- - From The Sports Desk: The Games have begun (sort of)

The Sports DeskFebruary 5, 2026 at 12:18 AM

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Hello from idyllic Cortina, where the first day of Olympic action began two days ahead of the opening ceremony with a fan favorite: curling. Kira Dixon from our partners over at NBC Sports was there.

We’re coming to you from our lively newsroom in Milan, where people gathered to watch the curling matches with — you guessed it — pizza.

More on the latest from Lindsey Vonn and a rundown of what our correspondents are most looking forward to.

Live from Milan Cortina

We slid into action with mixed doubles in curling at Cortina Curling Olympic Stadium. It was Britain vs. Norway, Canada vs. Czechia, Sweden vs. South Korea and Switzerland vs. Estonia.

Some of the first cheers weren’t just for the team “skips” — curling for captains — but for the lights. About 10 minutes into the competition, the stadium experienced a partial power outage. After a brief pause, the lights came back on to applause.

Sweden took the first win of the 2026 Winter Olympics, 10-3 against South Korea in the sixth end — also called a round — finishing the match early. Canada started with a comfortable lead against Czechia and won 10-5.

Britain and Norway were the most closely matched, but Britain ultimately pulled through with an 8-6 win.

Estonia pulled off an incredible comeback to tie 7-7 with Switzerland, forcing an additional end. Team Switzerland’s Yannick Schwaller and Briar Schwaller-Hürlimann sealed the deal with a 9-7 score in the ninth end.

Vonn to give it a go

The women’s downhill training sessions Friday and Saturday — usually routine affairs — might be some of the most closely watched practice runs ever. American Lindsey Vonn is likely to be testing her torn ACL about a week after she crashed at a race in Switzerland.

“As long as there’s a chance,” Vonn said, “I will try.”

Dr. John Torres, a medical contributor for NBC News, was a bit surprised. “From a medical perspective, that’s a very tough uphill battle she’s got in front of her,” he said. “That ACL is extremely important to keeping that knee stable, and keeping that knee stable is extremely important to her sport.”

Over her career, Vonn has torn multiple knee ligaments and sustained multiple fractures. She retired in 2019, at least in part because of injuries. In 2024, she underwent a partial right knee replacement and announced her comeback later that year. On Friday, just before the 2026 Games, she tore the ACL in her left knee.

“It’s not the first time that someone would have tried to race at a high, high level without an ACL,” Chris Knight, Vonn’s head coach, told NBC News.

Knight said the biggest factor is how Vonn feels physically, and so far, the signs have been encouraging. “It’s very stable. There’s no pain, no swelling, as she’s mentioned,” he said.

A brace would help stabilize her knee. But since the injury occurred so recently, it’s still in the “acute phase, where her knee hasn’t recovered,” Torres said, meaning she’d most likely be skiing with some amount of pain.

It wouldn’t surprise Torres, though, if Vonn gritted her teeth and competed anyway. “These super-fine-tuned athletes; they know their body better than most of us,” he said. “She knows, and her staff knows, what she can and can’t do.”

“She’s prepared her whole life for these events,” he added. “It’s hard to give it up.”

The gold medal run for the women’s downhill is Sunday.

More athletes to know

More than 230 athletes are set to represent Team USA in Italy. Here’s what makes some of them so special.

Conquering time

Nick Baumgartner, a 44-year-old snowboard cross racer from Michigan, is heading to his fifth Olympics in Milan Cortina, defying a youth-dominated sport through relentless work, smarter training and hard-earned patience. After decades of grinding, side jobs and near-misses, he finally won Olympic gold in 2022.

Nick Baumgartner poses for a photo at the 2025 Team USA Media Summit. (Yuki Iwamura / AP) (Yuki Iwamura)From chemo to the Olympics

Rory Guilday, a defender on the U.S. women’s hockey team, earned an Olympic roster spot a year after being cut. Her journey includes having overcome childhood chemotherapy for an optic nerve tumor that cost her most of the vision in her right eye, a challenge that reshaped her perspective and resilience. Now, in Milan, Guilday is set to make her Olympic debut with her family in the stands, grateful for every chance to play.

Photo of the day

Bryce Bennett of Team United States skis during the Men's Downhill training on Feb. 4, 2026 in Bormio, Italy. (Sean M. Haffey / Getty Images) (Sean M. Haffey)What we're excited about

There’s so much to see, and eat, during the next 2½ weeks here in Italy. Here’s what some of the NBC News reporters and correspondents are most looking forward to.

Sam Brock: The women’s moguls team has four athletes who could all end up on the podium for both moguls and dual moguls — making it a powerhouse of complementary skills that should really turn this into a memorable games for the U.S. in freestyle skiing.

Also, American Alex Hall — who moved to Switzerland as a child and spent time skiing in the mountains in Livigno, Italy — is an incredibly compelling draw based both on his style and the fact that he has a chance to become the first athlete to win two gold medals in Slopestyle skiing since the event debuted more than a decade ago. And he has an Italian passport from his mom, who’s originally from Bologna!

Greg Rosenstein: Besides the seemingly endless amounts of pasta, pizza and cappuccinos over the next few weeks, I’m most excited to see how Lindsey Vonn fares. Winning another gold medal was hard enough without the injury. Now the 41-year-old is attempting to do it mere days after a gruesome fall. If she can pull it off, it will be the story of the Milan Cortina Games.

Rohan Nadkarni: I’m eager to find out if the sandwiches in Italy can compare to an Italian sub from Publix, and I also can’t wait to watch some short track speedskating, which has been described to me as “NASCAR on ice.” One athlete in particular I’ll have my eye on in that event is Kristen Santos-Griswold, who was robbed of a medal in Beijing and is giving it another go on the ice in Milan.

Claudio Lavagna: Well, I grew up in Milan, but haven’t lived here in 25 years. So one thing I am looking forward to is my favorite local dish: ossobuco alla Milanese (that’s bone marrow with saffron rice). The best!

When to watch

Here’s what to look forward to tomorrow. In addition to curling, we have women’s hockey (including the first game for the U.S.) and men’s snowboarding. All events are available to stream on Peacock.

Here’s the full schedule (all times Eastern):

Thursday, Feb. 5

4:05 a.m.: Mixed doubles curling round-robin (Great Britain-Estonia, Sweden-Czechia, Norway-USA, South Korea-Italy)

6:10 a.m.: Women’s hockey pool play (Sweden-Germany)

8:35 a.m.: Mixed doubles curling round-robin (USA-Switzerland, Norway-Canada)

8:40 a.m.: Women’s hockey pool play (Italy-France)

10:40 a.m.: Women’s hockey pool play (USA-Czechia)

1:05 p.m.: Mixed doubles curling round-robin (Canada-Italy, Switzerland-South Korea, Estonia-Sweden, Czechia-Great Britain)

1:30 p.m.: Snowboarding: Men’s big air qualifying

3:10 p.m.: Women’s hockey pool play (Finland-Canada)

That’s it for now! We’ll be back tomorrow.

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Source: “AOL Sports”