2026 Winter Olympics live updates: Ilia Malinin skates for gold, U.S. women face Italy in hockey quarterfinals

Breezy Johnson gets engaged at the finish line

01:29

Connor Watkins’ plan to propose to his girlfriend, American skier Breezy Johnson, was almost foiled Thursday because of another man: Italian President Sergio Mattarella. 

Watkins was making his way down from the stands when Mattarella arrived at the venue, with his security locking down the path Watkins needed to traverse to make it to Johnson. Fortunately, Watkins was able to outlast the brief delay and get into position before the medal ceremony began.

Johnson had dropped a hint during the 2024 Paris Olympics, mentioning offhand to Watkins “how cool” she thought it was when Olympians got engaged at the Games. Watkins planned a surprise proposal and clued in Johnson’s teammates and coaches, who were in on the secret. Even the stadium announcer caught wind, alerting the fans in Cortina just before Watkins popped the question. 

As part of the proposal, Watkins gave Johnson a piece of wood inscribed with Taylor Swift lyrics. Later, Swift commented on an Instagram post of the couple, congratulating them. Johnson pinned Swift’s words at the top of the post and responded, “I don’t know what’s better, Olympic gold or this comment.”

After six days of competition, Italy leads all nations with 17 total medals.

The host nation was tied with winter sport-powerhouse Norway heading into yesterday, but a four-medal day gave Italian athletes the edge.

Less than half of the medal events at the 2026 Games have been contested, but Italy has already matched its total medals won during the 2022 Beijing Games.

After finishing first in Tuesday’s short program, American star Ilia Malinin enters today’s free skate as the clear gold medal favorite in men’s singles. Malinin holds just more than a five-point lead over his biggest rival, Japan’s Yuma Kagiyama, with scores from both the short program and free skate added together to determine a winner. 

This will be Malinin’s fourth skate of these Games after competing in both men’s segments of the team event and Tuesday’s individual men’s short program. 

Ilia Malinin on winning Olympic gold and redefining figure skating

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With the score deadlocked at 6-6, China and Norway required an extra end to settle their match in the third session of the men’s round robin curling. Ultimately, it was the Norwegians who triumphed, scoring two stones and securing the tie 8-6.

Team Norway competes during the Men's Curling Round Robin match against Team China today. Mattia Ozbot / Getty Images

Elsewhere, Italy produced a surprise to beat Beijing 2022 silver medallists Great Britain and Team USA, who were defeated by Canada 6-3.

Switzerland, meanwhile, earnedan early handshake from the Czech Republic with the score at 7-3.

Seven victories from nine games will guarantee a place in the semifinals, although fewer may well be sufficient.

The Court of Arbitration for Sport began hearing Ukrainian skeleton racer Vladyslav Heraskevych’s appeal today, with a decision expected later in the day on whether he can return to competition after his disqualification over his “helmet of remembrance.”

Ukraine's Vladyslav Heraskevych, with his helmet, which features pictures of people killed in the war with Russia.  Andrew Milliga / PA Images via Getty Images

The 27-year-old was removed from the Olympics yesterday when the International Bobsleigh and Skeleton Federation jury ruled that imagery on the helmet — depicting athletes killed since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022 — breached rules on political neutrality at the Games.

Heraskevych is seeking reinstatement or at least a CAS-supervised run, pending a decision by sport’s highest court ahead of the final two runs set for tonight.

“I’m pretty positive about how it went,” he told reporters outside the office of CAS in Milan following his appearance before the court. “I hope the truth will prevail and I know that I was innocent.”

With all the focus on the United States and Canada in the men’s hockey tournament, it’s easy to overlook an early and critical Group B matchup between two medal contenders.

Sweden and Finland — two elite Scandinavian hockey nations and rivals on the ice — are set to clash today at 6:05 a.m. ET.

In the last Olympic hockey tournament at Beijing 2022, with no NHL players competing, Finland won gold. But the Finns were upset in their opening fixture against Slovakia this week in Italy. The 4-1 defeat puts them in a challenging position with immediate pressure to perform against the tough Swedish team. 

There’s a new chocolate-based star at the Olympics.

It’s not a muffin or lava cake — it’s a giant Nutella dispenser.

On Feb. 4, U.S. snowboarder Hahna Norman posted a video from the Milan-Cortina Olympics that attracted a lot of hungry eyeballs — and it had nothing to do with her talent on the slopes.

While showing viewers around the inside of one of the Milan Olympic Village’s dining halls, viewers noticed a giant Nutella dispenser in the background.

Read the full story here.

The men’s free skate kicks off today, and it’s hard not to think of the Olympic men’s individual figure skating final as the Ilia Malinin show. 

The “Quad God,” who has been undefeated for well over two years — 15 consecutive competitions — said he’s been taking it relatively easy at the Olympics so far. 

Ilia Malinin performs a somersault during his routine on Sunday. Tim Clayton / Getty Images

“I wanted to take [the short program] a little more slowly, a little more calm, and just push the autopilot button, see what happens,” Malinin said after skating on Tuesday. This came after some uncharacteristic wobbles in the team event, where he said he was affected by “Olympic excitement,” and that he had intended to preserve himself for the individual event, skating at “50 percent” of his capacity.

Today, however, he is expected to hit full throttle, warning that fans can expect to witness things never before seen on ice. 

It’s hard to imagine what that may be, given he has already redefined the technical ceiling of the sport. He regularly completes his signature quadruple Axel in competition, and recently landed an historic seven quadruple jumps in a single free skate, also setting a new benchmark for the highest free skate score ever, at the Grand Prix Final.

Read the full story here.

Mike Tirico looks at the drones being used during the 2026 Milan Cortina Winter Olympics, explaining why fans are getting “never-before-seen perspectives.”

Shaun White was emotional after riding the halfpipe once again, explaining how much he misses the rush of competition.

Reigning world champions Great Britain are taking on their Italian hosts at the Cortina Curling Olympic Stadium, where the third session of men’s round robin matches are underway.

Britain's Bobby Lammie, Grant Hardie and Hammy Mcmillan compete in the curling men's round robin against Sweden yesterday. Odd Andersen / AFP via Getty Images

Team USA are fighting it out with Canada, while China take on Norway and Switzerland are playing against the Czech Republic.

Dual winter and summer Olympic medalist Eddy Alvarez recalls his experience competing in speed skating and baseball and shares his thoughts on the current Games.

Summer and winter Olympic medalist recalls competing in Games

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Win-or-go-home hockey begins today as the USA women’s team faces host nation Italy in the quarterfinals. “Quad God” Ilia Malinin takes the ice again, hoping to cement his status as the best male figure skater and win gold.

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

3:05 a.m.: Curling, men’s round-robin (Canada vs. USA, Italy vs. Great Britain, China vs. Norway, Switzerland vs. Czechia)

4 a.m.: Snowboarding, women’s cross run 1

4:55 a.m.: Snowboarding, women’s cross run 2

5:45 a.m.: Cross-country skiing, men’s 10km interval start

6:10 a.m.: Men’s hockey, Finland vs. Sweden, Italy vs. Slovakia