Milan Cortina: What to watch today in the Winter Olympics — ‘Blade Angels’ begin short program, 2-man bobsled has medal in sight (2/17)

The Winter Games have begun in Italy. From the rink to the slopes, a new generation of stars has emerged to chase gold. We’ll keep you connected to all of the thrilling moments and top stories as we track the medal race each day of the Games.

The United States increased its medal count to 19 at the 2026 Winter Olympics after Day 10’s competition. Elana Meyers Taylor and Kaillee Humphries picked up gold and bronze, respectively, in the women’s monobob on Monday.

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Team USA has an opportunity to add four other medals on Day 11 at Milan Cortina in freeski Big Air and two-man bobsled, in addition to team pursuit in men’s and women’s speed skating.

Here are the top five things to watch on Tuesday at the 2026 Milan Cortina Olympics:

1. Women’s figure skating opens with short program (12:45 p.m. ET)

You may have heard of Team USA’s “Blade Angels,” and you’ll see them in action on Tuesday as women’s figure skating begins its short program. Amber Glenn, Alysa Liu and Isabeau Levito will compete for Team USA on Tuesday in hopes of securing the U.S. its first women’s singles medal since Sasha Cohen’s silver in 2006. The last U.S. woman to win gold was Sarah Hughes in 2002.

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Their chances for multiple spots on the podium aren’t bad — Liu won the women’s singles title at the 2025 World Championships, while Glenn has won gold at the U.S. Championships the last three years.

2. Mac Forehand pursues gold in men’s freeski Big Air final (1:30 p.m. ET)

U.S. freestyle skier Mac Forehand finished a disappointing 11th in the freeski Slopestyle competition, but he has an opportunity to win a medal in Tuesday’s Big Air final. He placed first in Sunday’s qualifying runs, with defending gold medalist Birk Rudd placing third. Forehand won Big Air gold at the 2023 and 2026 Winter X Games and now has a chance to add Olympic gold to his trophy case.

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Another American who could be on the podium is Troy Podmilsak. He finished 10th in qualifying but won gold at the 2023 World Championships and 2024 Winter X Games.

3. U.S. chases medal in two-man bobsled (1 p.m. ET)

The U.S. duo of Frank Del Duca and Josh Williamson has a shot at medaling in Tuesday’s two-man bobsled competition. The pair finished a tenth of a second out of third place after their first two runs on Monday at a combined 1:51.24.

That left them fourth behind Germany’s Adam Ammour and Alexander Schaller. (Germany took the first three spots after two runs, with Johannes Lochner and Georg Fleischhauer in first place.) The final two runs of the event are Tuesday, scheduled for 1 p.m. and 3:05 p.m. ET.

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4. USA men’s and women’s speed skating eyes medals in team pursuits (8:30 a.m. ET)

On the men’s side, Emery Lehman, Casey Dawson and Ethan Cepuran are viewed as the favorites to win gold, which would be Team USA’s first in the event. But the home nation of Italy could challenge for the top of the podium with Davide Ghiotto, Andrew Giovannini and Michele Malfatti. China and the Netherlands hold the other two semifinal spots.

For the women, Brittany Bowe and Mia Manganello are set to be the first racers for the U.S., with either Greta Myers and Giorgia Birkeland skating as the anchor. The team placed fourth in qualifiers, earning the last spot in the semifinals. Canada (which won gold in Beijing with Ivanie Blondin, Isabelle Weidemann, and Valarie Maltais), China and the Netherlands are viewed as the medal favorites.

The men’s semifinal begins at 8:30 a.m. ET, followed by the women scheduled for 8:52 a.m. ET.

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5. U.S. women (8:05 a.m. ET), men (3:05 a.m. ET) build resumes for semifinal berth

The U.S. women lost for only the second time in round-robin competition, falling to Italy 7-2 on Monday. They could not recover after falling behind 4-0 after five ends, showing a surprising lack of offense and precision.

At 4-2, Team USA is in a three-way tie with Switzerland and Korea for second in the round-robin standings. Sweden is in front with a 6-0 record. The top four teams qualify for the semifinals. The U.S. has two more matches in the round-robin session, facing Denmark on Tuesday and Great Britain on Wednesday.

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On the men’s side, the team is also 4-2 thus far through the round-robin session after defeating Sweden and Norway on Sunday. That has them tied with Norway for third place behind Switzerland (5-0) and Canada (5-1). With matches versus China and Italy remaining, the U.S. still has a chance to finish in the top four and qualify for the semifinals.

The one certainty on the men’s side is that Sweden will not defend its gold medal won at the 2022 Beijing Games. The Swedes are 1-5 after losing to Germany on Monday.

Olympics schedule for Tuesday, Feb. 17 (Day 11)

Biathlon

Relay

• 8:30 a.m.: Men’s final (USA Network coverage begins at 9:05 a.m.)🏅

Bobsled

• 1 p.m.: Two-man runs 3, 4 (airs on USA Network at 5:30 p.m.)🏅

Curling

Men’s round-robin

• 3:05 a.m.: Switzerland-Sweden, USA-China (airs on USA Network at 6 a.m.), Czechia-Germany

• 1:05 p.m.: Germany-Switzerland, USA-Italy (airs on USA Network at 9:30 p.m.), Canada-Great Britain, Sweden-Norway

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Women’s round-robin

• 8:05 a.m.: Sweden-Canada, Italy-Japan, Denmark-USA (airs on CNBC at 5 p.m.), South Korea-Switzerland

Figure Skating

• 12:45: Women’s short program (USA Network; NBC coverage begins at 2:40 p.m.)

Freestyle Skiing

Aerials

• 4:45 a.m.: Women’s qualifying (USA Network)

• 7:30 a.m.: Men’s qualifying (airs on USA Network at 11 a.m.)

Big air

• 1:30 p.m.: Men’s final (NBC)🏅

Hockey

Men’s qualification playoffs

• 6:10 a.m.: Two games, teams TBD (airs on USA Network at 12:15 p.m.)

• 10:40 a.m.: Teams TBD (airs on USA Network at 3:10 p.m.)

• 3:10 p.m.: Teams TBD (airs on USA Network at 8 p.m.)

Nordic Combined

Large hill

• 3 a.m.: Men’s ski jump (airs on USA Network at 1 a.m.)🏅

• 7:45 a.m.: Men’s 10km cross-country ski (airs on USA Network at 9:50 a.m.)🏅

Snowboarding

Slopestyle

• 7 a.m.: Women’s final (USA Network)🏅

Speed Skating

Team pursuit

• 8:30 a.m.: Men’s and women’s semifinals and finals (USA Network)🏅