MILAN – From the pursuit of gold to the reveal of an upcoming opponent in one other march for gold, listed here are five things to know from Feb. 17 on the 2026 Milan-Cortina Olympics:
BACK-TO-BACK
The Canadian speedskating trio of Valérie Maltais, Ivanie Blondin and Isabelle Weidemann repeated as Olympic champions in the ladies’s team pursuit in what they said was their last race together as a pursuit team, and 4 years after claiming gold in Beijing. They defeated the Netherlands by slightly below a second after trailing the Dutch early within the race.
OPPONENT LOCKED IN
Canada’s quarterfinal opponent in men’s hockey is ready: Czechia. The Canadians had to attend as they’d locked in the highest seed after going 3-0 in group play and outscoring their opponents 20-3, including a 5-0 win over their soon-to-be opponents. Czechia defeated Denmark 3-2 in a qualification playoff to advance.
Related Videos
NO CONCERNS
Get breaking National news
For news impacting Canada and around the globe, enroll for breaking news alerts delivered on to you after they occur.
Nathan MacKinnon and Sam Bennett were nowhere to be found at Canada’s practice ahead of the lads’s hockey quarterfinals on the Milan Cortina Olympics. Head coach Jon Cooper said each forwards were held off the ice for “maintenance” and there’s “no panic” with Wednesday’s matchup against Czechia approaching. Nonetheless, defenceman Josh Morrissey was a full participant in practice after leaving Canada’s opener against Czechia with an undisclosed injury and sitting out the past two games. Cooper said Morrissey “looked great,” but didn’t know if he could be available against Czechia.
ROLLING STONES
Brad Jacobs’ Calgary-based rink booked itself a playoff spot with a 9-5 win over Great Britain in men’s curling. The win also improved Canada to 6-1, only behind Switzerland at 7-0. On the ladies’s side, Rachel Homan’s Ottawa-based rink continued its momentum with an 8-6 win over Sweden, which was undefeated going into the sport. Homan’s three-game losing skid has been put within the rearview mirror, with the top-ranked squad now sitting at 4-3 and tied for fourth place within the standings.
DELAY
Snow and poor visibility forced Milan Cortina Olympic organizers to postpone the ladies’s snowboard slopestyle final and each the ladies’s and men’s freestyle aerials qualification. The slopestyle final was called off first, followed by the aerials events. Each the slopestyle and aerials events have been pushed to Wednesday. It marked the second day in a row that poor weather disrupted the Livigno Olympic schedule after the ladies’s freeski big air final was delayed on Monday.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 17, 2026.
© 2026 The Canadian Press