That’s it from us for today. Lots happening tomorrow though: the qualifiers begin for the aerials, which is always spectacular, as will be the snowboard slopestyle final. There are medals in biathlon and in Nordic combined, for the fans of serrated skis. There’ll be team pursuit medals in the speed skating, the men’s big air final for skis, the short program for the women’s single figure skating, the two-man bobsleigh medals, and more curling than you can slide a rock at. See you there.
Day 13 Winter Olympic round up
More Dutch speed skating success, with Xandra Velzeboer winning the women’s 1000m.
Loic Meillard brought Swiss gold in the men’s slalom
Great Britain are in a tough spot in the men’s curling standings, fifth with only two games in hand.
The USA and Canada go into the women’s hockey gold medal match, with Sweden and Switzerland to play off for bronze.
Austria wins the men’s ski jump team gold based on second round points, with the final round cancelled for weather.
USA goes gold and bronze in the women’s monobob, with Elana Meyers Taylor stunned to see Germany’s Laura Nolte give up the lead during the final run.
A bold big air final for the women’s skiers saw huge tricks landed, with Canada’s Megan Oldham on top, before Eileen Gu and Flora Tabenelli knocked Kirsty Muir off the podium with third-round stunners.
Japan win pairs figure-skating gold thanks to Miura Riku and Kihara Riyuichi.
The Swiss have narrowed the gap in the women’s ice hockey semi, it’s 2-1 to Canada with most of the third period to go.
Can’t find a way through though, and they give up a powerplay to Canada with less than two minutes to go. The Swiss take their goalie off, bring on an extra attacker, but to no avail.
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Sometimes you see figure skating comps where it’s routine after routine of perfect execution, and it’s compelling for that reason, even though there’s no way for the ordinary observer to see much difference between the performances. Today was different, with a series of minor mistakes, of the cracks where the pressure told, and then a couple of performances without any, including one under more pressure than most. Miura and Kihara are the current world championship holders from 2025, but had so much work to do. To produce what they did was a truly great performance.
Figure skating gold for Japan in an incredible comeback story
What a moment for Miura and Kihara. They’re in tears, kneeling on the ground in gratitude, turned to face one another, and only after some 30 seconds of disbelief do they break out into smiles. One partner lifts up the other, only this time it’s in an embrace to celebrate winning a medal rather than an effort to do so.
They were nowhere after the short program, the first round. They had finished fifth, seven points off the lead, having made a mistake that held them back. Winning from there is so, so difficult: having to put up a score for other teams to chase, dealing with judges who tend to score higher as the rounds go on.
Yet they came out and delivered a flawless, stunning skate, bravely and ambitiously and with technical precision, and then put up a truly massive score of 158.13 for their second round.
Georgia win silver, that country’s first winter Games medal, thanks to Anastasiia Metelkina and Luka Berulava.
Germany take bronze via Minerva Hase and Nikita Volodin.
Dramatic strings for Minerva Hase and Nikita Volodin, more lively than many. A lovely beginning, as they start kneeling beside one another with eyes closed, then rise into their routine. The synced jumps are good for the first, the second, then she slips out a touch on the third landing. Then can’t complete a triple salchow, goes for a single instead. So a couple of deductions coming. Lovely spiral in terms of form, but did it miss a rotation? They finish off well, it’s a very good routine, but how good? I’m thinking maybe silver, likely bronze, but can’t see how they’re going top…
It’s 139.08, which means it’s bronze for Germany! They slip from top spot but it’s still a fine finish.
Fair play to the Georgians. Great speed across the ice, dynamism in their number despite some very slow mournful French music. I’m in the cart too for the sparkly aquamarine numbers that they’re wearing to match. Superb lifts, Luka Berulava is a rock at the base of those, and Anastasiia Metelkina’s shape at the top of the lifts is immaculate. But she steps off the landing of one of their throws, so that will be a deduction, and there are a couple of other technical checks. The music shift for the second half of their program didn’t really gel with the first, for me, on the artistic front.
146.29! Which means 221.75 overall, which means they are in silver position now, probably bronze after the final pair skate, and Georgia will win its first ever Winter Olympic medal. Japan is guaranteed silver now, and could yet hang on for gold.
Here comes the last pair, for Germany.
Talk about Meatloaf and schmaltz, the Canadian pair are using the Gladiator theme music. My name ix Maximus Decimus Aurelius, father of a murdered triple axel attempt. Oh, and there is a stumble! First Lia Pereira, a small miss of her footing that she recovers, then a couple of moves later, a hand-down slip from Trennt Michaud. Two reds there, and a yellow on their death spiral spin as they come out of it early. That’s a shame, they’ve been thrown off. They recover through a strong lift section, they’ve been brave, and they embrace each other with tenderness in their disappointment. They’ve had a very high finish in this comp, without getting everything right in their last run. They’ll be out of the medals…
it’s 125.06 for the round, and 199.66 in sixth spot overall right now. A personal best combined score for them, well done.
It also means that Japan are on the podium for that wonder-skate. They can’t finish lower than third now.
Very strong technical skate from Maria Pavlova and Alexei Sviatchenko for Hungary. Green boxes across the screen, which means no complaints from the technical committee. I’m still going to say, I didn’t get as much sense of emotion or flair from this pair as some others, it was far from the most interesting routine to watch, even though nothing went wrong. The judges say…
Not quite! Not enough for the lead. Still a great score, 131.39 is a personal best, and they’re in second spot with three pairs to go.
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Basically the last four pairs of figure skaters need to score about 156, or in the case of the leading Germans, 152, to go past the Japanese score on combined points. That’s what we’re watching out for.
Here’s Pawel Smrek writing in to clarify the ski jumping situation, thanks Pawel.
“Due to heavy snow which significantly reduced descent speeds, the third round of jumps was cancelled and the points accrued after the second round determined the final standings. There were 13 out of 16 possible jumps taken in the third round, however the jury thought that the conditions deteriorated so significantly that the final three jumpers would’ve been at an unfair disadvantage.”
Beau Dure writes in. “Elana Meyers Taylor had a couple of world championships, a lot of World Cup successes and five Olympic medals, but until five minutes ago, she didn’t have Olympic gold.”
The last four warming up in the skating: Hungary, Canada, Georgia, Germany.
In the ice hockey semis, Canada’s women are leading Switzerland 2-0 in the second period.
Stunning skate from Japan! Miura Riku and Kihara Riyuichi are perfection. They had a stutter in the first round that saw them finish fifth coming into this round, where normally they would be expecting to be in the top couple, so they have a lot of ground to make up. Miura is tiny, so Kihara is able to throw her around with ease. He’s spinning her on top of his upstretched arm like she’s a pizza base. Their solo jump sequence is in sync, then she lands his throws with such assurance. They pull out all the stops going into the closing sequence, a dizzying (literally) display of spins and lifts.
They score a staggering 158.13. That’s nearly 23 points higher than the next best in this round. Overall they’re on 231, with their lower score from the first round. They, like some others, sink to the ice with relief on realising how perfectly they’ve performed in that round. There are still four pairs to go, and normally you’d expect the medals to come from the last few, but that might have been a gold medal skate.
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Now we’re back to the figure skating pairs. China currently leading, Italy second, with five scores yet to come in.
To recap the curling, the Swiss came back beat GB in the women’s team round robin match, Korea beat China, Canada beat Japan, and Italy got their first win over the USA.
That leaves Sweden unbeaten at the top of the group, then Korea, Switzerland, USA all on four wins. Three games to go, so in theory any of the ten teams could still qualify.
Elana Meyers-Taylor pinches US gold in the monobob!
Four hundredths of a second separate gold and silver, but it’s not in the order you’d expect. Meyers Taylor had the second-last run, but got home in 59.51. Laura Nolte of Germany was last, and had to hold her lead, but a couple of tiny clips of the wall might have cost her. It was a very good run, 59.70 overall, but just enough to slip into silver position. She’s disappointed, while Meyers-Taylor leaps around the waiting area with her young son and her bronze-winning teammate, Kaillie Armbruster Humphries. Elana Meyers Taylor, at 41 years of age and after several years out of the sport to have kids, has come back to win gold.
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Gold for Canada in the women's big air, Kirsty Muir just missing the podium
Meg Oldham falls, looking for the switch left double 14 mute grab, a monster trick attempt on her last run, but it does not matter. She’s last to jump, she’s already in top spot, and Megan Oldham wins gold for Canada.
Eileen Gu runs out to embrace her, the Chinese skier looking absolutely delighted with a silver medal. She was ice cold on her third jump to get into that second spot from absolutely nowhere.
And Flora Tabanelli the home slope medallist, bronze for Italy with a similarly nerveless jump for 94.25, the highest score of the whole night, on her final jump.
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A long chat with her coach at the top of the slope for Muir, deciding what to try. She needs to improve her score. Snow falling across her goggles. She closes her eyes and takes a beat. Forward facing, looking for the double 14 tailgrab… and she skids out on the landing! Just hit the snow so hard and those skis slip out. She’s a dejected figure as she picks herself up and walks off the course, having occupied the gold medal spot for a brief moment.
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Kirsty Muir will have to go big for a medal. There’s a 1680 rotation for Flora Tabenelli, four and a half rotations for the Italian, lands the jump switch, scores a 94, and it boosts her from fourth to third. Now we’re getting hot. Multiple skiers landing 16s tonight. Goodness me.
Heavy landing for Maria Gaslitter, she loses her rotation and lands on her shoulder and back, but thankfully bounces right back up and is smiling by the time she reaches the bottom of the run. Tried to go big to improve, and couldn’t make it happen.
Anni Karava similarly loses her landing and won’t improve for Finland in the ski big air.
Cleanest run of the day from Australia’s Bree Walker, she goes top of the standings for now with seven racers to come, so at worst a finish of eighth – might have been higher if not for some errors on her first run, but that’s the strictness of this discipline, there are no throwaway scores in the sled.
Bree Walker about to take off in the monobob. Stand by.
Eileen Gu into silver! Left double 12 with a tailgrab, the defending champ lands it clean after a poor second score by her standards. She scores an 89! Less than two points behind Oldham, and Muir is into bronze by now, but has another jump to come.
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Everyone is sticking their landings in round three of the big air. Naomi Urness with an 82, Liu Mengting a 76, and Lara Wolf a 76 so far. They’ve all improved their overall score, with the best two scores combined. Not podium though, they’re fourth, fifth and sixth so far.
Men's super team ski jumping is cancelled
The weather has ended the night of jumps, with heavy snow and wind. That means, if I understand correctly, that Austria, Poland, and Norway get awarded the medals by the judges based on points accrued. If you have a better handle on this, let me know by email.
Wooooof! Only for Megan Oldham to sneak past her with the next jump, the last one of the final round. The young Canadian does three and a half rotations, mute grab, lands it backwards. It doesn’t score as high as Muir, it’s an 89, but Oldham’s big score from jump one gives her the lead by six points. That’s going to be very hard to beat.
Oldham, Muir, Tabanelli in the podium spots with a round to go.
Kirsty Muir goes into the gold medal spot! Plenty of jumps left to go, but that is a massive, massive trick – a 1680 rotation double cork, and she sticks the landing! One glove down as she lands, but nailing something that big, the judges are going to love the degree of ambition. She scores a 93.00, second biggest score of the night, and combined with her solid first score it puts her top of the pops.
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Italy now top two in the women’s freestyle skiing big air. Flora Tabanelli sticks a reverse landing to go top.
The women’s monobob final heat has begun as well, this time ordered slowest to fastest on the combined times for the previous three heats. Four racers out of 20 have gone down.
We’re into the second jumps now, so let’s stay here and come back to the skating later. Lara Wolf of Austria falls on her second jump, she’ll have a third to make amends though. Maria Gaslitter is leading for Italy. Six out of ten skiers are yet to jump second though. Naomi Urness, for Canada, falls as well.
(If you’re not sure what this sport is, they’re going down a massive ramp, off a massive jump, and doing various twists and spins mid air to get scored by judges.)
The women’s big air final has got going in the meantime, despite the weather. Heavy snow still. Kirsty Muir for GB has landed a solid 81.75 on her first jump.
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What a finish from the Germans! Tight routine from Annika Hocke and Robert Kunkel to begin: they’re in sync, and it looks strong rather than exciting to begin with. But their creative flair comes more and more to the fore as it goes, starting with a back outside death spiral, to have a point of difference to the other spirals we’ve seen, and then their choreo element that involves a dazzling acrobatic sequence as Kunkel holds Hocke by one ankle and one wrist and aeroplanes her around and around in a twirling circle, sometimes so low that she seems about to skim the ice, sometimes up at shoulder height. Somehow the judges find a couple of quibbles with technical elements – a catch from one of the throws was too low, yada yada – but that was by far the most spectacular routine so far, it got the crowd jumping at the end.
My only deduction: using Meatloaf as musical backing. Figure skating music choices are almost always so bland.
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Here’s an unlikely cultural combo in the figure skating: an Armenian pair doing an Indian-themed routine using the music from Slumdog Millionaire. She’s wearing a miniaturised skating version of a sari, he has a slimmed down shortened kurta. Karina Akopova lands a stunning throw triple lutz! She nearly hit the ceiling there, and still pins it on one skate. A couple of stumbles on the jumps though will bring down the score, and she looks frustrated as she comes off, though her partner Nikita Rakhmanin has a big smile. Their dance section was original, I’m not sure that the whole routine flowed together though. But something different, which takes courage.
Italy leading the US in the women’s curling, and 4-1 is a spicy scoreline in the 7th end. GB is up on the Swiss 4-3, Canada leading Japan, and Korea leading China.
Weather delays at the ski jumping too, they’re doing a gate change rather than postponing the whole event. There is reasonably dense snow falling.
Great Britain’s team up now, Anastasia Vaipan-Law and Luke Digby. Absolutely crisp synchronisation on their triple toeloop (where they spin upright side by side). Everyone has had a stumble so far, though, and both of them nearly fall on a double axel spin. They’re doing a more low-key musical approach, using The Cinematic Orchestra as backing. They clock in at 112.99 for this round, the lowest score so far, though their score from the first round has them third of fourth overall.
A short break follows to get the next four pairs warmed up, with 16 pairs in the final.
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We have our final eight teams for the men’s super team ski jumping. The order will be USA, Switzerland, Japan, Slovenia, Germany, Norway, Poland, Austria.
Aesthetics for Deanna Stellato-Dudek and Maxime Deschamps: she’s in a red silk choker dress, he’s got a glittery burgundy brocade number with a piratical cummerbund. Some sort of tango passion vibe for the Canadians. They go early with a split triple twist, he tosses her high in the air twirling like a majorette’s baton. Later, in what is supposed to a two-part sequence, she can’t complete it – she doesn’t fall, but has to forgo the second jump in order to stay up. Otherwise, they nail it, and for Deanna, this is an athlete who has reached the Olympic final level again at the age of 42, having spent 16 years retired from the sport before mounting a comeback.
They score a 126, best of the three so far.
A lovely moment from Poland, as Ioulia Chtchetinina collapses to the ice – but only after the routine is done. She’s come back from injuries that cost her the last Winter Olympics, and has just completed an error-free skate with Michal Wozniak, and as she sinks to the floor she’s laughing and crying at the same time. A couple of their lifts were not of the most complex variety, and there are some minor deductions for technical flaws, but they score 120 to the Kovalevs 113.
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The worst thing about figure skating, and maybe the best, is that you can watch a couple of people do the most outrageously impossible stuff you’ve ever seen in your life, and then a judge is like, “oh, your head was not lower than your knee while you were bent over backwards spinning around in 17 circles” and they dock scores.
For France, it’s the Kovalevs to begin, Camille and Pavel. Very fun routine, they do a rock and roll theme, black leather and some Beatles and some White Stripes. Camille has a fall early on that costs them some points, but probably makes some back with a triple salchow throw that she lands divinely - so, the feller has hurled her into a spinning rotation mid air, she’s done three spins and then landed on one skate as cleanly as a bread knife going into a new loaf. Such flair. She gives the crowd a rev-up motion as she feels the landing stick.
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Right, it’s time for figure skating! My favourite winter sport, and soon to be yours if I have anything to do with it. This is the free skating part of the pairs event, and medals will be won tonight.
The final heat is set for the women’s bobsled, with the top 20 competitors going through. The four heat times will be counted cumulatively. Germany sit first and fourth via current leader Laura Nolte and Lisa Buckwitz, and the Americans are second, third and fifth thanks to Elana Meyers Taylor, Kaillie Armbruster Humphries, and Kaysha Love. Australia’s Bree Walker is eighth.
In short, it’s hard for a racer to make up much time unless those ahead of them make serious mistakes.
The second round of the men’s super team ski jumping runs as follows: Kazakhstan, Italy, USA, France, Switzerland, Finland, Poland, Norway, Germany, Japan, Slovenia, Austria.
Weather threatens the women's big air final
Per the Reuters update: “The start of the women’s big air competition at the Winter Olympics was delayed on Monday because of heavy snow in the Italian mountain town of Livigno. Organizers were awaiting further weather updates to determine if the event can take place later on Monday, a spokesperson for the Livigno Snow Park said.
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It’s a tough sliding track. We saw some of the luge participants struggle on those corners, but the monobobs are much heavier and harder to manoeuvre. Several racers now have clipped the walls or come up high enough on the curves to hit the wooden ceiling. Lots of wobbles, the noses of the sleds sniffing about. The first few corners are where most of the trouble is.
Women's big air skiing delayed by snow
Weather delay in the freeski Big Air for the women’s final. Three runs per competitor, but we haven’t started the first. It’s snowing fairly heavily and there’s enough wind speed to concern the officials.
Sean Ingle reports from the venue:
The temporary press tent where the hardened members of the press corp are working is being blown and buffeted about. And, more importantly, such is the level of snow by the Big Air ramp in Livigno it is almost impossible to see. Yet the competition has not been postponed ... yet. We are delayed for a second time until 8pm GMT.
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We’re into the third heat in the women’s monobob. Australia’s Bree Walker was bullish about medal prospects before the Games, but currently sitting 8th and adrift by a second and a half. The GB sledder is Adele Nicoll, back in 12th at the moment.
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At the ski jump hill, we have 17 teams in the first round and 12 will qualify. This is the team event, so two jumpers per team. Of those who’ve had both jumps, the teams in the drop zone currently are Estonia, Ukraine, Turkey, China, and Romania.
Ah, the curling is back. This is the women’s team round robin. Four teams out of ten will go through. Italy, who can’t qualify, are taking on USA, who could still drop out of the semis from second spot. Korea, in third spot, play China, who will struggle to make it. Same deal for Switzerland, equal third, against Great Britain, with only two wins from five so far. And Japan, second last, play Canada, who need a boost with only two wins of their own.
USA book place in women's ice hockey final
A cross-check and penalty going Sweden’s way, but the US team stifles that chance efficiently, and even with a powerplay there’s nothing going Sweden’s way. The clock runs out before the final powerplay does, and the US women’s hockey team will play off for gold.
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At the ski jumping hill, the trial round is over for the men’s super team. Gregor Deschwanden had the best result, after bronze in the individual event. The final three teams on the start list for the first round will be Japan, Slovenia, Austria.
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An injury problem for Sweden, Lisa Johansson created a scoring chance, saw her shot deflected away by the goalie, then on crossing to the far side of the ice got her arm clipped by Joy Dunne and landed heavily. Johansson is getting some treatment on the bench and looking distressed. There’s still a bronze medal match to come.
Meanwhile, if you prefer schadenfreude to Olympicfreude, the Australians are just about out of the T20 World Cup. Catch up with Jim Wallace’s description.
Greetings all. It’s raining goals now, Hayley Scamurra making it 5-0, the third in less than two minutes of time off the clock. So that streak started with Abbey Murphy finding a tiny sliver of space over the goalie’s shoulder from almost lateral to the goal, then Leila Edwards looked the scorer with a long-range shot but her teammate Kendall Coyne got a tiny bit of stick to it as it passed by, helping deflect past Ebba Svenson Traff. The Swedish goalie was then subbed out for Emma Soderberg, who was immediately left stranded when a cross found Scamurra camped in front and unattended, able to flick low and score. End of the second period.
Aha, just as I’m about to pass on to Geoff Lemon, USA score again to lead Sweden 4-0. They’re going into the final, where they’ll face Canada or Switzerland; Geoff will be with you for that one. Peace out, people.
Here come USA again, the puck going around the net before Murphy lasers a riser high inside the far post as the keeper ducks. Brilliant finish and USA lead 3-0 with 4.40 to go in the second.
It’s remarkable, really, that, in 2026, people are still trying to tell us that a competition featuring nation-sates along with their national flags, colours and anthems, isn’t political – and let’s not forget that doing nothing is also a political act.
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USA are all over Sweden now and, with 7.13 to go in the second, look far more likely to extend their lead than have it reduced.
It was coming. A big double-save from Svensson in the Swedish goal kept it to 1-0, but then Bilka squared to Heise, who finished off the keeper’s body. USA lead 2-0 and are on their way to the final.
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Sri Lanka need 21 off 20 to eliminate Australia, Pathum Nissanka absolutely taking it off the set.
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With 13.30 to go in the second, it’s still USA 1-0 Sweden. The longer there’s only one in it, the more of a chance the underdogs have…
This was hard to watch. Sport hurts.
“Bruce Mouat not only has lovely eyes, he’s a lovely person,” advises Joanne McNair. “There’s a great interview with him from last year available on YouTube.”
That’s great to hear. Let’s hope he finds his best form in GB’s next two matches.
We’re away again in the women’s ice hockey semi, USA leading Sweden 1-0 after the first period.
I wasn’t surprised to learn, in Andy Bull’s piece below, that Team GB spends more on skeleton than anyone else. Success in cycling has a lot more to do with exchequer than any kind of natural aptitude or coaching skill; the countries best at it are those with the money to spend on it.
We’ll soon be back with ice hockey action, but it doesn’t really look like Sweden have the firepower to seriously test USA, though they’re keeping it tight for now.
Sweden win it high, there’s a shot, a save, a scramble … and USA clear. Seconds to go in the periods and there’s the hooter; the underdogs are still in the match, which all they’ll have wanted at the end of the first.
Back on the ice, it’s 11 shots to 1 in USA’s favour, but they lead only 1-0 with three minutes left in the first. Sweden are doing a pretty good job of protecting their defensive third.
It’s building in Pallakele, Sri Lanka needing 106 from 72 to rubber-stamp Australia’s dismissal from proceedings.
Mouat acknowledges a good battle but is disappointed to lose, fessing up to his error during the eighth end. They know what it’s like trying to bounce back in games, and what it’s like to make mistakes on the big occasion having prepared for a while.
To the ice hockey we go, and USA have just scored through Barnes. They lead Sweden 1-0 with 14.14 left in the first.
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…and there it is. A tremendous shot from Ramsfjell does everything it needs to, meaning Norway win 7-6 and GB probably need to beat USA and Canada in their final two matches to move into the knockouts.
Last go for Mouat, looking to drift one on to the button, close to the other red stone just to its side, and he’s nailed a beauty! Norway have one shot, under pressure, to get by the guard, take the reds away, and avoid his own stone. Here it comes….
We’re under way in the first semi of the women’s ice hockey, USA meeting Sweden. We’ll focus on that shortly, once this match is over.
Norway knock the two GB stones out of the end, leaving one of their own on the button, almost dead centre; GB have a chat, trying to work out the best route to the steal that is on. Here comes Bruce, looking to freeze right on to the yellow, and … it’s not a bad effort. It’s at the bottom of the button but, going last, you still have to fancy Norway to get rid of this one and whatever GB do with their final go.
Poor stone from Norway, inadvertently knocking two that are loitering before the house out of the road. That wasn’t what they intended, then GB respond by sending down a guard which stops maybe two-thirds of the way down, so their opponents take a timeout.
GB take a moment to discuss, seeking to steal; currently, there’s a Norwegian yellow in the green, with their red on the edge of the blue. They knock it to the middle and now have two blocking the route to it with three stones to go.
Elsewhere, Canada have beaten Czechia 8-2; Germany lead Sweden 5-3 playing the ninth.
Here comes Mouat, he’s getting his two but will he manage three? He will not, so going to the final end, we’re level at 6-6, Norway with the hammer.
But before that, Norway go, remove one of the GB stones … and leave a shot at a double, perhaps a triple. This might be the match, right here.
GB play their big shot, hoping to remove two yellows, and they miss the second but it’s still a decent effort and should leave them a go at getting the points they need, last go.
Norway will have the hammer for the final end, so GB really need two points, three if possible. With two stones left and various permutations available, they take a timeout.
The teenager’s version of “I’m not angry, I’m just disappointed.”
GB still have the hammer, and really need something this end to stave off defeat. I don’t fancy them.
Gosh, Norway are all over this now, two adding another point for 6-4
But now he goes to try and work himself a one-pointer, Norway with a stone in the house … and Mouat misses! Norway steal and lead 6-4, beginning to scent victory.
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Bruce Mouat has lovely eyes; more news as I get it.
See Maradona, Diego Armando: World Cup 1982.
What separates winners from losers is often not just talent, but ability to express it under pressure. I’m certain Malinin will be back, having learned invaluable lessons about himself, sport and life.
Elsewhere, Canada lead Czechia 7-1, Germany are up 4-2 on defending champs Sweden, now in danger of elimination, and China have walloped Italy 11-4, in the process recording their first win of the competition.
Yup, Norway have a shot to level the match … and Ramsfjell makes it look easy. It’s 4-4 after seven.
A poor end for GB, Norway sneaking a yellow stone between two and getting rid of a red to have two in better position; Bruce Mouat responds well, and this remains in the balance.
Also going on:
So, what do we have in store later on? The below then, at 8.10, the second women’s ice hockey semi in which Canada face Switzerland.
After the curling – does such a time even exist? – at 3.40pm, it’s USA v Sweden in the semis of the women’s ice hockey. There’s nothing other than that until 6pm, when the evening sesh properly gets going.
Canada are in total control against Czechia, up 4-1 playing the sixth, and they have the hammer.
A good end from GB, using the hammer to take two points from it; they lead Norway 4-2 and look more likely to extend than be reined in.
We’ve all been there.
Norway have levelled with GB at 2-2; we’re now playing the sixth end, GB with the hammer.
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Looking at the table and scores, there’s still scope for the teams outside the four qualification spots to penetrate them, but it’ll take a major effort; the way the matches have gone, the better teams are only losing to each other – GB’s defeat to Italy is the only outlier, and if China see out their advantage, the gap is likely to grow.
These are the current rankings:
We’ve an afternoon of curling awaiting us, so here’re latest scores: in our main match, GB lead Norway playing five; elsewhere, it’s Italy 2-4 China, Czechia 0-3 Canada and Sweden 2-1 Germany.
Thanks Billy and word up everyone. Let’s get to it.
Daniel Harris has returned. He can take you through the afternoon’s curling and ice hockey. GB lead Norway 2-1 in the men’s curling after two ends. Ciao.
Men’s slalom report: Loïc Meillard of Switzerland used a strong second run to win the men’s slalom on a day that saw Brazilian ski racer Lucas Pinheiro Braathen fall in the first run, ending his bid for another Olympic gold.
The event closes out the men’s Alpine program at the Milano Cortina Games.
Meillard adds gold to a silver he won in the team combined and bronze from the giant slalom.
Meillard finished in a two-run combined time of 1min 53.61sec. He edged Fabio Gstrein of Austria by 0.35 sec, while Henrik Kristoffersen of Norway took bronze. It was quite a contrast of runs, too, with snow and fog in the morning and the sun peeking out for the afternoon.
Norway’s Atle Lie McGrath, the first run leader, straddled a gate and was out. He was so irate that he threw his ski poles over the netting on one side. He then went outside the netting on the other side, trudging along the snow. He sat down, breathing heavily.
Pinheiro Braathen made history by winning the giant slalom Saturday, becoming the first athlete from South America to win a medal at a Winter Olympics. But his ski slipped out on a fast first run and his bid for another medal was over. AP
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What an Olympics this has been for Switzerland’s skiers. They’ve won four out of the five men’s alpine events:
Downhill: Franjo von Allmen (Swi)
Team combined: Franjo von Allmen & Tanguy Nef (Swi)
Super-G: Franjo von Allmen (Swi)
Giant slalom: Lucas Pinheiro Braathen (Brazil)
Slalom: Loïc Meillard (Swi)
You really have to feel for McGrath. When he straddled that gate, the Swiss coaches were right in front of him and did not hide their delight.
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Atle Lie McGrath of Norway, who lost his grandfather on the night of the opening ceremony, heads towards a line of trees and flops to the ground, taking his gloves off and staring up into the sky. Oof.
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🏅 Loïc Meillard (Switzerland) wins the men's slalom!
Atle Lie McGrath straddles a pole on his final run and it’s all over! Meillard wins gold for Switzerland. McGrath is distraught and storms off the course across the snowy mountainside and towards somewhere quiet.
Gold: Loïc Meillard (Switzerland) 1min 53.61sec
Silver: Fabio Gstrein (Austria) +0.35s
Bronze: Henrik Kristoffersen (Norway) +1.13s
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Men’s slalom: Loïc Meillard (Switzerland) throws down the gauntlet to Atle Lie McGrath by going fastest by 0.35sec after a superb run. The Norwegian leader from the first run is up last …
Men’s slalom: Fabio Gstrein (Austria) deposes Henrik Kristoffersen in the leader’s chair and is guaranteed a medal after going fastest by 0.78sec. Loïc Meillard and Atle Lie McGrath remain. Can they dislodge the Austrian?
Men’s slalom: We’re into the final five now. Armand Marchant (Belgium) can’t live with Kristoffersen’s pace and comes up short by 0.87sec. It’s good enough for silver … for now.
Men’s slalom: It’s so tight at the top – well, it was. Marco Schwarz (Austria) is only 0.16sec off Nef’s leading time but that’s only good enough for 5th place. Two-time Olympic medallist Henrik Kristofferson (Norway) gives himself a shot at an elusive first gold with an excellent run that shaves 0.89sec off the lead!
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Men’s slalom: As Michael Matt (Austria) goes into provisional bronze, it’s the 2022 gold medallist Clement Noel (France) who goes next. “We’ve got to go 100%,” he’s told over the team radio but his run is over almost immediately as he stumbles over an early gate and packs it in. Still it is Nef who leads.
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Men’s slalom: Tanguy Nef, who won gold in the men’s combined event with his Swiss teammate Franjo von Allmen last week, sets the pace with a new fastest time by 0.11sec. Still 10 of the elite skiers to come down.
The only Italian, Tommaso Saccardi, had a remarkable first run to break into the top 10 with bib No 37. He can’t hang with Nef this time and ends up in 5th.
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Men’s slalom: Great Britain’s Billy Major, 12th after the first run, is aiming for a top 10 finish here. The 29-year-old neuroscience graduate earned his first top 10 finish at the World Cup in Hafjell last year.
Major’s second run isn’t good enough to threaten the podium places, finishing down in 6th and 1.51sec off the new leader, Eirik Hystad Solberg of Norway, who ended up with a bloody mouth after his run – he might have bitten his tongue.
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Men’s slalom: “Gonna miss you,” Switzerland’s Daniel Yule says to Ryding after following him down the course. Yule had gone fastest by 0.58sec but has been superseded by Sweden’s Fabian Ax Swartz and Matthias Iten.
Men’s slalom: Dave ‘the Rocket’ Ryding of Great Britain is up next for potentially the final run of his career. The 39-year-old is Britain’s most successful skier of all time with seven World Cup medals (including a first gold at Kitzbuehel in 2022) – this is his fifth and final Olympics.
… Ryding goes out in style! He puts down a slick run between the poles to go fastest by 0.11 seconds. He takes a bow for the fans at the bottom. Well skied, sir.
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Men’s slalom: Shiro Aihara (Japan), Xavier Cornella Guitart (Andorra) and Andrej Drukarov (Lithuania) are keeping the podium places warm for now. The leaders will go down in about half an hour’s time.
Men’s slalom: The early runners head down the slope. One of them is Richardson Viano, the first person to represent Haiti at the Winter Olympics. He was in a Haitian orphanage as a baby before being adopted by an Italian couple aged three. They moved to France and he got into skiing because his father was an instructor.
If other Haitians can ski, that would be incredible. I want to give them a message of hope, of strength, no matter the sport. What’s important is to never give up, to fight. Anything can happen if you believe.
Viano came 44th in the giant slalom the other day and will now finish in the top 30 in this event – bettering his result of 34th from his first Games in 2022. Lovely stuff.
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The second run of the men’s slalom is upon us. These are the standings from the first run, with Norway’s Atle Lie McGrath leading by over half a second.
1. AL McGrath (Nor) 56.14sec
2. L Meillard (Swi) +0.59
3. F Gstrein (Aut) +0.94
4. T Haugan (Nor) +0.96
5. A Marchant (Bel) +1.20
6. H Kristoffersen (Nor) +1.59
7. M Schwarz (Aut) +1.96
7. C Noel (Fra) +1.96
9. M Matt (Aut) +2.20
10. T Saccardi (Ita) +2.23
Clement Noel is the defending champion but he’s got it all to do to even enter the medals. GB’s Billy Major (13th) and Dave Ryding (19th) are further back. Poor visibility played a part in plenty of DNFs this morning – Alex Vinatzer of Italy and Lucas Pinheiro Braathen of Brazil were the main casualties.
Those 2-man bobsleigh results after the first two heats. The Germans lead the way:
1. J Lochner & G Fleischhauer (Ger) 1min 49.90sec
2. F Friedrich & A Schuller (Ger) +0.80s
3. A Ammour & A Schaller (Ger) +1.24s
Other notable runners:
8. B Hall & T Lawrence (GB) +1.64s
23. S Pitter & J Harris (Jam) +3.50s
24. E Bindilatti & L Bacca Goncalves (Bra) +3.86s
25. A Brown & DA John (Tri) +4.29s
A word for Edson Bindilatti of Brazil, taking part in his sixth Olympics aged 46. There’s also Harrogate-born Axel Brown representing Trinidad and Tobago (the country of his mother) with De Aundre John. The Trinidad pair have said it’s “operation don’t-come-last” at these Games. They are 25th out of 26 so far, with Jamaica in 23rd.
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Summary
Thanks Daniel. Here’s a rundown of today’s events so far:
The Netherlands win their 12th medal of these Games in speed skating with Xandra Velzeboer taking gold in the women’s 1,000m short track. Home favourite Arianna Fontana finishes fourth.
Atle Lie McGrath of Norway leads the way in the men’s slalom after the first run this morning. The second and final run comes in about 20 minutes’ time.
Great Britain keep their semi-final hopes alive as they beat Denmark 7-2 in the women’s curling, with Canada and Sweden also recording victories.
It’s a German one-two-three in the men’s 2-man bobsleigh after the first two heats, with the final two to go tomorrow.
OK, I’m off for a break; here’s Billy Munday to hang with you for the next bit. Coming up, we’ve only got the second run of the men’s slalom, along with a whole host of men’s curling; enjoy.
Back with the bob, Ammour of Germany canes it into second, 0.80s behind Friedrich. It’ll take something significant, either an error or a perfect run, for those two not to take gold and silver.
Velzeboer, of course, took gold in the 500m too; she’s enjoying herself and, if we’re honest, the outcome of that race was never really in doubt.
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🏅 Xandra Velzeboer (Netherlands) wins women's 1,000m short track skating
Sarault of Canada takes silver, Kim of South Korea bronze. Fontana is fourth, missing out on a medal in this event for the first time in her career.
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Velzeboer leads at the bell, Fontana is fourth and I don’t think she can get there!
Velzeboer slots into second, Fontana is then buffeted and is last but with two laps to go, Velzeboer leads and Fontana has work to do!
Sarault of Canada leads, Fontana tucked in behind.
Righto, our women’s 1000m short track final is ready to depart. Can Fontana grab a 14th Olympic medal?
Friedrich of Germany is half a second inside the lead as he powers down the run … and he maintains that gap, easing into the lead.
Confortola of Italy wins the 1000m B final; out come our racers for the A, the arena going wild for Arianna Fontana.
Jinsu of Korea is next, he skids into the chicane, hammers the wall, and must make do with ninth; Del Duca of USA then also makes a mess, and Tentea of Romania still leads as he passes the second checkpoint … but catches up on the bottom section, moving into the lead.
Back on the ice, the B final of the women’s 1000m is under way; the main event will be something.
Baumgartner of Italy is screamed into the run by his coaches and starts well, but all we see is just how good Tentea’s time was; the Romanians still lead, with the Italians in fifth, 0.20 slower. Hall of GB is fourth and, well, you never know. But the fastest five are yet to come.
And Tentea remains top of the leaderboard, probably not for long but for now.
We’ve got Vogt of Switzerland – the name is the driver’s – starting their second run of the two-man bob. They were seventh after the first and are inside the Romanian, Tentea’s time.
Our women’s 1000m final is coming up in nine minutes. These are our runners:
It’s Korea who take it, the Netherlands second; the gold-medal race is on Wednesday.
Back with the 5000m relay, Korea lead by a way with Netherlands second and Japan third at the bell.
Also going on is run two of the two-man bob. Currently, Treichl of Austria leads, but the big boys from the first run have’t yet been again.
Into the second semi and the Netherlands lead from Korea from Belgium, but we’ve 20 laps to go.
The final of the women’s 1000m, by the way, Arianna Fontana and all, is coming up at 11.41am. Back with the relay, though, a huge error from China costs them, Canada and Italy flying through to take first and second. They reach the final, pending a VAR review.
It’s speeding up now, China leading from Canada from Italy, and this is going to be a serious finish with seven laps to go.
With 26 laps to go, Italy lead from Canada, from China. The top two move into the final, but there’s a lot to do between now and then.
Watching the relay and the way they shove each other reminds me of this:
On to the semis of the men’s 5000m relay, featuring China, Italy, Canada and Hungary.
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Sarault leads at the bell, Fontana second, and these are going to be the qualifiers. The Italian hero has a chance of a third medal of the Games, which’d be her 14th in total.
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Fontana takes the lead then Sarault moves past, Confortola third.
Off in the second semi, Fontana nicely placed in second behind Sarault of Canada.
Fontana is in our second semi as we see, I think, Desmet barging Kim from behind and, sure enough the former is penalised and the latter moves on. There is now no space for a best third-place finisher.
Velzeboer leads at the bell, Gong second, and they ease away to take the two qualifying positions. We’ll see what happens with Desmet and Kim.
Oh! Desmet takes out Kim, who will presumably move into the final; trouble for the Belgian.
Off we go in the first semi, Velzeboer of Netherlands leading from Kim of Korea from Desmet of Belgium, but it’s close.
Here come our women for the 1000m semi-finals; two heats of five, best two to go through along with the fastest third-place finisher.
Pool leaders Sweden are now 5-0 in the women’s curling, having beaten third-placed Switzerland 6-4. GB play the latter later.
They’re resurfacing the ice before the semis of the women’s 1000m, all eyes on Italy’s Arianna Fontana; the final is at 11.41am.
We’ll soon have run two of the two-man bob under way; this is how the stand after the first:
Incidentally, Edelman of Israel is the brother of Alex Edelman, the comedian.
Canada have belted China 10-5 in the women’s curling, but remain joint-seventh in the table with GB; Sweden lead Switzerland 5-4 playing the 10th.
Godspeed.
Coming up at 10.57, we’ve got the semis of the women’s 1000m short track. Arianna Fontana looked really good in the quarters, and ready to add to her 13 Olympic medals; there’ll be some atmosphere in the arena when she comes out.
Enjoyed this.
For the avoidance of doubt, I’m pretty sure I could take Willy if I had to.
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Today’s briefing:
For those wondering, it’s Teun Boer of the Nertherlasnds who moves on. Back with the curling, Canada now lead China 9-5, and that one is five to over, while Sweden are up 5-3 on Canada.
Goodness me, in the men’s 500m, Dandjinou of Canada leads the first heat, everyone else falls, and VAR will decide who accompanies him into the next round.
The fourth quarter is coming to a close, Sarault of Canada leading at the bell, and coming to the line, other Velzeboer has Confortola of Italy sneaking up behind her … and she nabs the second spot. The fastest loser to progress is Gong of China, the other spot taken by Krylova.
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In the third quarter of the women’s 1000m, Velzeboer of the Nertherlands wins, with Kim of South Korea second.
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Otherwise, Sweden lead Switzerland – who meet GB later – 4-3 playing the eighth, while Canada are up 7-5 on China at the same stage.
The curling is nearly finished, a Hail Mary from Denmark not quite working and, after GB’s next go, the handshake comes. They win 7-2 and, though it’s unlikely, still have a chance of making the knockouts.
Back with the curling, GB lead Denmark 6-2 playing the eighth while, in the skating, Zhang is disqualified for not giving Krylova enough room – she crashed out as I was watching the curling and now moves into the semis.
Oh, but Desmet hits the front at the bell, Brunelle of Canada follows, and both Chinese are skated out of ut.
The races come thick and fast, Gong of China leading the second, but Zhang, also of China, and Desmet of Belgium also doing well.
Yup, Fontana of Italy, who took bronze in this event in 2018, comes around the outside to win, Choi of South Korea second; Boutin of Canada must wait and see.
0ff goes our first race, with Arianna Fontana, the local hero involved. She’s won medals in the last six Games, most recently relay gold here, and she’s well placed at the bell, crowd going wild.
In the women’s 1000m, we’ve got four quarters, five racers in each, top two to go through with the best third-places.
Also going on:
Coming up next: the quarter-final of the women’s 1000m short track, at 10am, with the semis at 10.57 and the finals at 11.41. In between times, we’ve the men’s 500m heats and 5000m relay.
In the curling, GB women now lead Denmark 6-2 playing the eighth; Canada are up 7-3 on China playing the seventh; and Sweden lead Switzerland 4-3 at the same stage.
Ryding tells BBC he couldn’t see what was under his feet and couldn’t trust the surface; Major has been going well in training, but the course is “quite arhythmical” so it’s hard to get anything going. Both chaps should be involved in the second run.
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Chemmy explains that it’s getting warmer, which is making skiing harder, the snow eating into the surface. It’s not possible to recover from mistakes, so you have to be solid, but if you’re too solid, you’re slow.
It’s a really strange thing: our commentators praise a run, then we see the clock and the time is nowhere near the leaders. That tells us how hard it is out there, but we’ve also had the best guys now, so the top few is extremely unlikely to change.
Billy Major of GB attacks the course and this is really good stuff. The weather is against him, but he’ll be happy with 12th, 2.52 off the lead. He’ll hope to be around for the second run.
The top 30, by the way, will contest the second run, going in reverse order. Which, in theory, is better for the leaders as they know what they have to do to win, but in the conditions, perhaps taking first shy is better.
There are martials tidying the course after each run, but the way the snurr is coming down, the work they can do is surely limited. No one is getting near Meillard in second, never mind McGrath in first.
Back with the curling and GB have forced further in front. They lead Denmark 5-2 playing the seventh, while Canada are up 4-3 on China with Sweden and Switzerland, first and third in the pool, locked at 3-3.
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Solberg of Norway looks like he’s going nicely, but he’s still well off the lad at every checkpoint. Increasingly, it looks like getting out first was a big advantage, Atle Lie McGrath still in front, as Sala of Italy joins the growing list of those who didn’t finish.
Visibility isn’t great as Dave “The Rocket” Ryding” sets off for his penultimate Olympic run. The GB veteran isn’t likely to trouble the podium, but he’ll want to make the second run, and he finishes 13th, 3.74 off the lead.
Email! “Just a small correction,” advises gisrenist. “It’s decimO giorno, with an “o” at the end, giorno being masculine.”
Lovely stuff, thanks, and duly altered.
Denmark have pulled one back in the curling, so now trail GB 3-2 playing with sixth. The standings are as below:
Gstrein of Austria launches himself into the blizzard and he’s skiing with decent control. I wonder if this is one of those situations where you’re lucky if you get out early, but he finishes 0.94 off the lead and goes third.
Conditions are not easy here, Pinheiro Braathen, the Brazilian who won the giant slalom, unable to get to the bottom, likewise Hallberg of Finland, while Amiez of France is a chunky 4.04 off the lead. Norway’s McGrath still leads, Meillard of Switzerland 0.59 behind.
In the women’s curling, GB lead Denmark 3-1 playing the fifth; Switzerland lead Sweden 2-1 playing the fourth; and Canada lead Chins 4-2 playing the fifth.
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Gosh, Noel’s making hard work of this, the snow huffing down and he manages to ski his way out of trouble and stay on his feet, just, but finishes 1.96s off the lead. I think we can say he won’t be retaining his title. Next out, Kristoffersen, Norway’s best-ever slalomer … and he finishes a huge 1.59 off the lead.
Let’s get straight into the men’s slalom; there’s a field of … er …. 90?! McGrath of Norway leads with 56.14 but here comes Rassat of France, one of the favourites … and he misses a gate. Next up is Noel, also of France and the defending champion.
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Preamble
Buongiorno a tutti e benvenuti alle Olimpiadi invernali 2026 – decimo giorno!
It’s another ludicrously rammed day in Milan-Cortina, featuring six medal events and plenty else to keep us entertained from morning and into the night.
We begin with some light curling, GB women – more or less out of contention to move into the knockouts – encounter Denmark, while pool leaders Sweden meet third-placed Switzerland.
Then it’s into skiing, with run one of the men’s slalom– the second follows at lunchtime, Clement Noel, Henrik Kristoffersen and Loic Meillard the names to look out for – while the two-man bobsleigh also gets going. Mid-morning sees the quarter-finals of the women’s 1000m short track, semis and final to follow, then we’ve an afternoon of men’s curling, GB taking on Norway and Canada and Sweden both in action after weekend rancour.
Late afternoon, we’ll absorb into the women’s ice hockey semi-final between USA and Sweden then, this evening, we’ve more women’s curling – GB face Switzerland – along with the medal rounds of the women’s big air, Kirsty Muir involved but Eileen Gu the one to beat and Flora Tabanelli the young local hero; the mixed pairs, free program figure skating with Anastasia Vaipan-Law and Luke Digby going for GB but Riku Miura and Ryuichi Kihara of Japan the favourites; the women’s monobob in which 40-year-old Kaillie Humphries seeks her third Olympic gold; and the men’s super team, large hill ski jump. Then, finally, we’ll finish with the second women’s ice hockey semi, in which Switzerland seek to upset Canada.
Esattamente! Andiamo!
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