In doing so, she is the first goalie to have 3 shutouts in one Olympics!

On the slopes, the Men's slalom was held with Swiss star Loic Meillard winning gold to earn an entire matching set from Milano-Cortina (Gold, Silver, Bronze).  Austria's Fabio Gstrein earned silver after coming from WAY back after the first run.  Henrik Kristoffersen of Norway won bronze to add to his country's leading medal total.

But the event of the day was the conclusion of the Women's Monobob competition in Bobsledding.  As the leaders took their respective fourth runs, American Kaillie Armbruster Humphries set the standard with two sledders remaining.  That run guaranteed her a bronze medal, which is where she finished after Germany's Laura Nolte took the lead with only Elana Meyers Taylor remaining.  And Meyers Taylor did not disappoint.  Despite slowing at the bottom of the track, Meyers Taylor finished .04 seconds ahead of Notle to win her first medal (and her 6th overall).  Meyers Taylor became the fourth American with six overall Winter Olympics medals (Apolo Anton Ohno (8), Bonnie Blair (6) and Bode Miller (6)).  She also became the oldest medalist in Winter Olympics history at age 41, breaking the record set in Beijing in 2022 set by ... Elana Meyers Taylor!!!

Athlete of the Day - Elana Meyers Taylor, USA, Bobsled

See everything above ...

U.S. Athlete of the Day - Aerin Frankel, Hockey

31-1 goal differential!!!

Upset of the Day - No major upsets today

Seriously.

Team of the Day - United States, Women's Hockey

Anything less than gold would be incredibly disappointing.

U.S. Team of the Day - United States, Women's Hockey

See above!

Olympic Term of the Day:  Clap Skates - In Speed Skating, a clap skate is a type of ice skate used in speed skating, characterized by its unique design that allows the blade to detach from the heel during the skating stride.  This design enables the skater to extend their leg more fully, which increases efficiency and speed.

Olympic Events Watched:   Alpine Skiing, Bobsled, Figure Skating, Freestyle Skiing

USA Closing Ceremony Flag-Bearer Possibilities (listed alphabetically):  Evan Bates, Madison Chock, Kendall Coyne, Jessie Diggins, Korey Dobkin, Ashley Farquharson, Breezy Johnson, Jaelin Kauf, Hilary Knight, Elizabeth Lemley, Austin Matthews, Elana Meyers Taylor, Ben Ogden, Jordan Stolz, Cory Thiesse, 

Olympics - Milano-Cortina 2026 - Day 12/February 15

 

We definitely have more days past than coming up, but this has been a very interesting Olympics - with some very strong events and competition coming up, including on Sunday.  Let's get to the stories!

Curling is still in full effect, and the US teams performed admirably on Sunday, with the Men winning two matches (8-5 over Sweden and 10-8 over Norway) and the Women winning their lone matchup 6-5 over China.

The women's Ski Mumping large hill - making its Olympic debut - was conducted with Norward winning het yet another gold, this time from Anna Odine Stroem taking home the first-place medal, followed by her compatriot Elrin Maria Kvandal with Nika Prevc from Slovenia winning bronze.  This was Stroem's second gold medal in these Olympics (and third overall!).

More flying took place with the Freestyle Skiing dual moguls being contested by the men.  Canada's Mikhael Kingsbury defeated Japanese competitor Ikama Horoshima in the final.

In other X-games styled events, Great Britan took home its gold in the Mixed Team Snowboard Cross, followed by host Italy and France coming in third.

Sunday was great for the team from Great Britain, as they also won the Mixed Team Skeleton as Matt Weston won his second gold of these games.  He was paired with Tabitha Stoecker for her first gold.  Germany, as is often the case in sliding sports, was extremely competitive, with its sledders taking home silver and bronze.

Two separate biathlon events were held, and in the Women's 10K Pursuit, Italy wins another gold behind a brilliant performance by Lisa Vittozzi.  Maren Kirkeeide of Norway won her second medal of these games by earning silver (to go with the previous gold).  Suvi Minkkinen of Finland won bronze.  For the men, the 12.5 Km race was conducted, and Martin Ponsiluoma of Sweden took the gold, followed by Stula Hohn Lagreid from Norway with the silver and France's Emillien Jacquelin earning bronze.

The skis have been very good to Italy, as Federica Brignone won the Women's Giant Slalom to go along with her Super Giant Slalom gold.  She was followed across the finish line by Sweden's Sara Hector who won silver, and Thea Louise Stjernesund from Norway (below) taking bronze.

The last Round Robin match for the Men's Hockey Tournament finished with Switzerland defeating Czechia 4-3, Canada annihilating France 10-2, Denmark beating Latvia 4-2, and the US victorious over Germany 5-1.

In cross-country skiing, the Men's 4x7.5KM relay was held, and host Italy medaled by finishing third, just behind France that earned silver.  Norway, anchored by Johannes Hoesflot-Klaebo (surprise, surprise) easily won gold.  This is the 4th gold of these games for Klaebo, and he has two more events remaining.

At the Speed Skating rink, the title of world's fastest woman skater goes to Femke Kok of the Netherlands, as she won gold in the 500-meter, followed by teammate and 1000-meter champion Jutta Leerdam with Miho Takagi of Japan finishing third and taking bronze.  Kok's margin of victory was the largest since 1972!

Athlete of the Day - Femke Kok, Netherlands, Speed Skating

Wins the race she has dominated since the conclusion of Beijing!

U.S. Athlete of the Day - Austin Matthews, Hockey

Scored two goals and had 1 assist in the US 5-1 victory over Germany that secured the number 2 seed in the knockout rounds.

Upset of the Day - No major upsets today

Seriously.  Leerdam's silver medal should satiate those that only want to see pictures of her.

Team of the Day - Canada, Men's Hockey

Most people assumed Canada was the class of this tournament as they definitely have the most talent, but damn, 10-2 in the last tuneup for the knockout round?  If ANYBODY beats this team in will be an upset.

U.S. Team of the Day - Men's Curling

Daniel Caspar, Luc Violette, Ben Richardson, Aidan Oldenburg, Rich Ruohonen held it down with 2 victories on Sunday!

Olympic Term of the Day:  Monobob - In bobsled, it is a race in which 1 person drives, pushes, drives, and brakes the sled all by themselves.

Olympic Events Watched:  Alpine Skiing, Biathlon, Bobsled, Figure Skating, Freestyle Skiing, Hockey, Skeleton, Speed Skating, 

USA Closing Ceremony Flag-Bearer Possibilities (listed alphabetically):  Evan Bates, Madison Chock, Kendall Coyne, Jessie Diggins, Korey Dobkin, Ashley Farquharson, Breezy Johnson, Jaelin Kauf, Hilary Knight, Elizabeth Lemley, Austin Matthews, Ben Ogden, Jordan Stolz, Cory Thiesse, 

Olympics - Milano-Cortina 2026 - Day 11/February 14

 

Happy Valentine's Day!!!  And nothing says "Valentine's" quite like the Olympics!!!

The US Men's team was victorious in Curling once again, defeating Germany 8-6, and the US Women's team continued their roll by beating Japan 7-4!  IN another interesting matchup, the Great Britain women defeating the powerful Canadian team 7-6.

In the ski jump, the men's large hill competition was conducted, with Doman Prevc from Slovenia taking the gold over Ren Nikaido of Japan and Kacpar Tomasiak of Poland with a 464-foot last jump to win gold!  This is the second gold for Prevc, whereas Nikaido has a bronze to go with this silver - both Prevc and Nikaido previously winning in the mixed team event.  The bronze for Tomasiak was his third medal in these Olympics previously having won silver in the men's team event and bronze in the normal hill.

On the skeleton track, Janine Flock won gold for Austria, with the German duo of Susanne Kreher and Jacqueline Pfeifer earning silver and bronze.

In Freestyle skiing, the Women's Dual Moguls was the opportunity for another 1-2 finish for Americans Elizabeth Lemley and Jaelin Kauf, who both topped the podium in the moguls earlier in these Olympics.  And although both finished on the podium in the Duals, Jakara Anthony from Australia took the gold, relegating Kauf to silver and Lemley to bronze.

On the Cross-Country Skiing course, Norway upset the heavy - and I mean HEAVY - favorite Swedes in the 4 x 7.5 KM Relay.  The Swedes - who had won 7 of the 9 medals already awarded in women's cross-country - took a lead on the first leg by Linn Svahn and was held by Ebba Andersson on her second leg, until her skis got caught in softer snow and she fell, she got up in about 4th place but still in a position to challenge for the lead by the end of her leg.  Until her ski broke from its binding and went flying out from under her as she fell head-first over the trail.  She had to ski on one ski to the other ski, pick it up, and try to make her way to the staff member who fell himself frantically trying to bring the new ski to Andersson.  By the time she put the new ski back on, she was in 9th place and well off the lead.  Sweden showed their prowess on the trail by catching every other squad, except the Norwegians.  Scandinavian neighbors Finland took the bronze.

On the hockey rink, the US Men's completed their undefeated round-robin section by beating Denmark 6-3 after getting off to an incredibly slow start.  Finland did no such thing and crushed Italy 11-0.  Sweden beat Slovakia 5-3 and Latvia bested Germany 4-3.  Next is the round of 16, with the Americans having a bye into the quarterfinals.

On the Women's side, Canada defeated Germany 5-1 and Switzerland outlasted Finland 1-0 in the quarterfinals, with each advancing to a semi-final matchup against each other.

A big surprise in the women's biathlon as Maren Kirkreeide of Norward beat the French duo of Oceane Michelon and Lou Jeanmonnot secured silver and bronze.  Missing from this podium was Julia Simon, who has won 2 golds already in these games.  Simon finished 34th after incurring two penalties in her last shooting session.

On the slopes, Brazilian, yes you read that correctly, Brazilian, Lucas Pinheiro Braathen won gold in the Men's Giant Slalom, beating favorite Marco Odermatt - who earned silver - and Odermatt's Swiss compatriot Loic Meillard gaining bronze.

In Short Track Speedskating, Dutch skater Jens van'T Wout won his second gold of Milano in the 1500 meters.  This gold will sit alongside his 1000-meter victory medal, as he aims for more.  Daeheon Hwang of Korea won silver, with Roberts Kruzbergs of Latvia finishing third for bronze.

But the story of the day was at the Speed Skating Track, where American Jordan Stolz won the 500 meter Speed Skating race in an Olympic record time, besting Jenning de Boo from the Netherlands (silver) and Laurent Debreuil (bronze).  Stolz has plans to race two more events to try to go for four medals, and dare we say gold?!

Athlete of the Day - Lucas Pinheiro Braathen, Brazil, Alpine Skiing

He's from Brazil, and he won gold in SKIING!

U.S. Athlete of the Day - Jordan Stolz, Speed Skating

Two golds in 2 races, with 2 more to go.

Upset of the Day - Julia Simon, France, Biathlon

Two misses in her final shoot will drop you from a possible medal to 34th.

Team of the Day - Norway, Women's Cross-Country Skiing 4 x 7.5KM Relay

They took advantage of an unlucky break to the favorites from Sweden, and never looked back!  Here's to Kristen Austgulen Fosnaes, Astrid Oeyre Slind, Karoline Simpson-Larsen, and Heidi Weng

U.S. Team of the Day - Women's Curling

A much-needed victory in the round-robin circuit to keep potential knockout rounds alive.

Olympic Term of the Day:  Klister - In Cross-Country Skiing, a type of wax used in warmer conditions.  The Klister should have been in use today for most of the teams in the women's relay.

Olympic Events Watched:  Biathlon, Cross-Country Skiing, Freestyle Skiing, Hockey, Speedskating, Skeleton

USA Closing Ceremony Flag-Bearer Possibilities (listed alphabetically):  Evan Bates, Madison Chock, Kendall Coyne, Jessie Diggins, Korey Dobkin, Ashley Farquharson, Breezy Johnson, Jaelin Kauf, Hilary Knight, Elizabeth Lemley, Ben Ogden, Jordan Stolz, Cory Thiesse

Olympics - Milano-Cortina 2026 - Day 10/February 13

 

We head into the middle weekend of the Olympics, and a couple of stars have emerged, but at the same time, some unexpected and surprising finishes!!!  That's what makes the Olympics great.

Curling is still in its round robin phase, and the US Women, in a huge upset, defeated the favored Canadians 9-8, by stealing a point in each of the last two ends!!!  This NEVER happens at this level.  Unfortunately, the good vibes didn't carry over to the men's squad, as they were defeated 6-3 by Canada.

Great Britain secured its first gold of these games in the men's skeleton, as sledder Matt Weston took home the gold after 4 slides down the track.  Germany joined Great Britain on the medal stand as Axel Jungk and Christopher Grotheer won silver and bronze respectively.   Grotheer who also won a bronze in the mixed team event, immediately announced his retirement from the sport as the 33-year old stated his body just couldn't keep up with the demands of sledding anymore.  Way to go out - with 2 Olympic medals!

Men's hockey continued with Finland defeating fellow Scandinavian rival Sweden 4-1, Czechia beating France 6-3, and Canada dominating Switzerland 5-1.  Canada remains on track for the number 1 seed in the knockout round.

Much more consequential games on the women's side, as the quarterfinals concluded with Sweden beating Czechia 2-0, and the United States overwhelming Italy 6-0.  Stars for the United States include Kendall Coyne who scored 2 goals, Hannah Bilka how finished with a +2 and scored a goal on her game high 7 shots, and Laila Edwards who led the team with a +3.  On to the semifinals for Team USA!

In Speedskating, Metodej Jilek of Czechia won gold in the men's 10,000 meters.  Joining him on the podium were Vladimir Semiranny of Poland and Jurrit Bergsma from the Netherlands, who earned silver and bronze respectively.

Australia continued a strong performance in the X-Games sports with Josie Baff winning Snowboard Cross, defeating Eva Adamczykova of Czechia and home favorite Michaela Moiioli.

On the skis, two giants of their respective sports took home gold (again!).  France's Quentin Fillot Maillet won the 10KM sprint biathlon for his second gold of these games, and 4th overall.  He was followed by the Norwegian pair of Vetle Sjaastad Christiansen and Stula Holm Laegreid.  And in the 10Km interval Cross-Country Skiing race for the men, Johannes Hoesflot Klaebo won his third gold of these games - and a record 8th overall.  He was joined on the podium by Frenchman Martin Deslages (silver) and his Norwegian compatriot Einer Hedegaut (bronze).

But, in the event of the day, the stars came out to see the final of the Men's Free Skate performance in figure skating.  The giants performing last - Japan's Shun Sato and Yuma Kagiyama and Ilia Malinin of the United States were supposed to be the coup de grace to an amazing competition among the men, with Malinin batting cleanup due to his lead after the short program.  But, virtually unheralded Mikhail Shaidorov of Kazakhstan skated an amazing performance and stood in first place as Sato went, and then as Kagiyama skated, and then, once Malinin fell a couple of times to ultimately finish 8th, Shaidorov had gold, followed by Kagiyama and Sato.

Athlete(s) of the Day - Johannes Hoesflot-Klaebo, Norway, Cross-Country Skiing/Mikhail Shaidorov, Kazakhstan, Figure Skating

Every time Klaebo wins another gold, he will be athlete of the day, but the story of the day is Shaidorov and his gold-medal worthy Free Skate!

U.S. Athlete of the Day - Kendall Coyne, Hockey

Scored two goals in just a 3:10 span that iced the victory for the United States in the quarterfinals against Italy.

Upset of the Day - Mikhail Shaidarov, Kazakhstan, Figure Skating

He not only won gold, he defeated Yuma Kagiyama, Shun Sato AND Ilia Malinin!

 

Team of the Day - United States, Women's Curling

Defeated powerhouse Canada by stealing a point in each of the last two ends to win by 1!

U.S. Team of the Day - Women's Hockey

One step closer to an expected gold medal matchup with the Canadians thanks to a dominating 6-0 drubbing of the host squad.

Olympic Term of the Day:  Snowboard Cross - In snowboarding, it is an event featuring 4 to 6 snowboarders racing down a course filled with obstacles like jumps, rollers and beams.

Olympic Events Watched:  Cross-Country Skiing, Curling, Figure Skating, Snowboarding 

USA Closing Ceremony Flag-Bearer Possibilities (listed alphabetically):  Evan Bates, Madison Chock, Kendall Coyne, Jessie Diggins, Korey Dobkin, Ashley Farquharson, Breezy Johnson, Hilary Knight, Ben Ogden, Jordan Stolz, Cory Thiesse

Olympics - Milano-Cortina 2026 - Day 9/February 12

 

So much action over the next few days as the events that started this week are wrapping up and the events that will take up the next week are all starting, along with other events just scheduled for this weekend!

Men's and women's curling are both in full swing, as the US Women went 1-1 on the day defeating Korea 8-4 and falling to Sweden 9-4.  The American men lost to Switzerland 8-3.

In men's hockey, the United States defeated Latvia 5-1 to keep pace with the Canadians, who defeated Czechia 5-0.  Germany beat Denmark 3-1 and Switzerland blanked France 5-0.  On the women's side, Canada beat Finland 5-0.

Staying on the rink, the women's 5000 meters speed skating final was held, with Italy's Francesca Lollobrigida winning her second gold medal of these games, closely followed by Merel Conijn of the Netherlands as these two skaters finished .1 seconds apart!!!  Ragne Wiklund of Norway won the bronze medal.  It is safe to say that Lollobrigida will forever be a national heroine!

Two finals were held in the short track speed skating, with the Netherlands taking home two golds.  In the women's 500 meters, Xandra Velzeboer took home the gold for the speed skating fanatical country, with Italy's Arianna Fontana taking home her second medal of the games (silver).  They were followed on the podium by Courtney Sarault of Canada.

The men's 1000 meters was next and the Dutch were again victorious as Jens van't Wout won gold.  Sun Long of China takes silver and Rim Jongun earned bronze.

On the sliding track, Germany took home the gold in the Team Relay, which consists of the women's singles, men's doubles, men's singles, and women's doubles in a relay format.  Austria finished second and Italy came home in third, to earn another medal for the home team!

The main action for the day took place on skis, with the women's Cross-Country 10K interval start freestyle and the women's Super Giant Slalom.  

In the former, Sweden once again dominated (as they expect to do in all of the women's cross-country events) taking home gold with Freda Karlsson and silver by Ebba Andersson.  But, they didn't dominate the podium as the greatest cross-country skier in US history - Jessie Diggins - managed to ski across in third place to win bronze!

In a much faster race - the Women's Super Giant Slalom - Italy was once again victorious, with Federica Brignone taking home gold for the hosts!!!  At age 35, Brignone is the oldest medalist in Olympic Alpine Skiing history.  Ramone Miradoli of France won silver and Austria's Cornelia Huetter earned bronze.

Athlete(s) of the Day - Federica Brignone, Italy, Alpine Skiing/Francesca Lollobrigida, Italy, Speed Skating

Another gold for the host country in the Women's Super Giant Slalom, and Brignone becomes the oldest Alpine Skier to medal ever. Lollobrigida wins her second gold medal of these games for Italy at age 35 as well!

U.S. Athlete of the Day - Jessie Diggins, Cross-Country Skiing

Another race another medal for the most decorated cross-country skier in U.S. history!

Upset of the Day - Germany 3-1 victory over Denmark in Men's Hockey

Germany defeating Denmark isn't the upset, it is the fact that this score was 3-1, which shows that Germany may not be a potential semi-finalist or medalist that they always hope to be.

 

Team of the Day - Canada, Men's Hockey

Just dominating everybody, including today's 5-0 over a good Czechian squad.

U.S. Team of the Day - Women's Curling

Although they finished the day 1-1, their 8-4 victory over Korea was as good a win as we have seen from the American women to date.

Olympic Term of the Day:  Goofy-footed - In snowboarding, it is a stance in which the athlete operates with their strongest leg in the front of the snowboard, rather than in the back.  Also applies to surfing, skateboarding and other similar.

Olympic Events Watched:  Alpine Skiing, Hockey, Skeleton, Snowboarding

USA Closing Ceremony Flag-Bearer Possibilities (listed alphabetically):  Evan Bates, Madison Chock, Jessie Diggins, Korey Dobkin, Ashley Farquharson, Breezy Johnson, Hilary Knight, Ilia Malinin, Ben Ogden, Jordan Stolz, Cory Thiesse

Olympics - Milano-Cortina 2026 - Day 8/February 11

 

Welcome back to the Olympics NHL Hockey players.  The professionals return after a 12-year absence, and several medal contenders had their opening games.  Slovakia defeated Finland 4-1, and Sweden defeated Italy 5-2.

Although the hockey loss was disappointing for the hosts, they had a great day at the sliding track, as both the women's and men's double luge events were conducted.  Italy earned 2 golds, by winning both of the races behind their women's team of Andrea Vietter and Marion Oberhofer, whereas the men's team of Emmanuel Rieder and Simon Kainzwaldren were up to the task by matching their compatriots.

Wednesday was also the return to the ice for the men's Curling teams, and the US, behind Daniel Casper, defeated Czechia 8-7.

In the most prototypical of all Winter Olympic events, the Nordic Combined, Norway's Jans Luraas Oftebro won gold, followed by Austria's Johannes Lamparter (silver) and Eero Hirvonen of Finland (bronze). 

In another quintessential Winter Olympics sport - the biathlon, Julia Simon of France followed up her team Mixed Relay gold with an individual gold in the 15KM, where she was followed by teammate Lou Jeanmonnot who earned silver.

On the ice, the ice dancers performed their 4th routine in about six days, and the competition was wonderful.  Any of the final three teams would have won gold in most Olympics, and some thought the silver medalists should have won THIS year.  But, it was the French team of Laurence Fournier-Beaudry and Guillaume Cizeron who captured the gold followed by crowd favorites Madison Chock and Evan Bates of the US and Piper Gille and Paul Poirier of Canada, who won silver and bronze respectively.

The men's Super-Giant Slalom was held yesterday, and tell me if you have heard this before, Franjo von Allmon of Switzerland took home the gold - his third of these games.  American Ross Cochrane-Siegle could not match his mother's 1972 gold, but he did win silver, followed by Swiss juggernaut Marco Odermatt, his second bronze of these games.

And moving from someone who is already a star in these games (von Allmon) to somebody who his likely to be, US Speedskater Jordon Stolz set an Olympic record and won gold in the men's 1000-meter race, defeating Jenning de Boo of the Netherlands and Ning Zhongyan of China.  Is this the first of many for Stolz?

Athlete(s) of the Day - Franjo von Allmon, Switzerland, Alpine Skiing/Julia Simon, France, Biathlon

Von Allmon with his third gold, and Simon with her second, and both in convincing fashion.

U.S. Athlete of the Day - Jordan Stolz, Speed Skating

An Olympic Record performance in winning the gold.  Not much better could be done than that!

Upset of the Day - Madison Chock and Evan Bates, United States, Figure Skating

The upset isn't with their performance, but with the scoring.  To a lot of people it sure looked like the Americans won, especially since they skated a practically flawless artistic free skate AND had more technical points. 

 

Team of the Day - Slovakia, Men's Hockey

One of the five or six teams with legitimate medal hopes, Solvakia came out and dominated one of those other squads - Finland - and won 4-1.

U.S. Team of the Day - Men's Curling

Won its only match of the day over Czechia 8-7, with Daniel Casper scoring the winning point with his thirteen stone in the 10th end to secure the victory.

Olympic Term of the Day:  Nordic Combined - An event that combines cross-country skiing with ski jumping, in today's action a 10KM ski and jumps off the normal hill.

Olympic Events Watched:  Alpine Skiing, Figure Skating, Speed Skating

USA Closing Ceremony Flag-Bearer Possibilities (listed alphabetically):  Evan Bates, Madison Chock, Korey Dobkin, Ashley Farquharson, Breezy Johnson, Hilary Knight, Ilia Malinin, Ben Ogden, Jordan Stolz, Cory Thiesse

NFL Picks of the Week - Final Tally!!!!

 

So the Super Bowl is over and congratulations to the champions Seattle Seahawks.  More importantly, I had a winning Super Bowl weekend to cut into (a little bit) this travesty of a football season.  Here are the final results from Super Bowl week as well as the season!

Last Week Record: 8-6

Last Week Big Bet:  3-1

Playoff Record: 26-24

Playoff Big Bet:  5-5

Year-to-Date Record: 152-164-3

Year-to-Date Big Bet: 11-17

Last Week Winnings (Losses): $975

Playoff Winnings (Losses):  $521.80

Year-to-Date Winnings (Losses): ($3,478.20)

Olympics - Milano-Cortina 2026 - Day 7/February 10

 

A lot of varied events today, which is part of what makes the Olympics so wonderful.  Let's get to it!

I am going to start with the person that is likely to be the most dominating athlete in these Olympics, Norway's Johanes Hoesflot-Klaebo, who was back at it again in the Men's Cross-Country Skiing Classic Sprint.   After dominating his qualifiers, he absolutely dominated the last hill in the finals to put major distance between himself and at that time the only two other medal contenders to win his second gold.  Finishing second in a surprise was Ben Ogden of the United States!!!

The Women's Sprint Classic competition was also held with a Swedish sweep!!!  Lian Svahn, Jonna Sundling, and Maja Dahlqvist won gold, silver, and bronze respectively to dominate the event, and more importantly, their main rivals - the Norwegians!

Staying at the ski-course, the Men's 20km individual biathlon was held, with Norway's Johan-Olav Botn defeating French biathlete Eric Perrot, and Botn's countryman Sturla Holm Laegreid who comprised the rest of the podium.  The difference is that Botn went 20-20 in shooting, and Perrot and Laegreid both missed 1 shot, incurring a 1-minute time penalty each.

Many team events were held on Tuesday, including the Mixed team ski jumping competition, where Slovenia took gold, Norway earned silver, and Japan won the bronze.

In the Alpine Skiing Women's Team Combined, team Austria won gold behind Ariane Raedler's downhill and Katharina Huber's slalom, followed closely by Germany's Kira Weidle-Winkelmann (downhill) and Emma Aicher (slalom).  Interestingly, Aicher, who skied the slalom portion of the team combined for Germany, won silver in the individual downhill race behind Breezy Johnson.  The United States finished third, but it wasn't Breezy Johnson (gold in the downhill) and Mikaela Shiffrin's team, as Shiffrin finished 15th out of 18th slalom skiers), but rather the team of Jacqueline Wiles and Paila Moltzan.  The medal was satisfying for Wiles who earlier finished fourth in the individual downhill.

Mixed Doubles curling held its semi-finals and finals, with Sweden defeating the United States 6-5 in the gold medal match, after dispatching the number-1 seed Great Britain in the semi-finals.  The US team of Korey Dropkin and Cory Thiesse beat the defending-champions Italy in the semi-finals before settling for the silver in a closely fought match in which the Swedish squad held the hammer in the last end.  Italy defeated Great Britain for the bronze.

In the last matches of the women's hockey round robin, Sweden defeated Japan 4-0, Germany beat Italy 2-1 and Finland outlasted Switzerland 3-1.  But all of these were just the appetizers for the United States-Canada battle, which turned out not to be a battle.  The United States swarmed their Canadian rivals and won 5-0, which was the first shutout of Canada IN OLYMPIC HISTORY!  The US was paced by 2 goals from Hannah Bilka, and led by yesterday's US Athlete of the Day Caroline Harvey who started the scoring with a goal just 3:45 into the game, and led the US team with a +/- of 3.

Short track speedskating started, with all of the Mixed Team relay qualifiers and finals held.  Italy, behind the team of Elisa Confortola, Arianna Fontana, Thomas Nadaline and Pietro Sighel, skated away from the field during Fontana's second-lap to win by a margin so safe, Sighel did a 180 and cupped his ears to hear the crowd as he crossed the finish line backwards!!!  This was Fontana's third career gold medal, and her 12 overall, the most in short track history.

In luge, the final two runs of the Women's Singles were held, with Julia Taubitz of the Germany winning gold!  Latvia's Elina Bota took home silver and Ashley Farquharson of the United States finished third - earning bronze.  Taubitz led after each of the last three runs, but Bota was fifth after the first run, and Farquharson was fifth after the second run, but both made up a ton of time on run three to make the podium.  This was Taubitz's first Olympic medal after finishing 7th in Beijing.  Bota likewise made a big jump from Beijing, where she finished 18th.  Farquharson improved on her 12th-place finish in 2022.

Athlete(s) of the Day - Johanes Hoesflot-Klaebo, Norway, Cross-Country Skiing

Go watch his spring up the final hill.  One of the most dominating sports performances I have ever seen.

U.S. Athlete of the Day - Ben Ogden, Cross-Country Skiiing

Nobody has a chance against Klaebo, but Ogden dominated everyone else!

Upset of the Day - Breezy Johnson and Mikaela Shiffrin, United States, Alpine Skiiing

Was not the US team on the podium in the Women's Team Combined, as Shiffrin did not ski even remotely close to her normal levels.  In the 8 World Cup races this year, Shiffrin has won 7 and came in second in the other.  She finished 15th of the 18th skiers in this race.

 

Team of the Day - Italy, Mixed Team Relay, Short Track Speedskating

What a final's race.  Fontana!!!  Sighel's 180 before the finish line!!!  Pure poetry.

U.S. Team of the Day - Women's Hockey

Annihilated Canada to truly make a point before the knockout stages.  Canada will be thinking about this game for decades.

Olympic Term of the Day:  Charging the Block - Short Track Speed Skating - In short track speed skating, it is when an athlete passes on the inside of a congested area just as the other skaters are making the turn.  This is what Fontana did to give Italy the lead in the mixed-team relay.

Olympic Events Watched:  Alpine Skiing, Cross-Country Skiing, Curling, Figure Skating, Freestyle Skiing, Hockey, Luge, Short Track Speed Skating

USA Closing Ceremony Flag-Bearer Possibilities (listed alphabetically):  Evan Bates, Madison Chock, Korey Dobkin, Ashley Farquharson, Breezy Johnson, Hilary Knight, Ilia Malinin, Ben Ogden, Cory Thiesse

Olympics - Milano-Cortina 2026 - Day 6/February 9

 

The Olympics continued in earnest on Monday, with a lot of action in newer sports, and as the women's hockey and curling round robins near their end.  Let's recap the action.

Lots of athletes flying through the air today, so we will start with the Women's Snowboard Big Air.  Japan's Kokomo Murase won gold over New Zealand's Synott Sadowski (silver) and Yu Sevengeun of Korea (bronze).  This gold for Murase will sit nicely on her mantle next to the bronze in the same event from Beijing!

The women's slopestyle medal rounds were completed as well, and Mathilde Gremaud of won gold, defeating Eileen Gu of China and Megan Oldham from Canada.  Gremaud defended her gold from Beijing to go along with her silver from Pyeongchang.

Despite these high-flyers winning medals, nobody, and I mean nobody flies higher than the ski jumpers, and the men's normal hill concluded with Germany's Phillipp Raimund winning gold, Kacpar Tomasiak of Poland finishing second, and a tie for the bronze between Ren Kikaido (Japan) and Gregor Deschwaden (Switzerland).

In women's hockey, Italy defeated Japan 3-2, Germany beat France 2-1 in overtime, and Canada in its final prep before playing its Heated Rivals the US, beat Czechia 5-1.

The United States, in its final tune-up before the round-robin matchup against Canada defeated Switzerland 5-1, behind goals from 5 different players.  And, since the goal scorers usually get all of the love, I want to point out the play of Defensewoman Caroline Harvey, who topped the US in shots with 5, and with a +/- of 4.

The rhythm dance portion of the ice dancing event in figure skating was held, with a fantastic performance from the French team of Laurence Fournier Beaudry and Guillaume Cizerone, who finished .5 points ahead of American favorites Madison Chock and Evan Bates, setting the scene for an amazing long skate performance.

The men returned to the Alpine slopes as the men's combined was contested with Downhill gold medalist Franjo von Allman of Switzerland taking home his second gold medal of these games with his teammate Tanguay Nef.  Their teammate Marco Odermatt wins his first medal of Milano-Cortina by finishing third with his teammate Luc Maillard, behind the silver medalists Vincent Kreichmyar and Manuel Fettner.

And although the speeds on the slopes were technically faster, nothing on earth could possibly faster than a camera focusing on Jake Paul during the 1000-meter women's Speedskating race.  For once, Jake Paul was not the spectacle, as Jutta Leerdam from the Netherlands flew around the track in Olympic record time to win the gold medal, followed by her teammate Femke Kok (silver) and Miho Tagaki of Japan (bronze).  This track seems incredibly fast, and I expect to see lots of Olympic and possibly even World records.

Athlete(s) of the Day - Jutta Leerdam, Netherlands, Speed Skating/Mathilde Gremaud, Switzerland/Freestyle Skiing

A dominating performance from Leerdam, and a second-straight gold - and third straight medal - for Gremaud in Slopestyle.

U.S. Athlete of the Day - Caroline Harvey, Hockey

Dominating blue line performance on defense AND offense.

Upset of the Day - Marco Odermatt, Switzerland, Alpine Skiiing

Yes, he won the bronze medal in team combined, and yes Franjo von Allmon is having a tremendous Olympics winning both the downhill and skiing the downhill in the team combined, but just one bronze for Odermatt in two downhill races seems like an upset in itself.

 

Team of the Day - Laurence Fournier-Beaudry/Guillaume Cizerone, France, Figure Skating

Just a beautiful Rhythm dance performance.

U.S. Team of the Day - Women's Hockey

Another shutout on the even of the Canada game - which will determine the overall number 1 seed in the tournament; not that anybody doesn't expect either squad to face-off again in the finals.

Olympic Term of the Day:  Telemark Landing - Ski jumping - In ski jumping, the Telemark landing is a landing technique in which the skier pushes one ski a little further forward and the other ski a little further back to aid in the landing process.  This was first performed by Torju Torjussen in 1883, and is still almost exclusively used today.

Olympic Events Watched:  Alpine Skiing, Curling, Figure Skating, Freestyle Skiing, Speedskating

USA Closing Ceremony Flag-Bearer Possibilities (listed alphabetically):  Evan Bates, Madison Chock, Korey Dobkin, Breezy Johnson, Hilary Knight, Ilia Malinin, Cory Thiesse

Olympics - Milano-Cortina 2026 - Day 5/February 8

The first Sunday of the Olympics is chock full of events and medals!!!

The United States won its first gold medal in the women's downhill, and it wasn't Lindsay Vonn, who crashed early on in her race and suffered a compound fracture to her tibia.  Instead, it was Breezy Johnson, who skied 6th and set the low time, which was not caught.  Germany's Emma Eicher finished second and Sofia Goggia of Italy won the Bronze.

Also going downhill in the Snowboarding parallel giant slalom were the men and women, raced toward the medals.  Austria's Benjamin Karl - at 41 years of age - defeating Kim Sandkyun of Korea in the finals to become the oldest winter Olympics gold medalist ever.  In the women's event, Zuzana Maderova of Czechia won gold over Austria's Sabine Payer.  Although I always love to give love to the winners, the big story of the parallel Super Giant Slalom was that heavy favorite and 2018 double-gold medalist Ester Ledecka of Czechia, lost to Payer in the quarterfinals.  Here is Karl in his iconic celebration after he clinched the gold!

In another big upset, Germany's Felix Loch failed to medal in the luge, with gold going to his teammate Max Langerhan, who was followed down the slied by Jonas Mueller of Austria and Dominik Fishnaller of Italy.

Lots of action on the skis, as the potential for 6 gold medals at these games is still in paly for Johanes Hoesflot Klaebo of Norway, as he just decimated the other 4 racers in the lead pack on the last 1/2 lap of the skiathlon to win his first gold medal of these events in what many consider his weakest event - comparatively speaking.

Norway also won another gold in the Men's 5000-Meter Speedskating fianl, as Sander Eitrem of Norway was victorious.  

In team sports, the United States qualified for the semifinals with one match remaining in the round-robin tournament by defeating Estonia 5-3 and Sweden 8-7.  Their last match against reigning Olympic champions Italy will be for seeding only, as Italy has also qualified, along with Great Britain.

In women's hockey shutouts reigned supreme with Sweden whitewashing France 4-0, and Switzerland blanking Finland 2-0.

In perhaps the most dominating performance to date in these games, France won gold in the Biathlon mixed relay, as Eric Perrot, Quentin Fillon Maillet, Lou Jeanmont and anchor Julia Simon absolutely destroyed the field - especially anchor leg Simon's last shoot in which not only was she clean, she was brilliantly fast as well, so fast that even a miss or two would likely have led to gold over silver medalist Italy and third place Germany.

And, in the event everybody was waiting for at the conclusion of the evening, the last three events in the team figure skating turned out to be spectacular.  First up was pairs, and although the Japanese pair won their expected 10 points, the US team of Ellie Kam and Danny O'Shea exceeded their expected fifth place finish by scoring their highest performance of the season to finish 4th, and that extra point led to a tie between the US and Japan after Kaori Sakamato came in first place in the women's singles long skate, ahead of Amber Glenn who finished third.  And, although Shun Sato of Japan skated absolutely brilliantly, Ilia Malinin's routine was just so technically difficult that he exceeded 200 points even with a touchdown on one of his quads.  Team US won gold by 1 point.

Athlete of the Day - Johanes Hoesflot Klaebo, Norway, Cross-Country Skiing

He skied with a 5-man breakway pack most of the race, and then absolutely obliterated the other leaders with 1/2 lap left to go.

U.S. Athlete of the Day - Ellie Kam and Danny O'Shea, Figure Skating

Breezy Johnson could be here, but Kam and O'Brien's pair performance was so critical as they increased their positioning by one point, and that single point was the difference between gold and silver over the Japanese in the team event.

Upset of the Day - Ester Ledecka, Czechia, Snowboarding and Felix Loch, Germany, Luge

Such huge favorites that not only didn't win gold, they didn't even medal!!!  Loch finishing fourth in the men's luge after his four runs and Ledecka losing to the eventual silver medalist in the quarterfinals, despite being the one seed.

Team of the Day - France, Mixed Biathlon Relay, Biathlon

Flawless shooting by everyone, but particularly by Julia Simon in the relay position!

U.S. Team of the Day - Figure Skating

Winning their second consecutive gold medal, although only ice dancers Madison Chock and Evan Bates remain from Beijing.  Of particular import, Ilia Malinin planned on skipping the men's single free skate after skating the short program and with his individual event approaching in two days, but knowing the US was tied with Japan (and behind in the tiebreaker), he suited up and won his event, and thus the gold.

Olympic Term of the Day:  Axel - Figure Skating - in figure skating, an edge jumped named after Norwegian Axel Paulsen It is the only jump with a forward take-off, with the takeoff on the forward outside edge and landing on the backward outside edge - making Ilia Malinin's quadruple axel really a 4 1/2 twist jump.

Olympic Events Watched:  Alpine Skiing, Biathlon, Cross-Country Skiing, Curling, Figure Skating, Snowboarding

USA Closing Ceremony Flag-Bearer Possibilities (listed alphabetically):  Evan Bates, Madison Chock, Korey Dobkin, Breezy Johnson, Hilary Knight, Ilia Malinin, Cory Thiesse

Olympics - Milano-Cortina 2026 - Day 4/February 7

 

What an Opening Ceremonies!!!  And to follow it up?  Our first medals of the Olympics along with a ton of other competitions across Northern Italy!

I am going to start with the story of the day, by far ... Italy's Francesca Lollobrigida taking home the gold medal, the host country's first, in the women's 3000 Meter Speed Skating event.  She fell behind the time trial's of other athletes, but with 3 to 3 1/2 laps left, just started a spring that most athletes do not even have in their last lap - and she put up a time that Norway's Rajne Wiklund could not catch.  Wiklund with the silver, and Lollabrigida, who contemplated retirement after Beijing in 2022, took time off to have a baby, and then decided to return as her country was hosting the Olympics - won Gold.

Hers was not the first medal won by Italy, however, as her countryman Giovanni Fanzoni and Dominik Paris took home the silver and bronze respectively in the Men's Downhill, as Swiss skier Franji van Allman won gold. 

The Round Robin portion of the Mixed Doubles Curling event continued, with Great Britain winning 7-5 over Canada, and then handing Team US its first defeat 6-4.  This loss stunned the US, as they then fell to Korea 6-5.  Sweden won its two matches 17-7 over Switzerland and 9-4 over Italy, who managed to bounce back to defeat Norway.  Tomorrow's matches will likely decide the semifinalists.

In the X-Games portion of the day, Japan swept the top two spots on the Men's Snowboard Big Air, as Kira Kimora gold and Ryoma Kimata took home the silver.  

The women's normal hill competition in Ski Jumping was completed, with Norway's Anna Odine Stroem flew farther than everyone else to take home the gold.  Slovakia's Nika Prevc and Japan's Nozomi Maruyama joined Stroem on the podium.

The women's 10K x 10K skiathlon was held, and the perennial younger sibling of the cross-country skiing world, Sweden, dominated their older, more decorated older sister Norway as not only did Frida Karlsson win gold, but teammate Ebba Andersson followed her to the finish line to earn silver.

Women's hockey round robin continued as well, with Sweden defeating Italy 6-1 and Germany beating Japan 5-2.  The two favorites dominated, as Canada beat Switzerland 4-0 and the United States controlled its match against Finland, winning 5-0.  For the US, assistant captain Hilary Knight scored her 24th Olympic goal - to tie the record.  I look forward to posting about her record-breaking goal here shortly!

Besides the women's 3000 meters speed skating event, the talk of the day was the continuation of the team figure skating event with the men's short program and the ice dancing long program.  One of the shocks of the tournament to date occurred in the men's short program, as Japan's Yuma Kagiyama stunned American Ilia Malinin to win 10 points for Japan, with Malinin's 9 points giving the US a 34-33 lead heading into the long programs.

And, the long programs began immediately thereafter with the ice dancing long program.  The US team of Madison Chock and Evan Bates might as well have been the only performers in the competition, as it was them, and everyone else fighting for 2nd.  The fact that Japan came in 5th, advanced the US lead from 1 point to 44-39 with three events remaining.

Athlete of the Day - Francesca Lollobrigida, Italy, Speed Skating

Not only did she win gold, she set an Olympic record - AND - she did it on her 35th birthday!!!  Happy Birthday to you Francesca.

U.S. Athlete of the Day - Madison Chock and Evan Bates, Figure Skating

Just absolutely amazing!

Upset of the Day - Swiss alpine skier Marco Odermatt did not even medal in the Downhill, an event in which he entered the Olympics as the overwhelming gold medal favorite.

Team of the Day - Great Britan, Mixed Doubles, Curling

Just your everyday 6-0 in the round robin round, including handing the United States its first defeat.

U.S. Team of the Day - Women's Hockey

Another strong win, this time shutting out Finland 5-0!

Olympic Term of the Day:  Skiathlon - A cross-country skiing competition that combines two different skiing techniques - classical technique and freestyle (skating) techniques - within the same race.

Olympic Events Watched:  Alpine Skiing, Cross-Country Skiing, Curling, Figure Skating, Hockey, Snowboarding, Speed Skating

USA Closing Ceremony Flag-Bearer Possibilities (listed alphabetically):  Evan Best, Madison Chock, Korey Dobkin, Hilary Knight, Cory Thiesse