All articles tagged with #winter olympics
Lindsey Vonn, 41, rejects retirement after a severe leg injury at the 2026 Winter Olympics, brushing off her father’s public plea to retire and saying she’ll decide her future once she’s recovered—she may race again, or not, in time.
American figure skater Ilia Malinin finished eighth in the Milan Cortina men’s event but earned the IOC’s Fair Play Award for congratulating gold medalist Mikhail Shaidorov, highlighting sportsmanship; he also helped Team USA to a team-event gold, spoke openly about mental health, and is eyeing the World Championships in Prague with goals for redemption and a 2030 Olympic bid.
Alexis Wilkins, Kash Patel's girlfriend, defends his taxpayer-funded Milan Winter Olympics trip with a rambling defense that veers into claims about mice research and media bias, while critics flag the $75,000 cost and questionable optics; the FBI maintains Patel was there on official business.
Hilary Knight says Donald Trump’s distasteful joke overshadowed the US women’s Olympic success at Milan-Cortina, noting the women’s team declined Trump’s State of the Union invitation even as the US won gold in both hockey teams and Knight finished with a record 15 goals; she hopes the incident becomes a lesson on how women are discussed in sport.
A leaked itinerary and NYT report show FBI Director Kash Patel spent roughly six-and-a-half hours at hockey games during a taxpayer-funded Milan trip for the Winter Olympics, with only a fraction of time in official meetings, prompting questions about the trip’s purpose and security implications. The FBI insists the leak is a criminal act, while supporters say the visit included productive security and counterterrorism work; critics point to private-jet use and perceived blurring of personal time and official duties, spurring calls for oversight.
Part 2 of Jodi Walker’s Winter Olympics recap catalogs a mix of whimsy and heartbreak: a dog unexpectedly finishes a cross-country race, Alysa Liu leads the U.S. women’s figure skating team to gold as part of the Alt, Gay, From New Jersey squad, Ilia Malinin salvages pride with a gala skate after rough results, and the U.S. men’s hockey team’s triumph over Canada is overshadowed by a post-win spectacle and political invites; Skimo is criticized as a flashy but exhausting new discipline, Canada stumbles in hockey finals, and the piece ends by lauding the women’s medals as a bright silver lining in the Games’ chaotic charm.
The Milan-Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics attracted the largest TV audience for a Winter Games since 2014, according to Nielsen, signaling strong global interest as the event wrapped with the Verona closing ceremony.
After the United States men's hockey team won Olympic gold over Canada, the players are set to celebrate with a Miami victory lap and a White House invitation from Donald Trump—an opportunity the author argues is well-deserved and timely, even as NHL return logistics and partisan politics loom over the celebration.
FBI Director Kash Patel defended his trip to the Milan Winter Olympics to celebrate Team USA's gold medal, saying he was humbled and invited by the players. The FBI stated the visit, which involved coordinating with Italian authorities and Olympic security, was planned months in advance and not personal. Critics accuse the trip of being a taxpayer-funded vacation, and Patel has faced prior scrutiny over his use of FBI jets amid other national-security duties and investigations.
The Milan-Cortina Winter Games closed with a 2.5-hour ceremony inside Verona Arena that celebrated Italian art and culture—opera, dance and contemporary music—featuring stars like Roberto Bolle, Achille Lauro and Gabry Ponte as about 1,500 athletes entered behind flag bearers from 92 nations. Team USA highlighted the event with a record 12 golds across 16 sports, and roughly 12,000 spectators witnessed the ceremony, which included a remembrance segment for fallen athletes. The closing ended with extinguished flames on two cauldrons and a Verona-friendly light show in place of fireworks, ahead of Los Angeles 2028 and the 2030 Games in the French Alps and Nice.
Lindsey Vonn says a brutal Winter Olympics downhill crash left her with a complex left tibia fracture and compartment syndrome, nearly causing amputation. Surgeon Dr. Tom Hackett performed a life-saving procedure in Italy, and she was later flown to the U.S. for additional surgeries. She’s now out of the hospital and into a hotel stay, with an expected roughly year-long recovery for bone healing and future decisions on hardware removal and ACL repair, while she says she has no regrets about competing at her age.
Climate change is eroding reliable winter conditions, and Milan-Cortina 2026 highlighted heavy reliance on man-made snow amid unusually warm weather. A new study estimates that by the 2050s–2080s only a minority of potential sites could reliably host February Games, forcing the IOC to rethink venue spread and timing, while athletes push for systemic action to cut emissions and safeguard the sport’s future.
FBI Director Kash Patel faced backlash after using a government jet to fly to Italy for the Winter Olympics and celebrate Team USA’s hockey victory in the locker room, posting about the trip as work-related while videos of the celebration prompted criticism over taxpayer-funded travel and resource use.
Bryce Harper expressed pride in representing the United States after the U.S. men’s hockey team beat Canada to win Olympic gold, highlighting the emotional weight and patriotism of wearing a USA jersey on the world stage.
Chinese-American skier Eileen Gu captured gold in the 2026 Winter Olympics halfpipe, but online reaction is split over her representing China, with supporters defending her decision and critics pressing patriotism narratives as Team USA celebrated hockey gold and other podium moments.