Breezy Johnson and Ilia Malinin
star for US at Milan Cortina Olympics as Lindsey Vonn crashes
[February 09, 2026]
By KEN MAGUIRE
MILAN (AP) — The crash. The gasps. The helicopter.
Lindsey Vonn's frightening fall in the women's downhill at the Milan
Cortina Olympics couldn't help but overshadow U.S. teammate Breezy
Johnson’s feat — winning her country's first gold medal at these
Games.
Johnson’s victory Sunday in Cortina wasn't the Olympic comeback
story everyone expected, as the focus was on Vonn going for gold
despite a torn ACL. Even as Johnson sat in the leader’s box on the
verge of securing her first Olympic gold medal, her emotions swung
from anticipation to anguish when Vonn went down.
“It was one of the most heartbreaking moments of my life,” Johnson
said.
Still, the 30-year-old Johnson became only the second American woman
to win the Olympic downhill — Vonn won it in 2010 — and it came
after her own injury concerns as well as a 14-month ban for
violating “whereabouts” rules when it comes to testing for doping.
Sometimes, she said, “you just have to keep going because that’s the
only option.”
Ilia Malinin the ‘Quad God’ delivers for US
No delays this time.
The U.S. defended its team figure skating gold medal by edging Japan
on Sunday.
Ilia Malinin beat rival Shun Sato in a head-to-head showdown to
break a deadlock in the final session of the competition. The U.S.
ended up with 69 points while Japan finished with 68.
Malinin, nicknamed the “Quad God,” landed five quadruple jumps and
scored 200.03 points for his free skate. Sato followed him with
three quads in his program, but he could only manage 194.86 points,
leaving the Japanese with a second straight silver medal in the team
event.
Four years ago, the Americans — and Japanese — were denied a medal
ceremony in Beijing because of a lengthy investigation into Russian
doping, which kept them from receiving their medals until the 2024
Summer Games in Paris.
Italy celebrates big haul of medals
Must be the home cooking.
Host nation Italy won six medals Sunday — five bronze and one silver
— the most Italy has ever won in a single day at the Winter
Olympics.
The Italy team delivered the silver medal in the mixed relay
biathlon race.
Downhill skier Sofia Goggia won Italy's first bronze medal of the
day, followed by Lucia Dalmasso's third place in snowboarding’s
parallel giant slalom. Riccardo Lorello claimed bronze in the men’s
speedskating 5,000 meters.
Dominik Fischnaller took bronze in men’s singles luge before Italy
rallied for third place in the figure skating team event.
[to top of second column] |
Ilia Malinin of the United States competes during the figure skating
men's team event at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Milan, Italy,
Sunday, Feb. 8, 2026. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough)
That followed Italy's Day 1 total of three medals,
led by speedskater Francesca Lollobrigida's gold in the 3,000
meters.
NHL players arrive in Milan
Five charter planes carrying NHL players — including Canada’s Sidney
Crosby — arrived in Milan on Sunday morning from New York’s John F.
Kennedy International Airport. This is the first Olympics with NHL
players since the Sochi Games in 2014.
Sweden was the first of the teams comprised of almost exclusively
NHL players to take the ice for practice at Milano Santagiulia
Arena, followed by the U.S., Czechia, Canada and Finland.
The 12-team men's tournament starts Wednesday. The U.S. and Canada
are the heavy favorites, and both teams begin their campaigns
Thursday. The Americans face Latvia. Canada plays Czechia.
Finland is the defending champion, but Canada has won each of the
past two Olympics with NHL players.
Big favorite Ledecka stunned in snowboarding
No surprise that a Czech racer won snowboarding's parallel giant
slalom Sunday in Livigno. The shocker was that it wasn't Ester
Ledecka.
Ledecka, who was trying to become the first snowboarder to win gold
medals at three straight Olympics, lost her quarterfinal race by
0.06 seconds to Austria’s Sabine Payer.
The gold medal went to Ledecka's teammate, 22-year-old Zuzana
Maderova. It was her first victory in a major event. Payer took the
silver medal. Italy's Lucia Dalmasso won bronze.
Ledecka hadn’t lost a PGS World Cup race in almost two years.
Early hours in Italy for Super Bowl
There's plenty of interest here in the Super Bowl, even if the game
kicks off Monday at 12:30 a.m. in Italy. A couple of sports pubs in
Milan said on Sunday that they're fully booked and will turn away
walk-ups. The New England Patriots face the Seattle Seahawks in
Santa Clara, California.
A few days before competing in Sunday's women's downhill, American
skier Jacqueline Wiles noted that she's a “big, big fan” of the
Seahawks. A native of Portland, Oregon, Wiles finished tied for
fourth on Sunday, just missing out on a bronze medal.
All contents © copyright 2026 Associated Press. All rights reserved |
