The Winter Games are in full swing in Italy. From the rink to the slopes, a new generation of stars has emerged to chase gold. We’ll keep you connected to all of the thrilling moments and top stories as we track the medal race each day of the Games.
Thursday’s Olympic slate is action packed, featuring the Olympic debut of one sport and one of the Games’ most anticipated medal rounds.
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Ski mountaineering will make its first Olympics run early in day. On the ice, Canada and USA will play for women’s hockey gold. Jordan Stolz will compete for his third speedskating gold medal. And the women will compete in the free skate for coveted figure skating gold.
Here are the top five things to watch on Thursday at the 2026 Milan Cortina Olympics:
Ski mountaineering
Spain’s Oriol Cardona Coll and Marianne Fatton of Switzerland won the first-ever Olympic gold medals in ski mountaineering on Thursday.
Ski mountaineering, also known as skimo, made its debut at the Milan Cortina Olympics. The sport involves athletes skiing up part of a hill, then taking their skis off to hike up steep climbs — and then skiing down that same hill. There’s more to it, including specialized gear to give skis grip for the climb up. But that’s the gist of it.
It’s a grueling sport that push athletes to their cardiovascular limits.
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Men’s speed skating 1,500-meter final
Jordan Stolz took silver in the men’s 1500m final, finishing 0.77 behind China’s Ning Zhongyan. The 21-year-old won earlier in these Olympics with gold medal performances in the 500m and 1,000m.
He has one competition left in his debut Games, Saturday’s mass start event.
Women’s figure skating free skate (1 p.m. ET)
This is it. One of the marquee events of the Games will hand out some of the most coveted medals in Olympic competition when the women take the ice for their free skate.
USA entered Tuesday’s short program with dreams of a podium sweep behind “Blade Angels” Alysa Liu, Isabeau Levito and Amber Glenn. But Liu is the only skater of the three in medal position after a third-place finish in the short program.
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Levito enters the free skate in eighth place, and Glenn is in 13th after a short rotation on a jump in the short program plummeted her to 13th place, leaving her in tears after her skate.
Instead, it’s the Japanese team that’s in position for a potential podium sweep. Ami Nakai and Kaori Sakamoto enter the free skate in first and second place, and their teammate, Mone Chiba, isn’t far behind in fourth.
Will Liu contend for gold? Will Japan pull off the sweep? Will Levito and Glenn recover to get into medal contention? It all adds up to intrigue with Olympic hardware on the line.
Women’s ice hockey gold medal game (1:10 p.m. ET)
Gold will be awarded on hockey ice as well as USA and Canada square off in the gold medal match.
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The two teams entered the Games as co-favorites for gold, but USA will take the ice Thursday as the clear-cut favorite. USA has dominated Olympic competition, scoring five-plus goals in each of its games. And it hasn’t allowed a goal since its first game in group play.
The U.S. enters Thursday’s game with a 31-1 goal differential in six games, a record that includes a 5-0 win over Canada in group play. Gold is the expectation for USA, while Canada will look to deliver a stunning upset to its rival.
Sweden and Switzerland will play for bronze at 8:40 a.m. ET.
Olympics schedule for Thursday, Feb. 19 (Day 13)
Curling
Men’s round-robin
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3:05 a.m.: Sweden vs. Czechia, Italy vs. Switzerland, China vs. Germany, Norway vs. Canada
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Women’s round-robin
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8:05 a.m.: Switzerland vs. USA, Canada vs. South Korea, Japan vs. China, Great Britain vs. Italy
Men’s semifinals
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1:05 p.m.: Teams TBD (One semifinal airs on CNBC at 5 p.m., the other airs on USA Network at 8 p.m.)
Ski Mountaineering
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7:55 a.m. ET: Women’s Sprint finals: Finals (USA Network)
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8:15 a.m. ET: Men’s Sprint finals (USA Network)
Figure Skating
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1 p.m.: Women’s free skate (NBC)🏅
Halfpipe
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4:30 a.m.: Men’s qualifying (airs on USA Network at 8:45 a.m.)
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1:30 p.m.: Women’s qualifying (airs on USA Network at 4 p.m.)
Hockey
Women
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8:40 a.m.: Bronze-medal game, Sweden vs. Switzerland (airs on USA Network 12 p.m.)🏅
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1:10 p.m.: Gold-medal game, U.S. vs. Canada (USA Network) 🏅
Nordic Combined
Large hill
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3 a.m.: Men’s team jump (airs on USA Network at 5 a.m.)🏅
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8 a.m.: 2×7.5km cross-country ski relay (USA Network coverage begins at 8:20 a.m.)🏅
Ski Mountaineering
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3:45 a.m.: Men’s and women’s sprint heats (USA Network)
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6:55 a.m.: Men’s and women’s finals (USA Network)🏅
Speed Skating
1,500 meters
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10:30 a.m.: Men’s final (USA Network)🏅
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