What we covered here
• US figure skaters stun: “Quad God” Ilia Malinin performed his trademark backflip to top the leaderboard, and Maxim Naumov, who triumphed over tragedy, gave a moving performance at the men’s singles short program today.
• Sweden beats USA in a nail-biter: Team USA’s Korey Dropkin and Cory Thiesse will take home silver in mixed doubles curling. Thiesse made history as the first American woman to earn an Olympic medal in curling.
• Defying IOC: Ukrainian skeleton racer Vladyslav Heraskevych told CNN he will wear his helmet featuring images of athletes killed during the war in Ukraine despite IOC guidelines banning the headgear.
• Mikaela Shiffrin misses medal: The superstar placed fourth with teammate Breezy Johnson in alpine skiing women’s team combined.
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A dramatic day 4 at the Milan Cortina Winter Olympics
A dramatic day 4 at the Winter Olympics in Milan Cortina came with some highs and lows for Team USA.
Here’s a recap:
- Quad God wows Milan: Team USA’s Ilia Malinin was worth the wait at the men’s figure skating short program. He performed second to last but finished top of the standings after his routine featured his trademark quadruple jumps.
- Bittersweet silver: Korey Dropkin and Cory Thiesse secured a silver in the mixed doubles curling event in what was a nail-biting end, with Swedish brother-sister duo Isabella and Rasmus Wranaa clinching the gold medal. Thiesse became the first American woman to medal in curling.
- Gliding on the ice: US figure skater Maxim Naumov produced his best routine of the season on the world stage. He gave an emotional performance, remembering his parents who tragically died a year ago. Spanish skater Tomàs-Llorenç Guarino Sabaté enjoyed his routine on the ice after getting last-minute clearance for a Minions song.
- Not your typical Olympics story on cheating: After taking bronze in the men’s 20km individual event, Norwegian biathlete Sturla Holm Laegreid admitted on TV that he cheated on his girlfriend. “Maybe there’s a chance that she will see what she really means to me,” he said.
- Defying Olympic officials: Ukrainian skeleton racer Vladyslav Heraskevych told CNN he will wear his helmet featuring images of athletes killed during the war in Ukraine despite IOC guidelines banning the headgear.
- Love a good rivalry: Team USA’s women’s ice hockey team dominated its archrival Canada 5-0 in a preliminary round game. Team Canada played without its captain, Marie-Philip Poulin.
- Slovenia defends its title: The quartet, which included siblings, was wire-to-wire winners in the ski jumping mixed team event in Predazzo, defending their gold medal from Beijing 2022.
CNN’s Dana O’Neil, Frank Nunns O’Connell, Ben Church and Hannah Keyser contributed to this report.
Ukrainian skeleton rider determined to honor fallen compatriots
Ukrainian skeleton racer Vladyslav Heraskevych has told CNN’s Amanda Davies that he’ll defy an International Olympic Committee (IOC) ban and compete in his helmet honoring 24 athletes killed in the war with Russia.
“I wear this helmet two days ago, yesterday, today. I will wear it tomorrow and I will wear it for the race day. These people sacrificed their lives and because of that, I am able to be here today. I’m able to be at the Olympics and I will not betray them,” he told Davies on Tuesday.
Davies asked Heraskevych if he feared a ban by the IOC.
“It’s not basic to put any sanctions or disqualifications or anything or penalties on me because we didn’t, we didn’t violate any rules,” he said.
The Olympian pointed to Team USA’s Maxim Naumov showing a picture of his late parents after performing, as the IOC demonstrating a double standard on this issue.
Ilia Malinin stands out and steps closer to another gold medal
There is something a bit different about watching Ilia Malinin on the ice.
Maybe it’s because everyone knows how good the Team USA star is that the atmosphere changes a bit, everyone pays a bit more attention and reacts a bit louder when he lands one of his stunning skills.
He threw everything into that performance, his face contorting as he transformed into whatever character he was playing in his head.
You just need to watch him live to see how and why he’s taking this sport to another level.
He’ll be back on Friday, where he’ll surely be the favorite to win the gold medal.
He did all he could today and rightfully sits atop the leaderboard after a memorable night of figure skating.
Team USA shuts out Canada in women's hockey
In what many people assume is a preview of the eventual gold-medal game in Milan, Team USA steamrolled Team Canada in their largest victory in the longstanding Olympic rivalry. The final score was 5-0.
Credit to American goalie Aerin Frankel, who had 20 saves in the game, stonewalling Canada - the country’s first-ever Olympic blank in 41 games. Prior to this game, Canada was 37-3, with all three — and now four — losses coming at the hands of Team USA.
Canada was without both their literal captain and the woman dubbed Captain Clutch, Marie-Philip Poulin, who left yesterday’s win over the Czech Republic with a lower-body injury.
But this dominance by the US is not entirely new. In a four-game showcase rivalry series this fall, the Americans outscored Canada 24-7 and swept the series, in spite of Poulin playing in each of those games.
Four of the five goals came from first-time Olympians: Kirsten Simms, Laila Edwards, and Hannah Bilka, who had two in the game and three already in Milan.
Also in the game, Team USA Captain Hilary Knight had an assist to tie the most career points in US Olympic women’s hockey history.
Ilia Malinin tops the leaderboard with stunning routine
Ilia Malinin delights the Milan crowd with a jaw-dropping performance in the men’s single skating short program.
Complete with his trademark backflip, the Quad God’s routine earned him a score of 108.16 that sees him race to the top of the leaderboard.
Remember, no medals will be handed out this evening. The Team USA star will be back to compete in the second stage of this event on Friday, where he will perform his free skate.
Ilia Malinin starts his much-anticipated routine
It’s finally time, Ilia Malinin skates out onto the ice and the crowd goes wild.
He hasn’t even started yet but he’s already got this arena in the palm of his hand.
USA takes 5-0 lead on Laila Edwards' first Olympic goal
Laila Edwards scores her first Olympic goal to make it 5-0 Team USA as the third period winds down.
Last year’s leading scorer in the NCAA and the first Black woman to be a part of the USA’s hockey team, Edwards’ unassisted goal gives the Americans their largest lead in the history of that rivalry.
This game has been all Team USA, showcasing their Olympic rookie depth.
France's Adam Siao Him Fa storms into figure skating lead
That was a sensational routine and score for France’s Adam Siao Him Fa, who now takes the lead on 102.55.
The French commentator behind me is banging his table and screaming something very positive in French. We’re approaching the business end of this short program event now.
Ilila Malinin is out on the ice for his warmup
It’s been a long night here at the Ice Skating Arena, full of twists and turns and certainly some emotion.
We’ve finally got our first sight of Ilia Malinin, as the American comes out to warm up with the other remaining athletes.
Safe to say the “Quad God” received the biggest cheer of the night. He looks calm though, waving to the crowd.
Team USA just keeps piling on over shorthanded Team Canada
Hannah Bilka scores her second of the night to give Team USA a resounding 4-0 lead, with Abbey Murphy picking up her third assist. Murphy and Caroline Harvey, who was also credited with an assist on the play, both have three points already.
This after Team Canada failed to capitalize on their first power play of the night.
The four goal difference, should it hold or even expand, would be the biggest blowout of any Olympic matchup between these two top teams. The most lopsided score prior to today was when USA beat Canada 7-4 in their first Olympic matchup, 28 years ago.
The team in red is REALLY missing Marie-Philip Poulin in this one.
Daniel Grassl tops figure skating leaderboard in front of home fans
That was a popular score.
Daniel Grassl of Italy just received 93.46 points for his routine and that sees him sit top of the leaderboard, leapfrogging South Korean skater Cha Jun-hwan.
The hundreds of Italians in this arena went crazy, many waving their nation’s flag.
Power play goal gives USA a 3-0 lead
During the intermission, Team USA’s Caroline Harvey told NBC, “They’re our rivals for a reason.”
It didn’t take very long into the second period for some of that fire to be displayed on the ice. Canada’s Sarah Fillier received a two-minute penalty for interference after skating into the path of Abbey Murphy and knocking her over.
Down 2-0, it proved to be a bad penalty to take.
On the ensuing power play, Kirsten Simms scored for the US, with Murphy picking up her second assist of the game.
Referees initially reviewed the play to determine if the puck had crossed the goal line and after that was confirmed, Team Canada challenged the play, citing goalie interference.
The challenge was unsuccessful and Team USA takes a commanding 3-0 lead, while outshooting Canada 15-5.
This doesn’t feel like a rivalry game so far.
"Unchained Melody" rings around Milano Ice Skating Arena
It may not have got the biggest score, but Latvia’s Deniss Vasiljevs proved popular with the crowd for his song choice.
He slid around the ice to a version of Roy Orbison’s “Unchained Melody” and you could see fans and journalists alike singing along under their breath.
Among a couple of soft toys thrown to the ice was a red rose. It’s all got a bit romantic up in here.
USA takes 2-0 lead into the first intermission
Abby Murphy used her speed to beat the Canadian defender down the ice and sneak a pass back to Hannah Bilka, who buried the second goal of the game to give Team USA a commanding lead.
What an opening period for Caroline Harvey, who now has a goal and an assist in this game.
The first period winds down with Team Canada clearly struggling in the absence of their captain.
“They give us their best game always and they come out relentless. So having a game plan and an attack to counter that – it’s hard – but they are our rivals for a reason and we love playing them,” Harvey told NBC during the first intermission.
Canada will want a rebuttal in the second period.
Slovenian siblings win ski jumping mixed team gold
Slovenia were wire-to-wire winners in the ski jumping mixed team event in Predazzo, defending their gold medal in the event from Beijing 2022.
Slovenia’s four-person team includes the brother-and-sister duo of Domen and Nika Prevc, who are each competing in their first Olympic Games. Nika won silver in the women’s normal hill individual ski jumping event on Saturday.
Anze Lanisek and Nika Vodan round out the Slovenian squad.
The quartet are the first gold medal winners of these Games for the mountainous European nation.
The Norwegian team took the silver medal in the event with Japan claiming the bronze.
Team USA's Andrew Torgashev momentarily top in men's figure skating
Andrew Torgashev got a huge round of applause from the hundreds of US fans inside the arena after finishing his stunning routine.
He clearly liked it too, and looked even happier after taking top spot on the leaderboard with a score of 88.94.
However, it didn’t last long. South Korean skater Cha Jun-hwan followed up with an even bigger score of 92.72.
We’re at the halfway point of this short program event and we still have Ilia Malinin to perform towards the end.
Small troop of children on figure skating teddy patrol
For those who don’t know, throwing soft toys onto the ice after a skater performs is a sign of appreciation in figure skating.
After most of the routines here tonight, at least one or two teddies have been thrown from the stands onto the rink.
To keep competition going, there is a small gaggle of children on a bleacher near the ice, tasked with racing on and picking up the toys as quickly as possible.
It’s a smooth operation and one that the kids are quite clearly loving.
Team USA jumps out to early lead as archrival Canada is without its captain
Canadian captain Marie-Philip Poulin is not playing in the first matchup between archrivals Team Canada and Team USA after exiting Monday’s win over the Czech Republic with a lower-body injury.
Known as “Captain Clutch” for her gold medal-winning goals in three different Olympics (she’s played in five), Poulin is widely considered the best women’s hockey player on the planet.
And in her absence, the US jumped out to an early lead.
A defensive breakdown by Canada gave Caroline Harvey a clear path to the net just about five minutes into the first period.
Although still in the preliminary round, every game between the USA and Canada is highly anticipated and hotly contested in hockey. They’re the only two countries to have ever won Olympic or world championship gold. Officially, this game is likely just for seeding but most people assume it’s also a preview of the eventual gold-medal game later this month.
Emotions running high at men's figure skating
The brilliant performance from Maxim Naumov really set the tone for tonight’s action here at the Ice Skating Arena in Milan.
The skaters are leaving it all on the ice, releasing their raw emotion on the biggest stage of them all.
The current leader is Canada’s Stephen Gogolev, with Ukraine’s Kyrylo Marsak in second.
Marsak dedicated his routine to his father, who is currently fighting on the frontline in Ukraine, and let out a massive roar after nailing his performance.
There has been some light to the shade, though. We’ve also had a dancing minion from Spain who currently sits seventh out of the 10 skaters who have so far performed.
US hockey star Caroline Harvey on “crazy” rivalry with Canada ahead of matchup
The ongoing sporting rivalry between Canada and the US has been witnessed all over this year’s Winter Olympics, but no event sees fiercer competition between the two nations than in hockey.
US star Caroline Harvey knows that more than anyone, having played and lost against Canada in the gold medal game back in Beijing 2022.
Back then, Harvey was the youngest in the team but has since grown in confidence and will look to be a serious factor when the two countries collide.
“It’s the most competitive game I think I’ve ever been in,” she told CNN Sports before heading to Milan.
“For the whole 60 minutes, back and forth, there’s no let-up. It’s either you’re defending or you’re on the pursuit, and it’s non-stop the whole game. We always go to overtime shootouts with them, and it is always the final buzzer. It’s crazy.”
The US will play Canada at 2:10 p.m. ET, with both teams predicted to meet again in the knockouts.
