Summary of the 2026 Winter Olympics Opening Ceremony
USAT’s Jordan Mendoza and Sydney Henderson report from outside the opening ceremony in Milan, telling you about the best moments and what you might have missed.
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MILAN — The 2026 Winter Olympics will continue until Saturday, when the first medals of the Games will be awarded.
Alpine skiing is in the spotlight, with the world’s attention focused on the slopes of Livigno for the men’s downhill medal event (won by Switzerland’s Franjo von Allmen) and the slopes of Cortina for the final run of the women’s downhill training.
Jessie Diggins took the women’s 10K skiathlon course and finished in 8th place. Snowboarding will also award its first medal of this tournament in men’s big air.
The team figure skating event will continue with the men’s singles short program and ice dance free dance, and the U.S. women’s hockey team will face one of its toughest opponents in medal-hopping Finland.
USA TODAY Sports brings you the latest updates, news and Olympic results from right here in Italy.
Greta Myers makes Olympic debut in speed skating
MILAN – American speed skater Greta Myers made her Olympic debut in the women’s 3,000 meters at the Milan Speed Skating Stadium on Saturday, finishing in a time of 4 minutes 13.46 seconds.
Time will tell how Myers’ time ranks in the field, but she won’t be on the podium.
Myers will have a better chance of competing for a medal. In addition to the 3,000 meters, Myers will also compete in the women’s 1,500 meters, women’s 5,000 meters and women’s mass start. — Sidney Henderson
Livigno, Italy – Mac Forehand’s second run of 73.96 points earned him a spot in the men’s freeski slopestyle final along with defending gold medalist Alex Hall of the United States (71.63 points).
He was 24th on the first forehand, but he had nothing to lose and improved greatly on the second. He finished 6th overall. The top 12 of the 29 contestants advanced to Monday’s finals.
Hall entered the second run in fifth place, but his score did not improve with a similar score of 68.98, and he finished in eighth place, which was good enough to break through.
Connor Ralph had a long wait for the bubble but survived in 10th place (68.91). Another American, Troy Podmirsak, has his sights set on his specialty: big air. — Chris Cotton
Canadian figure skater Maddie Scissas shared an email she sent to a sociology professor asking for a “short-term extension.”
Competing in the Winter Olympics seemed like a good enough reason for her request to be granted, and she included a link to the press release as proof of her participation.
Boston Bruins forward Pavel Zasha will not participate in the Olympics due to an upper-body injury. He will be replaced on the Czech national team by Filip Krapic, who averages the highest points per game in the Czech league.
Sweden’s Frida Karlsson won the gold medal in the women’s cross-country ski athlon, finishing in 53 minutes 45.2 seconds. This is her first individual Olympic gold medal. Teammate Eva Andersson won the silver medal with a time of 54:36.2.
Heidi Wen’s bronze medal in this event made Norway the winningest team in women’s cross-country skiing in Olympic history.
Meanwhile, Jesse Diggins, the most decorated cross-country skier in U.S. history, finished in eighth place (56:06.3).
MILAN — Jesse Diggins’ fourth and final Olympics is officially underway.
Diggins, the most decorated cross-country skier in U.S. history, is competing in the women’s 10km+10km skiathlon on Saturday at the Tezero Cross-Country Ski Stadium in Val di Fiemme, and is hoping to add to her collection.
The 34-year-old has won three Olympic medals. She won Team USA’s first Olympic gold medal alongside Kikkan Randall in the cross country team sprint at the 2018 Pyeongchang Games. Diggins won a silver medal in the 30km freestyle at the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics, becoming the first American to win an individual sprint medal along with a bronze in the women’s sprint. She finished in the top 10 in all six women’s events in both 2018 and 2022. sidney henderson
BORMIO, Italy — Switzerland’s Franjo von Allmen dimmed his country’s cheers, but he couldn’t completely silence them. The first medal event of the Winter Olympics, the men’s downhill at the Stelvio Ski Center, saw two Italian skiers win medals following von Allmen’s gold medal. Italy’s Giovanni Franzoni and Dominic Paris finished in the top three with back-to-back runs in front of cheering Italian fans. However, neither could overtake von Allmen’s time of 1:51.61. Ryan Cochran Seagle, Team USA’s rising star in this event, struggled to post a 1:53.65 and finished 18th, far behind the leaders. Kyle Negomil (1:53.20) had the best time of the four participating Americans and finished in the top 10. — gentry estes
Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy – Lindsey Vonn was shaky in several spots on Friday as well, including an error near the bottom of the track. However, she showed no obvious signs of having broken her left knee again and shaved two full seconds off her time, finishing today’s run in 1:38.28.
She is currently in third place, 0.37 seconds behind American teammate Breezy Johnson at the top, with about 20 skiers remaining.
When Mr. Bon finished singing, he gave a small fist pump as if to ask him to check it out, then walked through the mixed zone, pausing briefly to pat Mr. Johnson on the shoulder. “That was a good run,” she told her teammates as she moved on.
The medals will be awarded in the women’s downhill event on Sunday, February 8th. nancy armor
LIVIGNO, Italy — Avery Krume had a blistering second run in the women’s freeski slopestyle heats, sealing her spot in Monday’s finals.
The 17-year-old, who changed her nationality from Canada to the United States last year, finished fourth with a score of 64.93. The top 12 out of 26 will advance to the finals.
China’s Irene Gu avoided a disastrous start to the Olympics by taking second place with a score of 75.30 despite an early fall in the first of two qualifying rounds. Switzerland’s Mathilde Gremaud, the cash medalist in this event, came out on top with a score of 79.15. — Chris Cotton
LIVIGNO, Italy — China’s Irene Gu failed on her first run in the women’s freeski slopestyle qualifying. This means her second run has become crucial if she wants to have a chance of winning three medals in three freeski events at the 2026 Olympics, just as she did in Beijing four years ago.
Gu’s first run took less than 15 seconds after he lost his balance at the front. The American-born Stanford University student crashed into the wrong side of the first rail, but was unable to maintain her balance after turning. — Chris Cotton
NHL owners may complain about potential injuries, but it’s a win for the sport to have the game’s best player return to the Olympics for the first time since 2014. And there are a lot of NHL players here, 149 to be exact. They all arrive early Saturday morning and start practicing within a few hours.
Check out the full list of NHL players for the 2026 Winter Olympics and read about their logistical nightmare from longtime Red Wings reporter Helen St. James.
Vonn posted on her Instagram account early Saturday morning that she was feeling great after her first workout on Friday. She then listed the time for her second training session of the day (11:30 a.m. in Italy) and her bib number (15) and signed, “See you later.”
Vonn completed the practice run without any problems and qualified to compete in the downhill at the Milan-Cortina Olympic Games. She made a small mistake at the bottom of the course and was nowhere near her top speed. Her time of 1:40.33 was the 11th fastest of the day and third best among American athletes.
Read Nancy Armor’s full story.
Bormio, Italy – Good morning from the Stelvio Ski Center. The first medals of the 2026 Milan-Cortina Olympics will be awarded here in a few hours.
The men’s downhill competition begins at 5:30 a.m. ET and features four American athletes.
Among them, Ryan Cochran Seagle (2022 super-G silver medalist) is expected to have the best chance of winning a medal. He will move up to 13th place. Team USA’s Bryce Bennett will finish third, with teammates Kyle Negomil (27th) and Sam Morse (29th) among the final runners.
Each of the 36 competitors records a winning time in just one run at extremely high speeds.
Switzerland’s Marco Odermatt (7th) is at the top of the world rankings and is considered one of the favorites, along with Italy’s Dominic Paris (12th) and Giovanni Franzoni (11th) and Switzerland’s Frangio von Allmen (8th).
Today’s Olympic schedule
Always east.
- 4:05am: Curling – Mixed Doubles Round Robin | Cortina Curling Olympic Stadium (Cortina d’Ampezzo)
- 5:30am: Alpine Skiing – Men’s Downhill | medal event |Stelvio Ski Center (Bormio, Valtellina)
- 5:30am: Alpine Ski Women’s Downhill 3rd Official Practice | Tofane Alpine Ski Center (Cortina)
- 6:10am: Ice Hockey – Women’s Qualifier | Germany vs. Japan | Milan Rho Ice Hockey Arena
- 7am: Cross Country Skiing – Women’s 10km + 10km Skiathlon | medal event |Tezero Cross-Country Ski Stadium (Val di Fiemme)
- 7:30am: Luge – Women’s Singles Official Training Runs 3 and 4 | Cortina Sliding Center (Cortina d’Ampezzo)
- 8:35am: Curling – Mixed Doubles Round Robin | Cortina Curling Olympic Stadium (Cortina d’Ampezzo)
- EST vs. NOR. CZE vs. South Korea. SWE vs. ITA. GBR vs USA
- 8:40am: Ice Hockey – Women’s Qualifier | SWE vs. ITA | Milan Santa Giulia Ice Hockey Arena
- 10am: Speed Skating – Women’s 3000m | medal event |Milan Speed Skating Stadium (Milan, Rho)
- 10:40am: Ice Hockey – Women’s Preliminaries | USA vs. Fine |Milan Raw Ice Hockey Arena
- 11am: Luge – Men’s Singles 1 & 2 Sliding | Cortina Sliding Center (Cortina d’Ampezzo)
- 1:45pm: Figure Skating – Team Event | Milan Ice Skating Arena (Milan)
- Team event, men’s singles short program: 1:45 p.m.
- Team Event, Ice Dance Free Dance: 4:05 pm
- 11:45am – 3pm: Ski Jumping – Women’s Normal Hill | Predazzo Ski Jumping Stadium (Val di Fiemme)
- Trial round: 11:45am
- Round 1: 12:45pm
- Medal Round: 1:57 pm | medal event
- 1:05pm: Curling – Mixed Doubles Round Robin | Cortina Curling Olympic Stadium (Cortina d’Ampezzo)
- CAN vs. EAST. CZE vs. SUI. NOR vs. ITA. America vs Circle
- 1:30pm: Snowboarding – Men’s Big Air | medal event |Livigno Snow Park (Livigno, Valtellina)
- 3:10pm: Ice Hockey – Women’s Qualifiers | SUI and CAN | Milano Rho Ice Hockey Arena
Where will the 2026 Winter Olympics be held?
The Winter Olympics are always held on a large scale because they require mountains. However, the Milan-Cortina Games are the most geographically extensive in Olympic and Paralympic history, with an area slightly smaller than the entire state of New Jersey.
Most indoor events such as hockey, speed skating, short track speed skating and figure skating are held in Milan. However, for mountain events, organizers are using venues already used for World Cups and World Championships in Cortina, Livigno and Bormio. — nancy armor
Today’s TV schedule for the 2026 Winter Olympics
Peacock is live streaming every event today.
Stream the Olympics on Peacock
