2026 Olympics, Day 4 recap: USA women’s hockey rolls on, Shiffrin struggles, Malinin shines
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It happens.
Many expected a nail-biter when women’s hockey powerhouses U.S. and Canada clashed at Milano Santagiulia Ice Hockey Arena. What they got was a yawner as the U.S. blitzed its northern neighbors 5-0. The U.S. has outscored its opponents 20-1 and improved to 4-0 at the Olympics.
And many fans regarded the U.S. pair of Breezy Johnson and Mikaela Shiffrin as a shoo-in in the women’s team combined. They finished off the podium after an uncharacteristic run by Shiffrin.
Some high hopes were realized. Expectations were stratospheric for 21-year-old American Ilia Malinin, and he absolutely crushed it in the men’s figure skating singles short program.
If you want the complete rundown of the day’s major moments, scroll through our live updates blog here and catch up on the medal count here.
We’ve picked out some of the top highlights from an Olympic Tuesday:
USA women’s hockey continues dominance of Canada
The 5-0 blanking of Canada was just the latest installment in a string of dominant performances by the U.S. women against their Canadian archrivals. The U.S. outscored Canada 24-7 in four Rivalry Series victories in November and December.
Caroline Harvey, the two-time Olympian and presumptive No. 1 pick in the Professional Women’s Hockey League draft, picked up right where she left off after a three-point performance the night before against Switzerland. She notched another goal and two assists. Hannah Bilka scored two more goals.
Abbey Murphy had a big night for the U.S. with three assists, including a no-look backhand pass for Bilka’s second goal of the night, and she got under Canada’s skin at every opportunity, drawing four of Canada’s five penalties.
This was the final game of group play for the U.S. women. They’re into the quarterfinals, where they will face Italy.
Mikaela Shiffrin’s sluggish run costs U.S. in Alpine skiing combined
Breezy Johnson was fresh off a gold medal-winning downhill. Mikaela Shiffrin has been otherworldly in slalom. The odds for gold in the women’s team combined event Tuesday were high, perhaps even prohibitive.
Johnson set the table, posting the fastest downhill leg and giving Shiffrin a 0.06-second head start for the slalom. But Shiffrin pushed out of the gate slowly, lost time at the top and kept losing time all the way down. Shiffrin’s run placed 15th out of 18 slalom skiers who finished the race, dropping the U.S. pair to fourth place (0.06 second behind third). A U.S. team did medal, but it was Jackie Wiles and Paula Moltzan who were on the podium to accept bronze medals while the favorites watched.
Shiffrin has a bit of time to study what went wrong Tuesday. The giant slalom does not take place until Sunday.
Austria’s Ariane Raedler and Katharina Huber claimed the gold, and Germany’s Kira Weidle-Winkelmann and Emma Aicher took silver.
Mikaela Shiffrin reacts in the finish area after a disappointing slalom run. (Stefano Rellandini / AFP via Getty Images)
Figure skater Ilia Malinin leads after men’s short program
The Quad God found his mojo. Ilia Malinin landed his two quadruple jumps cleanly, including the quad lutz into a triple toe loop. He added a backflip. Malinin’s score of 108.16 puts him at the top and leaves him ideally positioned for an individual gold medal.
Malinin can be uneven, but the Quad God people had heard about showed up, and the crowd cheered without regard of nation. Japan’s Yuma Kagiyama and France’s Adam Siao Him Fa are in second and third place behind Malinin, with 103.07 and 102.55 points, respectively.
The next phase of the men’s singles in figure skating will take place Friday with the free skate.
Ilia Malinin of the United States competes in the men’s short program at Milano Ice Skating Arena. (Dean Mouhtaropoulos / Getty Images)
Sweden edges U.S. in a tight mixed doubles curling final
Sweden’s sister-brother team of Isabella and Rasmus Wranå edged Americans Cory Thiesse and Korey Dropkin 6-5 for the gold medal in a tense, back-and-forth affair that went down to the final stone. Thiesse and Dropkin took the silver medal.
“It was a really great game,” Thiesse said on the NBC broadcast after the loss. “We just needed to be a little bit sharper today, but we’re not going to let that game take away from the week that we had.”
It was a historic run through the tournament for the American duo, who first teamed together in 2022. The silver is the first Olympic curling medal for a U.S. woman. It’s also the first U.S. medal in Olympic mixed doubles curling, which debuted in the Games in 2018.
Silver medalists Korey Dropkin, left, and Cory Thiesse of the United States first teamed up in 2022, and they won the world championship in 2023. Tuesday’s silver was the first medal in mixed doubles curling for the United States. (Eric Bolte / Imagn Images)
A medal and a mea culpa for Norwegian biathlete
The tears Norway’s Sturla Holm Laegreid was shedding after winning a bronze medal in the 20km individual biathlon race at Milan Cortina were not tears of joy for his Olympic achievement.
Following the medal ceremony, Laegreid shocked fans by confessing on live TV that he had cheated on his girlfriend. “There’s someone I wanted to share it with who might not be watching. Six months ago, I met the love of my life — the most beautiful and kindest person in the world. Three months ago, I made my biggest mistake and cheated on her,” he told NRK, a Norwegian broadcaster. “It’s been the worst week of my life,” he said.
“I made the choice to tell the world what I did, so maybe there’s a chance she will see what she really means to me — maybe not, but I don’t want to think I didn’t try everything to get her back,” he said.
He did not reveal the identity of his girlfriend.
Laegreid, a seven-time world champion, finished behind Norway’s Johan-Olav Botn, who won gold, and France’s Eric Perrot, who took silver.
Sturla Holm Laegreid is hugged by teammate Ingrid Landmark Tandrevold after the medal ceremony. (Harry How / Getty Images)
