Thursday at the Olympics was headlined by figure skater Alysa Liu snapping a 20-year American drought and the U.S. defeating Canada for women's hockey gold.

In the men's cross-country team spring, Ben Ogden and Gus Schumacher surged to silver to deliver the United States its first-ever Olympic medal in the event. Ogden won his second silver as he previously became the first American man to reach an Olympic cross-country podium since 1976.

Joep Wennemars was the first of those contenders, the Dutch skater up in the 11th pair against Italy’s Daniele di Stefano. Wennemars was frustrated in the 1,000-meter event when he was impeded on a lane change, and while he took his re-skate he could not reach the podium.

The United States packed a week’s worth of drama into a single winter day in Italy, turning Thursday in Milan Cortina into a rolling reel of gold-medal moments, near-misses, and clutch escapes. At one end of the Games,

Team USA wasn’t expected to get many medals Thursday. But the events it was in contention for were important ones. The U.S. came into Thursday still third in overall medals, still trailing Norway and Italy.

Alina Muller #25 of Team Switzerland scores the game winning goal past Ebba Svensson Traff #1 of Team Sweden in the overtime during the Women's Bronze Medal match between Switzerland and Sweden on day 13 of the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympic games at Milano Santagiulia Ice Hockey Arena on Feb. 19, 2026 in Milan, Italy.

Friday at the Olympics is headlined by the U.S. men's hockey team facing Slovakia in the semifinals.

Dawson, Lehman and Cepuran settled for silver medals on Tuesday afternoon after advancing to the final of the men’s team pursuit competition but fading in the second half of the race against host Italy. The Italians clocked a winning time of 3:39.20, coming from behind to win the eight-lap final by more than four seconds.

Gold medals are usually chosen by the skates that are free and skated with wild abandon, and she is the skater capable of that.” – Tara Lipinski on Olympic champion Alysa Liu

Watch the pet cross the finish line in Milan Cortina.

From post-run proposals (Breezy Johnson!) to co-competitor couples planning a walk down the aisle (Hilary Knight and Brittany Bowe!), the Milan Cortina Olympics have been a romantic backdrop for engagements.