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By Ansar Khan, Tribune News Service

DETROIT – Detroit Red Wings forward Alex DeBrincat played youth hockey with Megan Keller while growing up in Farmington Hills and saw at an early age how good she was.

“She was one of the best players on our team,” DeBrincat said.

Keller, who went to North Farmington High School and played basketball and softball in addition to hockey, grew up to be one of the best players on her women’s teams and on Thursday scored in overtime to lift the United States past Canada 2-1 for the Olympic gold medal, capping a dominant run for Team USA.

“Really happy for her,” DeBrincat said. “I was tuned into that. I was pretty pumped, so it’s awesome. This is her third Olympics, and she’s already got two gold (medals), so definitely cool for her and we’re excited for them.”

DeBrincat and Keller played together for a few years around ages 8-10 when girls played on boys teams. He is a close friend of Keller’s brother, Ryan, who plays for the Utah Mammoth.

“Definitely cool to see her career and what she’s been able to do,” DeBrincat said. “She’s a big spokesperson for the women’s hockey community, really growing the game and one of those faces that has really taken the game to the next level.”

Todd McLellan’s oldest son, Tyson, also played with Keller as a youth.

“I think of where she was and watching her do what she did yesterday is really remarkable,” McLellan said. “She was one of the better players on that boys team.

“Like a lot of the dads, you go out and help in practice and stuff, and she was committed and you could see she was not by any means out of place and a lot of times leading the way.”

Keller, 29, tied for the team lead with nine points (three goals, six assists). The U.S. went 7-0, outscoring opponents 33-2.

“It was pretty crazy to see they only let up two goals the whole tournament,” DeBrincat said. “For a minute there, I thought they were going to lose giving up two goals the whole tournament. Obviously, Canada looked good, too, but I think the U.S. right now is probably on the next level.”

McLellan noted how far women’s hockey has come over the past couple of decades.

“I think the athletes are exceptional,” McLellan said. “They’ve just gotten so much better than they were in the past and it’s great they’re getting the support they get.”

©2026 Advance Local Media LLC. Visit mlive.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

By EDDIE PELLS, AP National Writer

LIVIGNO, Italy (AP) — The next time you see a senior citizen barreling down the mountain, maybe doing a double-cork while he’s at it, don’t think twice. That might just be your neighborhood’s friendly new Olympic champion.

Alex Ferreira, the freeskier who occasionally dons prosthetics to look 80 and calls his alter ego “Hotdog Hans” when he’s not kicking butt in the halfpipe, added a gold medal Friday night to the silver and bronze he’d won at the last two games to “finish the rainbow,” as his mother said.

The 31-year-old, a longtime fixture on the slopes and in the schools and rec centers in Aspen, Colorado, also put America in the win column for the first time in two weeks of halfpipe, slopestyle and big air action at the Livigno Snow Park.

“I’m going to drink copious amounts of beer,” Ferreira said when asked how he would celebrate.

He’s fun like that. This was a popular victory all across the park, squeezed out of a tight, brutal, all-night battle with Estonia’s Henry Sildaru — who skis slopestyle and big air, too, just like Eileen Gu — and Canada’s Brendan Mackay.

Bedlam and tears broke out in the stands after Mackay laid down the night’s last run, a solid one, but came up 2.75 points short of Ferreira’s winning score: 93.75.

When the Canadian’s mark came up, Ferreira bent to one knee and flashed a smile that lit up the mountain.

“Best moment of my life,” he said.

Asked what the best thing about the new gold medalist was, Mackay said there was too much to list.

“But honestly, the biggest thing that stands out about Alex, is that he is just an incredibly nice guy,” he said.

Among those near the medal stand to congratulate Ferreira was two-time Olympic titlist David Wise, who made the trip despite not making the Olympic team. He was ranked eighth in the world in halfpipe this season — a true sign of how deep the American team runs.

Also sharing hugs was Nick Goepper, the American three-time medalist in slopestyle who switched to the halfpipe in search of his first gold.

In the evening’s most visceral sign of what this contest really meant, Goepper threw caution to the wind on his last run and flung his body high above the halfpipe, his back slamming wickedly on the deck before he bounced to the bottom of the pipe.

He was lucky to walk away from that — not as fortunate that Mackay’s 91 on the last run of the night bumped him from third to fourth by a scant 2 points.

“To go for it in that moment took serious guts,” Ferreira said. “He is a real man.”

Drama involving Hess extended beyond the halfpipe

Clutch skiing and huge crashes were only part of the drama that played out among these halfpipe riders. The show started two weeks earlier.

American Hunter Hess opened the morning’s qualifying by landing a good run, then putting his thumb and forefinger in the shape of an “L,” in a nod to the eruption that occurred Feb. 8 when President Donald Trump called Hess a “total Loser,” in response to Hess’ saying “Just because I’m wearing the flag doesn’t mean I represent everything that’s going on in the U.S.”

“I had a week that was pretty challenging,” Hess said after qualifying, speaking of the threats and vitriol lobbed his way after the president weighed in. He finished 10th in the final and did not stop for interviews.

Ferreira fills in the final missing piece to a fantastic career

Ferreira, not surprisingly, spent the entire aftermath of the contest smiling. There’s more to come.

He has already shot six episodes of his YouTube streamer “Hotdog Hans,” an entertaining trip to the mountain in which the 80-something daredevil does truck-driver grabs and 1080s in front of unsuspecting resort goers who cannot believe their eyes.

“Just trying to bring some humor and funniness to the world,” he explained.

In between the fun and games lies a more serious pursuit.

Ferreira went 7 for 7 in World Cup events in 2024 — the sort of undefeated streak that really doesn’t happen much in sports, especially not in this one, where talent, like the medals, are spread very evenly across the United States, Canada, Estonia — the world.

Those sort of streaks, in Olympic off-years, can sometimes leave a guy wondering.

“You don’t want to peak two years before the Games,” said Gus Kenworthy, the 2014 slopestyle silver medalist who finished sixth in this one. “But I’m stoked for him that it worked out tonight. It was one of the best runs I’ve seen him do in a long time, maybe ever, and I’m happy.”

When Ferreira’s skis smacked down lightly on the fifth of five butter-smooth landings in the contest winner, he started whipping around his right ski pole — his signature move in what now goes down as his signature win.

A few minutes later, his sisters and parents were crying and he was on the top step of the podium, singing out loud as the “Star-Spangled Banner” played for the first time at the Livigno Snow Park.

He used to be the best freeskier in the world without an Olympic title. Not anymore.

“He had the silver, the bronze and he needed the gold,” said Alex’s mother, Colleen Ferreira. “He was driven. A year ago, he said he was going to do this, and he did it.”

---

AP Sports Writer Joseph Wilson contributed.

AP Winter Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/milan-cortina-2026-winter-olympics

AP Winter Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/milan-cortina-2026-winter-olympics

MILAN (AP) — The much-anticipated but never guaranteed U.S.-Canada showdown for gold in men’s hockey at the Olympics is on.

Jack Hughes scored two goals, including one with a highlight-reel individual effort, and the Americans rolled into the final by routing Slovakia 6-2 in the semifinals on Friday night.

They’ll meet tournament favorite and top-seeded Canada on Sunday for the title, a year since the North American rivals played two memorable games against each other at the 4 Nations Face-Off.

That NHL-run event ended a drought of nearly a decade without an international tournament featuring the best hockey players in the world. Three fights in the first nine seconds in the first meeting put the 4 Nations in the spotlight, and their epic final won by Canada in overtime only built the anticipation for the Olympics.

After Canada did its part by rallying to beat Finland earlier in the day, the U.S. had no trouble against the Slovaks, who made an improbable run and were simply overmatched. They’ll face the Finns for bronze on Saturday night, looking for just the second hockey medal in the country’s history after getting the first with a third-place finish in Beijing in 2022.

The U.S. is playing for gold after the semifinals were a much easier go than the quarterfinals against Sweden, when overtime was needed to survive a scare. Dylan Larkin (Waterford), Tage Thompson, Hughes and Eichel scored the four goals on 23 shots that chased Samuel Hlavaj out of Slovakia’s net past the midway point of the second period.

Thompson, one of just a handful of newcomers who did not play at the 4 Nations, exited later in the second after blocking a shot. He was held out the rest of the way, according to the NBC broadcast.

Hughes got his second just after a power play expired, and Brady Tkachuk scored on a breakaway with just over nine minutes left to provide some more breathing room.

Goaltender Connor Hellebuyck (Commerce Twp./Walled Lake Northern) his job as his teammates outshot Slovakia by a substantial margin. Everything he has done at the Olympics has validated coach Mike Sullivan’s decision to go with Hellebuyck as the U.S. starter over Jake Oettinger and Jeremy Swayman.

The U.S. last reached the final in 2010 when it lost to Canada in overtime on Sidney Crosby’s famous golden goal. Crosby’s status is uncertain this time after getting injured in the quarterfinals Wednesday and not playing Friday against Finland.

— By STEPHEN WHYNO, Associated Press

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By JULIA FRANKEL

CORTINA D’AMPEZZO, Italy (AP) — The curling drama at the Winter Olympics sent the sport’s governing body scrambling to address a growing controversy and curb conflicting accounts of rule-breaking. The backpedaling came less than 24 hours later.

A day after World Curling ramped up monitoring of the matches, it pulled the plug, saying umpires would retreat and be available on request but not by default.

The move came after a quick meeting between national curling federations and World Curling on Sunday in which curlers expressed dissatisfaction with the increased surveillance. Athletes wanted less monitoring, not more.

Why would Olympic curlers, playing a sport where mere centimeters can make the difference between a winning and losing stone, choose to send the umps away? The answer may have to do with the longstanding spirit of the game, which some athletes are clinging to even as it grows more popular — and professional.

“I think there’s a lot of pride in trying to be a sport that kind of officiates ourselves a little bit, so to speak,” said Nolan Thiessen, CEO of Curling Canada, whose teams have been at the heart of the uproar over the past several days. “I think it was just everybody taking a deep breath and going, OK, let’s just finish this Olympics the way we know our sport is to be played.”

World Curling rethinks officiating

The saga began Friday, when Sweden’s Oskar Eriksson accused Canadian Marc Kennedy of breaking the rules by touching the rock again after initially releasing it down the sheet of ice. Kennedy’s expletive-laden outburst drew widespread attention, as did the sport, which tends to fall off the radar outside the Olympics.

World Curling decided it needed to double down on game surveillance, even though it was already midway through the Olympic men’s and women’s round-robin competition.

From then on, the federation said, two umpires would step out from behind the courtside table and watch the “hog line” — the point at which curlers must release the granite stone down the sheet of ice — from close proximity. That way, they’d be able to more closely check for illegal double-touches.

In just a day, officials called two double-touch infractions, by Rachel Homan of Canada and Bobby Lammie of Britain, removing their stones from play.

It is rare for stones to be removed from competition so frequently.

By Sunday afternoon, players and coaches were fed up, and World Curling changed its policy after the meeting.

“When the players started complaining, it puts them in a tough position because they want to do their jobs and listen to the players that think that there’s a problem out there,” said Emma Miskew of Canada. “I’m happy with how the discussion went and what the ruling came to.”

Olympic curlers say the double-touch is not a big deal

Several Olympic curlers said that double-touching did not necessarily reveal a nefarious desire to cheat, and that penalizing a quick and accidental graze of the granite could be over the top.

“If you get a hog line violation, it’s not cheating,” Homan said Monday.

Miskew added that it was rare to hear the accusation, at least in women’s curling, while Alina Paetz of Switzerland agreed with Homan that it is a minor infraction.

“If you do it, it’s not allowed, but I think they blew it up a little bit, so it’s a bigger thing than it actually is,” Paetz said. “It’s the Olympics, there’s emotion in it. I don’t think it is actually that big of a deal.”

AP Winter Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/milan-cortina-2026-winter-olympics

MILAN (AP) — Aerin Frankel stopped 21 shots for her third shutout of the Olympic women’s hockey tournament and the favored United States advanced to the gold-medal game by defeating Sweden 5-0 at the Milan Cortina Games on Monday.

Abbey Murphy, Kendall Coyne Schofield and Hayley Scamurra scored on consecutive shots over a 2:47 late in the second period to blow the game open and put the Americans up 5-0. Cayla Barnes opened the scoring and Taylor Heise also scored.

The Americans continued their roll through the tournament by improving to 6-0, and outscoring their opponents by a combined 31-1. The U.S. has yet to trail or be tied after 0-0, and in position to become the third women’s team to do so over the entire tournament, joining Canada in 2006 and 2010.

The U.S. also extended its shutout streak to 331 minutes, 23 seconds, going back to Czechia’s Barbora Jurickova beating Frankel on a breakaway in the second period of a tournament-opening 5-1 win.

The win over Sweden sets up what could well be a seventh gold-medal showdown against Canada on Thursday. The defending Olympic champion Canadians play Switzerland in the day’s other semifinal game.

The U.S. already beat Canada 5-0 in a preliminary round game last week. The Americans won Olympic gold in 1998 and 2018, with Canada winning the other five tournaments.

Sweden will play for bronze on Thursday in an effort to medal for the third time in team history, and first since winning silver at the 2006 Turin Games after upsetting the U.S. in the semifinals.

Ebba Svensson Traff stopped 19 of 23 shots before she was pulled after Coyne Schofield tipped in Laila Edwards’ shot from the blue line with 3:50 left in the second period.

Emma Soderberg took over in goal, and was beaten by Scamurra, who tapped in Britta Curl-Salemme’s centering pass 1:49 later. Soderberg finished with 10 saves.

Among those in attendance was former NFL center Jason Kelce, who was shown on the scoreboard applauding the goal initially credited to Edwards. Kelce is from Edwards’ hometown of Cleveland Heights, Ohio, and he and his brother, Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce, contributed to a GoFundMe drive to help pay for Edwards’ family to attend the Milan Cortina Games.

Sweden enjoyed a break-through this year with a young, talented group that features seven players competing in the U.S. college ranks. Sweden went 4-0 to win Group B, and then upset Czechia 2-0 in the in the quarterfinals.

Though the Swedes kept the game close through 35 minutes, the Americans eventually wore them down.

And the U.S certainly didn’t resemble a team that didn’t want to play Sweden, as coach Ulf Lundberg suggested after the Swedes beat Czechia in the quarterfinals.

Though the Swedes kept the U.S. mostly to the perimeter in the opening period, they were still outshot 13-2.

Barnes scored with a snap shot from the top of the right circle and beat Svensson Traff high on the short side. Barnes’ goal was her first point of the tournament, leaving seventh defender Rory Guilday as the lone American skater to not yet register a point through six games.

Heise made it 2-0 at the 9:08 mark of the second period by one-timing in Hannah Bilka’s backhand pass through the middle. Svensson Traff got her glove on the shot, but the puck deflected across her body and into the net off the inside of her stick.

— By JOHN WAWROW, Associated Press

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By WILL GRAVES, AP National Writer

CORTINA D’AMPEZZO, Italy (AP) — Soaring arias. Wrenching tragedy. Joyful triumphs. Exotic backdrops. Climaxes often designed to produce tears, sad or otherwise.

Perhaps more than anything, the operas that Italians began creating 400 years ago are designed to make you feel. To have the rest of the world melt away as you get lost in a story sung in a language you might not understand, but whose stakes are unmistakable.

No wonder the country that invented the art form where music and poetry merge, and these Winter Olympics seem to be such a perfect fit.

The quadrennial spectacle that began its stay in Northern Italy with a gala hosted by the International Olympic Committee at the iconic La Scala opera house in Milan spent its first full week reflecting the host country’s signature art form onto itself.

The magic the Games so often provide, no matter where they may go, seemingly a little bolder, a little louder, a little more deeply felt.

Tearful exits

The initial gasp that gave way to eerie silence after American skiing star Lindsey Vonn’s right arm clipped a gate just 13 seconds into the women’s downhill on Sunday, leading to a spectacular and brutal crash that broke her left leg and ended her unlikely Olympic return at 41.

Crashes happen. It’s a part of the sport. The “only at the Games” flourish came afterward, when Vonn’s long, slow helicopter ride down the mountain to safety veered gently to the left, flying over the grandstand where the throngs who came out to watch her bid for history waved a tearful goodbye instead.

The tears for Vonn were borne out of concern and what might have been. The tears from IOC president Kirsty Coventry after telling Ukrainian skeleton racer Vladyslav Heraskevych he was disqualified for refusing to replace a helmet adorned with images of over 20 coaches and athletes who have died since Russia’s invasion began were of anguish and regret.

“No one, no one — especially me — is disagreeing with the messaging,” Coventry said. “The messaging is a powerful message.”

One so compelling and so important to Heraskevych that the 27-year-old sacrificed his dreams of Olympic glory to make it. Even if the attention he received for his stand caught him off guard.

“I never expected it to be such a big scandal,” he said on Friday after an appeal hearing.

Four years into a war that drags on with an end still not quite in sight, Heraskevych’s stand dragged a conflict that in some areas of the world has retreated to the shadows and thrust it back into the international spotlight unique to the Games. His selfless decision elevated the discussion about his homeland to the public writ large in a way that no gold-medal-winning run ever could.

Heraskevych’s act was intended for a global audience. Norway’s Sturla Holm Laegreid was speaking to an audience of one after earning bronze in the men’s 20-kilometer race. His startling confession of infidelity to a former partner after what was supposed to serve as one of the highlights of his career upstaging the gold won in the same race by countryman Johan-Olav Botn.

Love both lost and won

Being lovesick in Italy is hardly new. There’s a reason seemingly every high school literature class makes “Romeo and Juliet” required reading. The Shakespearean tragedy is set in Verona, about 3 hours southwest of where Laegreid made his stunning plea, sounding very much like a teenager in the throes of heartache. His vow of contrition created a viral moment that passes for social currency, the fallout be damned.

“I can understand what he wants to have happen with his girlfriend,” retired German athlete Erik Lesser told The Associated Press. “But I just want to think about sport, want to see sport, want to talk about sport.”

Yet the Olympics have never really been just about sport. How can they be when the lines between sports, politics and culture seem to be growing more blurry by the day? The only thing perfect about the Games may be the five intertwined rings that have long served as its logo.

That’s what makes it so enthralling. A few days after Laegreid achieved a small piece of infamy, Olympic downhill champion Breezy Johnson retreated into the arms of boyfriend Connor Watkins after crashing in the Super-G.

While Johnson’s dreams of leaving Cortina with multiple golds were gone, another was realized anyway when Watkins dropped to a knee and recited Taylor Swift lyrics while producing a blue and white sapphire ring.

Johnson giddily accepted before jumping into his arms, the physical pain and emotional disappointment of what happened up on the mountain only minutes earlier replaced by a memory and a promise that will stick with her forever.

“I think most people want to peak at the Olympics,” Johnson said. “I just extra peaked.”

Favorites upstaged

Not everyone does at a festival where unpredictability often outduels inevitability for top billing.

For every breakthrough like the one American figure skater Ilia Malinin is providing one electrifying backflip and quadruple jump at a time, there are bold-faced champions somewhat surprisingly ceding the stage they’ve so often commanded.

Mikaela Shiffrin arrived in Cortina as the winningest ski racer in the history of the sport. Eager to put an 0 for 6 run four years ago in Beijing behind her, she instead began her fourth Olympics with her worst showing in a slalom that she started and finished since 2012, costing Shiffrin and Johnson a gold in women’s combined and opening the door for teammates Jackie Wiles and Paula Moltzan to claim the first Olympic medals of their long careers.

American snowboarding icon Chloe Kim’s bid for an unprecedented third gold in the halfpipe ended late Thursday when a teenager who grew up idolizing her — Gaon Choi of South Korea — pulled off an upset in snowy Livigno.

“I’m a winner because I was able to persevere and fight through,” said Kim, who competed just a month removed from a dislocated shoulder.

And perhaps more than anything at the Olympics, it’s the fight that matters.

For the thousands of athletes scattered across northern Italy, the road to this moment in their lives is rooted in a passion found long ago. The flames may have flickered for many along the way. How could they not? The drudgery of practice. The financial burden. The inevitable physical toll. The hidden mental strain has only recently graduated from hushed whispers to a full-fledged conversation.

It’s a lot to carry. No wonder it’s such fertile ground for drama.

Italy’s moment

And no one has leaned into it more than the hosts who have surged to the top of the medal table.

Yet a country known for big gestures and even bigger emotions is also one that can revel in the quiet and before the catharsis.

Ten months ago, Italian skier Federica Brignone shredded her left leg in a crash that required multiple surgeries, a handful of screws to keep things in place and months of rehab. The 35-year-old never stopped pointing toward Cortina. On Thursday, in front of a crowd that included Italian President Sergio Mattarella, Brignone ignored the lingering pain to throw down a sublime Super-G run in tricky conditions to earn her first Olympic gold.

After the medal ceremony, the Italian Air Force’s acrobatic unit thundered overhead, leaving a trail of the country’s familiar combination of green, white and red in its wake.

The slopes in Cortina shook. The flags waved. Brignone wept, thinking not so much of glory, but the winding path she took to get here.

“One of those films that you don’t believe in because it’s not possible for it to end that well,” Brignone said.

Maybe that’s the best part.

It’s not the end. We’re only halfway there. Who knows?

Milan Cortina’s second act could be even better than the first.

---

AP Sports Writers Andrew Dampf, Graham Dunbar, Dave Skretta, Tim Reynolds and AP National Writer Eddie Pells contributed to this report.

AP Winter Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/milan-cortina-2026-winter-olympics

ROME (AP) — A Slovak fugitive who had been on the run for 16 years was finally arrested when he turned up in Milan to support his national ice hockey team at the Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics, police said Friday.

The 44-year-old man, who was not named, was wanted by Italian authorities for a series of thefts committed in 2010.

The carabinieri managed to track down and arrest the man Wednesday after he checked into a campsite in the outskirts of Milan, thanks to an automatic alert from the campsite reception.

The fugitive was then taken to Milan’s San Vittore prison to serve a pending sentence of 11 months and 7 days, according to the carabinieri, Italy’s military police.

The man did not manage to see the opening game in which Slovakia’s hockey team beat Finland with a sound 4-1 at Milan’s Santagiulia Arena on Wednesday.

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BORMIO, Italy — Hunter Hess has waited a lifetime for this moment.

The 27-year-old freestyle skier failed to qualify for the 2022 Olympic Games after a knee injury derailed his bid for Beijing. Next week at the Milan Cortina Games, he is finally set to drop into the Olympic halfpipe, wearing the uniform he has imagined since he was a kid.

The excitement is real. But it isn’t the only feeling.

“It brings up mixed emotions to represent the U.S. right now, I think,” Hess said. “It’s a little hard. There’s obviously a lot going on that I’m not the biggest fan of, and I think a lot of people aren’t.”

For some American Olympians, wearing red, white and blue has rarely felt more complicated. Many say they have been forced to ask themselves what their country represents, what they represent as individuals, and how to reconcile the distance between the two.

“For me, it’s more I’m representing my friends and family back home … all the things I believe are good about the U.S.,” Hess said. “I think if it aligns with my moral values, I feel like I’m representing it. Just because I’m wearing the flag doesn’t mean I represent everything that’s going on in the U.S.”

That unease wasn’t confined to conversations among athletes, and tensions found the spotlight at the outset of these Winter Games. During Friday’s Opening Ceremonies, Team USA athletes were cheered as they marched into the stadium. But the crowd quickly turned when Vice President JD Vance and his wife, Usha, appeared on the big screens, and boos filled the stadium.

For many Americans, the backdrop to these Games has been unusually tense. On the global stage, U.S. policy disputes – including disagreements with European allies over tariffs and Arctic strategy – have raised questions about American leadership and strained long-standing partnerships. Meanwhile, back home in the United States, immigration enforcement operations in Minneapolis drew widespread outrage after the fatal shootings last month of two U.S. citizens – Renée Good and Alex Pretti – by federal immigration personnel, sparking nationwide protests and debates about federal policing and civil rights.

Like much of the world, Olympians have watched news reports of ICE raids and tried to make sense of what’s happening. For cross-country skier Jessie Diggins, the tension between pride and pain is rooted squarely in home.

“I was born and raised in Minnesota. That’s the community that raised me,” said Diggins, a three-time Olympic medalist competing in her fourth Games.

In recent weeks, she said, it has been difficult to focus solely on skiing while watching events unfold back home. Friends and members of her community have reached out to tell her they’re watching, they’re proud, and that her presence at the Games has mattered to them during a painful moment.

“I think it’s still important to try to race my hardest and bring joy to those people,” she said. “I’m very focused on representing the version of America that’s respectful and loving and caring and open and just looks out for one another. To me, it’s really important to show that to the world and put love and respect and honesty first.”

Athletes from all corners of the world grapple with global perceptions, of course. Israeli athletes, for example, were roundly booed at Friday’s Opening Ceremonies. But Olympians work for years and feel like their journey encompasses something bigger than political policies.

“I think there’s a lot of hardship in the world, globally, and there’s a lot of heartbreak. There’s a lot of violence. It can be tough to reconcile that when you’re also competing for medals in an Olympic event,” said Alpine skier Mikaela Shiffrin, a four-time Olympian. “… I’m really hoping to show up and represent my own values. Values of inclusivity, values of diversity and kindness and sharing, tenacity, work ethic.”

Chris Lillis, the freestyle aerialist who won Olympic gold in Beijing, said he feels that same pull between pride and heartbreak.

“As athletes, we’re proud to represent our country. I love the U.S.A., and I think I would never want to represent a different country in the Olympics,” Lillis said. “With that being said, a lot of times athletes are hesitant to talk about political views and how we feel about things.

“I feel heartbroken about what’s happened in the United States,” he continued. “I think that, as a country, we need to focus on respecting everybody’s rights and making sure that we’re treating our citizens as well as anybody with love and respect. I hope that when people look at athletes competing in the Olympics, they realize that’s the America that we’re trying to represent.”

Sport in many ways is a platform for values. Kelly Pannek, a forward on the U.S. women’s hockey team and a Minnesota native, finished a recent Professional Women’s Hockey League season in St. Paul, Minnesota, and offered a statement before taking a single question.

“It’s obviously really heavy,” Pannek said, becoming choked up. “I think people have been asking a lot of us what it’s like to represent our state and our country. I think what I’m most proud to represent is the tens of thousands of people that show up on some of the coldest days of the year to stand [at protests] and fight for what they believe in.”

The backdrop for those personal reckonings extends well beyond the United States. When news surfaced that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents would be in Italy to assist American security efforts at the Games, it sparked protests in Milan and opposition from Italian residents and politicians.

That discomfort filtered into even the most routine elements of the Olympic experience. Three U.S. Olympic bodies – U.S. Figure Skating, USA Hockey and U.S. Speedskating – changed the name of their shared hospitality space from “Ice House” to “Winter House,” aiming to eliminate a potential distraction.

Figure skater Amber Glenn said the change reflected how deeply current events are resonating with athletes.

“It’s unfortunate that the term ‘ice’ isn’t something we can embrace because of what’s happening and the implications of what some individuals are doing,” Glenn told reporters after a practice this week. “Unfortunately, in my own country, it is very upsetting and very distressing to see. A lot of people say, ‘You’re just an athlete. Like, stick to your job, shut up about politics.’ But politics affects us all.”

U.S. Olympic officials said they prepared athletes for the possibility of mixed reactions in Italy, even as they expressed confidence that competition venues would largely remain respectful environments.

“Our experience has been that, more often than not, those spectators who come to watch Olympic competitions have an incredible amount of respect and appreciation for what athletes have achieved,” said Sarah Hirshland, the chief executive of the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee. “We don’t anticipate a lot of negative energy on the field of play.”

For some athletes, the act of competing itself feels like a way to define what they stand for.

“I’d say our country’s been having issues for 250 years,” said snowboarder Nick Goepper, a four-time Olympian. “I’m here to uphold classic American values of respect, opportunity, freedom, equality and project those to the world.”

Noted Alex Ferreira, a two-time Olympic medalist in freestyle halfpipe skiing: “The Olympics represent peace, so let’s not only bring world peace, but domestic peace within our country as well.”

– – –

Barry Svrluga contributed to this report.

MILAN (AP) — Men’s downhill in Alpine skiing starts as the first medal event of the Milan Cortina Olympics and will take place Saturday, which is officially Day 1 of the Games.

Also in the spotlight will be U.S. figure skating star Ilia Malinin as well as Jessie Diggins, America’s most decorated cross-country skier.

Here is a guide of what to look out for:

Men’s downhill is wide open

Swiss teammates Marco Odermatt and world champion Franjo von Allmen are among the favorites, though there’s a long list of contenders for the podium at Stelvio Ski Center in Bormio.

The home crowd will be rooting for Dominik Paris, who in his fifth Games is still looking for his first Olympic medal. The 36-year-old Italian is a Bormio specialist, having won a record six World Cup downhills there. There’s also young Italian Giovanni Franzoni.

U.S. skier Ryan Cochran-Siegle was fastest in the opening downhill training session Wednesday. It is Cochran-Siegle’s third Winter Olympics. He won silver in the super-G at the Beijing Games four years ago.

The event is scheduled to begin at 10:30 a.m. local time (0930 GMT, 4:30 a.m. ET), weather permitting.

Ilia Malinin performs in figure skating team event

Two-time reigning world champion Ilia Malinin, the overwhelming favorite to win Olympic figure skating gold, performs his short program as part of the team event. The defending champion U.S. leads Japan and Italy going into Day 2 of the three-day competition. It’s scheduled to begin at 6:45 p.m. local time (1745 GMT, 12:45 p.m. ET) in Milan.

In the free dance, the U.S. team of Madison Chock and Evan Bates is expected back on the ice. The three-time defending world champions won the rhythm dance portion of the team competition Friday.

Jessie Diggins competes in her 4th Olympics

Diggins, a 34-year-old Minnesota native, is trying to add to her Olympic haul before she retires at the end of the season. She already has a gold, silver, and bronze medal from three earlier Olympics. She will compete Saturday in the 20 kilometer skiathlon. The event is scheduled to begin at noon local time (1100 GMT and 6 a.m. ET). Cross-country skiing is held in Val di Fiemme, a valley in the heart of the Dolomites. It’s possible medals could be awarded before the men’s downhill medals.

There are also medal events in ski jumping (women’s normal hill individual), snowboard (men’s snowboard big air) and speedskating (women’s 3000 meters).

US faces Finland in women’s hockey

Women’s hockey is among the handful of disciplines that have already begun preliminary rounds. The U.S. team opened its campaign with a 5-1 victory over Czechia on Thursday.

Next up for the Americans is Finland. The game is scheduled to begin at 3:40 p.m. local time (1440 GMT, 9:40 a.m. ET) in Milan. The other games Saturday: Switzerland-Canada; Sweden-Italy; and Germany-Japan.

AP Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/milan-cortina-2026-winter-olympics

By The Associated Press

This photo gallery, curated by AP photo editors, features highlights from the opening ceremony of the Milan Cortina Olympics.

By PAT GRAHAM

Before Mikaela Shiffrin, Lindsey Vonn and other World Cup ski racers chase gold at the Milan Cortina Olympics, they will star in a new docuseries that gives a behind-the-scenes glimpse of what it’s like on the circuit.

Some of the biggest names in the sport are featured in ESPN’s five-episode series called “On the Edge: World Cup Ski Racing,” which starts Friday with three segments. Besides Shiffrin and Vonn, the docuseries features Swiss standout Marco Odermatt and Lucas Pinheiro Braathen, the Norwegian-born racer who represents Brazil and definitely likes to entertain.

The last episode in the series, titled “The World’s Stage,” will air on April 10 and focus on Swiss racer Camille Rast as she reflects on the fatal fire in a bar in the ski resort Crans-Montana during a New Year’s celebration. That particular episode will also look back at the Olympics and how the 41-year-old Vonn, who returned to the circuit after a partial knee replacement, and others performed.

The Milan Cortina Games are Feb. 6-22.

The series kicks off with the spotlight on Shiffrin and her fiancé, Norwegian standout Aleksander Aamodt Kilde, as they support each other following their returns from severe injuries.

“This kind of storytelling is so important to the future of our sport,” Sophie Goldschmidt, the president & CEO of U.S. Ski & Snowboard, said in a text to The Associated Press. “‘On the Edge’ gives ski racing an even bigger platform and broader reach — and that’s how you inspire participation.

“We hope this series encourages more kids to fall in love with ski racing and dream of becoming the next Mikaela Shiffrin, Lindsey Vonn or Ryan Cochran-Siegle. We have so many amazing stories to share about both our U.S. and international athletes.”

The project is directed by filmmaker Pat Dimon, who explores the journey of racers toward Olympic gold and the grind behind the World Cup season. It also features racers such as New Zealand’s Alice Robinson; Italy’s Sofia Goggia, Federica Brignone and Dominik Paris; and Norway’s Henrik Kristoffersen.

“Growing up a lifelong skier in Vermont, I learned that what matters most often happens away from the gates and finish line,” Dimon said of the series that premieres on the ESPN app and ESPN on Disney+. “’On the Edge’ is about seeing past the polished surface and dropping into the real line of World Cup racing — the grind of travel, the toll of injuries, the pressure, and the mindset it takes to be and stay at that level.”

AP skiing: https://apnews.com/hub/alpine-skiing and AP Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/milan-cortina-2026-winter-olympics

By STEVE DOUGLAS, AP Sports Writer

VASTERAS, Sweden (AP) — Maryan Hashi remembers the thoughts running through her mind when she began hitting the ski slopes in northern Sweden. As a Black woman from Somalia, she felt like an “alien.”

“Am I wearing the correct clothing for this? Does it fit? Do I look weird? Am I snowboarding correctly? Do they think it’s weird I’m on the slope?” she said. “But I carried on — I felt if I didn’t, I was never going to commit to anything in my life.”

A few years later, snowboarding is the 30-year-old student’s big passion and it is helping her integrate into her adopted country’s society better than she could ever have imagined.

What she’d love now is to see other migrants experiencing the same joy.

Immigration from Africa and the Middle East has transformed the demographics of Europe in recent decades. And while the growing diversity is reflected in many sports such as soccer — Sweden’s men’s national team has several Black players including Liverpool striker Alexander Isak — it hasn’t made a dent in winter sports.

At the Milan Cortina Winter Olympics, Sweden is sending a team made up almost exclusively of ethnically Swedish athletes, with NHL player Mika Zibanejad, whose father is from Iran, a rare exception. That hardly reflects the diversity of the Nordic country: About 2 million of its 10 million residents were born abroad, about half of them in Asia or Africa, according to national statistics agency SCB.

The lack of athletes of color at the Winter Olympics — and in winter sports in general — has been a recurring theme in the U.S., which is sending one of its most diverse teams to the Games. It hasn’t gotten the same attention in Europe.

The Olympic rosters of France, Germany, Switzerland and other European winter sports nations look a lot like Sweden’s: overwhelmingly white and lacking the immigrant representation seen in their soccer or basketball teams.

Researchers point to social, financial and geographical barriers, and believe a big cultural shift is needed for anything to change.

“It takes not years but decades,” said Josef Fahlen, professor of sport pedagogy at Umea University in Sweden.

Entering a ‘white’ sport

Hashi was 14 when she came to Sweden with her family in 2009. They settled in Skelleftea, a mining city around 770 kilometers (480 miles) north of the Swedish capital, Stockholm, where winters are long and temperatures can be extremely cold. She found it a culture shock and said it was “scary” to integrate with native Swedes because of language difficulties, so her friendship group consisted of fellow migrants from Somalia and other African countries.

Only in 2018 did she discover there was a ski slope five minutes from her home, after a co-worker suggested she try snowboarding as part of a pilot integration project run by the municipality.

“When you don’t have information or access or nobody around you does it — snowboarding is basically a white sport — and when you’re not correctly integrated into the community, you don’t know much about it,” Hashi said.

She initially felt out of place but grew to love her daily trips to the slope, even when numbers dwindled in the group. She even started to teach kids and her immigrant friends — those who’d been skeptical about Hashi doing an activity that’s “not our thing” — how to snowboard.

“I’ve made my mind up,” Hashi said, “that snowboarding is going to be a part of my family.”

The crucial role of parents

The single biggest influence on children getting into — and maintaining an interest in — a particular sport is their parents, according to Fahlen. That, he said, is the “simple” explanation for the lack of diversity in the ski slopes in Sweden and across Europe.

Pointing to Isak, whose parents are from Eritrea, or tennis players Mikael and Elias Ymer, whose parents migrated to Sweden from Ethiopia, he said the children of non-European immigrants are unlikely to be introduced to sports that their parents are not familiar with.

“Take the example of Isak finding his way into football — it makes total sense because football exists in Eritrea. Skiing doesn’t,” Fahlen said.

Fahlen regards the lack of diversity as not a “winter sports problem but a cultural issue” and said it’s important for kids to see winter sports athletes with a different skin tone.

“It’s a matter of horizon,” Fahlen said. “We need to show it’s possible to be a skier even if you might be from Tunisia or the West Bank.”

There are also financial and geographical factors at play. Immigrants in Sweden typically live in major urban areas, away from skiing hubs in the mountains, and are often in less-privileged economic positions. Participating in winter sports can be expensive because of the need to buy or rent equipment and clothing, and paying for travel and a ski pass.

Improving access for immigrants

Academics believe more needs to be done by winter sports to improve accessibility for immigrants and underserved communities.

“It’s a fact that the best integrative force in society is team sports and sports clubs, where kids can go to do useful things together with others,” said Stefan Jonsson, a professor in Ethnicity and Migration Studies at Linköping University. “There is so much research saying if we want social and ethnic integration, this would be the primary thing.”

Asked about its attempts to get more people from diverse backgrounds into skiing, Sweden’s ski federation said “we want to be better” and added that “inclusion is something we strive for.”

The federation is proud of its “Alla På Snö” (“Everyone On Snow”) program, which since 2008 has reached an estimated 30,000 children every year and offers students free equipment and access to slopes. Also boosting general accessibility is the growth of Sweden’s Leisure Bank project, where people can borrow sports equipment including skis and ski boots for free for 14 days. The founders equate the banks to public libraries.

Neither specifically targets immigrants, however. For Hashi, it’s a missed opportunity to widen the talent pool.

“Open the door for us,” Hashi said. “We’re going to take care of the next generation for you.”

AP Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/milan-cortina-2026-winter-olympics

By DAVE SKRETTA, AP Sports Writer

The moment Amber Glenn stepped onto the ice at figure skating’s world championships, fans began to wave American flags, from the lowest rows inside TD Garden to the highest rafters, where the jerseys of Boston’s sporting greats hang in honor.

It seemed a fitting backdrop to her program: Glenn is the three-time reigning U.S. champion, one of the current faces of figure skating, and as the daughter of a police officer and a proud native Texan, patriotism flows through her as thick as oil.

Yet the stars-and-stripes weren’t the only flags flying high that night.

Scattered throughout the sellout crowd at the last worlds before the Milan Cortina Olympics were the equally conspicuous rainbow flags that for nearly 50 years have signified pride within the LGBTQ+ community. They started popping up at Glenn’s competitions a year earlier, when she carried one across her shoulders in celebration of her national championship.

“I saw them,” Glenn acknowledged later, long after her performance, “and I was proud to see both of those flags flying.”

Glenn, who identifies as pansexual, never sought to be an icon within the queer community.

In fact, she didn’t come to grips with her own sexuality until she had been through the wringer, including a stint in a mental health facility spent working through depression, anxiety and an eating disorder. Glenn didn’t come out publicly until letting it slip during an interview a half-dozen years ago, and then thought with horror, “I haven’t even told my Catholic grandma yet!”

Yet as the 26-year-old Glenn reflected on her journey in an interview with The Associated Press, she expressed a profound sense of gratitude for having experienced it within the tight-knit figure skating world. For decades, the sport has provided a progressive sort of safe space for those within the LGTBQ+ community, some of whom still may be trying to realize their authentic selves.

“I’m so, so grateful that I grew up in skating, because I grew up in Texas, and luckily it was Dallas, which was still a bit more forward,” Glenn said. “Plus, I was homeschooled. So I had to figure out a lot of things on my own, coming from that background.

“But as I ventured out to competitions, you know, outside of Texas,” Glenn continued, “I ended up seeing this community and these people around me, and they were some of the top coaches and really good skaters. I was like, ‘Oh, OK. This is OK.’ It made me realize, ‘OK, there are people who are fans of me that would probably feel even more connected if they saw someone like them.’”

The long and winding road

It hasn’t always been that way in figure skating, a sport where success and failure is quite literally a judgment call, and looks, attitude and mannerisms all matter in the scores. Throughout the 1900s, and even into the ‘80s and ’90s, women often were encouraged to be more effeminate, and male counterparts were told to embrace their masculinity.

It wasn’t until Rudy Galindo came out in a book released shortly before he was crowned U.S. champion in 1996 that walls began to crumble. Three-time U.S. champion Johnny Weir, now a lead analyst for NBC’s coverage of the Olympics, said later that Galindo gave him the confidence to come out in 2011, and ultimately embrace who he was both on the ice and off.

Eventually, other prominent skaters came forward, some of whom had never publicly acknowledged their sexuality. Each had their reasons, whether personal, political or simply the desire to give back to the community.

As the U.S. team was preparing for the 2014 Winter Games in Sochi, former Olympic champion Brian Boitano was picked to be a part of the delegation. At the time, the Russian government was under fire for an anti-gay “propaganda” law passed in June 2013, and Boitano told the AP that he never considered coming out until he was chosen to represent his country again.

“They know how private a person I am,” Boitano said, “and that this was a big move for me.”

Success on big stages

While LGBTQ+ athletes compete in just about every sport, what might set figure skating apart — at least, presently — has been their success on the biggest stages, whether they be international competitions, the world championships or even the Olympics.

In 2018, former U.S. champion Adam Rippon not only became the first openly gay man to make the Olympic team but the first to capture a medal at the Winter Games, earning bronze as part of the team event. Four years later, Timothy LeDuc became the first non-binary Olympic athlete by teaming with Ashley Cain-Gribble in the pairs event at the Beijing Games.

“I grew up in a very conservative environment,” explained LeDuc, a two-time U.S. champion, who went into coaching after stepping away from competition. “Sometimes just seeing someone like you in that community is what you need to feel comfortable in yourself. That continued in my journey, where I saw a lot of queer people in my life.

“Even in high school, there was one or two queer people,” LeDuc said, “but it was always figure skating where I found my community.”

Where things stand

Glenn had just won her first elite-level Grand Prix event in Angers, France, in November 2024, when Donald Trump won the presidential election in the U.S. She remembers watching the results scroll across the TV screen.

Glenn’s heart sank, thinking about what it would mean for the LGBTQ+ community.

Two months later Trump signed an executive order defining “sex” in federal policy as a binary, biological concept unchangeable from birth. It was the first move made by an administration that has been accused of targeting the rights and recognition of the LGBTQ+ community, such as rolling back protections in education, healthcare and housing. The administration pitched the changes as a way to protect women from “gender extremism.”

“Both of my grandpas were in the military. I was raised in Texas, a proud American,” Glenn told AP. “It was so disheartening. It made me feel even closer to the community around me, because we had to come together to try and protect ourselves.”

Those feelings continue among many in the LGBTQ+ community.

One of the reasons that fan-favorite Jason Brown, a two-time Olympian, came out in an Instagram post five years ago was to provide support to those who may feel uncomfortable — skaters, of course, but also coaches, choreographers and even fans.

“I hope I can leave the sport a little better for the next athlete, or make someone more comfortable to step up and be who they are,” Brown said. “There are so many people out there that love and support that community, and they want them to feel safe and seen and accepted. I think that my biggest message is, ‘Know how supported you are.’”

AP Winter Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/milan-cortina-2026-winter-olympics

By DANIELLA MATAR, AP Sports Writer

MILAN (AP) — When Lucas Pinheiro Braathen tells people in Brazil that he represents the country in Alpine skiing, he says they don’t believe him.

They just might if he wins Brazil’s first Winter Olympics medal next month.

“When I meet someone new (in Brazil) … it’s always this mindblowing moment and it always sparks a very interesting conversation,” Pinheiro Braathen said with a smile in a recent interview with The Associated Press in Milan. “And funny enough, I actually think it’s those interactions that maybe prove the most how fulfilling it is for me to represent Brazil in something like skiing because it just shows me how foreign it is. So that’s really fun.”

If Pinheiro Braathen does finish on the podium, it would also be a first Winter Olympics medal for any South American country, something he wasn’t aware of.

“I mean thanks you just added a whole other layer of pressure so I’ll happily bring that along,” he laughed. “The greater the challenge, the greater the difference that I can bring and I believe it is the more pressure you feel, the bigger the difference that you can create.”

Pinheiro Braathen’s mother is Brazilian and his father is Norwegian. He had raced for Norway until abruptly retiring on the eve of the new season in 2023, only to come back a year later representing Brazil.

The 2023 World Cup slalom champion has already racked up a series of firsts under his new flag, becoming the first Brazilian skier to finish on a World Cup podium last year before claiming the country’s first victory this season to add to his five for Norway.

“I simply try to capitalize off of that pressure and channel it into my performance because, yes, it makes the days leading into the competition extremely challenging because you know you have something greater to live up to rather than just the possibility of a great result,” Pinheiro Braathen said.

“But it is exactly that that enables you to become the version of yourself where you can beat every single other athlete at that start gate and so, as I said, pressure is privilege. It is my most important currency.”

Snow samba

Pinheiro Braathen likes to entertain. When he got his first podium result for Brazil, he celebrated with a samba dance. His reaction after claiming his first win was more visceral, as he fell to his knees and screamed “yeah!” with both arms in the air.

The 25-year-old admits he has no clue what he would do if he was to succeed in Bormio, where the men’s Alpine ski racing will take place at the Olympics.

“If you achieve immense success in something that you’ve dedicated your life to, at least for me, it is impossible to curate what those moments look like,” Pinheiro Braathen said. “It is truly whatever you feel that sees the light of day and that’s what I think is so beautiful about those moments and it is simply what I chase every single day waking up. Yet another day getting to experience that feeling.”

Pinheiro Braathen is one of skiing’s most vibrant personalities, known for painting his fingernails and having a taste for fashion. He brings to the slopes the energy of Brazil and the discipline of Norway, having spent much of his childhood in both countries.

“I’m a person of cultural duality,” he said. “Two perspectives always presented from birth and so for me I always find that I’ve never been living a life where I’m only presented to one reality, one culture or one way of living. It’s always been these polar opposites and so I think that has shaped me to become who I am today and how I want to live my life.

A father’s love

Pinheiro Braathen has a close relationship with his father, Björn Braathen. So much so that he named the reindeer he won as part of the traditional winner’s prize at the World Cup in Levi after him.

It was his father who introduced him to skiing, when he was 4 or 5, though Pinheiro Braathen didn’t take to it initially.

“I bought everything for him, like shoes, like boots and skis and everything, and we went out and he would complain the whole time,” Braathen said. “Like “I’m cold, I’m not cut out for this, I’m freezing,” and, “I’m Brazilian and this is not for me.”

A love for the sport eventually arrived. Braathen, who also serves as his son’s team manager, doesn’t mind that his son switched allegiances.

“As a Norwegian, people expect me to feel very bad about that, but I don’t,” he said. “It’s my son and I just want him to be happy.”

AP Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/milan-cortina-2026-winter-olympics