The Winter Games have begun 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.
The United States boosted its medal count to 27 at the 2026 Winter Olympics after Day 13’s slate of events. That includes gold medal wins by Alysa Liu in women’s figure skating and Team USA’s win over Canada in women’s ice hockey. Speed skating sensation Jordan Stolz also took silver in the 1,500 meters.
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For Day 14, Team USA has gold in its sights in short track and long track speed skating events, while also playing for berths in gold medal finals in men’s ice hockey and women’s curling with semifinal matches.
Here are the top four things to watch on Friday at the 2026 Milan Cortina Olympics:
1. Team USA turns in dominant win vs. Slovakia
The United States turned in their most impressive win thus far Friday, taking down Slovakia 6-2 in the semifinal to advance to the gold-medal game.
The U.S. received two goals from Jack Hughes, with four other players chipping in scores of their own. While Slovakia tried to rally late, the deficit proved to be too large for them to truly make it a game in the third period.
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As a result, Team USA will play in the gold-medal game for the first time since 2010. They’ll take on Canada in a rematch of that 2010 final, which Canada won.
2. U.S. women’s falls to Switzerland in semifinals
Beating Switzerland in consecutive matches proved too difficult for Team USA on Friday. A day after defeating Switzerland to advance to the semifinals, Team USA lost 7-4 to the Swiss team Friday.
Switzerland played a strong defensive game, limiting Team USA to just one point in the ends in which they scored. Switzerland also controlled the hammer, forcing multiple scoreless ends to keep the final stone.
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While the U.S. tried to make it tough in the 10th end, Switzerland executed on its hammer throw, picking up two points to seal the victory.
With the loss, Team USA will play Canada for the bronze medal Saturday.
3. Kristen Santos-Griswold chases gold in short track speed skating (2:15 p.m. ET)
In the women’s 1,500 meters, American Kristen Santos-Griswold pursues her first gold medal in her second Winter Olympics. (She finished short of the podium in heartbreaking fashion at the 2022 Beijing Games.) Her final chance at a medal in Milan Cortina comes in what is arguably her best event.
For the men’s 5,000 meters relay, home country Italy (which won bronze in Beijing) is one of the eight teams competing for a medal with Korea (silver in Beijing), the Netherlands and reigning gold medalist Canada in Final A. Final B is comprised of Belgium, Japan, China and Hungary.
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4. Brittany Bowe falls short in final event
Brittany Bowe took her final laps as an Olympic speed skater on Friday afternoon in Milan. She received an ovation from the heavily pro-Netherlands crowd at the speed-skating arena, though her head-to-head rival Antoinette Rijpma-de Jong received a louder one. Bowe sprinted off the starting line, and at the 300m mark was 0.69 seconds ahead of the leaders’ pace. That mark stayed at 0.46 seconds at 700m, and just 0.17 at 1100m. But she steadily began losing pace, and she crossed the line 0.55 seconds behind the lead time.
She would go on to finish fourth in the event, leaving her off the podium. It marked the third time Bowe has finished fourth in an event at the 2026 Games.
Olympics schedule for Friday, Feb. 20 (Day 14)
Biathlon
15 kilometer mass start
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8:15 a.m.: Men’s final (USA Network; airs on NBC at 12:15 p.m.)🏅
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Bobsled
Two-woman
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12 p.m.: Heats 1, 2 (Heat 1 airs live on NBC; Heats 1 and 2 air on USA Network at 4:15 p.m.)
Curling
Women’s
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8:05 a.m.: Semifinals (One semifinal will air on USA Network at 9 a.m. with the other airing at 8 p.m.)
Men’s
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1:05 p.m.: Bronze-medal game (airs on USA Network at 5 p.m.)🏅
Freestyle Skiing
Ski cross
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4 a.m.: Women’s qualifying (USA Network)
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5:55 a.m.: Women’s final (USA Network coverage begins at 6 a.m.)🏅
Halfpipe
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1:30 p.m.: Men’s final (NBC)🏅
Hockey
Men’s semifinals
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10:40 a.m.: Teams TBD (USA Network coverage begins at 11:50 a.m.)
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3:10 p.m.: Teams TBD (NBC)
Short Track
1500 meters relay
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2:15 p.m.: Men’s and women’s finals (USA Network) 🏅
Speed Skating
1500 meters
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10:30 a.m.: Women’s final (airs at 11 a.m. on USA Network and 1 p.m. on NBC)🏅
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