Hello from Milan and Cortina, where the action picked up with the U.S. women’s hockey and mixed double curling teams ahead of tomorrow’s opening ceremony.
Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio caused a bit of a stir when they attended one of the hockey matches. Our reporter Andrew Greif took in the scene.
More behind-the-scenes moments and details on tomorrow’s ceremony from our correspondents below. And of course, catch all of the Games streaming on Peacock.
Live from Milan Cortina
Today began with curling, where Great Britain, Sweden, the United States and Italy all picked up wins in mixed doubles round-robin play.
We were supposed to get a peek at Lindsey Vonn in downhill training for Alpine skiing, but that session was canceled due to poor weather. Vonn is attempting to compete even though she tore her ACL last week.
In women’s ice hockey, Sweden, Italy and the United States all won their first game in the preliminary round. Team USA dominated its matchup against Czechia, winning 5-1. The States outshot their opponent a whopping 42-14, and captain Hilary Knight scored her first goal of the Games.
The Finland-Canada women’s hockey game was postponed due to a norovirus outbreak among Finland’s team. Thirteen players were either sick or put in quarantine, pushing the match to next week.
The night concluded with qualifying in men’s big air snowboarding and a training session in men’s ski jumping.
Behind the Scenes
A dispatch from our reporter Andrew Greif:
For the next two weeks, the Milano Rho Ice Hockey Arena will host the world’s best players competing in one of the most watched Olympic sports. Fans of the Games will see a lot of this temporary venue, which on the outside is sandwiched into a complex of hangar-like buildings that usually host trade fairs and business expos.
But inside, the low ceiling and small number of seats create an intimate and electric atmosphere. When players from the United States and Czechia whacked their sticks on the ice in unison during warmups, the sound rattled out like a shot.
And in a place this small, nothing goes unobserved. Few fans were watching hockey early in the first period when Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Vice President JD Vance arrived to watch an eventual U.S. victory over Czechia. A buzz went through the arena as photographers and security quickly moved to get into place. Vance watched alongside his wife and small children. They mingled with dignitaries — including Tilman Fertitta, the U.S. ambassador to Italy and the owner of the NBA’s Houston Rockets, and past U.S. Olympian Apolo Anton Ohno — and stayed through the game’s end.
A Grand Spectacle Awaits
After months of preparation, the opening ceremony of the Milan Cortina Olympic Games will kick off tomorrow at San Siro stadium. It will feature elaborate tributes to Italian culture and Olympic history, and performances from world-class musicians including the pianist Lang Lang who, like the athletes themselves, have been waiting for this big stage.
“The process of making classical music and [of] the sports athletes are quite similar,” Lang Lang told NBC News a day before the ceremony. “A lot of hard work among many hours of practice. And then the moment comes, the glorious moment comes, you have to give everything.”
The ceremony will start at 2 p.m. ET (8 p.m. in Milan). About 70,000 people are expected to attend. They should expect to see a segment celebrating fashion designer Giorgio Armani, a tribute to 100 years of the Olympics (including wooden skis), and musical set pieces featuring elements of classical Italian opera. Mariah Carey is expected to sing in Italian.
The star might be the Milan Cortina Olympic cauldron, which was modeled after the intricate knot design of Leonardo da Vinci’s “Nodi Vinciani.” The cauldron will be kept at the Arco della Pace, and it will expand and retract constantly throughout the Games.
Photo of the day
When to watch
Tomorrow is a big day here, with the beginning of figure skating, more curling and women’s hockey — and of course the opening ceremony!
Here’s the full schedule (all times Eastern):
Friday, Feb. 6
- 3:55 a.m.: Figure skating: Team event women’s short, rhythm dance, pairs short
- 4:05 a.m.: Mixed doubles curling round-robin (Sweden-Great Britain, Italy-Switzerland, USA-Canada)
- 6:10 a.m.: Women’s hockey pool play (France-Japan)
- 8:35 a.m.: Mixed doubles curling round-robin (Czechia-USA, Estonia-Italy, South Korea-Great Britain, Sweden-Norway)
- 8:40 a.m.: Women’s hockey pool play (Czechia-Switzerland)
- 2 p.m.: Opening ceremony
The Games are (really) about to begin folks. See you here tomorrow.
