MILAN — Team USA and Canada meet again.

The U.S. women’s hockey team advanced to the gold medal game at the 2026 Winter Olympics  following a 5-0 semifinal rout of Sweden, marking the Americans’ fifth consecutive shut-out of the tournament. The Americans then played the waiting game to learn their next opponent and it’s a familiar one.

Team USA is set to face off against Canada in Thursday’s gold medal match for the seventh time in Olympic history, marking the latest edition of the nations’ storied rivalry. The U.S. and Canada have competed against each other in all but one gold medal game since women’s hockey made its Olympic debut in 1998.

U.S. defender Haley Winn said facing Canada in the final again isn’t ‘a surprise for us.’

‘It would be a game that we would be prepared for and that we’re looking forward to,’ added Winn, who had an assist on Monday. ‘Whoever it is … we’re excited and the job’s not finished.’

Marie-Philip Poulin vs. Hilary Knight

Two five-time Olympians will be on the ice on Thursday: American Hilary Knight and Canadian Marie-Philip Poulin. Both veterans are in a league of their own and are two of only four players to score in five different Olympics, joining Canadians Jayna Hefford and Hayley Wickenheiser.

Poulin led Canada with two goals in a shutout victory over Switzerland on Monday. With the goals, Poulin surpassed Wickenheiser (18) to become the women’s all-time leading Olympic scorer with 20 goals. It marked Poulin’s fifth career Olympics with two or more goals.

‘It’s so cool. I grew up idolizing her and I obviously still do,’ said Canada’s Daryl Watts, who assisted both of Poulin’s goals. ‘ She means so much to our team and to the country, so its special to be apart of history for (Philip) … She’s the greatest player of all-time, so just so happy for her. It’s easy to be happy for such a nice, special person.’

Poulin (lower body injury) returned to the ice during the quarterfinal round and has scored three goals in two games.

She’s not the only veteran making history. Knight tied the all-time U.S. Olympic record for goals (14) and points (32) and is one goal and one point away from claiming the records outright. She didn’t register a point in the U.S. women’s win over Sweden on Monday, but she didn’t need to.

USA women’s hockey stats entering gold medal game

Five different players scored for Team USA, including a chaotic second period during which the Americans scored four goals. Three game within less than 3 minutes of each other. The U.S. has scored at least five points in each of its Olympic matches and has outscored opponents, 31-1. The Americans haven’t conceded a goal since their 5-1 win over Czechia on Feb. 5, setting an Olympic record for the most consecutive minutes without conceding a goal (300 minutes).

‘The team is playing so well defensively they are making my job easy by making the plays in front of me so predictable so I can do my job,’ goalkeeper Aerin Frankel said after registering her third shutout. (Gwyneth Philips also recorded two shutouts at the Games.)

USA women’s hockey vs. Canada at 2026 Olympics

One of those shutouts came at Canada’s expense. Team USA kept Canada off the scoresheet for the first time in Olympic history in a 5-0 win on Feb. 10. However, the Americans said they aren’t reading too much into it. Poulin was sidelined during the preliminary round matchup with a  lower body injury that kept her out of two games. Poulin returned to the ice during the quarterfinal rounding has scored three goals in two games.

‘Nothing matters. It’s the gold medal game. Everyone’s going to show up and if they don’t, they’re not meant to be there,’ Taylor Heises said. ‘We’re very excited to bring what we have on Thursday and I think when we focus on what we can do, we’re so good. And I think focusing on what we’ve done in the past, obviously I’m remiss to say we’ve done great and we’ve had great success. You want to take that confidence and motivation, but you want to move forward and we’re going to look for us and we’re going to do what we need to do.’

USA women’s hockey vs. Canada Olympic history

Of the six times Canada and the U.S. have played in the gold medal game, the Canadians have walked away with four of those gold medals, including the 2022 Beijing Winter Games. But Team USA enters Thursday’s matchup as the favorite after dismantling the Canadians 5-0 in their preliminary matchup on Feb. 10. It marked the first time Canada has been shutout in Olympic history.

When is USA women’s hockey vs. Canada in gold medal game?

The Americans and Canadians play at 1:10 p.m. ET on Thursday, Feb. 18.

Where to watch USA women’s hockey vs. Canada in Olympics gold medal game

USA Network is airing the game, and Peacock is streaming it.

The USA TODAY app gets you to the heart of the newssfast —Download for award-winning coverage, crosswords, audio storytelling, the eNewspaper and more.

MILAN — They were mired in fifth place, seemingly out of the medals and devastated after making a crucial error on a lift in the short program of the Olympic pairs competition. That’s how the two-time world champion Japanese pair team of Riku Miura and Ryuichi Kihara entered Monday night’s long program.

Then they won it.

Skating 40 minutes before the final pair, they performed a scintillating and flawless long program, then sat rinkside and watched each team ahead of them stumble, making them the Olympic gold medalists. Surprise!

Their victory was sealed when the final pair of the evening, the short program leaders, Minerva Fabienne Hase and Nikita Volodin of Germany, made a couple of errors on jumps. 

The score wasn’t even close. The Japanese made up the nearly seven points they were behind the Germans — and so much more. They finished with 231.24 points, nearly 10 points ahead of the second-place pair team from Georgia (221.75) and more than 12 points ahead of the Germans (219.09).

This kind of surprise ending happens now and then in figure skating when a team or singles skater not in the top three leap frogs others to win the gold. They often skate with little pressure as the tension builds for their competitors coming behind them. One famous case of just such a scenario was American Sarah Hughes’ victory over Irina Slutskaia of Russia (silver) and Michelle Kwan of the United States (bronze) at the 2002 Salt Lake City Olympics, considered shocking at the time.

When this happens, the range of emotions from one day to the next is remarkable. On Sunday night after the short program, the Japanese were disconsolate, with Kihara burying his face in his hands, unable to look at their scores. 

Little more than 24 hours later, he had fallen to his knees, and she with him, as they hugged and cried in joy, the unlikely but worthy winners of the Olympic gold medal.

Damian Lillard might have just sparked anticipation for possibly the greatest NBA 3-Point Contest of all-time.

After Lillard won his third State Farm NBA 3-Point Contest in a stunning, edge-of-the-seat fashion during the 2026 NBA All-Star Weekend, he caught the attention of another great NBA shooter, arguably the greatest of all-time, who seemingly wants in on next year’s competition.

Stephen Curry, the NBA’s all-time leader in three-point shots made, confirmed in an Instagram direct message to Lillard that he would compete in the 2027 NBA All-Star Weekend’s 3-Point Contest in Phoenix, Arizona.

Lillard reached out to Curry first to assemble the troops.

He lobbied for himself, Curry, Klay Thompson and Devin Booker to be frontrunners in next year’s competition, adding they would need to find four more participants.

‘Next year … me, you, Klay, Book, and 4 more real shooters,’ Lillard said.

Curry responded with excitement and interest in the ultimate competition between the league’s best shooters.

‘Yessir I’m in. Know Klay will do it if I ask and Book will be at home. Perfect setup,’ Curry wrote, according to Lillard’s Instagram story.

Lillard posted the interaction to his social channel, seemingly confirming the arrangement.

‘It’s lit,’ Lillard captioned his Instagram story.

Previous 3-Point contest winners

Lillard defeated Phoenix Suns guard Devin Booker in the championship round of the 2026 State Farm NBA 3-Point Contest on Feb. 14. He became the third player ever to win the contest three times, joining Larry Bird and Craig Hodges.

Lillard scored 29 in the final round. Booker had the chance to win with 27 points and three shots remaining on his money ball rack, but he missed the final shots of his last rack, where each shot would have counted as two points instead of one.

The other competitors during the 2026 State Farm 3-Point Contest were Charlotte Hornets forward Kon Knueppel, Cleveland Cavaliers guard Donovan Mitchell, Denver Nuggets guard Jamal Murray, Miami Heat guard Norman Powell, Milwaukee Bucks forward Bobby Portis Jr. and Philadelphia 76ers guard Tyrese Maxey.

Booker was crowned the 2018 NBA All-Star Three-Point Contest winner. Curry previously won the competition in 2015 and 2021. Thompson won the NBA Three-Point Contest in 2016 in Toronto, defeating then-teammate Curry with a final round score of 27.

Here’s a list of previous NBA 3-Point Contest winners dating back to the first event in 1986:

Damian Lillard, 2026
Tyler Herro, 2025
Damian Lillard, 2024
Damian Lillard,2023
Karl-Anthony Towns, 2022
Stephen Curry, 2021
Buddy Hield, 2020
Joe Harris,2019
Devin Booker, 2018
Eric Gordon, 2017
Klay Thompson, 2016
Stephen Curry, 2015
Marco Belinelli, 2014
Kyrie Irving, 2013
Kevin Love,2012
James Jones, 2011
Paul Pierce, 2010
Daequan Cook, 2009
Jason Kapono, 2008
Jason Kapono, 2007
Dirk Nowitzki, 2006
Quentin Richardson, 2005
Voshon Leonard, 2004
Peja Stojakovic, 2003
Peja Stojakovic, 2002
Ray Allen, 2001
Jeff Hornacek, 2000
Jeff Hornacek, 1998
Steve Kerr, 1997
Tim Legler, 1996
Glen Rice, 1995
Mark Price,1994
Mark Price, 1993
Craig Hodges,1992
Craig Hodges, 1991
Craig Hodges, 1990
Dale Ellis, 1989
Larry Bird, 1988
Larry Bird,1987
Larry Bird, 1986

MILAN — The 2026 Winter Olympics pairs figure skating champion is Japan. Riku Miura and Ryuichi Kihara skated flawlessly, despite going into the night ranked fifth after the short program, to outdo the Georgians and Germans for the gold medal with a total score of 231.41.

Georgia pair Anatasiia Metelkina and Luka Berulava won silver with a 221.75. And Germany’s Minerva Fabienne Hase and Nikita Volodin, who entered the night with a nearly five-point lead, took bronze with a 219.09.

Americans Ellie Kam and Danny O’Shea, as well as Spencer Akira Howe and Emily Chan, had strong opening performances but stumbled in the free skate. Kam and O’Shea finished with a total score of 194.58 for ninth place. Chan and Akira Howe scored 200.31 and finished seventh.

Meet Team USA 2026: Get to know the athletes behind the games

Figure skating pairs final results

Here are the running scores for the pairs’ short program.

Riku Miura and Ryuichi Kihara (Japan): 231.24 total, 158.13 free skate, 73.11 short program
Anatasiia Metelkina and Luka Berulava (Georgia): 221.75 total, 146.29 free skate, 75.46 short program
Minerva Fabienne Hase and Nikita Volodin (Germany): 219.09 total, 139.09 free skate, 80.01 short program
Maria Pavlova and Axeli Sviatchenko (Hungary): 215.26 total, 141.39 free skate, 73.87 short program
Wenjing Sui and Cong Han (China): 208.64 total, 135.98 free skate, 72.66 short program
Sara Conti and Niccolo Macii (Italy): 203.19 total, 131.49 free skate, 71.70 short program
Emily Chan and Spencer Akira Howe (United States): 200.31 total, 130.25 free skate, 71.06 short program
Lia Pereira and Trennt Michaud (Canada): 199.66 total, 125.06 free skate, 74.60 short program
Ellie Kam and Danny O’Shea (United States): 194.58 total, 122.71 free skate, 71.87 short program
Annika Hocke and Robert Kunkel (Germany): 194.11 total, 126.59 free skate, 67.52 short program
Deanna Stellato-Dudek and Maxime Deschamps (Canada): 192.61 total, 126.57 free skate, 66.04 short program
Rebecca Ghilardi and Filippo Ambrosini (Italy): 191.86 total, 122.78 free skate, 69.08 short program
Ioulia Chtchetinina and Michal Wozniak (Poland): 185.86 total, 120.63 free skate, 65.23 short program
Karina Akopova and Nikita Rakhmanin (Armenia): 180.66 total, 114.39 free skate, 66.27 short program
Anastasia Vaipan-Law and Luke Digby (Great Britain): 179.06 total, 112.99 free skate, 66.07 short program
Camille Kovalev and Pavel Kovalev (France): 178.43 total, 113.78 free skate, 64.65 short program

Team USA pairs knocked out of medal contention

Team USA fell short of reaching the podium at the 2026 Winter Olympics on Monday, Feb. 16. The teams of Spencer Akira Howe and Emily Chan, and Ellie Kam and Danny O’Shea, were knocked off the podium before the competition ended.

The last time the U.S. won a medal in pairs remains 1988, when Jill Watson and Peter Oppegard won bronze in Calgary. The 38-year drought is the longest between medals for any figure skating discipline in U.S. Olympic history.

Read more about their performance from reporter Jordan Mendoza, who is at the Milano arena.

Annika Hocke and Robert Kunkel wow in free skate

The early contender for performance of the night comes from the German team not in first entering the free skate, with Hocke and Kunkel executing a flawless routine.

Their program captivated the audience with some precise throws, with the cheers getting louder with each completed one. Then came the stunning pair combination with Hocke flowing through the air. They knew they were magnificent once it ended, and it led to a standing ovation.

The team earned a season-best score of 126.59.

Deanna Stellato-Dudek emotionally completes Olympic dream

At age 42, Deanna Stellato-Dudek has finally competed in the Olympics.

Once a singles performer for the U.S. who was retired for 15 years, Stellano-Dudek wanted to skate again, and went into pairs. After a few years with Nathan Bartholomay, she partnered with Canadian national Maxime Deschamps and chose to represent Canada.

They were the 2024 world champions and qualified for the 2026 Winter Olympics, but almost didn’t make it after she suffered a head injury during training a few weeks before the games. They got close to withdrawing, but Stellato-Dudek got cleared in time to compete. She’s also garnered attention for her high-fashion looks on the ice designed by Oscar de la Renta.

The short program was marred by her fall, and while she had a stumble in the free skate, there were no deductions. When it was complete, Stellano-Dudek began to cry as several Canadian flags were raised from the audience.

Poland pair’s cute close

Poland’s Ioulia Chtchetinina dropped to the ice after finishing her free skate, with a big smile on her face that resembled disbelief and relief all at once. Her partner, Michal Wozniak, looked over and decided to join her, comically plopping onto his bottom and letting his legs pop into the air. The crowd applauded as they rose to their feet and embraced mid-ice before skating off to await their scores — 185.86 total, good for first place at the time. The pair skated second out of 16 pairs and will likely drop in the rankings, though they are guaranteed not to finish in last place.

US pairs figure skating Olympics 2026

Team USA has two pairs competing at the Olympics: Team gold medalists Danny O’Shea and Ellie Kam, as well as Spencer Akira Howe and Emily Chan.

Difference between ice dance and figure skating pairs

Ice dancing does not feature jumps or lifts, like you see figure skating pairs execute. Ice dancing is made up of two segments, the rhythm dance and the free dance. Pairs comprises a short program and free skate and features jumps, spins and lifts.

Death spiral in figure skating

Viewers’ ears likely perk when they hear a figure skating move has death in its name. 

The death spiral is a pairs move in which typically the male skater pivots on the toe pick of one skate and moves the other while the woman skater extends her arm to hold her partner’s and circle around him, with her head nearly touching the ice.

There are four different types of death spirals: backward outside, backward inside, the forward outside and forward insides.

Figure skating jump types

Loop: The skater jumps off a back outside edge of their skate and lands on the same edge.

Toe jump: A skater drives the toe pick of their non-takeoff foot into the ice to launch themselves into the air and generate momentum into the jump.

Toe loop: A skater takes off backward and lands on the same back edge of their blade.

Lutz: A skater moving backward jumps off the back outside edge of their skate and uses the toe-pick of their other skate to catapult into the air in the opposite direction and lands on the back outside edge of the picking leg.

Flip: A skater launches off the back inside edge of one skate and lands on the back outside edge of the other skate.

Edge jump: A skater takes off not with their toe pick but off the edge of their skate.

Salchow: A skater launches off the back inside edge of one skate and lands on the back outside edge of their other skate.

Axel: The only forward-facing jump, a skater lands on the back outside edge of their non-takeoff foot while traveling backward. The axel is the hardest jump because of the extra half-revolution that comes with a forward takeoff and a backward landing.

USA TODAY at the Milano Cortina Games

USA TODAY Sports has a team of more than a dozen journalists on the ground in Italy to bring you behind the scenes with Team USA and keep you up to date with every medal win, big moment and triumphant finish. Get our Chasing Gold newsletter in your inbox every morning and join our WhatsApp channel to get the latest updates right in your texts.

The 2026 Milano Cortina Winter Olympics are off and running with 16 sports taking over 25 different venues. The games are exclusively airing across NBC’s suite of networks with many events airing live on its streaming service, Peacock, which you can sign up for here .

All times Eastern and accurate as of Sunday, Feb. 15, 2026, at 8:00 p.m.

Feb. 16 Winter Olympics TV Schedule

1:00 AM – PRIMETIME IN MILAN (REPLAY) Speed Skating, Alpine Skiing, Figure Skating, and more NBC, PEACOCK
1:15 AM – SKI JUMPING (REPLAY) (Medal Event) Women’s Large Hill USA NETWORK
2:00 AM – FIGURE SKATING (REPLAY) Pairs’ Short Program USA NETWORK
4:00 AM – ALPINE SKIING (LIVE) Men’s Slalom: Run 1 USA NETWORK, PEACOCK
4:50 AM – SNOWBOARDING (LIVE) Women’s Slopestyle Qualification USA NETWORK
6:35 AM – SHORT TRACK (LIVE) (Medal Event) Women’s 1000m Final USA NETWORK
7:00 AM – BOBSLED (REPLAY) Men’s Doubles: Heat 1 and 2 USA NETWORK
7:30 AM – ALPINE SKIING (LIVE) (Medal Event) Men’s Slalom: Run 2 Final USA NETWORK, PEACOCK
8:35 AM – SNOWBOARDING (LIVE) Men’s Slopestyle Qualification USA NETWORK
10:00 AM – SNOWBOARDING (REPLAY) Women’s Slopestyle Qualification NBC
10:15 AM – CURLING: China vs Canada (REPLAY) Women’s Preliminary Round USA NETWORK
10:40 AM – ICE HOCKEY: (LIVE) Women’s Semifinal #1 NBC, PEACOCK
11:30 AM – CURLING: Great Britain vs Norway (REPLAY) Men’s Preliminary Round USA NETWORK
12:45 PM – SHORT TRACK (LIVE) (Medal Event) M 500m Qual, W 1000m Final, M 1000m Semi USA NETWORK
1:00 PM – BOBSLED (LIVE) (Medal Event) Women’s Singles: Heat 3 and 4 Final NBC, PEACOCK
1:30 PM – FREESTYLE SKIING (LIVE) (Medal Event) Women’s Big Air Final NBC, PEACOCK
1:45 PM – FIGURE SKATING PREVIEW (LIVE) USA NETWORK
2:00 PM – FIGURE SKATING (LIVE) Pairs’ Free Skate USA NETWORK, PEACOCK
2:45 PM – ALPINE SKIING (REPLAY) (Medal Event) Men’s Slalom: Run 1 & 2 Final NBC
3:30 AM – BOBSLED (LIVE) (Medal Event) Women’s Singles: Heat 4 Final NBC, PEACOCK
3:55 PM – FIGURE SKATING (LIVE) Pairs’ Free Skate NBC
4:15 PM – ICE HOCKEY: (REPLAY) Women’s Semifinal USA NETWORK
5:00 PM – CURLING: United States vs Italy (REPLAY) Women’s Preliminary Round CNBC
5:30 PM – BOBSLED (REPLAY) Men’s Doubles: Heat 1 and 2 USA NETWORK
6:00 PM – ICE HOCKEY: (REPLAY) Women’s Semifinal USA NETWORK
8:00 PM – PRIMETIME IN MILAN (REPLAY) Figure Skating, Freestyle Skiing, Bobsled, and more NBC, PEACOCK
8:00 PM – ICE HOCKEY: (REPLAY) Women’s Semifinal USA NETWORK
10:00 PM – SNOWBOARDING (REPLAY) Women’s Slopestyle Qualification USA NETWORK
10:30 PM – SNOWBOARDING (REPLAY) Men’s Slopestyle Qualification USA NETWORK
11:00 PM – SKI JUMPING (REPLAY) (Medal Event) Men’s Super Team USA NETWORK
11:35 PM – OLYMPIC LATE NIGHT (REPLAY) Snowboarding and more NBC, PEACOCK

Feb. 16 Winter Olympics Streaming Schedule

Sign up for Peacock here

3:05 AM – CURLING: China vs Canada (LIVE) Women’s Preliminary Round PEACOCK
3:05 AM – CURLING: Denmark vs Great Britain (LIVE) Women’s Preliminary Round PEACOCK
3:05 AM – CURLING: Sweden vs Switzerland (LIVE) Women’s Preliminary Round PEACOCK
4:00 AM – BOBSLED (LIVE) Men’s Doubles: Heat 1 and 2 PEACOCK
4:30 AM – SNOWBOARDING (LIVE) Women’s Slopestyle Qualification PEACOCK
5:00 AM – SHORT TRACK (LIVE) Men’s 500m Qualification PEACOCK
5:00 AM – SHORT TRACK (LIVE) Men’s 5000m Relay Semifinals PEACOCK
5:00 AM – SHORT TRACK (LIVE) (Medal Event) Women’s 1000m Prelims, Final PEACOCK
8:00 AM – GOLD ZONE: DAY 10 (LIVE) Digital Exclusive PEACOCK
8:00 AM – SNOWBOARDING (LIVE) Men’s Slopestyle Qualification PEACOCK
8:05 AM – CURLING: Italy vs China (LIVE) Men’s Preliminary Round PEACOCK
8:05 AM – CURLING: Great Britain vs Norway (LIVE) Men’s Preliminary Round PEACOCK
8:05 AM – CURLING: Sweden vs Germany (LIVE) Men’s Preliminary Round PEACOCK
8:05 AM – CURLING: Czechia vs Canada (LIVE) Men’s Preliminary Round PEACOCK
1:00 PM – SKI JUMPING (LIVE) (Medal Event) Men’s Super Team PEACOCK
1:05 PM – CURLING: South Korea vs China (LIVE) Women’s Preliminary Round PEACOCK
1:05 PM – CURLING: United States vs Italy (LIVE) Women’s Preliminary Round PEACOCK
1:05 PM – CURLING: Switzerland vs Great Britain (LIVE) Women’s Preliminary Round PEACOCK
1:05 PM – CURLING: Japan vs Canada (LIVE) Women’s Preliminary Round PEACOCK
3:10 PM – ICE HOCKEY: (LIVE) Women’s Semifinal #2 PEACOCK

More 2026 Winter Olympics

See the full Milano Cortina Games schedule

See the 2026 Medal Count Here

Two days after Northern Illinois freshman tight end Parker Sutherland died at 18 years old on Saturday, Feb. 14, UNI coach Todd Stepsis addressed the media for the first time.

Of Sutherland, who died two days after collapsing during a routine offseason workout, Sutherland said:

‘I have some things written down. That’s usually not my style. When I have to speak about things, I usually speak from the heart, so I’ll probably be all over the place.’

Stepsis then gathered himself, choking up at times as he spoke.

‘Yeah it’s been tough. You know?’ he began. ‘It’s been a tough couple of days for the team. For the community. For our family. For obviously Parker’s family. But we’re just, we’re crushed. We really are. Sometimes you wonder why things like this happen. Why it’s, for whatever reason, why it’s somebody’s time to go. So unfortunately for Parker, um, his time was this past weekend. … We wanted to make sure we talked to everybody because there’s a lot different now. And we wear these shirts that say ‘Panther Strength.’ And it really has been on full display.’

Stepsis also addressed what happened, to the best of his knowledge, though details remain sparse.

“We get right through our warm-up in a routine, normal Thursday and he collapsed…” he said. “… For whatever reason, right after that, that warm-up, something happened. We’re not really sure what it was.”

Stepsis found ways to praise the medical staff for Sutherland, saying the ‘hospital staff was fantastic.’

UNI opens its season Saturday, Sept. 5, against the Eastern Washington Eagles in Eastern Washington. Its home opener will be against Drake on Saturday, Sept. 12. No cause of death for Sutherland has been announced.

CORTINA D’AMPEZZO, Italy — No, Sweden has not set up a curling surveillance operation to catch Team Canada cheating at the 2026 Winter Olympics.

(A sentence surely no one has ever written before.)

That’s what Team Sweden media director Lars Markusson told USA TODAY Sports. The Swedes have heard the internet theories that have Reddit and X more invested in curling than ever before. That they planted a television camera, operated by a person named ‘Magnus,’ somewhere in the Cortina Curling Olympic Stadium. That all of this is hullabaloo was premeditated to sabotage the Canadian competition.

And Team Sweden has one thing to say: ‘It’s not true. None of it.’

The Swedish men’s curling team skipped by Niklas Edin accused Canada’s Marc Kennedy of double-touching stones multiple times without punishment during their round-robin game on Feb. 13, which Sweden won 8-6. Repeated in-match allegations led to a verbal confrontation that has since gone viral.

‘You can (expletive) off!’ Kennedy exploded

“You haven’t done it once?” Sweden’s Oskar Eriksson asked.

“I haven’t done it once’ Kennedy replied. ‘Don’t chirp at me.’

“I can show you video after the game,” Eriksson retorted.

Curlers must let go of stones before they cross the hog line, which is the green line 30 feet down the ice. Touching the handle after that point would result in a violation, according to World Curling Rule R.5 (e), which states: “A stone must be clearly released from the hand before it reaches the hog line at the delivery end. If the player fails to do so, the stone is immediately removed from play by the delivering team.”

Double-touching is when a player releases a curling stone and then contacts it again. Team Canada spokesperson Kyle Jahns told USA TODAY Sports that some double-touching is permitted, and some isn’t. For example, releasing the handle of a stone and touching the handle again before releasing it a second time ahead of the hog line is allowed. But letting go of the handle and touching any other part of the stone afterward (like the granite) is not allowed.

Either way, Jahns emphasized that double-touching is a rule violation akin to traveling in basketball or being offsides in soccer. It does not, he said, rise to the level of cheating.

After Team Canada’s 9-6 loss to Switzerland Feb. 14, Kennedy said the Swedish team “planned right from the word go” to “catch teams in the act at the hog line.” When asked if Kennedy’s comments after the game constituted admittance of cheating or a rule infraction, Jahns said no.

‘Later in the scrum,’ Jahns said in an email, ‘(Kennedy) discussed how if there is a tendency to touch the granite during his release, it is not intentional, and he is not trying to impact the trajectory of the stone after release.’

Markusson of Team Sweden said the footage players referenced came from Swedish State broadcaster SVT, which is in Cortina covering the Games. And no, the SVT photographer is not named Magnus. Markusson said Team Sweden stands by Rasmus Wranå’s and Edin’s remarks denying that the team had anyone in the crowd or Swedish media purposely film Kennedy.

‘The Swedish players has simply pointed out the Canada are double-touching stones,’ Markusson wrote in an emailed statement. ‘This seems to have been confirmed by TV-footage.’

Team Canada was issued a verbal warning over Kennedy’s use of explicit language during the Feb. 13 game. His outburst violated World Curling Rule R.19, which states: “Improper conduct, foul or offensive language, equipment abuse, or willful damage on the part of any team member is prohibited. Any violation may result in suspension of the offending person(s) by the curling organization having jurisdiction.”

The sport’s international governing body issued a statement in response to the allegations Feb. 14 saying ‘two officials will move between all four sheets and observe deliveries.’ World Curling issued another statement Sunday, Feb. 15 about positioning of umpires: ‘Two umpires who had previously been actively monitoring athlete deliveries remain available in the field of play, but will now only monitor athlete deliveries at the request of the competing teams.’

World Curling did not answer the following questions about the Canada-Sweden game, instead referring to the aforementioned statements:

Was World Curling previously aware of complaints or allegations of Canada cheating by double-touching stones?
What happens if Team Canada is accused again of cheating/double-touching stones?

The IOC referred to World Curling when reached for comment.

Canadian women’s curler Rachel Homan was called for double-touching in her first throw of an 8-7 loss to Switzerland.

“They said I touched the stone after I let it go, which is so far from the truth, it’s crazy,’ Homan said after the game. ‘Just making something up, I don’t know. We have the Maple Leaf on our back, I’m not sure.”

Hoping to end the double-touching debacle in Cortina, Team Canada told USA TODAY Sports, ‘Our teams support fair play, respect, and sportsmanship, all core values of the game. We look forward to moving on from this topic and focusing on the athletes’ incredible achievements on the ice.’

Reach USA TODAY Network sports reporter Payton Titus at ptitus@gannett.com, and follow her on X @petitus25.

Two of boxing’s greatest fighters have ‘tentatively’ agreed on an exhibition match going head-to-head in April 2026.

Tyson, 59, last fought in Nov. 2024 against Jake Paul, which resulted in a loss by unanimous decision.

Mayweather, 48, had his last fight in an Aug. 2024 bout against John Gotti III in Mexico City.

Their fight would come nearly 52 years after the first-ever boxing match was organized in Africa, which was the ‘Rumble in the Jungle’ featuring Muhammad Ali and George Foreman which was on Oct. 30, 1974 in Kinshasa, Congo.

Mixed reviews on Tyson-Mayweather fight

The reluctantly anticipated fight between Tyson and Mayweather has drawn indifferent reviews amongst the boxing world, including fans of the sport.

It seems like a hypothetical bout that boxing fanatics would have created on ‘Fight Night’ if both fighters were available on the video game.

For what it’s worth, Mayweather’s character was accessible on ‘Fight Night Round 2’ in 2005, while Tyson’s playable character was available on ‘Fight Night Round 4’ in 2009.

But in the big ’26, it seems many would rather not see these two go against each other, while some welcome the match and others are in it for the event’s nostalgia.

Everyone’s favorite Olympic hype man, Flavor Flav, has a need for speed.

On Monday, the New York native shared photos and a video of himself trying skeleton before making a special announcement about his future. ‘Yes,,, your boy has taken a ride in the 4 man bobsled,,, but im an adrenaline junkie and needed to try skeleton,’ he said on X. ‘And now I’ve officially joined the team and am gonna try to start competing.’

While the announcement to compete may be new, Flavor Flav’s status as a member of Team USA is not. In October 2025, the rapper revealed he was an ‘Olympic sponsor, hype man and a member’ of the Team USA Bobsled and Skeleton team. On Monday, he reshared the footage of him trying skeleton along with his intent to enter a future competition.

Flavor Flav has been living it up during the Milano Cortina games.

‘FLAVOR FLAV::: SHE GOT GAME and so does U S A,,,,’ he posted on Instagram Monday, cheering on Team USA during the women’s monobob event. ‘My Bobsleigh girls be sleighing,!!’ Post-race, the rapper couldn’t contain his excitement after the U.S. took home gold and bronze medals.

‘Letz GOOOOOOO Elana Taylor Meyers @eamslider24 and Kaillie Humphries,!,’ Flavor Flav tweeted. ‘Elana,,, the most decorated black winter Olympian of All time finally takes her gold!!’

The Miami Dolphins are going to look very different in 2026.

Miami is releasing five-time All-Pro wide receiver Tyreek Hill in a move to save money against the salary cap, according to ESPN’s Adam Schefter. It’s the second time on Feb. 16 that the Dolphins are parting ways with a high-profile player – reports of Hill’s release came less than two hours after reports that the Dolphins were releasing edge rusher Bradley Chubb.

Miami was set to enter the offseason $17.4 million over the NFL’s salary cap for 2026, according to OverTheCap. Hill’s cap hit for 2026 is listed at $51.1 million.

In releasing their top receiver, the Dolphins will save $22.9 million in cap space while eating a $28.2 million dead cap hit in 2026. Miami could save as much as $35.2 million if it designates Hill as a post-June 1 release, but it would push some of the dead cap from the wideout’s contract into 2027.

Hill played in 54 games over four seasons in Miami. During his Dolphins tenure, Hill caught 340 passes for 4,733 yards and 27 touchdowns. He made the Pro Bowl and All-Pro first team in both of his first two years in Miami. In 2023, he led the NFL with 1,799 receiving yards and 13 receiving touchdowns.

The eight-time Pro Bowler missed most of the 2025 season after dislocating his knee and tearing his ACL in a Week 4 game against the New York Jets.

Hill will hit the free agent market on the back of that lost season and free to sign with any team days after his 32nd birthday on March 1. He joins a list of standout pending free agent receivers that includes Deebo Samuel, Christian Kirk and Jauan Jennings.

The depth of defeat was on heartbreaking display at the Milano Cortina Winter Olympics Monday, Feb. 16.

Atle Lie McGrath, a ski racer who was born in Vermont and competes for Norway, had a lead of 0.59 seconds in the men’s slalom before he began his second and final run in the Alpine skiing event.

Moments later, he missed a gate on the course, leading to disqualification and something almost as stunning.

McGrath, 25, threw his ski poles. He clomped in his ski boots to the side of the run and fell back onto the snow. Then he rose to his feet and started marching across the snow, destination unknown at Stelvio Ski Centre in Bormio.

It turns out McGrath already had suffered a painful loss.

His grandfather died on the night of the Opening Ceremony after suffering from dementia.

“The load up I’ve had to this championship and losing my grandpa and everything, like, I never even thought I’d be at the start,’’ he said after finishing fifth in the giant slalom Feb. 14. “This is, especially the second run today, is some of the best skiing I’ve ever done considering how I’ve felt. … It’s been one of the absolute toughest weeks of my life. And then it’s really hard to all of the sudden, you know, ah, ‘I’m going to go ski between some plastic gates down the mountain and make it seem important when I lost someone I love very much.’ It’s been very hard to balance it, but I’m so proud of how I did it today.’’

McGrath’s father Felix skied for the United States in the 1980s, though McGrath opted to represent Norway (his mother is Norwegian). He said on Feb. 14: ‘Even though I’m half American, for me, I love being a Norwegian. No other place I’d ever want to be.’

Two days later, there he was, in position to win an Olympic medal – quite possibly a gold medal – while perhaps reflecting on the loss of his grandfather.

Then came the sudden disqualification and a very long walk, away from the medal podium.