Peak Moments from Day 1 of Milan-Cortina
USAT’s Sam Cardona-Norberg breaks down all the biggest events that happened on the first day of the 2026 Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics.
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Japan took gold and silver in men’s snowboarding big air thanks to some big tricks from Kira Kimura and Ryoma Kimata. Defending gold medalist Su Yiming of China overtook 17-year-old American Ollie Martin for bronze to keep Team USA from winning its first medal of the 2026 Milano Cortina Winter Olympics.
But apparently, that all wasn’t enough for NBC broadcaster Todd Richards.
“That was boring,” he was caught saying on a hot mic immediately after the event concluded on Peacock. “That was so boring. The qualifier was way more exciting.”
Richards is commentating his sixth Winter Olympics. A former professional snowboarder, he competed in halfpipe at the 1998 Nagano Games, where snowboarding made its Olympic debut. He’s also a four-time Winter X Games medalist, winning gold in the halfpipe in 1997, the inaugural year of the Winter X Games.
NBC referred USA TODAY Sports to Richards’ Instagram post on the topic when reached for comment:
Richards stood by his opinion but also expressed his admiration for the competitors.
This story has been updated with new information.
