Hello from Milan and Cortina, where every day brings a fresh batch of surprises.
Today, the U.S. mixed doubles curling team came up just short against Sweden, Team USA blew out rival Canada in women’s hockey, and a Norwegian biathlete revealed something shocking in a post-race interview. American figure skater Maxim Naumov topped it all, though, with an emotional tribute to his parents.
Our correspondents have it all covered below and at NBC News. Catch it all streaming on Peacock.
Live from Milan Cortina
Maxim Naumov, the figure skater competing in his first Olympics, provided the emotional high of the day. He posted an 85.65 in the men’s short program, his season-best score. About a year ago, both of his parents died in a plane crash — and today, he held up a photo of them as his score was announced.
The “Quad God” Ilia Malinin also competed in the qualifying event and scored a 108.16, which vaulted him into first place. Elsewhere on the ice, Team USA blew out rival Canada 5-0 in women’s hockey. Canada’s best player, Marie-Philip Poulin, missed the game due to injury.
In the mountains, two American skiers came away with silvers: Alex Hall in the men’s freeski slopestyle and Ben Ogden in the cross-country skiing sprint classic. Ogden’s silver was the U.S.’ first medal in that event since 1976.
Meanwhile, Jacqueline Wiles and Paula Moltzan won bronze in the Alpine skiing women’s team combined. Surprisingly, Breezy Johnson and Mikaela Shiffrin failed to medal in the same event. Johnson finished first in the downhill portion, but Shiffrin was uncharacteristically slow in the slalom.
The misfortune extended to mixed doubles curling, where the U.S. lost to Sweden 6-5 in the gold medal game. The team of Cory Thiesse and Korey Dropkin will take home silver despite taking a lead into the match’s final end.
Athlete Spotlight
After winning bronze in the individual biathlon, Norway’s Sturla Holm Laegreid admitted to cheating … on his girlfriend:
“I told her a week ago. And it’s been the worst week of my life,” Laegreid told Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation (NRK). Laegreid began his confession by saying he had something to share with someone who may not be watching, then went on to explain that three months ago, he cheated on “the love of [his] life, the most beautiful and kindest person.”
He added: “I had a gold medal in life, and there’s probably a lot of people out there who look at me differently now, but I only have eyes for her. Sports has taken a bit of a back seat these past couple of days. Yeah, I wish I could share this with her.”
The admission drew a mixed reaction back home, with Norwegian commentator Therese Johaug saying, “I’ve never seen an interview like this before. It’s completely, completely the wrong time and place to do it.”
Laegreid added later that he didn’t wish to take anything away from Johan-Olav Botn, his countryman, who won gold.
“Of course, now I hope I didn’t ruin Johan’s day,” Laegreid said in a news conference. “I don’t know if it was the right choice or not, but it was the choice I made.”
Behind the Scenes
When you watch short track speedskating, look for the bank of computer monitors just off the ice, directly at the finish line. That’s where some of the unseen magic of every Olympics takes place.
Omega has been keeping time for every Olympic competition with a clock since 1932, and on those monitors, an Omega operator wearing the company’s signature red has been taught to meticulously use high-speed cameras that shoot 40,000 photos per second to decide competitions that can sometimes come down to thousandths of a second. It’s a lot of pressure, the company’s chief executive said — and no mistakes can ever be accepted.
Photo of the Day
When to watch
Chloe Kim makes her Milan Cortina debut tomorrow in halfpipe qualification and NHL stars take the ice as men’s hockey begins.
All times are in Eastern, and an asterisk signifies a medal event.
Wednesday, Feb. 11
- 4:30 a.m.: Snowboard, women’s halfpipe qualification
- 5 a.m.: Freestyle skiing, women’s moguls qualification
- 5:30 a.m.: Alpine skiing, men’s super-G*
- 7:45 a.m.: Cross-country skiing, Nordic combined, individual Gundersen normal hill/10 km*
- 8:15 a.m.: Biathlon, women’s individual 15 km*
- 8:15 a.m.: Freestyle skiing, women’s moguls finals*
- 10:40 a.m.: Men’s hockey, Slovakia vs. Finland
- 11 a.m.: Luge, women’s doubles run 1
- 11:51 a.m.: Luge, men’s doubles run 1
- 12:30 p.m.: Speedskating, men’s 1,000-meter*
- 12:53 p.m.: Luge, women’s doubles run 2
- 1:05 p.m.: Curling, men’s round-robin (Sweden vs. Italy, Canada vs. Germany, USA vs. Czechia, China vs. Great Britain)
- 1:30 p.m.: Figure skating, ice dance, free dance*
- 1:30 p.m.: Snowboard, men’s halfpipe qualification
- 1:44 p.m.: Luge, men’s doubles run 2
- 3:10 p.m.: Men’s hockey, Italy vs. Sweden
That’s it for now! We’ll be back tomorrow.