CORTINA D'AMPEZZO, Italy (AP) — The United States and Canada meet in the gold medal match in women's hockey at the Milan Cortina Olympics, and the women’s figure skating competition reaches its finale with the free skate as the American “Blade Angels” look for a comeback to unseat Japan's frontrunners.
Here is a guide of what to look out for on Thursday:
Viewers around the world can watch on official broadcasters, including NBC and streaming on Peacock and NBC Olympics platforms.
It's the final everyone expected.
And it looks like the U.S. has the edge.
When the Americans take on Canada for gold at 7:10 p.m. local time (1810 GMT, 1:10 p.m. ET), they'll be buoyed by having beaten their big rivals 5-0 in the preliminary round. That meant they've won the teams' last seven meetings.
The U.S. team is the defending world champion and is looking to avenge a loss to Canada in the Olympic final in 2022.
It's the seventh time the two powerhouses have faced off for Olympic gold since women’s hockey debuted at the 1998 Nagano Games.
Switzerland takes on Sweden in the bronze medal game at 2:40 p.m. local time (1340 GMT, 8:40 a.m. ET).
Ami Nakai and Japanese teammate Kaori Sakamoto upstaged Alysa Liu and the rest of the “Blade Angels” from the U.S. to take the lead after the short program in the women’s figure skating competition.
The free skate will determine the medals and takes place at 7 p.m. local time (1800 GMT, 1 p.m. ET).
Nakai collected a career-best 78.71 points and Sakamoto is right behind with 77.23 as she chases just about the only gold medal she has yet to win. Liu is third with 76.59.
The rest of the U.S. team has some catching up to do. Isabeau Levito sits in eighth with 70.84 points, while three-time reigning U.S. champ Amber Glenn is down in 13th place with 67.39 points.
Ski mountaineering makes its debut at the Winter Olympics — and the first medals will be handed out on Day 1 of the event.
The women’s sprint final is at 1:55 p.m. local time (1255 GMT, 7:55 a.m. ET) and the men’s sprint final is at 2:15 p.m. local time (1315 GMT, 8:15 a.m. ET).
Skimo, which is short for ski mountaineering, has some basic principles: Race up the slope and back down as fast as possible.
The final of the sprint will consist of six athletes. The course is composed of an ascent on skis, a running section in boots with the skis on the athletes’ backs and then another uphill section on skis. From there, the athletes ski down. A typical individual race lasts about three minutes, with the course length about 750 meters (0.48 miles).
After a round-robin campaign littered with controversy, the men’s curling competition heads into the semifinals.
Canada, whose team was the subject of cheating allegations, will be there as skip Brad Jacobs looks to reclaim the gold medal — 12 years after winning the Olympic title at the Sochi Games.
Sweden, the defending champion, will not be there after being eliminated with two round-robin games to spare. The Swedes sparked the controversy, making the accusations toward Team Jacobs and have since said the fallout distracted them.
Switzerland has been the strongest team so far and is seeking a first men’s gold since 1998.
AP Winter Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/milan-cortina-2026-winter-olympics
Copyright 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
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