Winter Olympics 2026: Klæbo eyes third gold; Italy’s Passler to compete despite positive test – live | Winter Olympics 2026
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Cross-country ski-ing, Men’s 10km: Johannes Hoesflot Klaebo will set off shortly. But we’ve just seen GB’s Andrew Musgrave ski away wearing nothing but sleeveless vest on his top half.
Thanks to a BBC segment I’ve just learnt that your head hits the ice when you hit top speed in the skeleton, and that the G-force is similar to that experienced by a formula one driver. I think it rates as the sport I am least keen on ever trying.
But Matt Weston loves it, and he’s going for gold this evening, just after 9pm.
“It’s a broom!” writes William Cook, “and it has its own gate controversy.”
“CBC did an excellent podcast series on the broom that almost destroyed Curling: Broomgate: A Curling Scandal
“The Broomgate scandal (2015–2016) was a curling controversy over high-tech broomheads—like the “Hardline” model from BalancePlus—that allowed players to significantly alter a stone’s direction.
“After concerns about fairness and competitive balance, the World Curling Federation banned the directional fabric and standardized broom regulations.”
Thank you William, I stand corrected over my mop suggestion. And that podcast looks fantastic!
Britain lose 9-7 to Italy in round-robin curling match
Curling: Frantic brushing puts the Italians in an excellent position with two stones to go at the final end. Bruce Mouat shimmies the last British stone nicely into position … but Italy have the hammer and knock it away with their final shot. Joy from the Italian crowd, and handshakes all round, as Italy take a cracking match 9-7.
Britain currently lie fourth in the table, with the top four going through to the knock-out competition. Plenty of games to go though.
Curling: Britain have drawn level, with one end to go! Italy have the hammer, but who will hold their nerve?
Italy’s Passler to compete despite positive test
Italian biathlete Rebecca Passler will be able to participate in the Winter Olympics despite failing a doping test, the Italian skiing federation (Fisi) said on Friday. Italy’s anti-doping body (Nado) upheld her appeal against a provisional suspension that followed a positive test for the banned substance Letrozole on 26 January.
Nado’s Court of Appeal acknowledged the possibility of unintentional ingestion or unknowing contamination of the substance. “Passler will rejoin her teammates starting Monday, February 16, when she will be available to the coaching staff for the subsequent competitions on the Olympic programme,” Fisi said in a statement.
Italy’s National Olympic Committee (Coni) ordered the athlete’s exclusion from the team four days before the start of the Games, after NADO said she had tested positive. Passler appealed to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (Cas), arguing that her positive test for banned substances resulted from contamination. But earlier this week Cas said it had no jurisdiction over the case and she needed to appeal to Nado.
“These have been very difficult days,” said the 24-year-old Passler, whose best result was 11th in the women’s 4x6km relay at the 2024 IBU world championships. “I have always believed in my good faith. I want to thank everyone who helped me – from the lawyers who followed my case, to the Italian Winter Sports Federation, to my family and friends. Now I can finally focus 100% on biathlon again,” she added in the Fisi statement.
The women’s relay is on the programme for 18 February, while the women’s 12.5km mass start event is scheduled for three days later. Reuters
Curling: Both Italy and GB were undefeated going into this game, and things are still running close on the ice. We’re in the ninth end, and Italy still lead by just one point – 7-6. Incidentally, I’ve just noticed that what I’ve been calling a brush, is more like a mop.
In the other curling matches, Switzerland have beaten Czechia 7-3, Canada are leading their cross-boarder rivals USA 6-2, and China have just drawn level with Norway, 5-5.
Johannes Hoesflot Klaebo: cross-country skiing’s Usain Bolt
Later this morning, Norway’s Mr Snow, Johannes Hoesflot Klaebo, goes for his third gold of the Games in the men’s 10km freestyle.
He’s already pocketed the men’s cross country skiing sprint classic and the 10km skiathlon. If he wins, he becomes the joint most decorated men’s Olympic cross-country skier ever.
His secret? His 82 year old granddad and coach, who gave him a pair of skis when he was two, and wakes him up at 5.45 every morning for training. It works. Have you seen this man run up a hill in skis?
We went on a family holiday to Italy three years ago, which started with a Eurostar from St Pancras on a Monday morning and finished pulling into Milan the same evening, which seemed like some kind of magic. I loved every second of that two weeks, but most especially the cannoli. I hope our correspondents are tucking in.
Curling: In other news, the Italians have pulled away again in the curling, now leading 7-4 after seven ends. This a round-robin match, so Britain will still have an excellent chance of qualifying even if they do go on to lose.
A timetable of today’s medal events
Men’s cross-country skiing, 10km freestyle – 11.45am GMT🥇
Men’s biathlon – 2pm GMT🥇
Women’s snowboard cross – 2.41pm GMT🥇
Men’s 10,000m speed skating – 4pm GMT🥇
Men’s Singles figure skating – 7pm GMT🥇
Men’s snowboard halfpipe 7.30pm GMT🥇
Men’s individual skeleton – 9.05pm GMT🥇
Curling: The comeback is on at the ice centre! After six ends, Britain have pulled the deficit down to just one point, the Italian leading 5-4.
Snowboarding: Britain’s Charlotte Bankes has made it safely through the first seeding run in the snowboard cross under the most perfect azure skies. It’s a decent time, 1:14:21, and should sneak her into the top 20.
Straight to Cortina and the ice stadium, where it’s not great news for our plucky Brits in the curling. The men’s quartet are 5-3 down after four ends to the Italians, who are also winning the fashion stakes with their natty white tops, while the Brits brush away in sensible navy.
It could have been worse though, Britain won the battle of the ruler to take two points at the last end.
Latest medal table
Good morning! It’s another heart-lifting morning in northern Italy as the Games roll into day seven. Fittingly, seven golds await today’s athletes, and one could end up around a British neck.
Not to jinx Matt Weston, but he started the Olympics as this country’s hottest chance of gold, and remains that halfway through the skeleton competition. In supreme form this season, after winning five of seven World Cup golds, he goes into this evening’s medal run comfortably first after two of four races. Britain’s Marcus Wyatt lies seventh.
Fellow racer Vladyslav Heraskevych made an appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport last night after being disqualified from the skeleton 21 minutes before racing over his “helmet of memory” which honoured Ukrainian athletes killed during the Russian invasion of Ukraine. But he does so with the competition happening without him.
Elsewhere, Norway’s Johannes Høsflot Klæbo goes for gold in the men’s cross-country skiing, as does another Nowegian, Johan-Olav Botn, in the shooting and ski-ing double-endurance biathalon. He’ll be chased by French World Cup leader Eric Perrot and Italian favourite Tommaso Giacomel.
British snowboarder Charlotte Bankes is searching for her first Olympic medal, either in French or British colours, when she sets off in the exhilarating snowboard cross. Australian Scotty James hopes to add a gold to his medal collection this evening in the men’s halfpipe final.
Then there’ s the lactic acid challenge of the men’s 10000m speed skating final, and the artistic beauty of the men’s figure skating, free skate final, where all eyes rest on the USA’s Ilia Malinin and his marvellous quadruple axel.
For good measure, throw in men’s and women’s ice-hockey, and curling– which kicks things off this morning. Britain’s in-form men play Italy, after beating arch-rivals Sweden yesterday, while the women’s quartet, who lost to China last night, take on South Korea at lunchtime.
Do join us, we’ll be here all day.
