{"id":495638,"date":"2026-02-21T23:52:12","date_gmt":"2026-02-21T23:52:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/495638\/"},"modified":"2026-02-21T23:52:12","modified_gmt":"2026-02-21T23:52:12","slug":"winter-olympics-2026-wild-livigno-weather-puts-indra-browns-medal-tilt-on-hold-day-15-quick-hits","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/495638\/","title":{"rendered":"Winter Olympics 2026: Wild Livigno weather puts Indra Brown&#8217;s medal tilt on hold \u2014 day 15 quick hits"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"paragraph_paragraph__iYReA\">Conditions in Livigno are branded an &#8220;absolute joke&#8221; as a horror bobsleigh crash and wild weather rock day 15.<\/p>\n<p>Read more about the Winter Olympics:<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph_paragraph__iYReA\">Here are the quick hits from the Winter Olympics.<\/p>\n<p>1. Conditions in Livigno &#8216;an absolute joke&#8217;<img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Three skiers jump in heavy snow.\" class=\"Image_image__5tFYM ContentImage_image__DQ_cq\"  src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/8ffd58ec5b5ffe68cf7ad4399db7e8fb.jpeg\" loading=\"lazy\" data-component=\"Image\" data-lazy=\"true\"\/><\/p>\n<p class=\"Typography_base__sj2RP FigureCaption_text__zDxQ5 Typography_sizeMobile12__w_FPC Typography_lineHeightMobile20___U7Vr Typography_regular__WeIG6 Typography_colourInherit__dfnUx\" data-component=\"Typography\">Canadian skier Reece Howden was not impressed by the conditions in Livigno. (Getty Images: Hannah Peters)<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph_paragraph__iYReA\">Australia&#8217;s last medal hope at the Milano Cortina Winter Games, Indra Brown, was forced to wait a little longer for her crack at a maiden Olympic podium finish.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph_paragraph__iYReA\">Heavy and consistent snowfall in Livigno meant that the women&#8217;s freeski halfpipe was moved from its original time of 5:30am AEDT to 8:40pm Sunday evening, with organisers unable to &#8220;prepare the pipe in a safe and fair condition&#8221;.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph_paragraph__iYReA\">The conditions in Livigno were absolutely harrowing throughout day 15, so the postponement of an already dangerous event was far from a surprise.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph_paragraph__iYReA\">Earlier in the day, however, the athletes in the men&#8217;s ski cross were forced to brave the elements, with Canadian competitor Reece Howden saying conditions were so horrendous he was relieved to not qualify for the final.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.abc.net.au\/news\/2026-02-21\/winter-olympics-2026-milano-cortina-day-15-live-updates\/106369762\" data-component=\"FullBleedLink\" class=\"RelatedCard_link__rsgR9 FullBleedLink_root__lTw_U interactive_focusContext__yRhc_ interactive_defaults__AKxUU FullBleedLink_showVisited__g3Xvz\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Winter Olympics live blog day 15<\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"Typography_base__sj2RP RelatedCard_synopsis__cFwMW Typography_sizeMobile14__u7TGe Typography_lineHeightMobile20___U7Vr Typography_regular__WeIG6 Typography_colourInherit__dfnUx\" data-component=\"Typography\">Australian teenager Indra Brown headlines the list of Australians competing for medals on day 15 of the Milano Cortina Games. Follow live.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph_paragraph__iYReA\">&#8220;Honestly, the weather is ridiculous. I don&#8217;t know what the times are but it&#8217;s gotta be like 10 to 15 seconds slower. It&#8217;s a completely different course,&#8221; he told\u00a0Canadian Olympic broadcaster, CBC, not mincing his words.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph_paragraph__iYReA\">&#8220;It&#8217;s snowing so hard and the track is dead slow. At this point, I&#8217;m happy I&#8217;m not involved in this [final] race because \u2026 this is not ski cross.\u2029This is terrible.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph_paragraph__iYReA\">&#8220;[The] Olympics is supposed to be the best of the best. The peak of our sport. I&#8217;ll wait four more years because this is an absolute joke.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>2. Kl\u00e6bo gets six golds from six events<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph_paragraph__iYReA\">In the unrelenting and gruelling men&#8217;s 50km cross-country skiing event, Norway&#8217;s Johannes H\u00f8sflot Kl\u00e6bo crossed the line first to claim the gold, his sixth at these Games.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph_paragraph__iYReA\">His 11th ever Olympic gold, which puts him far and away as the greatest Winter Olympian of all time.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"GettyImages-2262784115\" class=\"Image_image__5tFYM ContentImage_image__DQ_cq\"  src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/eb21b065e311793142a575e8edd7ab5c.jpeg\" loading=\"lazy\" data-component=\"Image\" data-lazy=\"true\"\/><\/p>\n<p class=\"Typography_base__sj2RP FigureCaption_text__zDxQ5 Typography_sizeMobile12__w_FPC Typography_lineHeightMobile20___U7Vr Typography_regular__WeIG6 Typography_colourInherit__dfnUx\" data-component=\"Typography\">Johannes H\u00f8sflot Kl\u00e6bo of Norway is the greatest Winter Olympian of all time after winning his 11th career gold medal. (Getty: Lars Baron)<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph_paragraph__iYReA\">He has now won every gold medal on offer in his sport in Milano Cortina and with that, sets a new record \u2014 which will be hard to ever beat \u2014 of the most golds won by an athlete at a Winter Games.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph_paragraph__iYReA\">It was a Norwegian sweep of the podium with Kl\u00e6bo coming in ahead of countrymen Martin L\u00f8wstr\u00f8m Nyenget and Emil Iversen.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph_paragraph__iYReA\">Only eight other athletes have ever won six Winter Olympics golds, and Klaebo has won six at Milano Cortina alone.<\/p>\n<p>3. Carnage on bobsleigh track<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph_paragraph__iYReA\">The sliding sports at the Winter Olympics always carry risks.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph_paragraph__iYReA\">This proved the case at the Cortina Sliding Centre during the four-man bobsleigh heats, when there were a staggering three crashes in the second round.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Austria crashes in bobsleigh event at the 2026 Winter Olympics.\" class=\"Image_image__5tFYM ContentImage_image__DQ_cq\"  src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/079380b32c26025402cebea9b00b0b2e.jpeg\" loading=\"lazy\" data-component=\"Image\" data-lazy=\"true\"\/><\/p>\n<p class=\"Typography_base__sj2RP FigureCaption_text__zDxQ5 Typography_sizeMobile12__w_FPC Typography_lineHeightMobile20___U7Vr Typography_regular__WeIG6 Typography_colourInherit__dfnUx\" data-component=\"Typography\">Austria crashed during the second heat of the four-man bobsleigh. (AP: Aijaz Rahi)<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph_paragraph__iYReA\">After a relatively crash-free Olympics in all three sliding sports \u2014 skeleton, luge and bobsled \u2014 the second heat of four-man was delayed for about 20 minutes after Austrian pilot Jakob Mandlbauer lost control of his sled and crashed around the midpoint of the track.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph_paragraph__iYReA\">Mandlbauer was taken off the track on a stretcher and brought by ambulance to a nearby hospital for evaluation.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Jakob Manlbauer is taken away on a stretcher after crashing during Olympic bobsleigh event.\" class=\"Image_image__5tFYM ContentImage_image__DQ_cq\"  src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/b9dcf02789f0d42f7c910cc0a06370d6.jpeg\" loading=\"lazy\" data-component=\"Image\" data-lazy=\"true\"\/><\/p>\n<p class=\"Typography_base__sj2RP FigureCaption_text__zDxQ5 Typography_sizeMobile12__w_FPC Typography_lineHeightMobile20___U7Vr Typography_regular__WeIG6 Typography_colourInherit__dfnUx\" data-component=\"Typography\">Jakob Mandlbauer is carried away from the track on a stretcher. (AP: Aijaz Rahi)<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph_paragraph__iYReA\">Austrian officials said he had movement in his extremities.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph_paragraph__iYReA\">Also crashing: the French sled \u2014 driven by Romain Heinrich \u2014 as did Trinidad and Tobago, which is piloted by Axel Brown.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph_paragraph__iYReA\">Because their sleds didn&#8217;t cross the finish line, they won&#8217;t be racing when the event resumes on Sunday.<\/p>\n<p>4. Pole recovering from nasty cut<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph_paragraph__iYReA\">Polish short track speed skater Kamila Sellier says she is &#8220;doing quite OK&#8221; after suffering a bad cut to her face in a crash.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph_paragraph__iYReA\">Sellier appeared to be hit by a skate close to her eye in a fall during a quarter-final of the women&#8217;s 1,500 \u2060metres.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph_paragraph__iYReA\">She needed lengthy treatment before she was taken away on a stretcher from the Milano Ice Skating Arena.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph_paragraph__iYReA\">A white sheet was held up when she was being treated on the ice to prevent the silent crowd from seeing the extent of her injury.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Kamila Sellier receives treatment after being cut in the face during a short track speed skating race at the Winter Olympics.\" class=\"Image_image__5tFYM ContentImage_image__DQ_cq\"  src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/b49b730d9f6e6b2d24d8169de66095a3.jpeg\" loading=\"lazy\" data-component=\"Image\" data-lazy=\"true\"\/><\/p>\n<p class=\"Typography_base__sj2RP FigureCaption_text__zDxQ5 Typography_sizeMobile12__w_FPC Typography_lineHeightMobile20___U7Vr Typography_regular__WeIG6 Typography_colourInherit__dfnUx\" data-component=\"Typography\">Kamila Sellier receives treatment after being cut in the face. (AP: Stephanie Scarbrough)<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph_paragraph__iYReA\">She was later admitted to hospital for further treatment.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph_paragraph__iYReA\">&#8220;I know that one day I&#8217;ll look at this picture \u2060and remember that I&#8217;m stronger than I ever believed,&#8221; the 25-year-old posted on Instagram.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph_paragraph__iYReA\">&#8220;Thank you for all your words of support, just wanted to let you know that I&#8217;m doing quite OK,&#8221; she added.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph_paragraph__iYReA\">In \u2060the picture, she appeared to be wearing a hospital gown and did not display the side of her face where she sustained the injury. \u2060<\/p>\n<p>5. &#8216;Panic moment&#8217; for gatecrashing dog owners<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph_paragraph__iYReA\">When the Varesco family headed off to watch the biathlon at the Winter Olympics on Wednesday, they left their two-year-old Czechoslovakian wolfdog Nazgul locked in his kennel at home in Tesero.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph_paragraph__iYReA\">In their absence, Nazgul became the most unlikely star of the Milano Cortina Games after <a class=\"Link_link__kR0xA Link_link__5eL5m ScreenReaderOnly_srLinkHint__OysWz Link_showVisited__C1Fea Link_showFocus__ALyv2\" href=\"https:\/\/www.abc.net.au\/news\/2026-02-19\/winter-olympics-day-12-quick-hits\/106360904\" data-component=\"Link\" data-uri=\"coremedia:\/\/article\/106360904\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">escaping from the house and wandering onto the nearby Olympic cross-country course before sprinting down the finishing straight alongside the skiers<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Nazgul the dog with his owner Alice Varesco.\" class=\"Image_image__5tFYM ContentImage_image__DQ_cq\"  src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/7e96cd218b7f3ef7bd247c4488630da1.jpeg\" loading=\"lazy\" data-component=\"Image\" data-lazy=\"true\"\/><\/p>\n<p class=\"Typography_base__sj2RP FigureCaption_text__zDxQ5 Typography_sizeMobile12__w_FPC Typography_lineHeightMobile20___U7Vr Typography_regular__WeIG6 Typography_colourInherit__dfnUx\" data-component=\"Typography\">Nazgul pictured with one of his owners Alice Varesco. (Reuters: Kai Pfaffenbach)<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph_paragraph__iYReA\">&#8220;We were on the train to Anterselva to watch the biathlon,&#8221; Alice Varesco said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph_paragraph__iYReA\">&#8220;We were three hours from home when friends started sending us videos. That was the panic moment. We realised we could not do anything.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"A dog runs behind a skier at the Winter Olympics.\" class=\"Image_image__5tFYM ContentImage_image__DQ_cq\"  src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/1771717932_597_bf9b1184ad1e81bcf3dc9574a75cd9e0.jpeg\" loading=\"lazy\" data-component=\"Image\" data-lazy=\"true\"\/><\/p>\n<p class=\"Typography_base__sj2RP FigureCaption_text__zDxQ5 Typography_sizeMobile12__w_FPC Typography_lineHeightMobile20___U7Vr Typography_regular__WeIG6 Typography_colourInherit__dfnUx\" data-component=\"Typography\">Nazgul felt like he was at home on the Olympic course. (AFP: Terje Pedersen\/NTB)<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph_paragraph__iYReA\">Security around Nazgul&#8217;s kennel was tightened to prevent any repeat for the 50km races this weekend, which the family will watch from the balcony at home with their wolfdog firmly in sight.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph_paragraph__iYReA\">&#8220;We did not think this could be possible, but generally the reaction was people loved him,&#8221; Alice said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph_paragraph__iYReA\">&#8220;And it&#8217;s good that nothing happened and it was going in a positive way, so everybody was happy.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph_paragraph__iYReA\">ABC\/wires<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Conditions in Livigno are branded an &#8220;absolute joke&#8221; as a horror bobsleigh crash and wild weather rock day&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":495639,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[64,63,44916,249744,237786,182781,249743,190846,237917,110808,249742,85,31080,236399,238456],"class_list":{"0":"post-495638","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-sports","8":"tag-au","9":"tag-australia","10":"tag-blizzard","11":"tag-bobsleigh-crash","12":"tag-danielle-scott","13":"tag-eileen-gu","14":"tag-freeski-halfpipe","15":"tag-indra-brown","16":"tag-livigno","17":"tag-milano-cortina-2026","18":"tag-mixed-aerials-australia","19":"tag-sports","20":"tag-winter-olympics","21":"tag-winter-olympics-2026","22":"tag-winter-olympics-australia"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/495638","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=495638"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/495638\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/495639"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=495638"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=495638"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=495638"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}