The 2026 Milan Cortina Olympics are in full swing, and Friday will be another massive day in Italy:
U.S. women’s curling loses to Switzerland in semifinal
Beating Switzerland in consecutive matches proved too difficult for Team USA on Friday. A day after defeating Switzerland to advance to the semifinals, Team USA lost 7-4 to the Swiss team Friday.
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Switzerland played a strong defensive game, limiting Team USA to just one point in the ends in which they scored. Switzerland also controlled the hammer, forcing multiple scoreless ends to keep the final stone.
While the U.S. tried to make it tough in the 10th end, Switzerland executed on its hammer throw, picking up two points to seal the victory.
With the loss, Team USA will play for the bronze medal Saturday.
Team USA faces Slovakia in men’s hockey semifinal (3:10 p.m. ET)
The United States turned in its most impressive win thus far Friday, taking down Slovakia 6-2 in the semifinal to advance to the gold-medal game.
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The U.S. received two goals from Jack Hughes, with four other players chipping in scores of their own. While Slovakia tried to rally late, the deficit proved to be too large for them to truly make it a game in the third period.
As a result, Team USA will play in the gold-medal game for the first time since 2010. They’ll take on Canada in a rematch of that 2010 final, which Canada won.
Brittany Bowe falls short in final event
Brittany Bowe took her final laps as an Olympic speed skater on Friday afternoon in Milan. She received an ovation from the heavily pro-Netherlands crowd at the speed-skating arena, though her head-to-head rival Antoinette Rijpma-de Jong received a louder one. Bowe sprinted off the starting line, and at the 300m mark was 0.69 seconds ahead of the leaders’ pace. That mark stayed at 0.46 seconds at 700m, and just 0.17 at 1100m. But she steadily began losing pace, and she crossed the line 0.55 seconds behind the lead time.
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She would go on to finish fourth in the event, leaving her off the podium. It marked the third time Bowe has finished fourth in an event at the 2026 Games.
Kristen Santos-Griswold chases gold in short track speed skating (2:15 p.m. ET)
In the women’s 1,500 meters, American Kristen Santos-Griswold pursues her first gold medal in her second Winter Olympics. (She finished short of the podium in heartbreaking fashion at the 2022 Beijing Games.) Her final chance at a medal in Milan Cortina comes in what is arguably her best event.
How many medals has Team USA won so far? Check in with our medal tracker for the full breakdown.
Dates: Feb. 6 – Feb. 22
TV channel: NBC
Streaming: Peacock
Follow along with Yahoo Sports for all the news, events and medals from the Milan Cortina Olympics:
Live349 updates
Fri, February 20, 2026 at 2:50 PM PST
Chris Cwik
The United States turned in its most impressive win thus far Friday, taking down Slovakia 6-2 in the semifinal to advance to the gold-medal game.
The U.S. received two goals from Jack Hughes, with four other players chipping in scores of their own. While Slovakia tried to rally late, the deficit proved to be too large for them to truly make it a game in the third period.
As a result, Team USA will play in the gold-medal game for the first time since 2010. They’ll take on Canada in a rematch of that 2010 final, which Canada won.
Fri, February 20, 2026 at 1:39 PM PST
Tarohn Finley
Corinne Stoddard becomes the first American to medal in short track speed skating since 2010.
Stoddard won bronze after getting passed by Korea’s Kim Gil-li and Choi Min-jeong in the final laps. Gil-li won gold and Min-jeong won silver.
Fri, February 20, 2026 at 1:08 PM PST
Jay Busbee
Polish skater Kamila Sellier suffered a serious injury in the sixth quarterfinal of Friday night’s 1500m short-track speed skate and was taken from Assago Ice Skating Arena to a nearby hospital. Polish officials indicated that she was in good spirits, even raising a thumbs-up as she left the arena.
Late in the quarterfinal, Sellier appeared to lose her footing and slipped, colliding with the United States’ Kristen Santos-Griswold. In the ensuing accident, Santos-Griswold’s skate caught Sellier on the face. Sellier slid into the protective retaining wall, and medical crews raised a sheet around her to protect the scene from the audience. She was stretchered from the ice.
Read more on the latest on Sellier’s status.
Fri, February 20, 2026 at 1:03 PM PST
Tarohn Finley
A pass in the final laps helped the Netherlands win the men’s 5000m speed skating relay. Korea won silver and Italy won bronze.
Dutch speed skater Jens van ‘t Wout has now won three golds and a bronze medal in the Winter Olympics. Only former South Korean-born Russian short-track speed skater Viktor Ahn had done it before van ‘t Wout. Ahn did it twice, once for Russia and once for South Korea.
Fri, February 20, 2026 at 12:04 PM PST
Dan Wolken
At long last, Alex Ferreira is a gold medalist.
The 31-year old halfpipe specialist finally completed his Olympic set Friday night, adding a long-coveted gold to the silver and bronze he won in 2022 and 2018.
He did it by stomping his third and final run, waving his right pole around like a lasso at the bottom of the pipe and moving into first place with a score of 93.75.
From there, Ferreira had to survive three more challengers. Estonia’s 19-year old Henry Sildaru gave it a good run but came up .75 points short according to the judges.
Fri, February 20, 2026 at 11:11 AM PST
Chris Cwik
Team Canada women’s hockey team played a tight gold-medal game against the U.S. on Thursday, but ultimately came up short. Megan Keller scored the game-winning goal for Team USA, picking up the walk-off win.
After the contest, Team Canada didn’t seem too happy while receiving an Olympic stuffed animal while still on the ice.
The Canadians also received the silver medal, so the stuffed animal wasn’t their only reward for finishing in second. Still, it maybe wasn’t the best time to hand out stuffed animals.
Fri, February 20, 2026 at 10:14 AM PST
Chris Cwik
It took nearly the full 60 minutes, but Canada is going to the gold-medal game. Nathan MacKinnon’s score with 35.2 seconds left gave Canada its first lead of the game, and pushed the Canadians into the final.
On paper, Canada turned in an impressive performance, leading Finland in shots 39-17. Despite that, Canada trailed the entire way, falling behind 2-0 before coming back to score three-straight goals and win the contest.
Fri, February 20, 2026 at 10:09 AM PST
Chris Cwik
It was a tense couple minutes for fans of Team Canada. Moments after it looked like Canada scored a go-ahead goal with under a minute left, the call went to a review.
After a lengthy review, officials determined the goal would stand, putting Canada up 3-2 with 35.2 to go.
Fri, February 20, 2026 at 10:07 AM PST
Chris Cwik
Canada waited a long time to take their first lead of the game, but they claimed it when it mattered most. With 35.2 seconds left, Nathan MacKinnon scored to give Canada a 3-2 lead.
That could be the game for Canada, which needed a late power play to pull ahead. Finland nearly killed that power play, but Canada scored at the last-possible second.
Finland will now need to pull off a miraculous score to send this one to overtime.
Fri, February 20, 2026 at 10:04 AM PST
Chris Cwik
With the third period winding down, Canada now has a massive advantage. After a high-sticking call, Canada will have a power play through essentially the rest of the period.
If Finland can kill the power play, they would be back at full strength with roughly 30 seconds to play.
Canada can take a win here if they can capitalize on the advantage. Otherwise, the game could head into overtime with both teams tied 2-2.
Fri, February 20, 2026 at 9:58 AM PST
Sean Leahy
Fri, February 20, 2026 at 9:00 AM PST
Sean Leahy
Reinhart, stationed in front of Finland goalie Juuse Saros, deflected a Cale Makar shot from the point to put Canada on the board.
Finland leads 2-1 with under six minutes to play in the second period.
Fri, February 20, 2026 at 8:38 AM PST
Sean Leahy
Oh, Canada! As Sebastian Aho sat in the box after taking an interference penalty, the Finns found a way to capitalize.
After the puck found its way out of their defensive zone, speedy Erik Haula zipped through the neutral to pick it up and beat Jordan Binnington with a backhand for a shorthanded goal.
Finland has two goals on nine shots and have now scored on a power play and a penalty kill.
Fri, February 20, 2026 at 8:12 AM PST
Sean Leahy
Sebastian Aho’s face-off win went directly back to Mikko Rantanen, who then fired a wrist shot past Jordan Binnington.
The face-off was in Canada’s defensive zone after Sam Bennett took an unnecessary penalty in Finland’s zone moments before. The power play goal is Rantanen’s second of the tournament and was their first shot on goal in over seven minutes.
Fri, February 20, 2026 at 7:46 AM PST
Chris Cwik
Team USA made it tough in the final end, but could not steal a point to send it to extras. Switzerland hit their final shot, knocking Team USA out of the house to take two points — and the win — in the semifinal.
With the win, Switzerland is guaranteed a medal at the 2026 Olympics. They’ll play in the gold-medal game Saturday.
For Team USA, they’ll have a shot at the bronze.
Fri, February 20, 2026 at 7:28 AM PST
Chris Cwik
Team USA continues to be limited against Switzerland. The Swiss team has held the Americans to just a single point in every end in which they’ve scored, making it 5-4 going into the final end.
Switzerland holds the hammer in the last end, and just needs to make sure the U.S. doesn’t steal a point here.
Fri, February 20, 2026 at 7:06 AM PST
Chris Cwik
The Americans have some work to do against Switzerland late. Team USA is down 5-3 in the ninth end.
The Americans need to make progress now, as they hold the hammer in the ninth end. A trip to the gold-medal game is on the line, so Team USA will need to step up its game now if it wants to play for gold.
Fri, February 20, 2026 at 6:50 AM PST
Sean Leahy
The American skiing legend has undergone multiple surgeries on her fractured leg, which she suffered just seconds into her downhill race after clipping a gate with her shoulder.
Fri, February 20, 2026 at 6:48 AM PST
Sean Leahy
A similar ending to the seventh end as the sixth with Alina Paetz knocking the lone U.S. rock from the house for a second straight scoreless end.
Switzerland remains on top 4-3 with three ends left to play.
CORTINA D’AMPEZZO, ITALY – FEBRUARY 20: Alina Paetz and Carole Howald of Team Switzerland compete during the Women’s semi-final match between Team United States and Team Switzerland on day fourteen of the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympic games at Cortina Curling Olympic Stadium on February 20, 2026 in Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy. (Photo by Richard Heathcote/Getty Images)
(Richard Heathcote via Getty Images)Fri, February 20, 2026 at 6:34 AM PST
Sean Leahy
Alina Paetz cleared the U.S. rock from the house to keep the Americans from tying the match at four.
Switzerland will keep the hammer as we move to the seventh end.