Hello from the second full day of the winter Olympics, where we started with a stunning sequence of low and high moments during the women’s downhill final on the slopes of Cortina.
Lindsey Vonn suffered a devastating crash and was airlifted off the course just seconds after her run began. Breezy Johnson ended up taking home gold in the same event. This is the determined and spirited competition you expect of the games on full display.
Also: in the figure skating team event, Team USA narrowly topped Japan to win gold, thanks to a clutch performance by Ilia Malinin.
We call it Legendary February here at NBC for a reason — in addition to the action in Milan and Cortina, tonight is the Super Bowl. We’ll have the big game — and Bad Bunny’s halftime show — airing on NBC and covered live on nbcnews.com. And of course catch all the Olympics action on Peacock.
Live from Milan Cortina
Let’s get the heartbreaking news out first: American skiing star Lindsey Vonn, competing with a torn ACL suffered late last month, crashed and tumbled just 13 seconds into her run. Vonn, who was choppered off the slopes, broke her left leg and needed surgery, a local official said.
Now for the good news: American downhill skier Breezy Johnson became the second American woman — along with Vonn — to ever win the Olympic gold medal in downhill skiing. She finished in 1:36.1 to give the U.S. its first medal of the Milan Cortina Games.
In the figure skating team event, Team USA was tied with Japan for first place heading into the final segment: men’s free skate. Ilia Malinin, the “Quad God,” landed a backflip and outperformed Japan’s Shun Sato to clinch victory. The pairs teams of Madison Chock and Evan Bates and Ellie Kam and Danny O’Shea, and singles skaters Amber Glenn and Alysa Liu also were part of the winning team.
Norway’s Sander Eitrem took home gold in the men’s 5,000-meter speedskating competition, setting an Olympic record at 6:03.95. Czechia won gold in women’s parallel giant slalom, while Austria took gold in the men’s event.
For those keeping score at home, as of this writing, Italy leads with 9 medals, Norway has 6 and Japan has 4. Here’s our medal tracker for more.
Athlete Interview
After Austrian snowboarder Benjamin Karl won gold in the men’s parallel giant slalom, he removed his layers until he was bare-chested. He flexed his arms and let out a guttural scream. He also lay in the snow and began pumping his arms. His idol, Alpine skier Hermann Maier, had once done something similar, and Karl wanted to pay tribute.
“Now I did it, this is the crown of my career,” Karl said afterward.
Karl had won three previous Olympic medals, most recently the gold medal in this event at Beijing in 2022.
“Having won gold, silver and bronze, I was super relaxed today and all the days before. Less pressure than my competitors,” Karl said.
He previously said this would be his final Games. He went out in a memorable fashion.
Behind the Scenes
Today, our correspondent Shaquille Brewster spotted world-renowned entertainer Usher taking a stroll in Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II, a luxury shopping concourse not far from the Duomo di Milano. A tourist attraction, the galleria features marble floors that resemble a museum, as if you’re about to see a da Vinci masterpiece.
Wearing a blue puffer jacket with the letters “USA” on the back, Usher took a photo with Laila Edwards of the U.S. women’s hockey team. Just 22 years old, Edwards wasn’t born when Usher first started making hits. Civilians gathered and tried to take photos with the pop star, too.
Photo of the Day
When to watch
Tomorrow has five medal events, including the slopestyle final in women’s skiing. At night, American figure skaters Madison Chock and Evan Bates look to continue their dominant start in rhythm dance and the U.S. women’s hockey team faces Switzerland.
All times are in Eastern, and asterisks mean it’s a medal event:
Monday, Feb. 9
- 4:05 a.m.: Curling, mixed doubles (Norway vs. South Korea, Italy vs. United States, Switzerland vs. Canada, Czechia vs. Estonia)
- 4:30 a.m: Alpine skiing, men’s combined downhill
- 6:10 a.m: Women’s ice hockey (Japan vs. Italy)
- 6:30 a.m: Women’s freestyle skiing, slopestyle final*
- 8:00 a.m: Alpine skiing, men’s combined slalom*
- 10:40 a.m: Women’s ice hockey (Germany vs. France)
- 11:00 a.m: Luge, women’s singles run 1 and 2
- 11:30 a.m: Speed skating, women’s 1,000 meters*
- 12:05 p.m.: Curling, mixed doubles semifinal 1
- 12:05 p.m.: Curling, mixed doubles semifinal 2
- 1:00 p.m.: Luge, women’s singles run 2
- 1:00 p.m.: Ski jumping, men’s normal hill*
- 1:20 p.m.: Figure skating, rhythm dance
- 1:30 p.m.: Snowboarding, women’s big air final*
- 2:40 p.m.: Women’s ice hockey (Switzerland vs. United States)
- 3:10 p.m.: Women’s ice hockey (Canada vs. Czechia)
That’s it for now! We’ll be back tomorrow.
