Early crash disrupts US favorite Jessie Diggins in race for skiathlon gold

Jessie Diggins’s farewell Olympics began with a crash and a scramble on Saturday, the trailblazing star of American cross-country skiing fighting back to finish eighth in the women’s skiathlon as Sweden delivered a commanding one-two in the first cross-country skiing race of the Milano Cortina Games.Frida Karlsson powered to gold ahead of teammate Ebba Andersson, with Norway’s Heidi Weng taking bronze, as the first Olympic women’s skiathlon contested over the new 20km distance quickly turned into a test of endurance, conditions and survival.For Diggins, the world’s No 1-ranked cross-country skier and widely viewed as one of the pre-race favorites, the race unraveled early. During the opening lap of the classical section, Finland’s Vilma Nissinen fell on a downhill turn, triggering congestion in the pack. In the chaos, Diggins tumbled with Norway’s Karoline Simpson-Larsen and was forced into heavy traffic as the race began to stretch apart

‘My ACL is 100% gone’: Lindsey Vonn’s improbable comeback at 41 is just another risk

It was all going a little too easy for Lindsey Vonn. All the nervous apprehension, the paternalistic concern, the arch skepticism and hushed snickers that had rippled through the sports world when she announced her comeback from a six-year retirement had long since gone silent. A once-unthinkable fairytale ending at the age of 41 on the slopes of Cortina d’Ampezzo was practically within touching distance.Back in November 2024, having been chased from the sport in 2019 by a battered right knee worn down by a string of gruesome crashes and multiple surgeries, Vonn proposed a return to a high-risk sport where no woman had ever won a race past the age of 34. There’s a history of comebacks like these going brutally wrong, and even Vonn’s most dedicated fans were bracing themselves for the worst

Bangers and smash: Von Allmen wins first gold of Winter Olympics to fulfil butcher’s dream

When the Swiss skier Franjo von Allmen first broke through in the junior ranks, his village butcher created a special sausage – the Silberblitz-Wurscht or Silver Lightning – in his honour. After his stunning performance in the men’s downhill on Saturday, it is surely time for an upgrade.On a beautiful day in Bornio, the 24-year-old dominated a challenging course to win in 1:min 51.61sec and take the first medal of these Olympic Games. That time was good enough to withstand Italy’s Giovanni Franzoni, who finished with the silver medal 0

‘It made me cry’: your favourite moments from past Winter Olympics

With the 2026 Winter Olympics off to a spectacular start with the opening ceremonies in Milan, Cortina, Livigno and Predazzo, the coming weeks promise medals, memories and iconic moments.While history awaits this year’s athletes, we asked readers about their most memorable moments of past Games and the performances that still give them chills.I was living and working in Tignes, France, during the 1992 Albertville Winter Olympics. The very first Olympic moguls competition took place on a long, steep slope on the verge of Val Claret, the highest of Tignes’ villages. I was drawn to the fun, irreverent, fast and loose attitude of the bumps skiers and the amazingly acrobatic and dangerous runs they put down

One battle after another: Sam Darnold’s stubborn route to the Super Bowl

For the teams, the reality of the Super Bowl hits like deja vu: a ritual they’ve watched and fantasized about for years suddenly arrives, sucking them into its vast, chaotic center.For Sam Darnold, though, it’s a reality come full circle. San Francisco, after all, was the city that gave him a chance after he crashed and burned in New York and washed out in Carolina, long after most around the NFL had consigned him to history’s pile of first-round draft busts.As part of the 49ers two years ago, Darnold watched from the sideline as the team’s starter, Brock Purdy, fell short of leading San Francisco past Kansas City. But he had done enough in relief appearances to get picked up by Minnesota, where he had an unlikely bounce-back year before joining the Seattle Seahawks

Winter Olympics briefing: opening ceremony delivers a love letter to Italy

The curtain rose on a moment of myth and magic: Cupid’s kiss awakening Psyche, a tender beginning that blossomed into a dazzling tribute to Italy itself. From opera and art to fashion, music and dance, the Milano Cortina opening ceremony unfolded as a vibrant celebration of culture. An explosion of colour, romance and theatrical flair that felt unmistakably Italian.The spectacle then drifted into a dreamlike Fantasia chapter. The Italian actor Matilda De Angelis, wielding an enormous conductor’s baton, guided swirling dancers across San Siro, flanked by the larger-than-life figures of Italy’s operatic greats – Giuseppe Verdi, Giacomo Puccini and Gioachino Rossini – brought to life with towering papier-mache bobble heads