Peak moments of the first day of Milan vs. Cortina
USAT’s Sam Cardona Norberg breaks down all the biggest things that happened on the first day of the 2026 Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics.
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In the men’s snowboarding big air event, Japan won the gold and silver medals thanks to the great skills of Kira Kimura and Ryoma Kimata. At the 2026 Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics, last year’s gold medalist Su Yiming won the bronze medal over 17-year-old American Olly Martin, preventing the U.S. team from winning its first medal.
But apparently that wasn’t enough for NBC broadcaster Todd Richards.
“That was boring,” he was caught saying on a hot mic shortly after the Peacock event ended. “That was very boring. Qualifying was much more exciting.”
Richards is commentating on his sixth Winter Olympics. A former professional snowboarder, he competed in the halfpipe at the 1998 Nagano Games, snowboarding’s first Olympic appearance. He is also a Winter X Games medalist, winning gold in the halfpipe at the first Winter X Games in 1997.
NBC referred USA TODAY Sports to Richards’ Instagram post about the incident when asked for comment.
Richards stood by his opinion, but also expressed his admiration for the contestants.
This story has been updated with new information.
