Olympic Winter Games Milano-Cortina 2026: Day 4 Highlights: The fourth day of the 2026 Winter Olympics delivered a spectacular blend of high-speed drama and historic breakthroughs across the ice and snow of northern Italy. While the host nation celebrated a landmark achievement in the hockey arena, the curling rink saw the favourites fall as a new era of contenders rose to the occasion in the mixed doubles semifinals. From the record-breaking speeds at the Milano Oval to the daring manoeuvres in the mountains of Livigno, the day was defined by razor-thin margins and the resilience of athletes performing under the ultimate pressure of the five rings.
Curling
The Curling Mixed Doubles reached a fever pitch as the semi-finals got underway:
Final round robin session:
USA 6-7 Italy: the final round robin game with ramifications in terms of the semi-finals, as Italy avoided a clash with Great Britain by edging this one largely thanks to a huge fifth end where they took four, thanks to an amazing shot by Constantini who used her guard to take out the American stones lying shot and third Despite the USA taking two in both ends six and seven to tie it the hammer in the final end proved pivotal as Italy set up a rematch of this fixture in the semi-finals.
Switzerland 4:8 Canada: Good for Canada to bounce back after five straight defeats, especially for Gallant, who will now switch attention to the men's event, where Canada are highly fancied to fight for a medal. Switzerland were not one of the fancied nations before the tournament began, so to finish one game back from the semi-finals is something they can be proud of.
Norway 8-5 South Korea: One of the pre-tournament favourites in Norway will be bitterly disappointed with their 4-5 record, with their defeat against Czechia ultimately keeping them out of the top four race. South Korea, after starting 0-5, finished 3-1, so they can take a positive view of the end of their Olympic journey.
Czechia 8-4 Estonia: A nice win for the Czechs and a good experience for the young pair who will almost certainly be back stronger for future games, and crucially, this win keeps them off the bottom, which is always nice. Estonia showed great ends throughout the competition, but struggled with consistency end to end ultimately why they finished the round robin stage last.
Semi-finals:
USA 9-8 Italy: In the first mixed doubles semifinal at the 2026 Winter Olympics, the United States duo of Korey Dropkin and Cory Thiesse secured a dramatic 9-8 victory over the reigning Olympic and world champions from Italy. The match was a back-and-forth thriller that saw the Americans trailing 8-7 heading into the final end. With the pressure of the home crowd at the Cortina Olympic Curling Centre behind the Italians, Dropkin delivered a precise double take-out to clear the ice, allowing Thiesse to seal the win with the hammer on the final stone. This hard-fought upset ensures a new champion will be crowned, as the American pair, former 2023 world champions themselves, advance to the gold medal game.
Great Britain 3-9 Sweden: The second semifinal featured a dominant performance by Sweden’s Isabella Wranå and Rasmus Wranå, who defeated round-robin leaders Great Britain with a 9-3 scoreline. Although Britain started steadily to level the game at 3-3 by the fifth end, the momentum shifted decisively when Sweden utilised their power play in the sixth. The Wranå siblings strategically placed four stones in the house, which Britain's Jennifer Dodds was unable to clear, resulting in a massive five-point steal for the Swedes. Unable to bridge the gap, the British team conceded with an end to spare, setting up an all-former-world-champion gold medal clash between Sweden and the United States.
Gemini said
Gemini said
Freestyle skiing
The final of the Women's freeski slopestyle was an extremely close battle with Gold and Silver being separated by just 0.38 points, and Bronze and fourth also being separated by just 0.41. Mathilde Gremaud edged Eileen Gu to gold, thanks to an amazing second run, which scored her 86.96 to edge out Gu, the judges ruled the bigger jumps of Gremaud to outweigh the cleaner rail section of Gu, who will have to wait another four years for her chance to complete the freeski golds, getting silver again just as she did in Beijing behind Gremaud who defends her title by the slimest margin. Speaking of slim margins, Megan Oldham of Canada edged Kirsty Muir of Great Britain for bronze despite a heavy fall on her second run, causing her to walk away with a limp. She managed to drop a 76.46 in run three and stood at the bottom to watch Muir narrowly miss out on the medal. This will sting bitterly for Muir as she fell on runs one and two on the second, so had to scale back her run slightly in run three, dropping one of her turns off a rail from a 450 to a 270 and scaling back her second jump to makes sure she landed this will sting as if you combined her score on the rails on run one or two and the jumps on run three she would have beaten Oldham so knowing she had the run to claim bronze will hurt Muir for a long time to come. Avery Krumme of the US will also be bitterly disappointed as she failed to land a clean run after qualifying in fourth position.
Alpine skiing
The men's alpine combined promised to be one of the events of the games, and it didn't fail to deliver as the duo of Franjo von Allmen and Tanguy Nef of Switzerland claimed the Gold by nearly a second ahead of the joint silver of compatriots Marco Odermatt and Loic Meillard and the Austrian duo of Manuel Feller and Vincent Kriechmayr. This sees von Allmen claim his second gold of the games after winning the downhill on Saturday, but he has a lot to thank Tanguy Nef for, as they were only fourth heading into the slalom, 0.42 of the pace, allowing Nef to deliver arguably the best slalom run of his life to destroy the field by 0.99. This format works perfectly for Nef, always tends to be great on run one of a slaom, but often struggles to string two runs together. The pre-race favourites of Odermatt and Meillard had to settle for Silver as, despite Odermatt giving them the edge on the Downhill, Meillard struggled on the slalom as the ruts caused him all sorts of problems and he did very well to hang onto a medal as only 0.42 separated 2nd down to 7th. The veteran duo of Feller and Kriechmayr rolled back the years, with Kriechmayr keeping them in touch on the downhill, allowing Feller to charge down the slalom course and claim the silver. The Italian duos will be disappointed as they could only manage 5th and 7th as their weak slalom ability cost them, as Vinatzer, who was put into the lead after the downhill by downhill silver medalist Franzoni, struggled with the ruts and bumps, slipping from 1st to 7th. Daniel Yule will also be massively disappointed with his efforts as a brilliant downhill run from Alexis Monney had them sat second, but he never got to grips with the Stevlio piste and plummeted down to 13th.
Snowboarding
The Women's Snowboard Big Air final saw Japan's Kokomo Murase rise to the top of the podium, upgrading her bronze from four years ago to gold. Murase delivered a flawless performance on her final jump to secure the victory against a star-studded field. Zoi Sadowski-Synnott of New Zealand claimed the silver medal with another strong showing, while South Korean teenager Yu Seungeun captured a surprise bronze. Mia Brookes nearly landed a world-first 1660 but slightly overrotated, causing her to have to switch her feet, making the score null and void. This near miss would have got her a medal, but ultimately, she had to settle for fourth.
Ice hockey
Italy 3-2 Japan: Host nation Italy secured a historic place in the quarterfinals of the Olympic women’s ice hockey tournament for the first time by holding off a late Japanese surge in a 3-2 victory at the Milano Rho Ice Hockey Arena. The Azzurre seized the momentum early in front of a passionate home crowd, with Matilde Fantin netting two goals in the opening period, including a clinical power-play finish, to establish a commanding 2-0 lead. Japan fought back in the second frame as Rui Ukita cut the deficit with a sharp one-timer, but Italy regained their two-goal cushion early in the third period when Kristin Della Rovere found the back of the net. While Akane Shiga scored late to set up a frantic finish, Italian goaltender Gabriella Durante stood tall with 27 saves to preserve the win and officially eliminate Japan from playoff contention. This landmark victory ensures Italy a top-three finish in Group B, sending the hosts into the knockout stages where they will face the winner of the Canada vs USA game, assuming they lose to Germany as expected. They will be massive underdogs in that game and almost certainly will progress no further, but Italy won't care, as this is their first time making the Ice hockey knockout stages.
USA 5-0 Switzerland: The United States continued their dominant run with a 5-0 shutout victory over Switzerland on Monday. The American offence was led by collegiate stars Caroline Harvey and Joy Dunne, who each recorded a goal and two assists. This victory moved Team USA to a perfect 3-0 record at the top of the Group A standings, having outscored their opponents 15-1 over three games, setting up a shootout with Canada for top of the group.
Canada 5-1 Czechia: Canada secured their second win of the tournament by defeating Czechia 5-1. The Canadians jumped to an early lead with goals from Kristin O'Neill, Sarah Fillier, and Laura Stacey in the first period, while Julia Gosling added two power-play goals later in the game. However, the victory was tempered by an injury concern for captain Marie-Philip Poulin, who left the game in the first period following a heavy hit.
Luge
Germany has positioned itself for a potential podium sweep following the first two runs of the women’s singles competition. World champion Julia Taubitz holds the lead with a combined time of 1:45.188, but the margin is razor-thin. Her teammate Merle Malou Fraebel is just +0.061 seconds behind in second place. The competition at the Cortina Sliding Centre was a battle of records. Fraebel set a track record in her first run (52.590), only for Taubitz to reclaim it in the second heat with a blistering 52.550. Latvia’s Elīna Ieva Bota currently sits in the bronze medal position, nearly half a second behind the leading Germans. Italy’s Verena Hofer is within striking distance in fourth, trailing Bota by only 0.060 seconds as she looks to secure a medal on home ice.
Speed skating
The Women's 1000m at the Milano Oval was a showcase of speed and tactical precision, with Jutta Leerdam of the Netherlands storming to gold in an Olympic record time of 1:12.31. Her teammate, Femke Kok, secured the silver medal, ensuring a Dutch one-two finish at the top of the podium. In a thrilling battle for the final medal spot, Miho Takagi of Japan claimed the bronze, edging out her competitors with a powerful final lap to bring home another medal for her country.
Figure skating
The Rhythm Dance segment of the Ice Dance event concluded with a razor-thin margin at the top of the standings. Laurence Fournier Beaudry and Guillaume Cizeron of France hold the lead with 90.18 points, but the American world champions Madison Chock and Evan Bates are breathing down their necks with a score of 89.72. Canada's Piper Gilles and Paul Poirier are currently in the bronze medal position, though the leaderboard remains congested with only a few points separating the top five pairs heading into the Free Dance.
Ski Jumping
The Men's Normal Hill final ended with a historic victory for Germany's Philipp Raimund, who won gold on his Olympic debut with a total of 274.1 points. Raimund’s massive second jump allowed him to overtake Poland’s Kacper Tomasiak, who secured the silver medal with 270.7 points. The bronze medal was split in a rare tie between Japan's Ren Nikaido and Switzerland's Gregor Deschwanden, both of whom finished with identical scores of 266.0, capping off a night of surprises on the hill. This event marks another disappointment for the Prevc family as Domen failed to medal altogether, finishing in 6th.
Medal Table
| Rank | Country | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total |
| 1 | Norway | 3 | 1 | 2 | 6 |
| 2 | Switzerland | 3 | 1 | 1 | 5 |
| 3 | Japan | 2 | 2 | 3 | 7 |
| 4 | Germany | 2 | 1 | 1 | 4 |
| 5 | USA | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| 6 | Austria | 1 | 3 | 0 | 4 |
| 7 | Italy | 1 | 2 | 6 | 9 |
| 8 | Czechia | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
| 8 | France | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
| 8 | Netherlands | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
| 8 | Sweden | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
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