Winter Olympics: What to watch today in Milan Cortina (2/7)

The first medals will be awarded on Saturday.

The Winter Games have begun in Italy. From the rink to the slopes, a new generation of stars has emerged to chase gold. We’ll keep you connected to all of the thrilling moments and top stories as we track the medal race each day of the Games.

The U.S. women's hockey, mixed doubles curling and ice dance teams will look to continue their dominant early showing, while eyes will be on Lindsey Vonn to see if she does another training run before Sunday's Olympic women’s downhill competition.

Here are the top five things to watch Saturday at the 2026 Milan Cortina Olympics:

Medals will begin to be handed out Saturday morning. The first medal events are men's downhill skiing and the women's 20 km skiathlon. There will also be medals awarded for women's 3000m speed skating, men's big air snowboarding and women's normal hill ski jumping.

After participating in Friday's training run, Lindsey Vonn's coach, Aksel Lund Svindal, said he was not sure if Vonn would participate in Saturday's training run, but she is on the list of starters. This will be her second chance after the cancelation of the first training on Thursday.

A week after tearing her ACL during the upper section of the World Cup downhill race in Switzerland, Vonn completed a successful training run early Friday morning. The run was required if she wanted to compete in Sunday's Olympic women’s downhill competition. Vonn clocked in at 1:40.33, a time that placed her 11th out of the 43 finishers.

The 41-year-old is a four-time overall World Cup champion and won gold in the downhill event at the 2010 Olympics. Vonn made a return after retiring from skiing in 2019.

The U.S. women's hockey team meets Finland in its second game of the 2026 Olympics. The U.S. opened the Olympics with a 5-1 win over Czechia. Finland has yet to play after their opening game against Canada was postponed until Thursday after a norovirus outbreak.

Norovirus, according to the Centers for Disease Control, is a “very contagious” illness that is the leading cause of vomiting and diarrhea in the United States. Most people with norovirus illness recover in 72 hours or less, the CDC says, but they can still spread the virus for several more days afterward.

The Finnish team is reportedly optimistic about playing after most of the team took part in practice. The Americans, meanwhile, have taken precautions to protect themselves from catching the virus.

USA's Korey Dropkin (left) and Cory Thiesse in action during the Curling Mixed Doubles Round Robin match against Canada at the Cortina Curling Olympic Stadium, Italy. Picture date: Friday February 6, 2026. (Photo by Andrew Milligan/PA Images via Getty Images)
USA's Korey Dropkin (left) and Cory Thiesse in action during the Curling Mixed Doubles Round Robin match against Canada at the Cortina Curling Olympic Stadium, Italy. Picture date: Friday February 6, 2026. (Photo by Andrew Milligan/PA Images via Getty Images)
Andrew Milligan - PA Images via Getty Images

The U.S. mixed doubles curling team is off to a record-setting, undefeated start after two days of competition with wins over Canada and Czechia on Friday. Cory Thiesse and Korey Dropkin's 4-0 start was the best among any U.S. men's, women's or mixed doubles curling team since the sport was added to the Olympics in 1998.

On Saturday, it will be a challenge to stay undefeated as they take on 5-0 Great Britain and 0-4 South Korea in round-robin play.

Team USA will enter the day with the lead in the team competition after strong performances Friday from Madison Chock and Evan Bates in the rhythm dance and reigning world champion Alysa Liu in the women's short program. Team Japan sits just two points behind the U.S. in second place after Kaori Sakamoto's strong short program.

All times ET.

Downhill

  • 5:30 a.m.: Men's final (USA Network)🏅

20 kilometer skiathlon

  • 7 a.m.: Women's final (NBC)🏅

Mixed doubles round-robin

  • 4:05 a.m.: Great Britain vs. Canada (USA Network), Switzerland vs. Sweden

  • 8:35 a.m.: Estonia vs. Norway, Czechia vs. South Korea, Sweden vs. Italy, Great Britain vs. USA (USA Network at 9:30 a.m.)

  • 1:05 p.m.: South Korea vs. USA, Canada vs. Estonia, Czechia vs. Switzerland, Norway vs. Italy

Team competition

  • 1:45 p.m.: Men's short program (NBC)

  • 4 p.m.: Free dance (NBC)

Slopestyle

  • 4:30 a.m.: Women's qualifying (USA Network; NBC picks up coverage at 5:30 a.m.)

  • 8 a.m.: Men's qualifying (NBC)

Women's pool play

  • 6:10 a.m: Germany vs. Japan

  • 8:40 a.m.: Sweden vs. Italy

  • 10:40 a.m.: USA vs. Finland (USA Network)

  • 3:10 p.m.: Switzerland vs. Canada (USA Network)

Men’s singles

  • 11 a.m.: Runs 1, 2 (Run 2 airs live on NBC beginning at 12:45 p.m.)

Normal hill

  • 11:45 a.m.: Women's final (airs on USA Network at 8 p.m.)🏅

Big air

  • 1:30 p.m.: Men's final (USA Network) 🏅

3000 meters

  • 10 a.m.: Women's final (NBC coverage begins at 10:05 a.m.) 🏅

Category: General Sports