The new Winter Olympics king

Hello from Milan and Cortina, where Johannes Høsflot Klæbothe Norwegian cross-country skier won his ninth gold medal, giving him the most in Winter Olympic history.

Additionally, Italian alpine skier Federica Brignone won another gold medal less than a year after a violent fall, and the Dutch duo of Femke Kok And Jutta Leerdam American dethroned Erin Jackson during the 500 meter speed skating final.

We call this month February legendary. From the Super Bowl to the Olympics to the NBA All-Star Game, which is being played tonight, you can watch it all on NBC. Watch our coverage of the basketball game and all things Olympics NBC News, NBC Sports and on Peacock.

Live from Milan Cortina

American speed skater Erin Jacksonreigning gold medalist in the 500 meters, had the chance to defend her title today. She got off to a good start, but Femke Kokthis year’s favorite, from the Netherlands, overtook her and finished in a blistering time of 36.49 seconds, an Olympic record.

Then Jackson skated over to Kok, smiling at him and patting him on the back in congratulations. Jackson finished in fifth place, 0.05 seconds behind bronze. The Netherlands Jutta Leerdam won silver after winning the 1,000 meter final at these Games.

Meanwhile, the American alpine skier Mikaela Shiffrin failed to win a medal today in giant slalom. On Wednesday, she will compete in the slalom, her last chance to avoid losing a medal at a second consecutive Olympics.

The U.S. men’s curling team beat Sweden today 8-5, and the U.S. men’s hockey team topped Germany 5-1. With this victory, the Americans won their group and obtained a bye for the quarterfinals; Canada and Slovakia won the other two groups.

The pairs figure skating competition also began today with the short program. The German pair of Nikita Volodin And Minerva Fabienne Hase posted a score of 80.01 and took first place. The two American pairs occupy 7th and 9th places, with the free program scheduled for tomorrow.

Spotlight on athletes

Italy Federica Brignone should not be there at the Winter Olympics. She tore her ACL and suffered multiple fractures in a fall last April, and just returned to competition on January 20. But less than a month later, she’s not only participating, she’s dominating.

Brignone, who wears a distinctive tiger helmet, won her second gold medal of these Games today by winning the women’s giant slalom. Her combined time over two runs (2:13.50) was nearly a second faster than that of American legend Mikaela Shiffrin, who took 11th place.

Brignone said the injuries were so severe that she “was on the verge of not being able to be an athlete anymore” and could barely walk.

“Actually, I was just happy to be at the Olympics. For me, it was an achievement, like something special, and that’s why I think I won, because I was already happy and grateful to be here,” Brignone told the NBC News correspondent. Molly Hunter after the competition.

Today, she won gold in the giant slalom and super-G. Today, as she crossed the finish line, she heard the Italian crowd roaring in the background. That’s how she realized she had won.

“The crowd, I felt it a lot, and then I turned around and saw No. 1,” she said.

A historic performance

There is a new king of the Winter Olympics. Cross-country skiing star Johannes Høsflot Klæbo won his ninth career gold medal today, breaking a tie with three other retired Norwegian athletes.

Klæbo was the anchor of the 4×7.5 kilometer relay team that took first place. It was his fourth gold medal at the Milan Cortina Games.

“I just tried to enjoy the moments today,” he said. “To be able to do that and win the ninth with the team is special, and this couldn’t be a better way to do it.”

The crazy thing? He hasn’t finished yet. Klæbo is expected to take part in two more races. If he wins both, he will join the American swimmer Michael Phelps as the only other Olympian to win more than 10 gold medals.

“It was a little easier to prepare for these Olympics than for the last Olympics and the world championships last year,” Klæbo said. “Having fun along the way is also important, and I think that shows in the results. »

Photo of the day

When to watch

The U.S. women’s hockey team faces Sweden in the semifinals for a spot in the gold medal game. Pairs figure skating will hand out medals and a trio of Americans are vying for the podium in monobob.

All times are Eastern Time and an asterisk denotes a medal event:

Monday February 16

• 3:05 a.m.: Curling, women’s round robin (Sweden vs Switzerland, China vs Canada, Denmark vs Great Britain)
• 4 a.m.: Alpine skiing, men’s slalom, run 1
• 4 a.m.: Bobsleigh, series 1 in duo
• 5 a.m.: Short track speed skating, women’s 1,000 meter quarterfinals
• 5:17 a.m.: Short track speed skating, men’s 500 meter heats
• 5:57 a.m.: Bobsleigh, two-man bob, series 2
• 6:06 a.m.: Short track speed skating, men’s 5,000 meter relay semi-finals
• 6:47 a.m.: Short track speed skating, women’s 1000 meter finals*
• 7:30 a.m.: Alpine skiing, slalom men 2*
• 8:05 a.m.: Curling, men’s round robin (Great Britain v Norway, Czechia v Canada, Sweden v Germany, Italy v China)
• 10:40 a.m.: Women’s hockey, semifinals, United States vs. Sweden
• 12 p.m.: Ski jumping, men’s super team trial event
• 1:00 p.m.: Bobsleigh, monobob women series 3
• 1:05 p.m.: Curling, women’s round robin (United States vs. Italy, Korea vs. China, Switzerland vs. Great Britain, Japan vs. Canada)
• 1:30 p.m.: Freestyle skiing finals, women’s big air freeskiing*
• 1:43 p.m.: Ski jumping, men’s super team, second round
• 2:00 p.m.: Figure skating, pair skating, free skating*
• 2:20 p.m.: Ski jumping, men’s team final*
• 3:06 p.m.: Bobsleigh, monobob women series 4*
• 3:10 p.m.: Women’s hockey, semi-finals, Canada vs. Switzerland

That’s all for now! We will come back tomorrow.