Category: Sport

Former Nebraska AD, Bill Moos, has released a 697 page memoir titled Crab Creek Chronicles: From the Wheat Fields to the Ball Fields and Beyond. In it are some very interesting takeaways about his time at Nebraska. Andy Staples, Ross Dellenger and Steven Godfrey discuss some of the more notable stories he shares. The most notable, and surprising, story is about Moos’ regret of Nebraska joining the Big Ten conference and his interest in leaving the Big Ten to return to the Big 12. That, of course, did not end up happening. Moos also shares how he was forced into hiring Scott Frost even though he did not think he was right for the job. The guys share their opinions and takeaways from these, and other, stories from the book.

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Then, Andy, Ross and Godfrey go from looking at the past to looking into the future. The Pac-12 Conference is back and they have released their 2026 schedule. The most notable part is the unique approach to their Week 13 games. The conference currently only has eight football teams. That means there are only seven games to be held during an eight-game conference schedule. The Pac-12’s unique approach for the eighth game, in Week 13, is the creation of a flex week. There are currently four games scheduled, with home teams being already designated, but the conference is reserving the right to swap opponents up to six days before the matchup. They are saying they will choose the matchups based off of what is best for the conference. Presumably this means creating the most advantageous schedule for a potential CFP bid. The guys discuss the impact of this and what the ripple effects could be. What would this look like in other conferences, and could this potentially change the landscape of college football scheduling?

Later, Ross shares the latest update in the world of revenue sharing. He discusses his most recent article about how programs are far exceeding the revenue share cap and what the “real” rev-share cap is for the top programs. Andy and Godfrey join in as they react to the new world of revenue sharing, that may be far more expensive than people realize, and they all discuss how this is going to continue to evolve going forward.

Get caught up on all things college football with College Football Enquirer.

0:00:00 – Former Nebraska AD tells all

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28:29 – Pac-12’s unique flex-week schedule

42:48 – How schools are far exceeding the rev-share cap

🖥️ Watch this full episode on YouTube

Check out all the episodes of theCollege Football Enquirer and the rest of the Yahoo Sports podcast family athttps://apple.co/3zEuTQj or atyahoosports.tv

Igor Medved, Finland’s ski jumping coach for the 2026 Winter Olympics, was sent home Thursday due to an alleged alcohol-related issue.

Medved’s behavior was described by Finland’s Olympic committee as a violation of team conduct.

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“Medved traveled home today,” said Janne Hanninen, head of the Finnish team. “The matter concerns issues related to alcohol use. We take violations of the team’s rules very seriously and reacted to the situation quickly.”

Following his dismissal from the Olympic team, Medved issued an apology.

“I made a mistake and I am very sorry,” Medved said in a statement. “I want to apologize to the entire Finnish team, the athletes and also the fans.”

No further details were given by Finland’s Olympic committee regarding their now former ski jumping coach’s early departure.

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Executive director of the Finnish Ski Federation Marleena Valtasola said Medved’s future with the program would be decided following the Winter Games.

“An unpleasant situation has arisen: alcohol was consumed in violation of team rules,” Valtasola said. “We have decided that Medved will not participate in the Olympics. The other issues will be discussed with him after the Games. Now it is essential to safeguard the athletes’ concentration and restore serenity to the team and for Igor.”

Medved took over as coach of the Finland ski jumping team in June 2024. Finland has not won any medals in ski jumping and has just one bronze medal in these Games as of Thursday.

MILAN — Rubbin’ is racin’, as a wise old philosopher once said, but when rubbin’ turns to wreckin’, bad things happen.

Four years after her heartbreak in Beijing, short track speedskater Kristen Santos-Griswold again struggled in the Olympics, falling — or getting knocked to the ice — multiple times in an ultimately frustrating night that left her locked out of the medal final race.

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“It wasn’t the ice, it wasn’t anything,” Santos-Griswold insisted afterward. “it was blades hitting blades, or stubbing off a block.”

In the quarterfinals, Santos-Griswold’s race required four separate restarts after the five racers — later trimmed to four after China’s Chutong Zhang was disqualified for collisions — struggled again and again to get through the opening turns. Still, she recovered enough to finish second and advance to the semifinals.

But she faced troubles getting through a fast pack, and when her skate hit an inside block, she lost so much time on the leaders that she was unable to close the gap.

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“I know I’m fast, I know I can make moves,” she said after her final race. “I was confident in getting off the [starting] line. I was like, I can fight for this, but then immediately we had some contact and it was just too big to recover from. That was really disappointing, that I didn’t even get a shot, but that’s part of sport.”

Relegated to the B Final, without a hope of a medal, Santos-Griswold again ran into trouble, getting tangled up in a three-skater crash that ended her night once and for all.

“We’re all out there fighting to make it out of the rounds, fighting to get on the podium, to get on top of the podium, and I think that that’s something that’s a little bit different about the Olympics,” Santos-Griswold said. “It’s not like an accumulation of points, you’ve got one shot, and we’re all going to go out there and take it.”

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Santos-Griswold will next race in the 1000m on Saturday, the same event that bedeviled her in Beijing. In that race, she was leading in the final lap when a collision with Italy’s Arianna Fontana ended her night and her Olympic dreams.

“Last time I was so nervous leading up to races. I’m still nervous leading up to races, so that’s a lie if I say I’m not,” she said. “But I’m trying to take it day by day and enjoy the experience.”

When Darryn Peterson sat out Monday’s game against top-ranked and then-undefeated Arizona due to flu-like symptoms, speculation swirled. It’s continued in the wake of No. 9 Kansas beating the Wildcats despite the standout freshman guard’s latest absence from a marquee matchup.

Peterson is a former five-star recruit and a current projected top-two NBA Draft pick, but his durability is under the microscope now that he’s missed 11 of the Jayhawks’ 24 games for a variety of reasons.

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Critics have also been questioning the legitimacy of Peterson’s ailments, particularly his recent illness, given that he was on the floor for the start of pregame warmups before leaving the court and then missing the game versus Arizona, one of the most highly anticipated matchups on the sport’s calendar.

His head coach, two-time national champion Bill Self, addressed that skepticism on Thursday, notably dispelling a load-management narrative that he described as “BS.”

“I’m not a social media guy, but I have gotten on X and read some of the things and narratives that are out there about him, and it’s really not remotely true,” Self said, via The Field of 68.

Peterson has missed significant time because of a hamstring strain, a sprained ankle, a quad issue, cramping problems and now an illness, as reported by The Kansas City Star.

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Before missing Monday’s game versus No. 1 Arizona, he had missed games against then-No. 5 Duke and then-No. 5 UConn and was sidelined most of the second half during a Jan. 31 win over then-No. 13 BYU, a showdown that featured his biggest competition for the No. 1 pick in this year’s draft, AJ Dybantsa.

“When you’re honest, people don’t believe you,” Self continued in a nearly four-minute remark during his midweek news conference. “And when you don’t comment on it, people create their own narratives.

“And you know what? I do the same thing about things I don’t know about. Well, it must be this. Geez, it has to be that if they’re not going to talk about it.

“But here’s the bottom line: Was his hamstring legit? Hell yes. Would you have risked injuring it more in November? No. Was his cramping legit? Yes, positively, it was. Did he turn his ankle bad to the point where he couldn’t practice for nine days and then practice one day and play BYU? Yes. And that was adrenaline kicking in, in the BYU game.”

While he played just three minutes in the second half in that matchup with Dybantsa, Peterson still finished with 18 points on 6-of-8 shooting. He made three 3s, stacked three steals and delivered the highlight of the night, thanks to a seismic dunk over BYU’s Mihai Boskovic and Keba Keita.

That’s the thing. When Peterson’s been on the court, he’s often been as good as advertised.

In fact, he’s scored at least 14 points in every game he’s played, eclipsing the 20-point mark six times in 13 chances. The 6-foot-6, 205-pound Canton, Ohio, native is averaging 20.5 points and shooting 48.9% from the field, including 41.9% from deep.

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As for the illness that kept Peterson from playing against Arizona, he’s still recovering from it, according to Self. The longtime Jayhawks head coach noted that Peterson being sick was only a big deal because it was lumped together with his other absences, which Self chalked up to a “string of bad luck.”

[Get more Jayhawks men’s basketball news: Kansas team feed]

“Was he sick? Yeah, he was sick enough he couldn’t practice,” Self said. “But he said he was still going to give it a run. And he came to shootaround, and he gave it a run, and he went out before, and he gets lightheaded, and I walk in and the doctor says, ‘Bill, he not going to be able to go.’

“The negative is that people saw him out there: ‘What could have happened between being out there and not playing?’ He was just trying to see if he could go. I mean, if he wanted to run from it or hide from it, he wouldn’t have gone out there. So the narrative is BS in many ways.”

Self then added: “Load management? This kid hasn’t talked about that one time. Load management? Geez, that’s when you play four games in seven days. That’s not when you play one half a week or anything like that.”

Self said that Peterson is doing better but isn’t full speed yet. He’s hoping the first-year guard will be closer to 100% on Friday and reach that status in time for Saturday’s road game against No. 5 Iowa State.

“It’s a lot, I would think, when you’re 19 years old, and you’re dealing with everybody having a narrative about everything that’s going on,” Self said.

“Or you’re sitting on the bench, and you got heat warmers on your legs or whatever, and now everybody’s got a narrative about a heat warmer. That’s what he’s dealing with, and that’s the world he’s getting ready to enter. But the narratives haven’t been accurate.”

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Tottenham have parted ways with Thomas Frank, and the big question is: was he really the problem? The boys dig into what’s actually happening at Spurs, whether the issues run deeper than the head coach, and which managers could realistically step in to fix things. Is this about tactics, recruitment, ownership — or something bigger?

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Then Austin FC striker Brandon Vazquez joins the show for an honest and revealing conversation. He opens up about recovering from his ACL injury, doing “quick maths” in his head about the World Cup timeline the moment he got hurt, and what it will take to fight his way back into the U.S. Men’s National Team picture. Vazquez also shares what it was really like playing in Liga MX — from nonstop media attention to the intensity of fan culture — and how it compares to MLS. Plus, we get the full origin story of his “Superman” goal celebration (yes, including the capes).

To close it out, the boys react to the 2026 MLS kit reveal and give their unfiltered best and worst picks. Which clubs nailed it? Which designs should’ve stayed in the concept phase? We’re handing out praise, roasting questionable choices, and ranking the fits you’ll be seeing all season long.

Timestamps:

(11:00) – Thomas Frank sacked! What is the issue at Tottenham?

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(20:00) – Discussing possible replacement for Tottenham

(27:15) – Brandon Vazquez joins The Cooligans

(51:30) – Revealing the best 2026 MLS kits

(59:45) – Revealing the worst 2026 MLS kits

🖥️ Watch this full episode on YouTube

Check out the rest of the Yahoo Sports podcast family at https://apple.co/3zEuTQj or at yahoosports.tv

MILAN — Already denied a goal and an assist by successful Latvian challenges earlier in the game, Brock Nelson couldn’t resist sending a message.

The American forward celebrated his go-ahead goal midway through the second period by playfully pointing at the net and signaling “good goal” to make the point that this one counted.

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“You never know how many looks you’re going to get, so when you have that happen, you’re like maybe tonight’s not my night,” Nelson said. “You just try to stick with it. All the guys were positive for sure.”

Nelson’s goal was the lid-lifter the U.S. men’s hockey team needed to seize control of the match and get its quest for Olympic gold off to an encouraging start. The Americans added two more goals by the end of the second period, salting away a 5-1 victory over Latvia on Thursday night in the opening match of group play for both teams.

“That goal by Brock was really big,” American defenseman Charlie McAvoy said. “It felt like we were pushing and pushing, kind of waiting for the dam to break.”

The last time the U.S. men’s hockey team captured Olympic gold, a group of college standouts and minor-league nobodies engineered the Miracle on Ice. Forty-six years later, the Americans boast a star-laden roster composed entirely of NHL players and the belief that it is at last their time again.

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Their starting goaltender is the reigning NHL MVP and a three-time Vezina Trophy winner. Their group of defensemen includes four who appeared on ballots in last year’s Norris Trophy voting. Their attacking talent includes the likes of Auston Matthews, Jack Eichel and Brady and Matthew Tkachuk. It’s the deepest, strongest roster at these Olympics besides Canada’s, which is somehow even more loaded.

Only six members of Latvia’s roster currently play in the NHL, but the U.S. entered Thursday’s matchup expecting a fight. Latvia is a proud hockey country with a history of punching above its weight class. At the 2023 World Championships, the Latvians won a surprise bronze medal, toppling the likes of Czechia, Sweden and the U.S.

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The opening period was an exasperating one for a U.S. team that put the puck in the back of the net three times yet skated off the ice with just a single goal.

Quinn Hughes thought he had put the U.S. ahead 2-0, but referees ruled that Nelson was offside during the buildup. Then, after a Latvian goal against the run of play, Nelson appeared to score on a deflection to make it 2-1, but referees ruled that minimal contact between J.T. Miller and Merzlikins in the crease was enough to be goaltender inference.

Annoyance turned to disbelief for the Americans late in the first period when U.S. attackers twice beat Merzlikins, only to have their shots clang off the post. First it was Nelson. Then it was Matthew Tkachuk. The older Tkachuk brother was so certain that he had scored that he began to raise his arms in celebration, only to put them on his head when he realized he had been denied. Linemate Jack Eichel also put both arms in the air, then quickly put them back down.

Credit the U.S. for bearing down and responding by dominating the second period. The U.S. limited Latvia to just two shots and peppered Merzlikins over and over until Nelson finally broke through.

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A deft Jack Hughes pass from behind the net set Nelson up all alone in front of the net with only Merzlikins to beat. Nelson stayed patient and made no mistake, deking the Latvian goaltender the wrong way and burying the puck into an open net.

The goals came easily for the U.S. after that. Tage Thompson went backhand over the shoulder of Merzlikins from a tight angle to make it 3-1. Beautiful tic-tac-toe passing set up Nelson for his second goal of the game barely a minute later.

Latvia changed goaltenders after the second period, not that it slowed the U.S. onslaught. Auston Matthews struck less than three minutes into the third period.

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The Americans are unlikely to face more resistance in their next group-stage game against Denmark on Saturday night. It might not be until Sunday against  Leon Draisaitl and Germany that the U.S. is truly challenged.

If the Americans get this version of Nelson to lead their fourth line, it might be even longer than that.

“What could he have had, like four or five goals tonight if they wouldn’t have gotten called back?” Matthew Tkachuk said. “He was awesome.”

A third state would like to enter the battle for the next home of the Chicago Bears.

Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds voiced an interest in luring the NFL team on Wednesday, according to the Des Moines Register, calling the idea a “wild pass.” A day later, an Iowa Senate subcommittee advanced Senate File 2252.

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If passed, the bill would modify Iowa’s major economic growth attraction program to “include incentivizing the building of a professional sports stadium by a National Football League franchise in the state.”

The Bears do not appear to have publicly reacted to the move.

Iowa’s interest is the latest development in the Bears’ quest to find a post-Soldier Field home. The Bears have floated both a lakefront site near Soldier Field and a development in the suburb of Arlington Heights, both of which would require more than a billion dollars in taxpayer support. The Illinois legislature reportedly declined either project for 2026, leading team president Kevin Warren to float a move to northwest Indiana.

Indiana politicians have moved to meet that interest. The cities of Gary, Hammond and Portage — NW Indiana’s three largest cities — have all signaled interest in the Bears.

An Iowa state senator had an interesting way to describe the situation, via Front Office Sports:

Sen. Kerry Gruenhagen (R., Iowa), in a statement, said the bill was filed to “show a team in our neighboring state that we are ready for them if their home state doesn’t want them. While Illinois and Indiana squabble over this issue, we are ready to get off the sidelines and into the game.”

Not every Iowa politician is interested in the enormous expenditure that landing the Bears would require, though. Iowa House minority leader Brian Meyer told the Register he didn’t see the idea as serious:

“It’s all a game, it’s all a gimmick,” Meyer said. “I get it. I understand. But the time to get serious is upon us and we need to focus on issues that really matter to people. And I understand, obviously there is no way the Chicago Bears are moving to wherever they want them to, right? So the reality is we’re not going to annex Galena, Illinois, either. So let’s get serious. We need to buckle down and focus on school funding, clean up the waterways and make life more affordable.”

There are obvious challenges to bringing the Bears to Iowa that not even Indiana would really face. For starters, there’s the question of how far you can move from Chicago and still call yourself the Chicago Bears. One could argue that moving to Indiana would break that threshold, but northwest Indiana is still considered part of the Chicago metropolitan area by the U.S. Census.

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It’s roughly a 40-mile drive from Soldier Field to Portage, the farthest city of the Indiana trio. The Iowa border, meanwhile, is more than 150 miles. So moving the Bears would mean severing generations of local connections for a state with about a third of the population of the Chicago metro area.

You would hope that’s a factor in the Bears’ eventual decision.

David Rubenstein, a billionaire who has owned the Baltimore Orioles since 2024, met with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein in 2012, Front Office Sports reported Thursday.

While Rubenstein, a founder of the Washington, D.C.-based private-equity firm The Carlyle Group, is named in the Epstein files, he’s not accused of any wrongdoing.

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Among the millions of emails released by the Department of Justice last month are exchanges between Rubenstein and Epstein. Those reveal that Rubenstein met with Epstein for dinner in November 2012, four years after Epstein pleaded guilty to a state charge of solicitation of prostitution with a minor.

“Mr. Rubenstein had one meeting for 20 minutes in Carlyle’s office, at the request of people seeking Mr. Rubenstein’s participation in philanthropic endeavors, none of which were pursued by Mr. Rubenstein,” a spokesperson for Rubenstein said in a statement provided to multiple outlets on Thursday.

“Nice meeting you finally,” Epstein wrote in an email to Rubenstein on Nov. 12, 2012. Epstein and Rubenstein were reportedly previously introduced via email by Boris Nikolić, a physician once named as “successor executor” to Epstein’s estate.

In that Nov. 12 email to Rubenstein, Epstein noted that Ehud Barak, a former prime minister of Israel, would be in Washington and asked whether Rubenstein would be interested in meeting with Barak to discuss the forecast for the economy following the election.

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At the time, incumbent Barack Obama had just defeated Mitt Romney in the 2012 U.S. presidential election.

Rubenstein then responded, “Thanks very much. Enjoyed the chance to meet you as well.”

Later in the same message, Rubenstein added: “I need to check my schedule tomorrow. I really like ehud and I am up to speed on what congress and wh are doing — though impact on the economy is still a bit of guess work.”

Rubenstein’s spokesperson addressed that back-and-forth in their statement.

“A brief email thanking Mr. Rubenstein for the meeting also suggested a meeting between Mr. Rubenstein and Ehud Barak, which never occurred,” the spokesperson told multiple outlets.

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“There is nothing more to Mr. Rubenstein’s involvement than that innocuous interaction.”

That said, as reported by FOS, Epstein sent an email to Rubenstein two weeks later, and his reply suggested another meeting between them was in the works.

On Nov. 26, 2012, Epstein emailed Rubenstein a link to an article about Barak leaving politics. Less than two hours later, Rubenstein responded, “So no dinner this week?”

Epstein replied later that day, “dinner is a better idea now.. looking for interesting things to do.”

Outside of Rubenstein’s direct correspondence with Epstein, there’s other evidence of their connection in the files. FOS reported Thursday that in July 2012, a “Sarah K” emailed Epstein a photo of a woman in a bathing suit, which Epstein forwarded to Nikolić and wrote “for david rubenstein.”

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The woman’s face is redacted in the files.

Nikolić, who told The Wall Street Journal earlier this month that he “deeply” regrets associating with Epstein, responded back then to that email, “Thank you! HOT.”

A spokesperson for Rubenstein said Rubenstein had never received or seen that email from Nikolić, per FOS.

Rubenstein and fellow private-equity billionaire Mike Arougheti spearheaded the purchase of the Orioles from the Angelos family in January 2024, reportedly acquiring ownership of the club at a price that valued the team at $1.725 billion.

Peter Angelos, who led the purchase of the Orioles in 1993, died at 94 in March 2024. Soon after, Rubenstein, a Baltimore native, officially took over as the franchise’s control person.

Trinidad Chambliss’ push for an extra year of eligibility has paid off.

The Ole Miss quarterback was granted an injunction in Mississippi state court on Thursday that allows him to play for the Rebels in 2026. Chambliss, who transferred from Ferris State, had argued that he should have received a medical redshirt in 2022 while he was playing for the Bulldogs and dealing with health issues before his tonsils were removed in 2024. Chambliss redshirted in 2021 while he was at Ferris State and didn’t appear in a game in 2022.

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The injunction from Judge Robert Whitwell came after the NCAA twice denied Chambliss’ request for a sixth year of eligibility. In January, the governing body denied his request for a waiver and then subsequently denied his appeal. During the hearing Thursday, news emerged that the NCAA had denied Chambliss’ request to reconsider its decision.

Whitwell noted before he issued the injunction that the NCAA’s lawyers had left the courtroom and were not present at the time of his ruling Thursday afternoon. Whitwell talked for over an hour before issuing his ruling, and it was obvious over the course of his remarks that he was going to rule in Chambliss’ favor as he noted that the NCAA had operated “in bad faith” and that it disregarded Chambliss’ medical issues in refusing to grant him the waiver.

Whitwell also made clear that he was not ruling that the NCAA’s rules were illegal or making a larger example of the NCAA’s eligibility system.

Chambliss, 23, was one of college football’s breakout stars in 2025. After relieving an injured Austin Simmons in Ole Miss’ second game of the season, Chambliss totaled 30 touchdowns and threw just three interceptions as the Rebels made it to the semifinals of the College Football Playoff before losing to Miami in the Fiesta Bowl.

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Chambliss’ performance in the quarterfinals against Georgia was a game that will live forever in Ole Miss lore. He was 30-of-46 passing for 362 yards and two scores as the Rebels outscored the Bulldogs 27-13 in the second half for a 39-34 Sugar Bowl win.

His return to Ole Miss is a huge boost for the Rebels as they look to get back to the College Football Playoff under new coach Pete Golding. The former Ole Miss defensive coordinator became the team’s head coach ahead of the playoff in December as Lane Kiffin decided to leave Ole Miss for the open job at LSU.

To say that having Chambliss back for a second season in Oxford is massive may be an understatement. Simmons transferred after the season to Missouri and, had Chambliss not come back, Auburn transfer Deuce Knight would have been the prohibitive favorite to start for the Rebels.

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Chambliss will likely be one of the favorites to win the Heisman Trophy ahead of the 2026 season even with Kiffin and former offensive coordinator Charlie Weis Jr. now at LSU. Ole Miss added the No. 18 transfer class in the country this offseason, according to On3, and signed Michigan State RB Makhi Frazier and (controversially) Clemson LB Luke Ferrelli among others.

With Chambliss now set to play for the Rebels next season, there’s still one more eligibility case among starting quarterbacks in the SEC remaining. Tennessee QB Joey Aguilar has received a temporary restraining order in his efforts to play for a seventh season of college football, with a hearing set for Friday over a possible injunction that would clear the way for him to play next season.

Thursday was a quieter day in the medal department for the United States, but there were still plenty of highlights in Milan. The U.S. men’s hockey team dominated, and Breezy Johnson’s great week continued.

54-year-old Rich Ruohonen made history, and Chloe Kim just missed out on it. Lastly, Jessie Diggins medaled in her farewell tour.

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Here are five of the top stories from Day 6 of the Milan Cortina Olympics:

U.S. men’s hockey makes opening statement

Team USA men’s hockey couldn’t have gotten off to a better start as it opened Olympic play on Thursday. For the first time since the 2014 Olympics, NHL players are back, and they made their presence known in a 5-1 win over Latvia behind a strong performance from Brock Nelson.

Nelson, who plays for the Colorado Avalanche in the NHL, finished the game with two goals, and had another goal and assists denied after successful challenges by Latvia. The Ottawa Senators’ Brady Tkachuk, Buffalo Sabres’ Tage Thompson and Toronto Maple Leafs’ Auston Matthews each scored a goal.

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No three-peat for Chloe Kim

Going into Thursday’s women’s halfpipe final, Chloe Kim had the opportunity to become the first snowboarder to win three straight gold medals. Kim was unable to make history after finishing behind South Korea’s Gaon Choi as a silver medalist for the first time in her career.

Choi was able to overcome a scary fall in her second run to finish in first and make history of her own, becoming the youngest snowboarding gold medalist in history, at 17 years and 101 days old. American snowboarder Red Gerard previously held the record when he won the 2018 slopestyle at 17 years and 227 days old.

Breezy Johnson trades in Olympic gold for an engagement ring

What a week for U.S. skier Breezy Johnson. After winning Olympic gold in Sunday’s downhill competition, Johnson got engaged to her boyfriend, Connor Watkins, at the base of the super-G run in Cortina d’Ampezzo on Thursday.

Johnson told NBC’s Cara Banks that she had hopes of getting engaged at the Olympics. The big news lifted her spirits after she crashed out of Thursday’s super-G and did not finish. Johnson will have to be extra careful with her new hardware after she broke her gold medal earlier this week.

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Rich Ruohonen becomes America’s oldest Olympian

Rich Ruohonen is a perfect example of why you are never too old to go for it. At 54 years old, Ruohonen became America’s oldest person to ever compete in the Winter Games. Ruohonen, a personal injury lawyer from Brooklyn Park, Minnesota, originally filled in as skipper last season for Team USA’s Danny Casper. On Thursday, Ruohonen was subbed into Team USA’s game against Switzerland.

Ruohen’s temporary role turned into a part-time job as the team’s alternate — or fifth player. After 30 years of Olympic Trials frustration, he was able to finally secure a spot in the 2026 Winter Games. Joseph Savage (52 in 1932) and Mac McCarthy (51 in 1948) were the only other Olympians over 50 to compete in the Winter Olympics, according to the co-founder of the International Society of Olympic Historians, Bill Mallon. Many elite curlers retire in their late 30s.

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Jessie Diggins wins bronze during her final Olympics

U.S. cross-country skier Jessie Diggins’ farewell tour added an exclamation point, taking bronze in Thursday’s women’s 10km — while competing with bruised ribs. Diggins said this will be her final Olympics and that she will retire after the season finale in Lake Placid, New York, in March.

Diggins won gold at the 2018 team event in PyeongChang and won silver in the 30km freestyle and bronze in the individual sprint in 2022. The 33-year-old’s list of accomplishments also includes 33 career World Cup wins and reaching the podium 87 times.

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Highlight of the day

Have yourself a day, Brock Nelson!

One more thing

The action in Milan provided plenty of highlights on Thursday, but mogul skier Tess Johnson’s boyfriend’s grandpa might be the best thing you’ll see all day.