2026 Winter Olympics live updates: American speedskater Jordan Stolz misses podium in mass start final

In the final minutes, Finland added another empty-net goal to make the final score: Finland 6, Slovakia 1 in today's bronze medal game.

Antonin THuillier / AFP via Getty Images

Finland put away Slovakia thanks in large part to four third-period goals. Finland had goals scored today by Sebastian Aho, Roope Hinte, Kaapo Kakko, Joel Armia and Erik Haula, who scored twice.

Finland won the gold medal at the 2022 Beijing Games, and the team will leave the Milan Cortina Games with the bronze medal.

Finland's Joel Armia just scored on an empty net, giving Finland a 5-1 lead over Slovakia in the men's hockey bronze-medal game. With under five minutes remaining, this game is all but over.

Erik Haula of Team Finland scores an empty net goal during the third period of the bronze medal match on Saturday. Bruce Bennett / Getty Images

About midway through the third period, with Finland on a power play, Miro Heiskanen launched a shot on net and Roope Hintz deflected it into the net.

Then less than a minute later, Finland's Kaapo Kakko sprinted up ice on a breakaway and beat the Slovakian goalie with a nice wrist shot.

Finland now leads Slovakia 4-1 in this bronze-medal game.

American gold-medalist Alysa Liu closed out the individual performances at today's figure skating exhibition gala, putting the cherry on top of an incredible Olympic run.

Alysa Liu performs in the Women Single Skating routine during a Figure Skating Exhibition Gala today. Matthew Stockman / Getty Images

She performed to "Stateside" by PinkPantheress and Zara Larsson, bringing her characteristic high energy and relaxed, sky high jumps. The gold medal champion said goodbye to the Games with a final smiling skate.

Team USA's Ilia Malinin delivered an emotional exhibition gala performance, leaving behind a challenging Olympic Games with one last skate.

Malinin's gala performance opened with the sound of notifications pinging and cameras flashing as he hid in a grey hoodie, before "Fear" by NF started to play. It was an uninhibited, fearless skate by the "Quad God," featuring his quintessential backflip and impactful commentary on the pressure felt on Olympic ice.

With less than one minute left in the second period, the puck took a fortuitous bounce for Slovakia. In the Finnish end, as the defense tried to clear the puck, it bounced directly to Slovakia's captain Tomas Tatar, who deked the goalie and buried a goal, giving Slovakia new life here.

Jared C. Tilton / Getty Images

In the second intermission now, Finland only now leads 2-1.

Team USA’s Kaillie Armbruster Humphries and Jasmine Jones won bronze in today's women's bobsled final, making Humphries a six-time Olympic medalist.

Two German pairs finished in first and second, with Laura Nolte and Deborah Levi taking gold and Lisa Buckwitz and Neele Schuten winning silver.

After a stunning rise from 13th in the short program to fifth overall, earning the highest free skate technical score of the night, Amber Glenn took the ice for her show program skated to “That’s Life” by Lady Gaga.

Canadian curling brought home gold today as the oldest team in the field, proving experience matters on the ice. They defeated Great Britain 9-6 in a face-off that came down to the wire.

This is the second Winter Games in a row where Great Britain has taken silver. In Beijing, Sweden overtook Great Britain for the gold while Canada took bronze.

It was a controversial Olympic run for Canada's curling team, with a cheating scandal overtaking their match with Sweden earlier this week. The Swedish team accused Canada of cheating, specifically reporting that Canada’s Marc Kennedy was illegally touching his stone. The play could not be reviewed, but the accusation resulted in an argument on the ice between the two teams.

Finland's Erik Haula scored midway through the second period, to extend the team's lead over Slovakia. Finland won the gold medal at the 2022 Beijing Games, and is looking to leave the Milan Cortina Games with some hardware.

The first period of today's face-off between Finland and Slovakia has wrapped, with Finland leading 1-0 and a bronze medal on the line. Carolina Hurricanes player Sebastian Aho scored for Finland over seven minutes into the first period.

American figure skater Amber Glenn left it all on the ice today during the figure skating exhibition gala, saying goodbye to the Milan Cortina Games and letting loose on the ice.

Jamie Squire / Getty Images

Glenn performed to "That's Life," sung by Lady Gaga, with her typically pinned back blonde hair flowing freely. She slid across the span of the ice on her knees to the apt musical selection about resilience, featuring lyrics like "I pick myself up and get back in the race."

It was a victory lap for Glenn, who came back from a challenging Olympic run for redemption during her free skate performance this week, launching into fifth place after a difficult short program skate left her in 13th place.

As we head to the conclusion of the Winter Olympics, we look ahead to the Closing Ceremony. This year in Italy, the Closing Ceremony will take place at the historic Verona Arena, marking the first time an Olympic Closing Ceremony will be held at a UNESCO World Heritage site.

Interestingly enough, the Closing Ceremony of these Games will not take place in Milan or Cortina, but in Verona, which is roughly in between the two host cities. The ceremony will be directed by a creative team led by Alfredo Accatino. The artistic director of the event has designed a celebration titled “Beauty in Action.”

On the final throw of the men’s curling bronze medal match, Norway’s Magnus Ramsfjell left his mark on the ice, doing a spin move before sending his stone down the ice. Ramsfjell’s team lost to Switzerland in the match.

Team USA's Elena Meyers Taylor, who won gold in monobob this week, is currently in sixth place with teammate Jadin O'Brien in heat 3 of the two-women bobsled competition. The American duo is behind the other two American teams, Kaillie Armbruster Humphries and Jasmine Jones, and Kaysha Love and Azaria Hill.

The fourth and final heat will take place later today.

Bergsma had such a lead entering the homestretch, he encouraged the crowd to make noise as he crossed the finish line.

The first end is underway in today's gold medal match up between Great Britain and Canada. The two teams medaled at the 2022 Beijing Games, with Great Britain earning silver and Canada, bronze.

The women's freeski half pipe event has been postponed due to heavy snow as a storm continues to hit Livigno.

The event is now set to take place Sunday at 4:40 a.m. ET. Tomorrow is the last day of the Milan Cortina Winter Games. It's also the last chance for Eileen Gu, American born freeski star competing for China, to leave Milan with a gold medal.

Stanley Tucci continues to try food around Italy, tasting top-tier pasta e fagioli during the Milan Cortina Winter Olympics.

American speedskating star Jordan Stolz says you have to expect the unexpected at the Olympics. Today, he was proven right when the peloton in the men's mass start race continuously lagged behind the two leading speedskaters for nearly the entire race.

Stolz said he was surprised none of the other competitors rose to the occasion to bridge the gap and start chasing. "In the mass start, you would think that they would want to chase more to try and catch Jorrit [Bergsma], being that I already have two gold medals, and the guys who are, you know, the gold medal favorites in the mass start didn’t want to chase," Stolz told reporters after the race.

It was clear to Stolz, who has won two gold medals and one silver at this Olympic Games, that the group was looking for him to sprint. "If they’re all sitting behind me at four laps to go, and I’m not, you know, building the pace, two guys in front just keep getting further and further ahead," he said. "That’s clear to me that they were kind of settling for third."

Stolz said that they expected him to chase, but he "wasn't going to do that." He realized gold and silver were off the table with "probably about five laps to go," he said, when the peloton was waiting for him to start chasing.

"It was kind of depressing, actually, when it got to the point where it's like everybody's settling everybody's settling for third place," Stolz said.

Stolz, who was racing for a historic third gold medal in a singular Winter Games, is walking away from this Olympic Games proud of his wins and with lessons learned for next time. “Two golds and a silver. ... I mean, that’s pretty good,” he said.

Kaori Sakamoto knew well before the scores were announced. She skated off the ice Thursday night at the Milano Ice Skating Arena with a glum expression on her face. She could sense that the one jump she couldn’t pull off in her free skate was going to keep her from the gold medal.

Alysa Liu, the soon-to-be champion, got up from the leader’s chair as soon as Sakamoto left the ice surface. Liu hugged Sakamoto tight and long. A tear worked its way slowly down Sakamoto’s right cheek. More tears would flow later from the most decorated women’s figure skater in Japanese history.

“I really wanted to skate perfectly here,” Sakamoto said via an interpreter. “Knowing that I couldn’t, and it was the difference for the gold, was painful. I couldn’t stop the tears.”

American speedskater Mia Manganello just took home bronze in her final Olympic race, earning her first individual medal at 36 years old.

Dutch speed skater Marijke Groenewoud won gold, while Ivanie Blondin earned silver for Canada.

Mia Manganello celebrates winning bronze in the speed skating women's mass start final today. Piero Cruciatti / AFP - Getty Images

The speedskaters are now off. Keep an eye on Team USA's Mia Manganello, a one-time Olympic medalist, who is retiring after these Games.

It was a shocking race today in the men's mass start event, where inaction from the peloton created an unbridgeable gap between the pack and the two competitors in the lead.

American speedskater Jordan Stolz attempted to chase the bronze medal in the final moments of the race but lost out to Italian speedskater Andrea Giovannini. Stolz finished the race fourth.

Jordan Stolz reacts after competing in semi-final in the men's mass start event today. Sarah Stier / Getty Images

Dutch speedskater Jorrit Bergsma maintained his lead throughout the race, creating a wider and wider gap as it progressed. He cruised to gold in the end, looking out at the crowd and asking them to make some noise as he crossed the finish line. The 40-year-old took gold for the first time since the 2014 Winter Games. Viktor Hald Thorup of Denmark finished with silver.

Stolz was trying to win his third gold medal of these Games, which would have made him only the second American long track speedskater to do so.

The mass start was Stolz's final opportunity to make history after coming up short in the 1,500 meter competition on Thursday. He finished with silver in that event behind China’s Zhongyan Ning, who set an Olympic record.

There's no miracle comeback after all!

World champions Canada have taken the bronze medal, beating a stubborn Team USA 10-7. Team USA gave a good account of themselves, but couldn't recover from errors in the sixth and eighth ends ultimately cost them.

Canada came to Italy for gold, but the crowd went wild to celebrate this one.

Canada take an 8-7 lead into the final end of the women's curling bronze medal match, and the world champions have the hammer.

Can Team USA pull off a huge comeback here?

American speedskater Jordan Stolz is going for his third gold medal at these Games. If he wins, he'd be just the second American long track speedskater to accomplish that feat.

Body blow for Team USA as Canada restores their lead, scoring three with the hammer in the eighth end to make it 8-5.

Two ends left for Team USA to snatch an unlikely medal.

Stunning work as Team USA level the women's bronze medal match 5-5, scoring two with the hammer.

But Canada still have the edge as they take the hammer next with three ends remaining.

Oceane Michelon just earned gold for France in the 12.5km mass start biathlon, finishing with a time of 37:18.1. It was a major comeback for the 23-year-old Olympian, who overcame two misses in the range to earn her first gold medal.

Fellow French competitor Julia Simon finished with silver, while Tereza Vobornikova of Czechia took bronze.

Canada have taken a 5-3 lead at the end of the sixth end of the women's bronze medal match.

Peterson missed a stone on the right that caused Team USA a spot of bother that they struggled to recover from.

The world champions scored three with the hammer, but with four ends remaining Team USA still has time to mount a comeback.

With more events left to go, Team USA has already won a record number of gold medals at the Milan Cortina Winter Games. With 11 medals and counting, this is the most medals ever won by Team USA in a single Winter Games.

The United States currently ranks second to Norway in gold medals, as well as total medals. Norway has 40 total medals, including 18 gold, and the U.S. has 30 medals total and 11 gold.

In the women's curling bronze medal match, Team USA leads Canada 3-2 after the fifth end.

There's been very little to separate the two and Team USA have remained stubborn contenders in this contest against the world number one team and world champions Canada.

Canada will have the hammer at the beginning of the second half and will expect to restore parity at least, but this one remains on a knife edge for now!

American speedskater Jordan Stolz just finished fourth in the first mass start semifinal, securing his spot in the final race. The top eight skaters from each of the two semifinal races advance to the medal event.

Jordan Stolz at the semi-final 1 of the Speed Skating Men's Mass Start today. Sarah Stier / Getty Images

Stolz is racing today for a shot at his third gold medal at these Games.

Canada and Team USA are all square as they head into the third end of the women’s curling bronze medal match.

The Canadian team quickly levelled things up after Team USA took a 1-0 lead.

The bronze medal match between Canada and USA in the women’s curling is underway.

USA's Tara Peterson delivers the stone in the Curling Women's Round Robin game against Canada today. Marco Bertorello / AFP via Getty Images

Team USA's women's curling team are looking for their first ever medal in curling, but face formidable opponents in world champions Canada.

A tri of Germany teams lead the 4-man bobsleigh event after runs 1 and 2, on a day marred by delay after a heavy crash to the Austrian team.

The sled piloted by two-man gold medalist Johannes Lochner currently leads the way, 0.43 seconds of countryman and defending gold medalist Francisco Friedrich. Completing the podium is Germany's Adam Ammour, just 0.16 seconds behind.

Pilot Johannes Lochner, Thorsten Margis, Jorn Wenzel and Georg Fleischhauer of Team Germany compete in the Men's Bobsleigh Four-man Heat 1 today. Al Bello / Getty Images

Things came to a halt earlier in the day following a heavy crash involving the Austrian sled piloted by Jakob Mandlbauer. The crash was not shown on broadcast, but NBC News' Gadi Schwartz saw the German pilot dragged along the track, his head hitting on the wall.

Crowds watched on anxiously as teammates Daniel Bertschler, Sebastian Mitterer, and Daiyehan Nichols-Bardi were seen exiting the sled unharmed, but medics tended to Mandlbauer for a further ten minutes before the competition resumed.

A member of team Austria later told NBC News Mandlbauer he is alert, conscious, and moving his legs, but is undergoing further monitoring.

The French team piloted by Romain Heinrich also flipped over toward the end of the session, but all four men made it out of the sled safely.

From funny to emotional and everything in between, here are some of the top fans from the 2026 Milan Cortina Olympics.

Norway’s Johannes Hoesflot Klaebo completed his historic gold medal sweep of the men’s cross-country skiing events on Saturday by winning his sixth race and set the record for the most golds by one athlete in a single Winter Olympics.

Johannes Hoesflot Klaebo of Team Norway celebrates winning gold in the Men's 50km Mass Start Classic today. Lars Baron / Getty Images

Klaebo’s victory in the 50-kilometer mass start race shattered the nearly 50-year record set by American speed skater Eric Heiden, who won five golds in the 1980 Lake Placid Olympics.

All of Heiden’s wins were in individual races and two of Klaebo’s have come in team events, so Heiden’s record for individual wins still stands.

Jack Hughes had some pretty incredible moments during Team USA’s semifinal win. The NHL star scored two goals in six minutes during the 6-2 rout of Slovakia, advancing to the Olympic final against Canada.

German pilots Johannes Lochner and Francesco Friedrich and Great Britain’s Brad Hall occupied the top three spots on the leaderboard after Run 1 of the four-man bobsled event.

The United States won gold in the Winter Olympics freestyle skiing mixed teams final today, defending their 2022 title.

Christopher Lillis of Team USA tosses his skis as he celebrates winning the Freestyle Skiing Mixed Team Aerials Final today. Jeff Pachoud / AFP via Getty Images

Switzerland took the silver medal, while China, who were the favorites for the top podium spot, only got bronze.

With 11 days of speed skating competition down, there’s just one more event on the 2026 Olympic program: the mass start.

A chaotic event that resembles short track more closely than any of the other speed skating races, the mass start typically features between 16 and 24 skaters racing around the oval in a pack. The 16 laps are split into four intervals, marked by a sprint every four laps.

Both events feature two semifinals of 14 or 15 skaters each. The top eight skaters in each semifinal advance to the final.

Two Americans have two legitimate shots at gold in Milan: Sprint sensation Jordan Stolz and world No. 1 Mia Manganello.

Mikaela Shiffrin sits down with Mike Tirico and opens up about her different Olympic experiences, breaks down her win in the slalom, explains how she used her performance at the Beijing Olympics to motivate her and more.

It’s the penultimate day of competition with many medals still to hand out. 

All times are in Eastern, and an asterisk signifies a medal event:

4 a.m.: Bobsled, four-man, heat 1

4 a.m.: Freestyle skiing, men’s ski cross seeding

4:45 a.m.: Freestyle skiing, mixed team aerials finals*