Let the gold begin. A day after the stunning opening ceremonies, the first medals were awarded Saturday at the 2026 Milan Cortina Winter Olympics — one of them going to one of the host country’s top athletes.
The Athletic had a blow-by-snowblow running blog of all of Saturday’s action, and we’ve taken some of the most notable moments and compiled them here.
Check here to see the current medal count for the Milan Cortina Olympics.
Italian star wins, celebrates with son
On her 35th birthday, speed skater Francesca Lollobrigida set an Olympic record in winning the 3,000-meter race in 3 minutes, 54.28 seconds, more than two seconds ahead of silver medalist Ragne Wiklund of Norway (3:56.54) — then celebrated on the track with her 2-year-old son Tommaso.
Francesca’s last name might ring a bell. Her great-aunt Gina Lollobrigida was an Italian film legend in the 1950s and ’60s.
‘Quad God’ impresses, kind of
U.S. figure skating star Ilia Malinin — a.k.a. “The Quad God” — wasn’t quite so otherworldly in the team event Saturday. He did nail a quad flip, but didn’t quite nail a quad lutz, getting credit for only three rotations. Malinin finished second in the short program to Yuma Kagiyama of Japan but did help the U.S. reach the team final. Nonetheless, the crowd seemed mostly thrilled by Malinin’s performance, even if it fell short of his standards.
Ilia Malinin was the first skater to land each of the six types of quadruple jumps in one program at the 2025 World Championships.
First gold of the Games
Switzerland’s Franjo von Allmen mastered the tough 2-mile Stelvio course — known for its speed and difficulty — to finish in 1 minute, 51.61 seconds, 0.20 seconds ahead of Italy’s Giovanni Franzoni and capture the first gold medal of these Olympics. Von Allmen, whose father died seven years ago, had to rely on crowdfunding to continue his skiing career.
U.S. women’s hockey continues to roll
Plenty of Americans contributed to a 5-0 rout of Finland, which had earlier this week been coping with a norovirus outbreak that sidelined over half its roster. Virtually all of them suited up Saturday, but it didn’t matter. Team USA’s Megan Keller had a goal and two assists, and Alex Carpenter, Taylor Heise, Hilary Knight and Abbey Murphy also scored. Laila Edwards, whose historic Olympic journey was featured in The Athletic, had two assists. The U.S. is now 2-0, having outscored their opponents 10-1.
The U.S. women’s hockey team has outscored opponents 10-1 in two games. Bruce Bennett / Getty Images
A very happy couple
U.S. skating spouses Madison Chock and Evan Bates, reigning three-time world champions, dominated their ice dance routine in the team event. They scored a season-best 133.23 points to their “Paint it, Black” free dance. They will next try for gold in the individual ice dance event.
Ollie Martin barely misses podium
In the snowboard big air finals, Martin, the 17-year-old American, stuck a frontside 1800 to rally from a tough first run. It wasn’t enough, as Kira Kimura of Japan took the gold, Ryoma Kimata of Japan grabbed silver and Yiming Su of China captured bronze. Martin finished fourth.
Ollie Martin finished fourth in the snowboard big air competition. Hannah Peters / Getty Images
Lindsey Vonn third in training despite torn ACL
The 41-year-old American legend, competing with a torn anterior cruciate ligament (ACL), finished third on her training run Saturday. On Sunday, she will compete in the first of three races in the most challenging quest for gold in her career.