MILAN — The final race of Jordan Stolz’s Olympics did not play out the way he hoped it would.
It wasn’t even just that Stolz came up empty in his bid for a fourth medal at these Olympics. The American speedskating phenom never even really had the chance to race for gold in the mass start — the most chaotic, unpredictable race in speed skating.
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Jorrit Bergsma of the Netherlands took gold and Viktor Hald Thorup of Denmark grabbed silver after they broke away from the rest of the pack early in the 16-lap race. They extended their lead to as much as 20 seconds, taking advantage of the other skaters trying to conserve energy for a furious finish.
By the time Stolz attacked with less than three laps to go, the gap between him and the leaders was so massive that he was essentially racing for third place. Bergsma clocked a winning time of 7:55.50, nearly five seconds ahead of Thorup. Italy’s Andrea Giovannini outsprinted Stolz for third, both of them finishing about nine seconds after Bergsma.
When asked why he didn’t attack sooner, Stolz explained, “If I would have done that, I would have had no legs left at the end of the race.”
Stolz spent much of the middle third of the race idling near the front of the chase group, waiting for others to help pursue the leaders. When other medal contenders didn’t take the initiative to accelerate and pass him, he felt as though they were trying to neutralize his explosive finishing kick and were unwilling to share in the work.
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“I actually didn’t expect this to happen,” Stolz said. “I felt like the gold-medal favorites in the mass start were going to be more hungry to get a medal, but they all were just expecting me to go for it.
“If they’re all sitting behind me at four laps to go and I’m not really building the pace and the two guys in front just keep getting further and further ahead, that’s clear to me that they were just kind of settling for third.”
Had he won Saturday’s mass start event, Stolz would have become the first man since Norway’s Johann Olav Koss 32 years ago to leave an Olympics with three long-track speedskating gold medals. Entering the mass start, Stolz had already taken gold in the 500 and 1,000 meters before settling for silver in the 1,500.
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Whereas long-track speedskaters are accustomed to racing against the clock, unencumbered by other competitors in their lane, the mass start is the outlier. The 16 athletes who qualified for Sunday’s men’s final started shoulder-to-shoulder and raced head-to-head for 16 laps around Milan’s 400-meter oval.
Race strategy during the mass start is most similar to a cycling track or road race. Athletes conserve energy early in the race and draft off each other to reduce wind resistance, but they must be prepared to unleash a lethal finishing sprint over the final lap or two to have any hope of winning a medal.
When asked to look ahead to the mass start earlier this week, Stolz acknowledged the threat of getting taken out by another competitor jockeying for position around a turn. He said he hoped to “try and defend myself in the group” because “there will be a lot of shoving.”
Winning three medals on an Olympic stage is Stolz’s most remarkable accomplishment yet on a journey that began with watching the charismatic Apolo Anton Ohno at the Vancouver Games 16 years ago. Stolz has chased Olympic glory ever since, going from learning to skate on his family’s backyard pond at age 5, to winning his first U.S. title at 16, to snapping at the heels of the world’s fastest speedskaters soon after that.
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Is Stolz happy with his Olympics despite falling short of his goal of four medals? He considers it to be “pretty successful.”
“There’s things that could have gone better,” Stolz said, “but two golds and a silver? You’ve gotta be pretty happy with that.”
LIVIGNO, Italy — The freeski women’s halfpipe, which was set for Saturday at 1:30 p.m. Eastern, has been postponed until Sunday after a continuous snowstorm extended into the evening, making the halfpipe unsafe for competition.
The event is now slated to take place Sunday at 4:40 a.m. ET.
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The event is the last chance for Eileen Gu, the American-born freeskier who represents China, to leave the Milan Cortina Olympics with a gold medal. She won silver in both slopestyle and big air, but the halfpipe — where she won gold in Beijing for years ago — is her favorite event.
The 12-person field for the finals includes two Americans, Kate Gray and Svea Irving, but ironically one of the top contenders to beat Gu is another American-born athlete who represents another country.
Zoe Atkin, who was born in Massachusetts while her parents (one from Malaysia, one from England) were working in the U.S., competes for Great Britain. She won the gold medal at the world championships last year and, like Gu, attends Stanford.
Saturday’s matchup between No. 1 Michigan and No. 3 Duke in men’s college basketball carries even more significance with the Wolverines and Blue Devils named as the top two seeds among the 16 teams in the bracket preview released by the NCAA men’s tournament selection committee.
Houston and Arizona also face each other on Saturday in a clash that could affect the top tournament seeds.
Committee chair (and Sun Belt commissioner) Keith Gill acknowledged on CBS’s bracket preview show that the Huskies’ loss knocked them out of the top four. Yet in his view, “UConn’s three best wins are better than Houston’s best three wins.”
Before losing to Creighton, Gill said UConn was under consideration for the No. 1 seed, along with Iowa State and Houston.
Arizona getting the third No. 1 seed after losing to Kansas and Texas Tech might also raise some eyebrows. Star freshman Koa Peat will also miss time with a muscle strain in his lower left leg. However, the fourth-ranked Wildcats rebounded with a win over No. 23 BYU this week.
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Texas Tech dropped to the No. 19 overall seed — or the fourth line — when star forward JT Toppin suffered a season-ending torn ACL injury on Tuesday, according to Gill.
The top 16 seeds in the NCAA tournament selection committee’s bracket preview line up as follows:
Saturday’s bracket preview will be the last reveal from the selection committee until the official NCAA tournament seedings are announced on Selection Sunday, March 15.
UCLA’s flirtation with SoFi Stadium isn’t resulting in a move in 2026.
The school told the California Post in a statement that it was going to play this season at the Rose Bowl. The school has been exploring the possibility of leaving the iconic stadium to play its home games at the home of the Los Angeles Rams and Los Angeles Chargers.
“UCLA will play the upcoming football season at the Rose Bowl,” Mary Osako, UCLA’s vice chancellor of strategic communications, said in a statement provided to the California Post. “We know how much game day means to Bruins — to our students, alumni and fans who plan their autumn around Saturdays together.
“Our priority is delivering a strong season experience for our student-athletes and our community, and we have great momentum in our football program. During this unprecedented time in college athletics, UCLA will always be guided by what’s best for our student-athletes and the Bruin community.”
That exploration led to a lawsuit from the city of Pasadena and the Rose Bowl against the school. UCLA’s lease with the stadium stretches into the 2040s. A court date is set for Friday regarding that suit.
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The suit was filed in October and said that the school was “unequivocally expressing its intent to abandon the Rose Bowl Stadium” to relocate to the NFL stadium. The Rose Bowl has been UCLA’s home for 44 seasons since the school moved from the Los Angeles Coliseum.
Given the length of the lease remaining at the Rose Bowl, it’s likely that UCLA will have to pay a hefty sum to move to SoFi Stadium in the near future. And remember, UCLA has an athletic department that hasn’t exactly been flush with cash in recent seasons.
UCLA has seven home games at the Rose Bowl in new coach Bob Chesney’s first season. The Bruins host USC to end the season, and teams like Illinois and Wisconsin also come to the Rose Bowl.
Minnesota Timberwolves center Rudy Gobert will serve a one-game suspension for Sunday’s game against the Philadelphia 76ers, the NBA announced on Saturday.
The All-Star center picked up a flagrant foul at the end of the second quarter Friday against the Dallas Mavericks, triggering an automatic one-game suspension. The play, in which Gobert struck Marvin Bagley III in the face with his forearm while fighting for a rebound, was initially called a common foul, but officials ruled it a Flagrant 1 after review.
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Gobert finished the game, a 122-111 Minnesota win, with 22 points on 9-of-11 shooting with 17 rebounds (a season-high 10 on offense) and three blocks.
The Frenchman has now been called for six flagrants on the season, with seven total points (in which a Flagrant 1 equals one point and a Flagrant 2 equals two points). Players with five or six flagrant points in a season receive a one-game suspension if they’re hit with a Flagrant 1 and a two-game suspension in the event of a Flagrant 2.
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But with Gobert now at seven points, he faces a two-game suspension if he commits any sort of flagrant foul for the rest of the season. The T-Wolves will be hoping it doesn’t come to that for the four-time Defensive Player of the Year.
The Dallas Cowboys reportedly agreed to terms with running back Javonte Williams on a 3-year, $24 million deal, according to the team. Williams will reportedly have $16 million in guaranteed money. His $8 million annual salary ties him with D’Andre Swift as the 16th-highest-paid running back in the NFL.
The Cowboys signed Williams to a 1-year, $3 million contract last offseason. Williams is the first running back the Cowboys have extended since re-signing Ezekiel Elliott in 2019.
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Williams broke out in his first season with the Cowboys, quickly outperforming his contract. He came into the season healthy, rushing for a career-high 1,201 yards and 11 touchdowns. The 25-year-old running back also provided a spark to the Cowboys’ overall rushing offense. The Cowboys were ninth in rushing yards last season after finishing 27th in 2024.
He also added 35 catches for 137 yards and 2 receiving touchdowns. He played in 16 games last season after missing Week 18 with shoulder and neck injuries. Despite suffering injuries late in the year, he still performed well.
Williams spent his first four seasons with the Denver Broncos after being drafted in the second round out of the University of North Carolina in 2021. His role decreased in his last two years with the Broncos. Williams was part of a running back committee under Broncos head coach Sean Payton and was still trying to return to form after suffering an ACL, LCL and posterolateral corner injury in his right knee in 2022.
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The Cowboys will now turn their attention to deciding on free-agent wide receiver George Pickens, while the free-agent running back class takes a hit after the loss of Williams.
The No. 4 Wildcats held No. 2 Houston without a field goal for over 10 minutes in the second half on the way to a 73-66 road win over the Cougars. After Chris Cenac Jr. hit a jumper with 12:57 to go, the Cougars had just six free throws before Kingston Flemings hit a 3-pointer with 2:28 to go.
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Flemings’ shot cut Arizona’s lead to 61-57, but the Wildcats got an offensive rebound on their next possession before Jaden Bradley’s turnaround jumper in the lane with 1:33 to go extended the lead back to six and forced Houston to start fouling with 1:10 to go.
The win pushes Arizona to 12-2 in Big 12 play and 25-2 overall while dropping Houston to 11-3 in the conference and 23-4. The Wildcats now have sole possession of first place in the conference with four games remaining.
The game flipped as Houston missed 10 straight field goal attempts in the second half. Cenac put the Cougars up 48-46. But as Houston couldn’t buy a basket, Arizona outscored the Cougars 15-6.
Houston had a similar drought in the first half too. The Cougars went over six minutes without a field goal late in the half as Arizona built up a 10-point lead. But a strong close to the first half cut Arizona’s lead to five at halftime.
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The Cougars never led until there was 14:16 remaining in the game, however. And each of the three times Houston took a two-point lead, Arizona tied the game before pulling away during Houston’s dry spell.
Anthony Dell’Orso shines again
The senior tied his career high with 22 points in Arizona’s win over BYU on Wednesday. He did it again on Saturday.
Dell’Orso started 28 of 37 games a season ago but moved to the bench this season thanks to Arizona’s stellar recruiting class. He’s played a key role even though he’s been out of the starting lineup and has stepped up in the absence of freshman Koa Peat.
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Peat missed the BYU game after he suffered a lower leg injury in Arizona’s loss to Texas Tech a week ago. He also sat out Saturday’s game.
Dell’Orso scored 14 of his 22 points in the first half as Arizona entered the break with a five-point lead. He was the only player to score more than 20.
How the Big 12 race is shaping up
Saturday’s game became even more significant in the Big 12 race right as it tipped off. No. 8 Kansas entered the day a game behind both Arizona and Houston with matchups remaining against both schools.
But the Jayhawks are now two games behind Arizona and a game behind Houston after they shockingly lost 84-68 at home to Cincinnati.
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While Kansas is still in the Big 12 mix, it needs wins over both Arizona and Houston to have a chance now. And that looks much more difficult after Saturday’s loss.
No. 6 Iowa State, meanwhile, may be the biggest threat to Arizona if it beats AJ Dybantsa and No. 23 BYU late Saturday night. The Cyclones visit Arizona on March 2, two days after the Wildcats host Kansas.
Live coverage is over28 updates
Yahoo Sports Staff
Yahoo Sports Staff
Just days after Anthony Dell’Orso dropped 22 on BYU, he did it again in a road win over No. 2 Houston.
The Australian is on a heater, and the Wildcats are reaping the rewards.
Yahoo Sports Staff
There’s just over a minute left and the Wildcats should win this barring a late meltdown.
We’re at the 1-minute mark and it’s an 8-point game.
Yahoo Sports Staff
The Wildcats will have to finish this one off without their big man, who just tallied his fifth foul.
Arizona is up 60-54 with just over 3 minutes left.
Nick Bromberg
The Cougars are again in a scoring drought. The Cougars’ last points came over four minutes ago. There’s 7:55 to go.
Yahoo Sports Staff
Arizona’s backup guard has continued his torrid shooting in the second half and now has 21 points as the Wildcats retake the lead with just under 11 minutes left in the game.
Nick Bromberg
Milos Uzan hits a 3-pointer to put the Cougars ahead. Does Arizona have a response?
Yahoo Sports Staff
The Cougars are right back in this thing as the game ticks toward the 15-minute mark. It’s a one-score game now.
Nick Bromberg
As the Cougars have cut the lead to three, 10 players have seen playing time. Arizona has played eight players — and will go eight-deep barring significant foul trouble — and played on the road earlier in the week.
Yahoo Sports Staff
Here’s how things are shaking out across the country today:
Ranked teams that took an L today: No. 8 Kansas and No. 19 Vanderbilt.
Nick Bromberg
The game was in danger of getting away from the Cougars late in the first half. Now they’re right back in it.
Yahoo Sports Staff
The Cougars were able to cut into the Wildcats’ lead a bit just before the break, but they’ll need to figure out a way to slow down Anthony Dell’Orso. The backup guard shredded BYU for 22 points on Wednesday and he has 14 points in the first half today.
Nick Bromberg
The Cougars are getting to the free throw line, but that’s not enough to keep up with an Arizona team that has made five of its last six field goals while Houston hasn’t made one in five minutes.
Nick Bromberg
The Cougars have now gone 3:29 without a field goal.
Yahoo Sports Staff
Arizona has found a little bit of breathing room with just over 5 minutes left on the clock in the first half. Awaka and Dell’Orso are leading the way for the Wildcats with 7 and 9 points, respectively.
Yahoo Sports Staff
We’ve got a TV timeout with 11 minutes left in the first half and the Wildcats are still in control but the Cougars are getting open looks from deep.
Arizona’s Anthony Dell’Orso is picking up right where he left off against BYU with a few short-range pull-ups and the Cats are up 18-11.
Nick Bromberg
The senior scored 22 against BYU earlier this week in what was just his second 20-point game of the season.
Yahoo Sports Staff
The Wildcats are up 9-2 early after an and-one from Tobe Awaka. The Cougars are doing their best to make this an ugly game, but Arizona is winning the 50-50s early.
Team USA will enter the final day of the 2026 Winter Olympics with its most gold medals ever, but it still won’t be anywhere close to first on the medal table.
Here's the full list of American gold, in chronological order:
With total medals, the Team USA sits at 32 after the team aerials gold and bronze medals from Mia Manganello in the women's mass start speed skate and the two-woman bobsled team of Kaillie Humphries and Deborah Levi. That leaves them two short of the record for total American medals in a single Winter Olympics, also accomplished at Salt Lake City in 2002.
With three more medals in hand, the U.S. maintained its lead over Italy for second place in the gold race behind Norway, which is having the best performance in the history of the Winter Olympics. No one's catching the leader when it has 18 golds and 40 total medals, but the Americans are winning the battle for second.
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Here's where the medal count stands going into competition on Sunday:
Major League Baseball’s spring training is happening early this year. Players started reporting to training camp in Arizona and Florida last week. That’s because 2026 is a World Baseball Classic year, with the international tournament running from March 5-11, which pushes the entire spring schedule forward a bit. That means reporting dates are a little earlier, and the first spring training game of the season will be this Friday, Feb. 20. You can catch spring training games this year on MLB Network and with a subscription to MLB.TV to get you ready for Opening Day on March 26.
If you’re an avid MLB fan, you may have already heard that ESPN is now the streaming home of MLB.TV, which means fans can buy an MLB.TV subscription directly through ESPN, a partnership that will bring thousands of out-of-market live games each season to the ESPN App and ESPN.com, though the catch is that you’ll still have to pay for MLB.TV as an add-on. If that change has been confusing, don’t worry, we’ll break it all down below.
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Here’s everything you need to know about how to watch this year’s spring training matchups live.
MLB spring training games will be available to watch on MLB Network. You can also tune in to games on MLB.TV, MLB.com, and in the MLB App, and select games are viewable on local RSNs.
How do I subscribe to MLB.TV through ESPN?
New subscribers who purchase MLB.TV must do so through the ESPN App and are required to sign up for a 1-month free trial of ESPN Unlimited in order to sign up for MLB.TV. After 1 month, ESPN auto-renews at $29.99/month, or you can cancel the trial at any time. ESPN is not required to maintain an MLB.TV subscription. If you’re a current subscriber to MLB.TV, your subscription will be renewed directly through your MLB.TV account for the 2026 season (though this may change in the future). You can continue to access the streaming content in the MLB App, or if you have the ESPN App, you can link your MLB.TV subscription to it and watch there. If you get ESPN Unlimited through another provider like DirecTV, Fubo, Hulu + Live TV or Spectrum, click here for instructions on how to access MLB.TV with your account.
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Is MLB.TV free through ESPN?
This new partnership between ESPN and MLB.TV does not mean that MLB.TV is now a free part of the ESPN App, it will be available as an add-on feature. ESPN+ subscribers will have the opportunity to purchase an MLB.TV subscription at a discount, though: in 2026, the full season will cost $134.99 instead of $149.99 and subscribers can stream games either through the MLB App or the ESPN App.
MLB Spring Training 2026 Opening Weekend Schedule
You can find a complete schedule of spring training games here; RSN broadcasts are noted below.
All Times Eastern
Friday, Feb. 20
New York Yankees vs. Baltimore Orioles, 1:05 p.m. (Gotham, MASN)
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Kansas City Royals vs. Texas Rangers, 3:05 p.m.
Chicago White Sox vs. Chicago Cubs, 3:05 p.m. (MARQ)
San Diego Padres vs. Seattle Mariners, 3:10 p.m. (SDPA, SEA Video)
Arizona Diamondbacks vs. Colorado Rockies, 3:10 p.m. (ARID, COLR)
Saturday, Feb. 21
Atlanta Braves vs. Tampa Bay Rays, 1:05 p.m. (RAYS)
Pittsburgh Pirates vs. Baltimore Orioles, 1:05 p.m (MASN)
Boston Red Sox vs. Minnesota Twins, 1:05 p.m. (NESN, MNNT)
Detroit Tigers vs. New York Yankees, 1:05 p.m. (DETT, YES)
Washington Nationals vs. St. Louis Cardinals, 1:05 p.m
Philadelphia Phillies vs. Toronto Blue Jays, 1:07 p.m. (NBCSP)
Miami Marlins vs. New York Mets, 1:10 p.m. (SNY)
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Oakland Athletics vs. Chicago White Sox, 3:05 p.m. (CHSN)
Cincinnati Reds vs. Cleveland Guardians, 3:05 p.m. (CINR, CLEG)
San Diego Padres vs. Kansas City Royals, 3:05 p.m.
Texas Rangers vs. Chicago Cubs, 3:05 p.m. (MARQ)
L.A. Dodgers vs. L.A. Angels, 3:10 p.m. (SNLA)
Cleveland Indians vs. Milwaukee Brewers, 3:10 p.m.
San Francisco Giants vs. Seattle Mariners, 3:10 p.m. (NBCSBA, SEA Video)
Colorado Rockies vs. Arizona Diamondbacks, 3:10 p.m. (ARID)
Sunday, Feb. 22
St Louis Cardinals vs. Houston Astros, 1:05 p.m. (SCHN)
Toronto Blue Jays vs. Boston Red Sox, 1:05 p.m. (NESN)
Baltimore Orioles vs, Detroit Tigers, 1:05 p.m.
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N.Y. Mets vs. N.Y. Yankees, 1:05 p.m. (Gotham)
Minnesota Twins vs. Atlanta Braves, 1:05 p.m. (GTV)
Pittsburgh Pirates vs. Philadelphia Phillies, 1:05 p.m. (NBCSP)
Tampa Bay Rays vs Pittsburgh Pirates, 1:05 p.m. (RAYS, SNP)
Washington Nationals vs. Miami Marlins, 1:10 p.m.
Milwaukee Brewers vs. Chicago White Sox, 3:05 p.m. (BREW, CHSN)
Cleveland Guardians vs. Oakland Athletics, 3:05 p.m.
Colorado Rockies vs. Texas Rangers, 3:05 p.m.
Seattle Mariners vs. Cincinnati Reds, 3:05 p.m.
Chicago Cubs vs. San Francisco Giants, 3:05 p.m. (SF Video)
Kansas City Royals vs. Milwaukee Brewers, 3:10 p.m.
L.A. Dodgers vs. San Diego Padres, 3:10 p.m.
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L.A. Angels vs. Arizona Diamondbacks, 3:10 p.m.
Monday, February 23
Boston vs. Tampa Bay, 1:05 p.m.
Atlanta Braves vs. Baltimore Orioles, 1:05 p.m.
Minnesota Twins vs. Detroit Tigers, 1:05 p.m.
N.Y. Yankees vs. Pittsburgh Pirates, 1:05 p.m. (Gotham, SNP)
Miami Marlins vs. St. Louis Cardinals, 1:05 p.m. (Matrix)
N.Y. Mets vs. Toronto Blue Jays, 1:07 p.m.
Arizona Diamondbacks vs. Cleveland Guardians, 3:05 p.m.
Chicago Cubs vs. Kansas City Royals, 3:05 p.m.
Seattle Mariners vs. L.A. Dodgers, 3:05 p.m. (SNLA)
Oakland Athletics vs. San Francisco Giants, 3:05 p.m.
Texas Rangers vs. L.A. Angels, 3:10 p.m
Milwaukee Brewers vs. San Diego Padres, 3:10 p.m. (BREW, SDPA)
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Chicago White Sox vs. Colorado Rockies, 3:10 p.m.
Philadelphia Phillies vs. Washington Nationals, 6:05 p.m.
When does the 2026 MLB season start?
The 2026 MLB season begins earlier than ever. The 2026 season will begin on Wednesday, March 25, with an Opening Night matchup between the San Francisco Giants and New York Yankees at Oracle Park in San Francisco, followed by a 14-game Opening Day slate on Thursday, March 26.
MILAN — There is the august, solemn majesty of the Olympic Games, a dignified tradition of athletic excellence stretching back centuries. And then there was Saturday night at the Assago Ice Skating Arena, where Kung-Fu Panda fought Deadpool and Sub-Zero on ice as Tenacious D played overhead and Jackie Chan looked on from rinkside.
The Olympics truly contain multitudes.
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Saturday night, figure skating’s stars and medal winners gathered for one last time in Milan, bidding farewell to the Games in what’s become a beloved tradition: the Olympic Gala. Part performance, part celebration, it’s like figure skating’s version of the home run derby or the slam-dunk contest, a glorious exhibition of the world’s best at the peak of their powers. And, on occasion, it gets weird, too. That happens when you’re at the end of two of the most stressful, arduous, anxious weeks of your entire life.
The Gala was pure entertainment, mixing axels and loops and even a few backflips with exotic costumes — like the panda outfit gold medal winner Mikhail Shaidorov wore for his entire routine — and some very un-skatery songs, like Guns n’ Roses’ “Welcome to the Jungle” and the Mortal Kombat theme song. For once, though, these skaters weren’t worried about pleasing grim, dour judges; they only wanted to enjoy themselves. To be, you know, human.
Gold medalist Alysa Liu closed out the 2026 Winter Olympics with a crowd-pleasing performance at Saturday’s Gala.
(Qian Jun/MB Media via Getty Images)
For some, like Alysa Liu, this was a moment to express pure joy, to revel in the happiness of a life-changing gold medal. For others, like Ilia Malinin and Amber Glenn — both of whom missed out on expected individual medals thanks to untimely miscues — the Gala offered a chance to exorcise some demons in front of the world.
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Glenn, her hair down and flowing, skated to Lady Gaga’s cover of “That’s Life” — a singularly appropriate song of acceptance, defiance and resolution. Malinin, covering his head in a baggy hoodie, skated — and backflipped — to NF’s “FEAR,” a song of desolation with a closing refrain of “Is this what you wanted?” repeated over and over. Whether this was a statement of purpose, or whether Malinin wanted his fans to think it was a statement of purpose, only he knows for sure. The overall effect for both skaters, though, was that of releasing ghosts, of leaving Milan in Milan.
The Gala closed with a spectacular finale — every single invited skater on the ice at once, skating in a community unbound by nationality. The women twirled, the pairs paralleled one another, the adventurous men backflipped while the comedians faked wipeouts. As an orchestral, uplifting version of “Viva La Vida” played, they gathered as one, posing for a once-in-a-lifetime, hold-this-moment selfie.
The Gala represented the very best of what skating can be, delirious happiness at the sheer pleasure of gliding over — and leaping above — the ice. Olympic skating has so many deep-rooted problems, from its still-controversial judging to many coaches’ undue influence on young skaters to the looming threat of the return of Russia … but on this night, for these 150 minutes, skaters and fans alike set aside those concerns and focused on the joy that brought them together in the first place.
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Widen the lens a bit, and you can see how this fits in the full Olympic picture. The Assago Ice Skating Arena is in a dull, nondescript area of South Milan, right next to a highway and near a mall and a gray office park. The building itself looks like the headquarters of a ‘70s-era Bond villain, all concrete and strangely shaped concourses. The majesty of the Duomo is a long way away. And even so, during these Games, there was transcendent beauty and grace within.
The Olympics have their own flaws — honestly, to call them “flaws” undersells them. Corruption, greed, strong-arming with one hand and cozying up to autocracies with the other … the Olympic movement is one that’s so deeply scarred and stained it’s fair to wonder whether the entire enterprise can be saved … or if it’s worth saving at all.
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And then you see something like Saturday night — not the Deadpool and Kung Fu Panda part, the unified finale part — and you realize that the Olympics bring together cultures and countries in a way that nothing else can today. You see fans from so many nations cheering skaters from so many nations, everyone side by side, and just for a moment, everything the Olympics claims to be, it truly is.
At their worst, the Olympics reflect our most base, greedy selves. But at their best, like on Saturday night … they fly.
