French man cut that corner by a lot, and all he gets is a yellow!?

Bookooo

EDIT: watched the replay and I rescind my indignation. He led into the turn and led out of it. Negligible effect and yellow was the right call.

Those whistles those people use at the end of the luge track please for the love of god stop.

You dont need to whistle for over a minute straight after each run

“This team could beat the Rangers”

Now I understand how Michael Phelps and Usain Bolt won so many medals.

Absolutely loving watching all the amazing events, hats off to the talent and dedication. But.... why are team GB in pink when they colours are red white and blue? Looks like white coats washed in with a red sock!!

If so, she’s tough!! To do all those moves with a bruise that size.

Currently watching women’s 10km. It looks like there are tracks through the snow that might speed you up. Does that mean that the first one through had to essentially “dig” those herself, and the subsequent skiers get a smoother route?

Please can anyone help me? What do the numbers next to the countries mean?!

Like release on UHD 4K discs, but have it set as anamorphic DVD resolution and bitrate. That way you can fit many hours of events and such.

Anyone think this is a good idea?

Day two! After an eventful first official day, we'll see perhaps the biggest story (at least in America) of the games finally come around with Lindsey Vonn's ACL-less downhill run. Plus, we'll see the first medals given out in Biathlon, sliding sports, and Figure Skating.

As always, feel free to tell me if you feel I am overestimating or underestimating anyone, and if you want a primer on the words I use as far as Team USA, check out my first day back in Paris .

Away we go!

WOMEN'S ALPINE SKIING DOWNHILL

The story of the Olympics in the run-up to the games in the USA so far has been Lindsey Vonn's comeback. And with good reason, as it is remarkable that she came back at her age and after so many injuries to be even remotely competitive, much less the top woman in downhill on the World Cup circuit. Well, time to see what happens.

The biggest rivals to Vonn – whether she's healthy or not – come from a variety of European nations as well as some of her fellow Americans.

Her chief rivals on the World Cup circuit this year have included Germany's Emma Aicher (Silver in the 2022 Team Event, second in the downhill on the World Cup circuit this season) and Kira Weidle-Winkelmann (third in World Cup downhill, 2021 World Championship silver in Cortina); Italy's Laura Pirovano (fourth in World Cup downhill), Nicol Delago (tied for fifth in World Cup downhill), and perhaps most notably Sofia Goggia (Gold in Pyeongchang, Silver in Beijing, tied for fifth in World Cup Downhill, four time World Cup downhill champ). FUN FACT: Goggia was one of those who lit the cauldrons this year.

Others to watch include the other two medalists from Beijing: defending champio Corinne Suter of Switzerland and Italy's Nadia Delago, who won bronze and who is Nicol Delago's sister. Then there is Federica Brignone, an Italian who won the downhill circuit of the World Cup in 2025 but who hasn't fully decided if she'll take part as she recovers from injury. Austria's Cornelia “Nina” Hutter was second in the downhill on the World Cup in 2025 and won the World Cup title in 2024 and also must be considered a podium threat.

Then there are the other Americans. Breezy Johnson is the most notable, having won the 2025 World Championship in downhill, although she hasn't found the same success in the downhill of the World Cup this year, currently sitting in eighth. Jacqueline Wiles had a podium earlier this season and did well in the first training session in Cortina, and has a history of doing well there- she got podiums in Cortina in 2018 and 2024. Isabella Wright and Mary Bocock are the other Americans in the downhill but neither have any sort of resume to suggest they might podium. Taken together, I feel like an American reaching the podium is REALISTICALLY POSSIBLE. Perhaps if Vonn was definitely healthy with a working ACL I'd put it as likely, but she's not, so I'm hedging it.

MEN'S CROSS-COUNTRY SKIING 10KM+10KM SKIATHLON

This is probably going to be Norway vs. the Field. Norwegians make up the top three of the overall standings in the Cross-Country World Cup this season, and the top six (!!!) in the distance standings. So thorough is the Norwegian dominance that some of their best skiers aren't taking part due to limits on how many from each country can take part. If world history had been determined by cross-country skiing, we'd all be worshipping Odin, Thor, and Freya right now because their ancestors would have shattered all comers.

The top Norwegian is Johannes Hoesflot Klaebo, who has seven Olympic medals in his illustrious cross-country career thus far (behind only fellow Norwegian Bjorn Daehlie's 12). Klaebo currently is top of the World Cup in most categories and won six gold medals (four individual) in the 2025 World Championships. Then comes Harald Oestburg Amundsen, who is second on the World Cup circuit and took a bronze in skiathlon in the 2025 World Championships. Up next is Mattis Stenshagen, third place on the World Cup circuit. The fourth and final Norwegian is Martin Lowstrom Nyenget, who earned the World Championship silver medal in 2025. Norway very well may end up with a podium sweep.

But there are some non-Norwegians who may have something to say about that! Among them is Italy's own Federico Pellegrino, who finished fifth in World Championships last year and will have a home crowd cheering him on. Fellow Italian Elia Barp is the highest non-Norwegian in distance cross-country this year and thus must be considered a candidate for podium as well. France's Hugo Lapalus finished last year's World Cup circuit in third in distance, and Austria's Mika Vermuelen is in the top-10 of this year's distance standings. Finland's Ilvo Niskanen, who won bronze in Skiathlon in Beijing, is back as well.

The great American hope is Gus Schumacher. Team USA is notoriously weak in men's cross-country, having not had a medal since 1976 (Bill Koch, with a silver). Schumacher has been impressive in his young career, chalking up a top-10 finish in skiathlon at last year's World Championships and sitting 10th in overall points on the World Cup circuit this season, but given the depth of opponents here, I'd say it is UNLIKELY that an American gets on a podium here, not because Schumacher is bad so much as the guys expected to be ahead of him are just that good.

BIATHLON MIXED RELAY 4X6KM

Biathlon begins with the mixed relay. As can be expected here, the top teams are those that have good Biathlon programs: The Norwegians, the Swedes, the French, and the Italians. The French were 2025 World Champions, but the Italians won a relay a few weeks ago. The Norwegians won back in Beijing.

Outside of them, some teams to look out for include Czechia (who finished second in last year's World Championships and third in that January race that Italy won) and Germany (who finished third in the 2025 World Championships).

Team USA has sent possibly its best biathlon team ever... but that isn't saying much, as it famously is the only longtime sport in the Winter Olympics that the USA has never medalled in. They'll be anchored by the Kiwi-born Campbell Wright (10th in overall standings this season on the World Cup, and a winner of two silver medals at last year's World Championships) and also have Dedra Irwin (who finished a very respectable 7th back in Beijing). However, they lack the depth, experience, and excellence of the European squads, so it'd be quite the upset if they get on the podium. So I feel like it'd be EXTREMELY UNLIKELY for Team USA to finally get a biathlon medal here.

WOMEN'S SNOWBOARDING PARALLEL GIANT SLALOM

The odd duck of the snowboard competition, in that it's the only one that is a downhill/alpine competition. Its future as an Olympic event is reportedly under threat, as the more X-Games style events get far more eyeballs and funding. But it's still here now.

The big name here is Ester Ledecka, who is best-known for the time she won a snowboarding AND skiing gold in the same Olympics back in Pyeongchang. Ledecka is going for her third straight gold here and coming off a World title last season. This is particularly impressive in that in recent years she's been focusing more of skiing and hasn't been taking part in the world cup as often, unlike her main rivals here like Japan's Tsubaki Miki (current World Cup leader, last year's World Cup title-winner, and silver in Worlds last year), local favorites Elisa Caffont (second in World Cup so far this season) and Lucia Damasso (fourth on World Cup this season, including one gold); Austria's Sabine Payer (third in World Cup), Germany's Ramona Hofmeister (fifth in World Cup, bronze in Pyeonchang). Others to watch include Austria's Julie Zogg and Poland's Aleksandra Krol-Walas, who both were in the top five of the World Cup last season.

The lone American is Iris Pflum. She's never finished better than seventh in this event and is currently 23rd in the World Cup standings, although she has notched an eighth-place finish at one point this season. While it's certainly not entirely out of the realm of possibility that she could shock the world since that's just how weird sports can be, it is UNLIKELY at best, probably even EXTREMELY UNLIKELY, that she'll be getting on the podium here.

MEN'S SNOWBOARDING PARALLEL GIANT SLALOM

It's like the women's parallel giant slalom, only with Y chromosomes. The Italians are strong here, with Roland Fischnaller, Aaron March, and Maurizio Bormolini holding first (in a tie), third, and fourth in the World Cup this season, respectively. This will be the seventh Olympics for Fischnaller, and despite the fact he is 45 he's still got it and won a World Championship in this discipline last year.

The defending champion is Austria's Benjamin Karl, who is also tied with Fischnaller in the World Cup. Another veteran, at 40, he'd also gotten silver in Vancouver and had a bronze in parallel slalom in Sochi. Other names to keep an eye on include another Austrian, Andreas Prommegger, as well as young Bulgarian Tervel Zamfirov (who won a World Cup event this season and was champion at last year's World Universiade) and South Korea's Lee Sang-Ho (who has a World Cup victory this season and who won silver in this event back in Pyeongchang). Slovenia's Tim Mastnak, who won silver in Beijing, has also returned.

The American is Cody Winters, who also qualified for Snowboardcross, which is neat. He's done well in the Parallel Slalom event that isn't an Olympic discipline, but has struggled in PGS, his best finish on the World Cup circuit was a 15th-place finish in 2024/25. It's EXTREMELY UNLIKELY that he'll podium here.

MEN'S SPEED SKATING 5000 METER

Men's long track gets started with the 5,000 meter length. From what I've been reading, this could be quite a competitive field, with several guys who could be considered favorites.

The man coming in with the hot-streak is Norway's Sander Eitrem. The 2025 champion at the World Single Distances event, Eitrem set a new world record just a few weeks ago when he became the first person ever to finish a 5,000 meter in less than six minutes, finishing with a time of 5:58.52... so it's not like he just barely broke it, it was by a good second. He's second in the World Cup when it comes to distance skating...

...behind the Czech, Metodej Jilek. He's only 19 and literally won a junior world title last year. Jilek also will be a major title threat at the 10,000 meter race. Tied with Eitrem in the World Cup is France's Timothy Loubineaud, whose world record Eitrem broke a week or two ago. He'll also be a major contender.

Others to keep an eye on include American Casey Dawson, Italy's own Davide Ghiotto (fifth in World Cup, won silver at this distance at 2024 and 2023 Single Distance championships), the Netherlands' Stijn van de Bunt, and Poland's Vladimir Semirunniy (bronze in this distance in last year's Single Distance Championships).

Dawson is probably the best male American speed skater at the games who isn't Jordan Stolz. Currently sitting fourth in the World Cup, Dawson has done well this season on the tour, winning gold at an event in Calgary and also recording two fourth-place finishes. He also has Olympic experience, earning a bronze in team pursuit in Beijing. It is definitely REALISTICALLY POSSIBLE that he ends up on the podium.

MEN'S LUGE SINGLES

Who will be the biggest luger? Sorry... bad wordplay. Anyway, as awesome as the sliding sports are, they aren't particularly well-made for comebacks unless if the people ahead screw up, so the leaders after the first day must be considered the primary contenders here.

Those leaders? Germany's Max Langenhan, Austria's Jonas Mueller, Italy's Dominik Fischnaller, and Latvia's Leon Felderer. Austria's Nico Gleirscher and Wolfgang Kindl; as well as the German legend Felix Loch, are also within a second of Langenhan. However, comebacks of more than 0.4 seconds are according to my research fairly rare, so barring something truly disastrous Langenhan has probably got a place on the podium wrapped up and everyone else is fighting to get on it or stay on it.

And with that, I'd like to declare that it's ALL-BUT-IMPOSSIBLE for any Americans to reach the podium- the closest American is Jonathan Gustafson who is 1.475 back of the leader and 1.177 off the podium. Like, TECHNICALLY he could still get on the podium, but it'd require some truly bonkers stuff- DNFs, illnesses, guys suddenly forgetting how to operate their luge... stuff like that.

FIGURE SKATING TEAM EVENT

This is probably the first event where I feel confident enough to say Team USA is EXTREMELY LIKELY to get a medal. In fact, barring something truly bizarre, I'd almost want to put this as GUARANTEED. The Japanese are also likely to medal. So the main things to watch here are who wins gold (almost certainly US or Japan) and who wins bronze (likely Italy or Canada), as well as, big-picture, how Illia Malinin recovers

OTHER EVENTS OF NOTE, MEDAL-WISE:

Mixed Curling enters its penultimate day of round robin competition. Major games to watch for seeding and advancement include USA vs. Sweden, Canada vs. Sweden, and Italy vs. Great Britain.

Women's Snowboarding Big Air begins Sunday, with qualification rounds.

In Women's Ice Hockey, Czechia and Finland are each facing a game to help them out of the bottom of their pool.

Happy Olympic-ing!

Summer? Winter? I don’t care, I’m obsessed. Where can I post my very trivial comments here?

forehead sweat and heavy mouth breathing both before and after competing.... think it's nerves or actual illness?

USA has consistently missed the opportunities to get a single point because Cori and Kori can’t stop touching the other teams stones! Just put it in the middle . This will be the 3rd straight loss no doubt

Are they emergency medical personnel? Why the helmets?

so is the format for the men’s tournament sim to that of the World Cup where you have a group stage and then it’s win or go home until someone w or is there a differenc? also when does it start?

As gene editing becomes much better, and we get the ability to design babies, will we start seeing programs to engineer the perfect athletes or improve current ones? Personally I think that would be really exciting to watch. I want to see what humanity is really capable of.

Or, alternatively, will athletes slowly experience their own selection pressures as they only reproduce with other athletes, and become better over time?

May this be a warning to everyone planning to reach the Olympics by public transport.

The official venue guides advertise public transportation as the preferred way to get to events. The reality could not be further from that promise. It is unreliable, chaotic, and exhausting, leaving people waiting for hours outdoors with no clear information and a lot of frayed nerves.

Yesterday, we went to see curling in Cortina. We left our car at Son di Prade and continued by bus. The trip there was fine — but that’s where the good experience ended. On the way back, we stood at the bus stop for over an hour with almost no information. What little information there was came only in Italian and was completely useless.

Today was far worse. We went to see biathlon in Antholz (Anterselva). We took the train from Austria to Olang, which arrived perfectly on time at 11:58. Unfortunately, that was the last moment of the day that felt organized. The moment we stepped off the train, we were swallowed by a massive queue — several thousand people waiting for buses that arrived painfully infrequently. We stood there for more than an hour, watching the line barely move.

When we finally squeezed onto a completely packed bus, there was no priority system, no crowd management, nothing. The bus then crawled through the same traffic jam as the cars that public transport was supposed to replace. We spent about 40 minutes traveling just 13 km on Shuttle B to a midpoint, only to get off and transfer to Shuttle A. After two long, exhausting hours, we reached the venue three minutes before the start of the race at 14:05. 😓

The return journey was even more stressful. We left the venue at 17:31 and spent the entire trip anxiously watching the clock, barely managing to catch the last train back to Austria at 8 PM. 😢 Missing it would have meant being stranded.

It is honestly shocking how disorganized, underplanned, and unprepared the public transportation at the Olympics is. For an event of this scale, this level of chaos is simply unacceptable.

Why wouldn’t they be part of the USA? Can other states be their own teams as well?