NBA skills coach Drew Hanlen joins Kevin O’Connor to break down the season’s hottest topics, from star player development to the reality of tanking in the league. Drew shares inside stories about working with Joel Embiid, Tyrese Maxey, Jayson Tatum and others and explains why self-belief can be both a gift and a curse for rising talent.
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(0:48) When will Tatum return for Celtics?
(12:13) Player development & Deni Avdija
(21:43) Can Hornets maintain their winning ways?
(26:25) How can NBA stop tanking?
(31:09) Joel Embiid’s recovery and development
(43:02) How teams use data & analytics to improve
(49:03) Chris Paul retires from NBA
(56:43) How will defensive coaching evolve?
(01:00:11) Future of the All-Star game
Joel Embiid #21 of the Philadelphia 76ers looks on during the game against the LA Clippers on February 2, 2026 at Intuit Dome in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Juan Ocampo/NBAE via Getty Images)
Andrew Siciliano deep dives on the 2026 NFL Draft with Nate Tice & ESPN’s Matt Miller. Andrew kicks things off with Nate Tice as they parse through Nate & Charles McDonald’s latest mock draft and cover a few of the more interesting selections, including EDGE Rueben Bain Jr. going second overall to the New York Jets, RB Jeremiyah Love in the top ten, EDGE David Bailey to the Washington Commanders and more. Next, Andrew & Nate set their sites on Indianapolis for the NFL Combine as Nate gives his top prospects he’s most excited to watch test next week.
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Later, Andrew is joined by ESPN’s Matt Miller to get his thoughts on the draft (including Ty Simpson, Caleb Downs and more) before talking through his latest NFL mock draft.
(6:55) – Nate Tice breaks down latest NFL mock draft
(21:55) – Nate’s top prospects to watch at the NFL Combine
(44:00) – Matt Miller talks latest NFL mock draft
MIAMI GARDENS, FLORIDA – JANUARY 19: Fernando Mendoza #15 of the Indiana Hoosiers takes the field during pregame warmups before the 2026 CFP National Championship between the Indiana Hoosiers and the Miami Hurricanes at Hard Rock Stadium on January 19, 2026 in Miami Gardens, Florida. (Photo by CFP/Getty Images)
(Photo by CFP/Getty Images)
Inside Coverage would be nothing without the impact of our beloved Terez Paylor, who was a pillar of Yahoo Sports’ NFL editorial and podcast coverage. We will continue to produce this NFL podcast in his honor, and hope that you can support Terez Paylor’s legacy in one of three ways:
• Buy an “All-Juice Team” hoodie or tee from BreakingT.com/Terez. All profits directly fund the Terez A. Paylor scholarship at Howard University.
• Donate directly at giving.howard.edu/givenow. Under “Tribute,” please note that your gift is made in memory of Terez A. Paylor. Under “Designation,” click on “Other” and write in “Terez A. Paylor Scholarship.”
Today on the Kevin O’Connor show, KOC is joined by Tom Haberstroh to ask some big questions in the NBA world: Are the Houston Rockets done? What teams have the most to prove in the 2nd half of the season? Which young players might break out and which coaches are on the hot seat?
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Then, the pair look at two of the hottest names in college basketball: Darius Acuff and Darryn Peterson. How does Acuff’s 49-point explosion affect his draft stock? Is Peterson’s self-check-out gambit for Kansas threatening his no. 1 draft pick potential?
Later, KOC is joined by Daman Rangoola, Sam Esfandiari & Claire De Lune from All-Star Weekend to talk the latest with the Lakers and Warriors. That and more on today’s show!
(1:11) Contenders with the most to prove (13:38) Young players to watch (20:26) NBA coaches on the hot seat (33:46) Kings decimated by injuries (37:12) Darius Acuff drops 49 points vs. Alabama (41:44) What’s going on with Darryn Peterson? (56:32) Daman Rangoola & Sam Esfandiari join from All-Star (1:43:10) Claire De Lune joins from All-Star
HOUSTON, TEXAS – FEBRUARY 11: Kevin Durant #7 of the Houston Rockets looks on during the second half of the game against the Los Angeles Clippers at Toyota Center on February 11, 2026 in Houston, Texas. (Photo by Jack Gorman/Getty Images)
Nate Tice & Charles McDonald join forces to answer the NFL offseason’s biggest looming questions submitted by the audience. The duo start off by diving into the New York Giants’ potential NFL Draft plans with the 5th overall pick, how the Chicago Bears can fix their defensive line and whether or not Brian Daboll is a good fit with QB Cam Ward as the new Tennessee Titans OC.
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Next, Nate & Charles discuss whether or not the Los Angeles Chargers can fix their offensive line in one offseason, if the Jacksonville Jaguars defense can take a leap next season, who the Denver Broncos should be targeting in free agency (Tyler Allgeier?) and what our expectations for the 2026 Washington Commanders should look like.
Later, the two hosts wrap up with thoughts on the New England Patriots’ upcoming offseason decisions, why Sean McVay changed to a duo run game style with the Los Angeles Rams, whether Sean McDermott was really the problem with the Buffalo Bills and more.
(44:15) – Biggest offseason questions: Patriots, Rams, Bills & more
New England Patriots quarterback Drake Maye (10) warms up before the NFL Super Bowl 60 football game against the Seattle Seahawks, Sunday, Feb. 8, 2026, in Santa Clara, Calif. (AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki)
The Cooligans welcome former MLS head coach and analyst Giovanni Savarese for a deep dive into the 2026 MLS season. Gio shares his predictions, breakout teams to watch, and how the league continues to evolve ahead of a massive 2026 on home soil. The conversation also turns to the USMNT, as the guys assess expectations, pressure, and what success should realistically look like at the 2026 World Cup.
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Christian and Alexis then tackle the troubling racist incident involving Vinícius Júnior during Real Madrid’s clash with Benfica. They unpack how these situations are currently handled, question whether the responsibility to stop a match unfairly falls on the player experiencing abuse, and debate what meaningful structural changes could better protect players moving forward.
Finally, it’s a jam-packed Champions League recap. Folarin Balogun shines in a statement performance against Paris Saint-Germain, Juventus suffer a shocking defeat to Galatasaray, and Bodø/Glimt pull off a stunning win over Inter Milan. The boys react to all the drama, surprises, and what these results mean going forward.
Timestamps:
(6:30) – 2026 MLS preview and predictions
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(30:00) – Gio Savarese’s USMNT World Cup outlook
(39:00) – Vinicius Junior deals with racism again: time for a rule change?
(59:00) – Folarin Balogun shines in Champions League loss to PSG
(1:04:30) – Serie A teams suffer shocking Champions League losses
LIVIGNO, Italy — For about three seconds before an aerials athlete leaves the start gate, you hear something unusual for the Olympic Games.
Complete silence.
No music, no cheering, not even any chatter in the crowd.
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And then, as the skier starts down the ramp, gathering momentum for a 50-foot vertical launch, it pierces through the void and hits you straight in the eardrums.
BZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ
As ubiquitous as the drone coverage of the Milan Cortina Games was for people watching at home, rest assured they were a prominent part of the experience for those of us watching live as well. There were even times where you saw these little flying machines come out of nowhere and thought, “Jeez, aren’t they getting a little too close to the athletes?”
Fortunately, the Olympics have come and gone without any drone-related incidents.
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But as we look back and assess the Milan Cortina Games for what we’ll remember, there are three major themes likely to endure.
And one clear winner.
1. A watershed moment
In many ways, the revolutionary way drones were used at these Olympics to follow athletes through their runs, jumps and tricks — giving viewers an entirely new perspective on what it’s like to ski down a hill at 80 miles per hour or bobsled through hairpin turns — could open the door for significant changes in the way sports are shown on television going forward.
“It was amazing,” Steve Milton, CBS Sports’ lead director for golf and college football broadcasts, told Yahoo Sports in a phone interview this week from Los Angeles, where he was getting ready for the PGA Tour’s Genesis Invitational. “I thought it was a real watershed moment for the technology. The angles, the vistas, inside, outside, following an athlete — it’s nothing we’ve been used to, and I see it getting bolder.”
Israel’s Barnabas Szollos the men’s downhill alpine skiing event during the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympic Games at the Stelvio Ski Centre in Bormio (Valtellina) on February 7, 2026. (Photo by Fabrice COFFRINI / AFP via Getty Images)
(FABRICE COFFRINI via Getty Images)
Milton has been a pioneer in this space, pushing for more drone usage over the last several years. CBS has employed more and more of them to provide unique views in football and particularly in golf, a sport custom-made for aerial shots. They’re a big part of why CBS’ golf coverage has improved significantly in the past couple years with a far more modern, sleek presentation and the ability to show shots in ways viewers haven’t seen before.
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“We’re always trying to push the envelope,” Milton said. “For the most part, golf is better covered from the air because you can see the perspective of the player, what’s left for the second shot, what’s in the way, how far away, and even as a spectator you don’t get that perspective. We’ve had blimps for 40 years, but there’s not a lot of movement in the blimp and it’s a two-dimensional look straight down whereas a drone racing around gives you a nice 3D perspective of what the players [face].”
It says something that even for a big drone proponent, their deployment at the Olympics broke new ground. And don’t be surprised if some of the techniques used here — shots that truly make the viewer feel like they’re part of the action — get imported to American sports television.
And the reason is simple: As long as drone cameras have been around, one of the biggest obstacles to expanded usage has been what leagues will allow. That’s obviously evolved a bit over time as the drones have gotten smaller, more reliable and quieter, alleviating concerns about them interfering with a competition. And there are certainly some limiting logistical issues like local ordinances that require waivers to fly drones or the location of a nearby airport.
But every sport from the NFL to NASCAR wants their product to be presented in the most appealing way possible, and there’s no doubt they’ve taken notice, too. That could be where these Olympics will leave a lasting legacy: Now that the standard has been set for a new level of viewing experience, it’s hard to go backward.
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“Any successful use of them will make fans ask for them in more places,” Fox Sports vice president of media relations Erik Arneson said. “I think more and more leagues are open to exploring it. A few years ago, a drone crashed on a ski course and that made people hesitate a bit, but they’ve shown to be [reliable]. These aren’t hobbyists flying them. The pilots are pros so I think it’ll gradually get into some areas where it isn’t yet.”
Of course, some of the ways the drones were used in the Olympic Games are unique to these sports. And sometimes, the footage is so good it can give you motion sickness if you look at it too long. But if there’s anything from these Olympics that’s going to resonate for years to come, it’s likely to be its impact on sports television.
“We had some learning curves in the beginning, but now it’s in the fabric,” Milton said. “You kind of look different without the drones.”
2. A new model for the Winter Games
Outside of perhaps war or putting someone in outer space, there may be no greater human logistical challenge than organizing an Olympics. From housing and feeding athletes to apportioning hotel rooms to the massive transportation network required to get fans, volunteers and media members where they need to go, it is always hard to pull off and rarely goes without some snags over the course of two-plus weeks.
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Because of those challenges and how much it taxes the infrastructure of a host city, it appears the IOC is committed to changing the model of the Winter Olympics to look more like Milan Cortina in the future.
Which means an Olympics that is divided into disparate clusters without much connection to one another.
In Northern Italy, there were really four different Olympics going on at once. To get from a speedskating event in Milan to, say, a snowboarding event in Livigno, was going to require a four-hour-plus drive or an even longer series of trains and buses. A drive between Livigno and the Cortina cluster — where they held curling, women’s alpine skiing, sliding, cross-country and ski jumping — would be five or six hours through the Alps depending on conditions. And even to get between Livigno — host of the extreme sports — and Bormio —men’s Alpine and ski mountaineering — was a 90-minute crawl through a couple mountain passes despite being just 22 miles apart.
There’s never been an Olympics that scattered and disconnected.
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But this is more or less what it’s going to look like going forward. In 2030, the so-called “French Alps” Olympics look to be just as spread out if not moreso with a footprint of clusters across the lower third of France all the way down to Nice. Though the accessibility of Park City will make the return of the Winter Olympics to Salt Lake City more compact in 2034, the likely winner for the 2038 bid is a proposal by Switzerland to spread things out across the whole country.
Why?
The answer is cost and sustainability. It is difficult and expensive to build infrastructure for an event as big as the Olympics in small mountain towns and ski resorts. It’s why the IOC struggled to get traditional winter countries in Europe to even bid for awhile because asking citizens to absorb the cost was a huge political loser for those governments. (The 2022 Games was decided between Beijing and Almaty, Kazakhstan, because everybody else dropped out.)
So, in essence, the IOC has calculated — and rightly so — that the only way you’ll get Olympics in Europe anymore is to lessen the burden on the locals by putting a few events here and a few events there. It makes sense — even if athletes and fans lose some connection to the feeling of being at a traditional Olympics. After all, for most of the world, it’s just one big TV show.
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“We want to maximize our Olympic experience as much as possible, which means getting to all of these different events and watching teams win as many medals as we can,” said U.S. aerials skier Kaila Kuhn. “I think most of us would agree we wish we could go see more events like skating or cross-country. But we’re with a lot of our buddies here, with a lot of our fellow freestyle skiers and we were super stoked to be here.”
Despite the inconveniences, the long bus rides and the inability to hop around easily from curling to hockey to halfpipe, the model worked. And it’s here to stay.
“We have had and I’ve had the opportunity to go to all venues and [Olympic] Villages across these Games and the athletes are extremely happy, and they’re happy because the experiences that the [Milan Cortina] team and my team delivered to them have been the same,” IOC president Kirsty Coventry said. “It’s part of the evaluation process after the Games where we look at it and say what worked and what didn’t work. These Games have been truly successful in a new way of doing things and a sustainable way of doing things in a way I think many people thought couldn’t be done well. It’s been done extremely well and surprised everyone’s expectations.”
3. Domestic disputes
Thanks to our way-too-online and overheated social media culture, I’m afraid we are never going to have another Olympics without Americans being at each other’s throats.
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While consuming the Olympics through the social media lens wasn’t great in 2024, it’s never been more toxic than during the two weeks of these Games, where every comment from an American athlete — even some that were pretty milquetoast — was put through the wringer until it became pellet food to satiate people’s hunger for outrage.
Here’s the reality: Every single athlete wearing the Team USA uniform was proud and honored to be here representing their country. But we also live in a country of 340 million people, and that pride in the American flag does not manifest itself the exact same way for everybody. We are a big, complicated place, and we disagree on a lot.
That’s OK.
In the immortal words of Kevin Durant after Team USA’s semifinal game in Paris two years ago: “A lot of bulls*** happens in our country. But a lot of great things happen, too.”
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Here’s another reality: For better or worse, what happens in America is a big deal in the rest of the world. And in tense times domestically like these, it’s going to be an inevitable topic at worldwide sporting events. American athletes are always going to be asked about it — more often by the international press than the American media.
If they don’t want to speak up, fine. If they do, that’s fine, too — regardless of what their opinion is. Again, we’re a big country — too big to be represented by one kind of person, one kind of thought, one kind of patriotism.
But the entire Hunter Hess experience, and those (including politicians) saying he should be sent home or didn’t deserve to wear the uniform, smacked of the kind of thought police state we should not want the Olympics to devolve into.
At the same time, expecting Team USA athletes to ignore the complexities of whatever is going on at the moment and perform a brand of paint-by-numbers patriotism that caters to either side of the political divide is unfair. It does nobody any good. It’s exhausting. And if we get to a point where a citizen of what’s supposed to be the freest and most individualistic country on Earth is afraid to be authentic lest they find their lives ruined by a social media mob, even for a few weeks, God help us.
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In the past, I have advocated for the U.S. government to fund its Olympic effort through at least some public dollars like other countries do to alleviate the financial strain on college sports. This Olympics has changed my mind because it is now easy to see what it could lead to: Politicians using their leverage to impose ideological purity tests in order to represent Team USA.
No thanks.
There should be only one goal here: Winning medals. That’s why the U.S. has always been so good at the Olympics. We compete hard, we award spots on merit and we let the chips fall where they may.
If we can’t root for Olympians we disagree with, if we descend into insults and threats because an athlete has a different worldview or expresses their patriotism differently than the way you would, it will only deepen our culture of tearing each other apart.
And if that’s the case, what’s the point of the Olympics at all?
Team USA added one more goal medal after entering the final day of the 2026 Winter Olympics with its most ever in the Winter Games, but Norway ran away with the total medal count and most gold medals.
Here’s the full list of American gold at the conclusion of the Games, in chronological order:
In total medals, the Team USA finishes 33. That leaves it one short of the record for total American medals in a single Winter Olympics, accomplished at Salt Lake City in 2002.
With one more medal in hand, the U.S. extended 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. USA’s total medal count of 33 also stands as second in the Games. Norway’s 18 gold medals and 41 total medals led the count in both races.
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Here’s the final medal count after Sunday’s final day of competition:
MILAN — In a world where pro athletes are coached to be as deliberately dull as possible in their public statements, the Olympics are a refreshing throwback to an era when athletes spoke their minds, damn the consequences. NFL and NBA players will spiral out cliches like “keeping the main thing the main thing” and “going 1-0 every week,” as easy as breathing … and then a Norwegian Olympic biathlete will just go right on camera and confess to cheating on his girlfriend. Just a bit of a different energy there.
Here are a few of the hundreds of classic quotes from this year’s Winter Olympics:
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“I know what my chances were before the crash, and I know my chances aren’t the same as it stands today, but I know there’s still a chance and as long as there’s a chance, I will try.”
— Lindsey Vonn, three days before the start of the Olympics, on skiing with a torn ACL suffered the prior weekend
Ukraine’s Vladyslav Heraskevych takes part in the skeleton men’s training session at Cortina Sliding Centre. (Tiziana FABI / AFP via Getty Images)
(TIZIANA FABI via Getty Images)
“I still believe that we didn’t violate any rules. From the beginning, I truly believed that it’s just the wrong interpretation by some IOC representatives.”
“I think that in some ways he understood that but was very committed to his beliefs, which I can respect. But sadly it doesn’t change the rules. And the rules were that for certain spaces — the field of play, the ceremonies, the Olympic Village — should be spaces where athletes are safe from both sides and where there is no messaging of any kind.”
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— IOC President Kirsty Coventry, on Heraskevych’s protest
“Six months ago, I met the love of my life, the most beautiful, kindest person in the world. And three months ago, I made the biggest mistake of my life and cheated on her, and I told her about it a week ago.”
“There’s something so unique and beautiful about skating … it’s the best sport. But don’t tell the other sports.”
— Madison Chock, Team USA ice dancer
“I don’t want to be in life without my dad, and today was maybe the first time I could actually accept this.”
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— Team USA skier and gold medalist Mikaela Shiffrin, immediately after winning her first Olympic medal since 2018, on her father, who passed away in 2020,
“Every day training is exhausting because everyone’s so good. I’m getting my ass handed to me every day.”
— AJ Hurt, Team USA slalom/giant slalom skier
“F*** off.”
— Canadian curler Marc Kennedy to Sweden’s Oskar Eriksson after accusations that Canada cheated during their curling match.
“I really want to enjoy this with my family and friends. It’s my last Games and my final season, and you always just want to hug your mum after the finish, no matter how it goes.”
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— Team USA cross-country skier Jessie Diggins
“It’s a fight between the slope and you. Who is stronger?”
— Italian downhill skier Dominik Paris
Ilia Malinin reacts aftrer finishing his free skate, where he fell from the top of the leaderboard to completely off the podium. (Photo by Ulrik Pedersen/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
Switzerland’s Yannick Schwaller’s son, River Walter Schwaller, reaches for curling stones after Switzerland won the curling men’s round robin bronze medal game. (Photo by Stefano RELLANDINI / AFP via Getty Images)
(STEFANO RELLANDINI via Getty Images)
“For us this was just enjoying family time. We didn’t realize that the cameras were there and that it would go viral. Things happened, and I guess he’s the ‘curling baby’ now.”
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— Swiss curler Briar Schwaller-Huerlimann after son River caught social media’s eye after a match
“Norway taught me how to be an athlete, how to brave the cold. Brazil taught me how to be myself.”
“After those five seconds of running, you’re some combination of an F1 driver, a boxer and a Buddhist monk trying to stay calm while everything is processing at 140 kilometers an hour.”
— Israeli skeleton athlete Jared Firestone on the challenges of his sport
“We have a tendency to want to film it all, but put the phone down and really absorb it in, emotionally. It is a once-in-a-lifetime experience.”
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— Team USA freestyle skier Nick Goepper on the Olympic experience
“I’m looking at my team and maybe someone needs to be dismissed because I’m not aware of that.”
— IOC President Kirsty Coventry, in a press conference, when asked about a report that the head of Russia’s 2014 anti-doping agency was in fact involved in that country’s widespread doping scheme
“He had his arm around my mom. Like, get out of here. This is wild. I think Coach Mom was helping Snoop out, telling him all about curling.”
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— Team USA curler Korey Dropkin on Snoop Dogg hanging with his mother
“He sent me a very long and well-written email [wishing me good luck]. His text messages are better than my high school and college papers.”
— Team USA freestyle skier Birk Irving on his grandfather, novelist John Irving.
“I don’t know how it is to be in third place here, because I’m normally either out or first.”
— Italian skier Dominik Paris after winning bronze in men’s downhill
“This was now my seventh summer owning and operating a window-cleaning business in Steamboat [Colorado]. It’s the perfect place for it. There’s tons of rich people that don’t want to clean their windows.”
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— Team USA’s Cody Winters on how he funded his snowboarding
“I should tattoo the whole track and then put a red cross over it. I’ll put it on my back or something. Me and Milano Cortina, we just don’t speak the same language, and we don’t like each other.”
— Polish luge athlete Mateusz Sochowicz
“The Olympics is a beast stronger than me, I just don’t have it.”
— Italian snowboarder Roland Fischnaller, who has appeared in seven Winter Games without medaling
“If you’re going through hell, you keep walking, because you don’t want to just sit around in hell. And sometimes when you keep going, maybe you’ll make it back to the top.”
“At the third turn I thought, ‘Oh s**t, what am I doing? Come on, Emma’.”
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— German alpine skier Emma Aicher on her thoughts to herself during a downhill race where she would go on to win silver.
“Push hard, drive fast, see what happens at the bottom. It’s pretty basic.”
— Team USA bobsledder Kaillie Armbruster Humphries on her strategy.
“What I yearn for most is a worthy opponent … then I have a reason to be better every day. There’s no better feeling than being a better person today than you were yesterday.”
— American-born, Chinese-competing Eileen Gu after winning silver in women’s freeski slopestyle
“I have so much anxiety but thankfully, I have matcha.”
— Team USA snowboarder Chloe Kim
“Honestly, it bores me. I try to concentrate on skiing or something else just to avoid getting lost in the woods.”
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— Italian biathlete Michela Carrara on focus during competition
“If I’m competing in the Salt Lake Games, it might be a medical miracle.”
— Team USA bobsledder Elana Meyers Taylor on her Olympic future.
“Just to throw one rock would be the greatest. It would be the greatest moment in my life. My kids know it and my wife knows it, so they’re not going to be mad at me for saying it wasn’t my wedding day.”
— Team USA curler Richard Ruohonen on making his Olympic debut at 54, becoming the oldest American Winter Olympian ever. (He would indeed make an appearance.)
Maxim Naumov with a picture of his parents as he awaits his score after performing his routine during the figure skating men’s singles. (Photo by Tim Clayton/Getty Images)
(Tim Clayton via Getty Images)
“I wanted them to sit in the kiss and cry with me and experience the moment, look up at the scores. They deserve to be sat right next to me, like they always have been.”
“Sometimes you just need a reminder. You’re so focused on where you want to go that you forget how far you’ve already come.”
— Canadian skier Riley Seger on falling short in the men’s super G
“[I was] dying. I had pain everywhere in my body. My stomach was hurting so much, and my legs too. It was difficult to ski because it was getting icy. And also my vision was getting darker and more narrow. It was hell.”
— French biathlete and silver medallist Lou Jeanmonnot, describing her final lap of the 15km individual
“For 10 months everybody was asking, ‘Are you racing in Milano Cortina?’ I didn’t know. I was not able to walk and didn’t know if I was going to ski ever again.”
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— Italy’s Federica Brignone, who overcame catastrophic injury to win gold in the women’s super G.
“The Olympics are huge and I was nervous. I can usually sleep before a game and I could not sleep. We are good at what we do, but we feel like kids at this tournament.”
— Team Canada’s Nathan MacKinnon
“I think his honest opinion is to pick Johannes on the first leg, Johannes on the second leg, Johannes on the third leg and Johannes on the fourth leg.”
— Norway cross-country skier Einar Hedegart on teammate (and six-time gold-medal winner) Johannes Hoesflot Klaebo’s fantasy Norway’s men’s 4 x 7.5km relay team
“It was the hardest 45 minutes. I ate my fingers, I think.”
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— Polish speed skater Vladimir Semirunniy on the long wait to see how his time in the men’s 10000m would stand up; he won silver
“The emotion I’m feeling right now is an internal sun inside of me that is shining so bright and towards so many people. It is the very light that brought me the power to be the fastest in the world today and to become an Olympic champion.”
— Brazilian giant slalom gold medallist Lucas Pinheiro Braathen after winning the country’s first-ever Olympic Winter Games medal
“You have to get to this mental state where you’re basically a racehorse. You need to have horse blinders on and be calm because you’re trying to do the most ballistic, violent running anyone’s ever done, and, yet, it’s very technical.”
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— Canadian bobsledder Mike Evelyn on how to push start a bobsled
“Probably the pub.”
— Great Britain’s Matt Weston on plans after winning mixed team skeleton gold
“If you get intimidated, you shouldn’t be playing pro hockey.”
— Czechia’s Radko Gudas on playing Canada in men’s ice hockey
“Having a medal at the Olympic Games is completely different from not having one.”
— Japanese speed skater Ayano Sato after a bronze medal in the women’s team pursuit
“I told myself I did not want to buy one, I wanted to earn one.”
— Chinese speed skater Zhongyan Ning on obtaining sold-out stuffed Milano-Cortina mascot; he got one by winning bronze in the men’s team pursuit
“I had to show up today and believe I could do it, look at [Johannes Hoesflot] Klaebo’s butt and lock in and follow that to the finish line.”
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— Team USA cross-country skier Gus Schumacher on how he won silver in the men’s team sprint free event
“I became famous with a dog that came across the finish line and everyone wants to interview me now. It is the first time I have given any interviews.”
— Greek cross-country skier Konstantina Charalampidou after meeting a dog named Nazgul at the finish line during team sprint qualifying.
A dog wanders on the ski trail during the women’s team cross country free sprint qualification event. (Photo by Anne-Christine POUJOULAT / AFP via Getty Images)
(ANNE-CHRISTINE POUJOULAT via Getty Images)
[No comment.]
— Nazgul the Dog
“We are really proud of what we did, because we knew that, on paper, we would be able to reach the medal, but then on snow it’s not exactly like on paper.”
— Italian cross-country skier Federico Pellegrino after winning bronze in team sprint
“That’s what we’re going to remember when we get old. It’s not necessarily the physical gold medal, but it’s the gold medal of memories. And we had thousands and thousands of them these past weeks and months.”
— Norwegian biathlete Vetle Sjaastad Christiansen
“I tried. I dreamt. I jumped.”
— Lindsey Vonn, in an Instagram posting following her catastrophic downhill injury
Team USA center Jack Hughes scored the team’s overtime goal, exchanging his knocked-out tooth for a gold medal. Team USA goalie Connor Hellebuyck saved 41 of the 42 shots he faced.
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Olympic gold medalists Lindsey Vonn, Apolo Ohno and Mikaela Shiffrin expressed their support for Team USA’s hockey team on social media.
Super Bowl champions Tom Brady, Jason Kelce and Kurt Warner, and current NFL players George Kittle and J.J. McCarthy were also watching the game.
Phoenix Suns Devin Booker got up early to tune in as welll, while Indiana Pacers Tyreese Haliburton shouted out Hellebuyck’s performance.
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — Since joining the Southeastern Conference, the Texas Longhorns have taken the league by storm.
In two years, they’ve won all four team titles in swimming and diving.
Texas was the biggest change to the league in 2025, and although it once again swept the championships, the SEC looked different in 2026.
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The meet was defined by a lack of COVID-19 fifth-years, new roster limits, top-end speed and a new event schedule.
Here are the main takeaways from this year’s SEC swimming and diving championships:
Texas cements itself as the kings and queens of the SEC
A year ago Texas took over the SEC in the pool and on the boards. In 2026, the Longhorns pulled off another sweep, winning both the men’s and women’s title.
The scariest part: The squad from Austin still had room to improve.
The Texas men left no doubt, holding down first place from the start. The women’s meet was close through three days of competition, but the Longhorns’ elite depth proved to be too much for the rest of the conference.
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The Texas men are the blueblood in collegiate swimming. With 16 national championships to their name, the Longhorns have been title contenders for the past four decades. They have also won 28 consecutive Big 12 titles, which is every single year of the league’s existence until they left for the SEC. It’s no surprise they have taken over the conference.
Hubert Kos’ SEC performance encapsulated the dominance of the Texas men. The 2024 Olympic 200-meter backstroke gold medalist won two of his three events. His most impressive feat is that he swam two championship finals on Saturday night and won gold in the 200-yard IM and silver in the 200-yd backstroke, with only about 45 minutes of rest between the two swims.
To put it simply, Texas has the talent of a pro roster. Whether it’s young stars or veteran leadership the Texas men have it.
On the women’s side the Longhorns were fueled by the pure depth of the roster.
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Campbell Stoll and Angie Coe both won two of their three events. Stoll swept the 100-yd and 200-yd butterfly while Coe swept the 200-yd and 400-yd IM’s.
The Longhorns freshman and sophomore classes reinforced the team’s strengths and were a major factor in their seven wins this week.
“Great competition, a lot of fun…this environment brings out the best in our team,” Texas women’s head coach Carol Capitani said after the meet.
Texas will now set its sights on the NCAAs in March where the women look to compete for another top-three finish and the men look to repeat as national champions.
Florida’s Josh Liendo chases history in the 100-yd butterfly
He’s a 19-time All-American, two-time Olympian, and, as of this week, an 18-time SEC champion.
Liendo stole the show at this year’s SEC championships. After winning his fourth straight 100-yd butterfly and first 50-yd freestyle title this week, Liendo has cemented himself as one of the most successful swimmers in SEC history.
He swam the 100-yd butterfly in 43.06 seconds, the second fastest of all time behind Caeleb Dressel. That morning he swam the fastest preliminary time in history in 43.26 seconds.
Liendo has broken SEC records, posted the fastest splits in history, and led relays to multiple NCAA championships in NCAA record fashion. However, he has never broken an individual NCAA record.
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Still eluding Liendo is what many considered an untouchable record. Dressel holds the national record in the 100-yd butterfly at 42.80 seconds. Achieving that mark would move Liendo into the top tier of all-time collegiate swimmers.
Liendo ended his SEC career on a low note, falling to LSU’s Jere Hribar in the 100-freestyle final, spoiling his perfect week. Hribar’s win was the breakout swim of the meet, stealing the gold, posting the fastest time in the country this year and breaking Liendo’s SEC meet record.
Regardless, all eyes will be on Liendo come March. The senior will be the focal point of the NCAA championships, and he has a chance to become one of the most recognizable names in collegiate swimming history.
Tennessee women find success a year ahead of schedule
As the final race came to a close, Texas wasn’t the only team celebrating its week in Knoxville.
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The Tennessee Lady Volunteers left their home pool with smiles on their faces and momentum on their side. The Lady Vols have only two seniors on the roster, and were able to jump up to second in the team standings after a third-place finish in 2025.
Camille Spink dominated the sprints, sweeping the 50-yd, 100-yd and 200-yd freestyle for the second year in a row. She won the 50-yd freestyle in SEC meet record fashion, becoming the sixth woman to ever break 21 seconds, stopping the clock at 20.87.
Spink is now the fourth-fastest performer of all time in the 50-yd free and fifth fastest in the 100-yd freestyle.
“Nobody does it like a Tennessee Vol,” Spink said in her postrace interview after winning her third straight SEC 50-yd freestyle title.
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Tennessee won three of the five relays and set two SEC conference records in the process in the 200-yd and 400-yd medley relays. Japanese Olympian Mizuki Hirai, junior world record holder in the 100-meter butterfly, was the catalyst Tennessee needed for championship season.
Tennessee has the No. 1 signing class arriving next fall and the Lady Vol sophomore class stacked up 12 medals this week, including two individual golds. With only two seniors graduating in 2026, the Lady Vols are set up for success in the near future.
A new era of SEC swimming and diving has arrived
SEC records were falling throughout the week, but one of the biggest takeaways from the week was the way the depth of the conference fluctuated in 2026.
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The meet saw success by a new wave of freshmen and sophomores, noted by Capitani in her postmeet interview on ESPN. The field was young and extremely talented, but also inexperienced.
There was no lack of speed from the top-end talent in Knoxville, but the overall conference depth took a hit in 2026.
In the men’s 400-yd IM, it took a time of 3:52.26 to get a second swim in the finals session. In 2025, swimmers had to be 3:47.63 to be in the top 24. That’s a 4.63-second difference year-over-year.
The men’s 50-yd freestyle field was impressive, which saw nine men break the 19-second barrier. However, the majority of events saw that times for 24th place were slower than a year ago.
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That raises the question: Why? There are a number of factors. In the past year, men’s rosters in the SEC were limited to 22 and teams were forced to cut a significant chunk of their rosters. This means smaller training groups, less margin for error and less depth on a team-by-team basis.
Additionally, the SEC reordered the event lineup for the meet in 2026, changing the flow of a typical swimming and diving championship meet event order.
The final factor could be the turnover in athletes. Last year was the final time COVID-19 fifth-year swimmers dominated finals, as the majority of the class that were freshman in 2022 aged out of college athletics.
Overall, there are a lot of moving parts in non-revenue sports, and the SEC experimented in many different ways in 2026.
