CORTINA D’AMPEZZO, Italy — The team relay concluded the Olympic luge competition Thursday at the Eugenio Monti track in Cortina d’Ampezzo, bringing together four disciplines — women’s singles, men’s doubles, men’s singles and women’s doubles — in one final race against the clock.

As the first sled pushed off, luge fans showed out for their sixth and final day of competition a little bit worse for wear but more excited than ever. National garb reached new heights, including more than a dozen supporters in German flag afro wigs and flag capes parading through the Cortina Sliding Center. 

Teammates not competing in the relay clustered along the finish dock, waiting for the moment each sled hit the pad and the next gate snapped open. Every team cheered for the other as the relay held the crowd’s attention in the fastest succession of luge feats ever. 

Ashley Farquharson opened for the United States, posting a 55.771-second run, third fastest in the women’s singles leg, and immediately turned toward the track to watch the rest of her team descend. The Americans finished fifth overall in three minutes and 42.776 seconds.

“First, the best part about racing relay is that you do have a team, and it’s kind of like a win or lose. You do it together,” Farquharson said. “I’m incredibly proud of the performance we put on today.”

As the leading athlete, Farquharson remained at the finish, able to see each run unfold after her for two more nail-biting minutes. 

“I am actually the only one that gets to watch everyone else’s run,” she said. “So it’s the best for me. They’re stuck at the top waiting. It’s a great time, and I love seeing them coming down.”

Marcus Mueller and Ansel Haugsjaa followed in men’s doubles, Johnny Gustafson in men’s singles, and Sophia Kirkby and Chevonne Forgan in women’s doubles. The relay format was introduced at the Sochi 2014 Winter Olympics. It requires each athlete to strike a hanging touchpad at the finish to release the next sled, and the fastest combined time wins.

Germany won gold with a track record of 3:41.672, followed by Austria in second place and Italy winning the bronze.

Haugsjaa said the final day of his Olympic run had been emotional, after he and his luge partner, Mueller, dropped to sixth place in the men’s doubles competition following their second run despite finishing in the lead after the first.

“The last 24 hours have been a whirlwind of emotions and everything, so it was a lot coming into today,” he said. “Definitely super nervous for this run, but it’s great racing with the team. We just wanted to come back and end on a good note, show what we can do.”

He said getting the team together before the start brought a massive surge of energy and excitement that carried into each leg of the event for all the athletes. 

Kirkby and Forgan closed out the relay as the women’s doubles team in what has been a historic week for their discipline. Women’s doubles made its Olympic debut on Wednesday, with Kirkby and Forgan the first women to compete in the inaugural event, a milestone that signaled a structural shift within the sport, expanding medal opportunities and moving luge toward greater gender parity.

“I’m just so excited to be a part of the team,” Kirkby said. “Really happy that we just got to be a part of this history as women’s doubles is being added to the rest of the team. I’m just grateful to be racing with everyone that’s here with me.”

Racing the final leg of the team relay, the pair closed out a new Olympic era for luge, representing a field they hope will continue to grow in depth and visibility after these Games. 

“I’m so proud of us to be here. I hope that we’ll see the women’s doubles field grow and grow in the coming years. I’m so proud of our team. Racing with them is such a treat,” said Forgan. 

From the finish dock, Ashley’s parents, Ben and Stacey Farquharson, had “the best seats in the house” with a direct view of the athletes as they jumped off their sleds and into their teammates’ arms in the finish. For these parents of now a two-time Olympian, this Olympic experience gave them something Beijing could not — proximity.

When Ashley competed in her first Olympic Games in Beijing in 2022, COVID protocols kept her family from attending in person. Stacey said that while watching remotely brought its own kind of intensity, it also served as a more controlled introduction to the Olympic stage and a way to experience the magnitude of the event without managing the crowds and constant activity that have defined their time in Cortina. In that sense, Beijing was something of a trial run for their family, she said.

Ben described the week as emotionally consuming from the moment Ashley’s individual event began on Tuesday, when she took home bronze in women’s singles luge — the third-ever luge medal won by the USA. He said the support that followed her podium performance extended well beyond the track, with messages arriving from Park City, former coaches, teachers and neighbors.

“It was kind of a whirlwind,” he said. “We got so many messages and so much support from back home that it was overwhelming. I think we’ve finally just caught up with everybody who’s been commenting. It’s like an experience you can’t describe.”

Still riding the high of his daughter’s bronze medal and the dramatic run that earned it, Ben said the attention in the days since has been overwhelming and affirming, with crowds gathering to get photos with Ashley and her medal. 

“And then finally for her to finish in that outrun where she was all the way in the green and it was succinct and it was perfect. We knew she had a podium. She knew she had a podium. Everyone did. It was just a sensational feeling of just unmitigated joy,” said Ben. 

For her family, the medal represents not only a personal achievement, but the community that shaped her. 

“She knows where she’s from. She knows her roots,” Ben said. “Even though she’s worked so hard for what she has, she knows she’s been given so much as well, and she’s very grateful for that.”

The Farquharsons watched as Ashley met each of her teammates in the finish with an outpouring of love and joy. 

“They’re a very close-knit group of people that really actually like each other,” Ben said. “They’re always cheering each other on. They want the best for everybody. To watch them come up off the track and just the joy and the energy that they were able to show for one another was really exceptional.”

The atmosphere surrounding the team relay put sport first and competition second, where in the end, every athlete was screaming for Italy as they pulled into medal contention and Austrian and Italian lugers stood arm in arm as they waited for Germany’s winning run to pull into the finish. 

“It’s kind of intoxicating. Just that, that excitement going out there, there are nerves around, for sure. But I think the underlying levels of excitement really overpower everything. It’s incredible,” said Gustafson. 

Gustafson’s parents, Eric and Joanne Gustafson, said the end of the Olympic week felt like the kind of fulfillment that comes after a years of buildup, with equal parts relief and pride. Now, they said, they can finally exhale.

“You know on Christmas Day after all the presents are open, you’ve had Christmas dinner — that’s the way I’m feeling right now,” Eric said. “So exciting. The only thing that’s different is massive amounts of pride for what these athletes have accomplished. The amount of work and time and sacrifice and dedication that they put in — it’s just unbelievable.”

With the luge competition now complete, and still nine days left of the Winter Games, the U.S. luge team said they will be setting their sights on supporting every other Team USA athlete they can and giving their luck to the other sliding sports as the first medal event in skeleton begins on Friday. 

For Kirkby, her post-luge Olympics will look like a lot of first dates. She playfully dubbed herself the Winter Olympics’ “most eligible bachelorette,” sharing on social media that she was single and open to getting to know people while in the Olympic Village. Thousands of fans responded, and Kirkby said she already has multiple Valentine’s Day plans lined up now that her luge events have concluded.

“I’ve got my first date lined up tomorrow. I’m going to go eat some sushi. I’ll report back. I’ve got a whole schedule,” she said. 

While Ashley’s initial response, echoed by the chorus of her team, was “party!” after the competition, she’ll return to classes at Purdue Global just a few days after the closing ceremony. 

“She’s a very determined young lady,” said Ben. “There were countless times where we would be working on one thing or another, and that’s when I knew she had a little something more. We know what it takes to get there. Stacy and I identified that she had what it takes. Would she do it? That was up to her. She doesn’t take it for granted. She works hard at it.”

The post Farquharson and U.S. Luge close Olympic run surrounded by team and family appeared first on Park Record.

CORTINA D’AMPEZZO, Italy — Rowland Hall’s Mary Bocock made her Olympics debut on Thursday in the women’s super-G at the Tofane Alpine Skiing Center. At 22, she is competing on the world’s biggest stage just four years after graduating from Rowmark Ski Academy, a feat she agrees is shocking.

“It’s amazing,” Bocock said. “This is a dream come true to be at the Olympics.”

The super-G, short for super giant slalom, is a single-run event that blends downhill speed with giant slalom turns. Allowing no training runs, athletes inspect the course for 90 minutes in the morning, then race it blind at full speed. 

On Thursday, heavy fog in the mountains obstructed the view of cameras, crowds and skiers alike. For athletes, that meant managing high velocity into big, technical turns while also battling flat light and low visibility through the upper section of the course as warming temperatures softened the snow throughout. 

Seventeen of the 43 starters did not finish, with five of the first nine disqualified after missing gates across multiple sections, making the super-G into a wild game, where anyone could end up on the podium with so much of the field out of contention. 

Austria’s Cornelia Hütter, who had tied for fourth with American Jackie Wiles in Sunday’s downhill, seized bronze in the final Olympic race of her career after narrowly missing the podium with a fifth-place finish in Tuesday’s team combined. France’s Romane Miradoli took silver. And Italy’s Federica Brignone, less than a year removed from a triple leg break and ACL rupture, skied to gold.

The U.S. team, however, struggled significantly in the super-G. Downhill gold medalist Breezy Johnson did not finish after straddling a gate 20 seconds into her race and sending herself into the b-net, and Bocock fell after losing control on a jump on the second half of the course. 

Wiles, who took bronze in the team combined, finished 13th overall, just ahead of teammate Keeley Cashman in 15th. 

“On days like today, it’s kind of a chance when you could do really well, because some of the field goes out,” Bocock said. “Typically, I would like to use that to my advantage, but I also didn’t make it out.” 

Bocock said the top section felt manageable, and she was happy with how she performed in the middle. But she took a hard fall after a tricky jump, which put her sideways in the air and set off the airbag in her suit upon landing. She got back up and skied down uninjured, though unable to cross the finish line in her first Olympic race. 

“Well, there was a roll for which I had a plan, and I didn’t execute that plan,” she laughed. “And so that is where I went out. I crashed, my airbag went off, but I’m totally fine, which is lucky.”

Her parents, Amy and Alex Bocock, stood in the stands with friends from across the ski racing community in the Intermountain West, all people who have known the Olympian since she was 10 years old.

“You would never dream this would happen,” Amy said. “It’s incredible.”

What had previously felt like competing within the ski racing community now felt connected to a much wider audience. The scale of the audience and the sense of national representation gave her a clearer understanding that the Olympics carry a different weight — an experience she said she is grateful for, regardless of how the race ended. 

“Everyone talks about the Olympics, but now that I’m here, I didn’t necessarily realize the magnitude of the effect and the outreach I might have,” said Bocock.

Bocock and her sister, Elisabeth, made history during the 2023-24 season when both debuted in the World Cup giant slalom in Sölden, Austria. They were the first pair of sisters to make their debut in the same race since 1999.

Bocock said her Olympic journey is far from done. Although she did not finish the race, she promised she’ll be back for more.

The next two Winter Games feel like a double home Olympics, she said — Salt Lake City, where she grew up skiing and racing, and the French Alps, where she lived for a year and built close ties within the ski community.

“I have strong connections to the next Olympics as well as in Salt Lake. So I’m really, really looking forward to the next eight years, the next two cycles and Utah in 2034,” said Bocock. “I hope next Olympics I make it down and do well.”

She said watching Brignone secure gold in front of a home crowd felt like a dream come true. Observing the connection between Brignone and the Italian fans, the celebration in the finish area and the constant energy in the stands, demonstrated what it means to win on home snow and only motivated Bocock further to do the same in 2034. 

“I’m hoping to be there with my sister, that would be awesome. I want to be like Federica. She’s the home girl right now, and she’s winning and I hope to do that at home too,” said Bocock. 

Bocock said guidance from veterans like Lindsey Vonn helped her navigate the scale of her first Olympic experience.

“Lindsey did tell me there are a lot of things to prepare myself for,” Bocock said. “That it’s going to be a little overwhelming, but it’s all really cool to just experience all that.”

Vonn, who has spent nearly two decades on the U.S. Ski Team, has offered an enduring presence for younger athletes coming through the pipeline. Bocock added that all the girls on the speed team have been there to support her through her Olympic debut. 

“We have a good group, a younger group, coming up too and that’s so promising. It is so cool that we have so much depth with Breezy and Jackie, and we have some girls who aren’t even here, who are also really, really good. So it’s really exciting to have such a strong team to do this with,” said Bocock. 

The super-G was Bocock’s only Olympic event, and she is already headed home to prepare for her return to the World Cup circuit.

The crash did not dampen Bocock’s outlook. She spent time walking through Cortina d’Ampezzo with friends from high school, stopping to take photos in front of the Olympic rings set up in town. The atmosphere with flags lining the streets, athletes moving between venues and fans gathering in team gear gave her a chance to absorb the scale of the event from outside the start gate.

Bocock has also thrown herself into pin trading, a long-standing tradition at the Games in which athletes, volunteers and spectators exchange small commemorative pins representing their countries or teams. Among her favorites is a pin from Snoop Dogg.

Overall, Team USA faced a difficult day on snow. But for Johnson, while she didn’t leave the finish corral with a gold medal, she did leave it with an engagement ring. 

After crashing into the netting early in her run, Johnson stood up quickly and skied to the bottom uninjured, her helmet scraped but intact. The super-G marked her final race of the Games. Minutes later, still processing the result, her boyfriend, Connor Watkins, approached her in the finish area.

Johnson, who lives in Salt Lake City with Watkins, said she had long imagined being proposed to at an Olympic Games.

“It felt fitting to kind of combine two of my loves, and it’s a special place at the Olympics. I feel like there’s a lot of mystique around it. And, you know, also, you get free photography,” she joked.

Watkins had been planning the proposal for about a year, arranging the ring, coordinating family logistics and preparing for multiple scenarios depending on how the race unfolded.

But for Johnson, after completing her final race of these Olympic Games, being around the people she loves and celebrating anyway felt the perfect fit, she said.

The post Utahn Mary Bocock crashes in Olympic debut at super-G, but unhurt and happy appeared first on Park Record.

CORTINA D’AMPEZZO, Italy — On the streets of Cortina d’Ampezzo, the Olympic spirit is everywhere.

Bringing more than a little color to an otherwise overcast day, Ally Pleckaitis and Josh Dewey, better known as walking American flags, brought their national pride to Italy in the form of matching stars and stripes snowsuit onesies. 

Matching head to toe, the couple stood out against the muddy cobblestone streets, and though the loud American stereotype doesn’t usually work in the USA’s favor, the pair’s love of the Olympic spirit brought a little light to the day, as if dropping red, white and blue glitter in the shape of their footsteps as they walked. 

“Where does one buy a suit like this?” Pleckaitis joked. “Well, probably only in Dallas, but we bought these online. Go big or go big, right?”

Pleckaitis and Dewey have a long Olympic history. Self-declared “world’s biggest Olympic fans,” the pair got engaged at the Paris Olympics in 2024, and on top of that Pleckaitis has attended the Games in London and Rio, making Milano Cortina their first Winter Games experience. 

Pleckaitis said the idea for their coordinated costumes came from watching people at her first Games in 2012. 

“The whole point is going and, meeting people from around the world and at my first Olympics, I didn’t realize how big you could go, and we just wore normal clothes,” she said. “Oh my God, we totally missed out! It’s a mistake I won’t make again.” 

With three earrings in each ear, one red, one white and one blue, plus matching crossbody bags and identical flag-print jumpsuits, Pleckaitis said they weren’t even the most enthusiastically dressed people they’d seen.

“I feel like we’re mild compared to so many others, at least at the Summer Olympics. People get crazy. They’re enthusiastic! It’s great,” said Pleckaitis. 

And that was true in Cortina d’Ampezzo as well. Behind them, four towering Italian men in matching Luigi costumes crossed the cobblestones, wooden shot cups tied around their necks for easy refills as they moved through the crowd.

On the weekend days, the main street in Cortina d’Ampezzo is filled with restaurant patios and bars with DJs spilling people in all kinds of garb and winter gear spilling out into the streets. 

A group of Germans in track suits striped with the colors of their flag and giant gold dollar sign chains and wigs dance to the beats of a DJ playing on a hotel patio. They never quite seemed to make it all the way inside the venue, but the music is plenty loud, and dancing on the street is free. 

Pleckaitis said one of the loudest crowds she has seen is in the curling stadium And maybe that’s because it’s one of the only indoor venues in Cortina d’Ampezzo, but the group of Eastern European supporters came armed with organized chants and anthems that roared through the stands every night of the week.

“My dad’s from Lithuania. So I’ve seen it — the Eastern European countries are wild. You should catch them in basketball. They don’t even like curling, and that’s how they are,” Pleckaitis joked. 

Though she has been an Olympics lover for nearly three decades, she said she decided to make her first Winter Games with this trip to Cortina d’Ampezzo after her mother got sick. Fueled by the childhood memories of attending torch relays and family watch parties, she adopted the “you only live once” mentality and booked the tickets in her honor. 

“My grandmother’s a huge Olympics fan. That’s how we got into it. That’s how I got into it. I guess I’m just a huge fan. I didn’t realize everyone wasn’t like this. It’s an expensive habit to have,” said Pleckaitis, to which her fiancé laughed.

Dewey, while a lifelong sports lover, only got into the Olympics after meeting Ally, and now fully hooked, missing the Super Bowl on Sunday barely even crossed his mind. 

“I’ve become more of a fan of it since meeting her because she’s so enthusiastic about it,” said Dewey. For the Super Bowl, I did nothing. I taped it, and maybe I’ll watch it again later, but, I mean, who cares? We’re at the Olympics.” 

“And I’m from New England, so don’t tell anyone!” added Pleckaitis. 

Though it might be costly, for these two it’s worth it. Utah will be sure to see them in 2034, they promised. 

The streets are closed off for pedestrian traffic, though sometimes a police car will beep its way through the crowd. Most people don’t react, and others just throw animated gestures in Italian that suggest the car should wait its turn — generally irreverent of authority in this small mountain town. 

But it starts to make sense as outside of the Cortina Sliding Center security gates, the carabinieri, Italy’s military police force, share a cigarette with some volunteers hovering at their post. 

Around town, the carabinieri staff pop-up engagement tents flanked by mannequins dressed in full ski gear, and they patrol the streets in dark green Land Rover Defenders. It’s not glamorous, but it’s still Cortina d’Ampezzo. 

With the world attending Cortina’s Olympics, some degree of embarrassing fun and national pride is expected. So when a group of eight full-grown adults started chanting “USA! USA! USA!” through the crosswalk, no one turned a head. 

The group was saying goodbye to Cory Thiesse, American curling champion, whom they happened to run into on the street and hoped to wish well at his next match that evening. 

So when the first thing they said was, “We’re friends with the curlers!” It didn’t seem that they really meant it. But no, Cory and Korey, as they call them, Cory Thiesse and Korey Dropkin, truly are their friends, solidified after Kyle and Laura Fisher offered the U.S. mixed doubles team a room in their house when they visited Charlotte, North Carolina, for a charity event. 

This particular group of loud Americans all hail from Charlotte. They met through the Charlotte Curling Club, an organization they have seen rise from a membership of just eight people curling on borrowed arena ice to now more than 330 members with a dedicated facility of their own.

“About curling: The sport is fantastic. It’s fun. It’s entertaining. You get to cheer loud. You get to pull for your teams. But the better part about curling is the community that surrounds it,” said Kyle. “Without curling, I wouldn’t have met these people, and these are some of the most fantastic people alive, and we have a club full of them in Charlotte.” 

Scot Miller traced the club’s origin back to 2010, just after the Vancouver Games, when a handful of friends were watching curling on a television at a bar.

“They were like, ‘We need to do this. This looks like fun,’” he said. “So they figured out how to start a club, and now we have over 330 people.”

Now curlers in their own right, Kyle played third for the Puerto Rican men’s national team at the 2024 Pan Continental Curling Championships, and Laura represented the club at the 2026 Women’s Club National Championships. But the Fishers’ curling journey only began in 2017, when Kyle gifted Laura a Learn to Curl session for Christmas.

“We went one night to learn to curl and were hooked,” she said. “The people, the community of curling in the United States and in the world, especially in Charlotte, is like nothing else.”

For Adrienne Kruzer and the club, having met and gotten to know Olympians Thiesse and Dropkin changed their Olympic experience. 

Having watched the pair rise through the ranks over the past few years, and then standing in the arena Tuesday to see them win a silver medal, the moment carried a different weight.

“It makes you tear up,” Lara McKee said. “You just feel so proud.”

Thiesse and Dropkin’s win on Tuesday marked a historic day for the United States, earning the third-ever U.S. Olympic curling medal in history, making Thiesse the first American woman to do so. 

“As soon as they qualified back in May, we booked tickets. We’ve been planning this for half a year,” said Kruzer. 

For McKee, the curling world operates on a kind of open-door policy, making a global community feel like a small town. 

“There’s a joke among curlers that you can wear a button that says, ‘Return me to the nearest curling club,’ and you’ll find a friend,” she said. “You can lose everything you own, anywhere in the world, and someone will find you and say, ‘Come on in. You’re family.’”

That feeling, she said, extends into the Olympic arena itself.

“You’re sitting around with people from other countries, and even though their team may be beating yours or you’re beating them, there’s no animosity,” she said. “You’re congratulating each other on each team’s shots because they’re making incredible shots out there on the ice. You can’t hate that.”

This Olympic spirit floods Cortina d’Ampezzo, from the athletes to their fans to the police. Vape clouds trail behind teenagers as they scan tickets and give directions next to older Italian women in fur earmuffs and oversized diamond earrings, standing ankle-deep in mud, pointing strangers toward the next shuttle.

For these two weeks, at least, the love of the Games is the great equalizer.

The post On the streets of Cortina d’Ampezzo, the Olympic spirit is in everyone appeared first on Park Record.

CORTINA D’AMPEZZO, Italy — It’s been eight years since Lindsey Vonn’s last Olympic run. Now 41, one titanium knee heaver and down an ACL, she risked it all for the gold one last time. Vonn crashed 13.4 seconds into her run, ending what could be the final race of her career as she was evacuated from the pitch via medical helicopter. 

Another American, Jackson Hole’s Breezy Johnson, took the gold after completing her run in 1 minute and 36.1 seconds, though the victory paled in the moment to the crash and likely end to Vonn’s legendary career and past week.

Silver medalist Germany’s Emma Aicher raced to the finish just 0.04 seconds behind Johnson’s time. Italian hometown hero Sofia Goggia took bronze. Team USA’s Jackie Wiles came in fourth in her second Olympic Games, 12 years after her Olympic debut in Sochi 2014.  

This gold is the first Olympic medal of Johnson’s career, the first won by the United States at the 2026 Games, and the second-ever gold downhill medal for the U.S. women’s team.

The first went to Vonn in 2010. 

Vonn, the 13th racer to start, fell at the first jump when she hooked her arm inside the fourth gate, twisting herself perpendicular to the pitch and tumbling over herself as she landed. She was not seen moving as medical personnel flooded the slope before loading her into the stretcher to be airlifted away. 

She crashed just seconds after leaving the start gate, all the gusto and power of her launch spent in an instant. 

The crowd’s dismayed outcry echoed through the venue before falling immediately into a long, stunned silence. Only the DJ’s relentless beat continued, horribly incongruous with the spectators, who stood frozen and watching for any sign of movement or word of her condition that never came until the whir of the helicopter overhead. 

Vonn’s sisters, parents and friends closed their eyes to the broadcast replay, gazing at their feet as they grappled with the outcome of Vonn’s daring last race. 

It’s been just over a week since Vonn crashed in her last World Cup race of the season at Crans-Montana on Jan. 30, where she ruptured her ACL. She announced on Tuesday that she would press on and race her Olympic downhill run without surgery, despite a complete tear of the ligament, bone bruising and meniscal tears in her left knee. 

Vonn did well in her training runs ahead of Sunday’s race, finishing on Saturday with the third-fastest time at 1 minute and 38.28 seconds. 

Johnson was sitting in the leader’s chair as she watched the crash, crying as the outcome settled in. With crossed fingers, she wished her friend well. 

The atmosphere of the crowd never fully recovered in the wake of Vonn’s crash, which was followed by two others: Austria’s Nina Ortlieb and Andorra’s Cande Moreno. The stands stayed quiet through the next skier, Austrian Mirjam Puchner’s descent, and while the crowd briefly found its voice for Goggia, the energy didn’t return until the medal ceremony.

Longtime friend and rival of Vonn, bronze medalist Goggia, embraced her teammates at the finish in tears. Goggia won the silver in the 2022 women’s downhill and the gold in 2018. Having now completed the rainbow on home soil, she joked, she hopes her luck will reset and she’ll earn another of every color.

Jackie Wiles made her historic Olympic comeback this year, 12 years after her last Games in Sochi 2014. At 33, she said it is difficult to come to terms with her fourth-place seat — so close to the podium and without much time left in her career to get there.

“I’m extremely happy for Breezy. It’s incredible. She did an amazing job today. But of course, it’s hard being in fourth. I feel like, after everything I’ve been through in my career at my age, I don’t have many chances left,” said Wiles. “So, yeah, it hurts. It’s really hard. But trying to look ahead. Still have more racing, and that’s all I can do.”

“There were a lot of emotions already before I even ran. I saw Breezy have an incredible run. I was really pumped and psyched for her. It was cool to watch. And then watching Lindsey go down from the stat was pretty awful,” said Wiles. “We have such a sisterhood. We travel with each other on the road. We’re a family. And to watch someone you care about that much … it really sucks. And my heart broke for her in that moment.”

Wiles said she knew the team had to keep focus, despite the challenge of a 20-minute delay and concern for teammate Vonn.

“I knew that she would want us to stay in it,” Wiles said. “Bella (Wright) and I still had a race. We still had a job at hand, and she would want us to go out there and give it our best.”

Teammate Isabella Wright, who finished the Olympic downhill in 21st place, said that regardless of the outcome, Vonn should be proud. 

“It’s the last thing you want to see for Lindsay, but she should be really proud of everything that she has gone through to get back here. And regardless if she got last today, if she won, she obviously crashed, but whatever happened today, she’s an inspiration to all of us, and she should be really proud,” said Wright. 

As the race resumed, Johnson remained in the leader’s chair for all 31 racers that followed her, waiting in anxious anticipation of one racer getting close to her time. She said she knew her time was great, enough for a medal, but as fast as it was, watching Aicher close in on the finish made her a little nervous. 

“I was pretty sure it would be enough for a medal,” she said. “When Emma was coming down, I was a little stressed. But otherwise, it was really nice.”

For Goggia, the long course hold and warming snow took an emotional toll ahead of her start. She raced just one skier after Vonn’s horrific crash, making it difficult to keep focus in the moments leading up to her start. 

“It was really a mental challenge,” Goggia said. “I stayed focused on myself. I didn’t watch anyone else. I had my lines, my strategy.”

At 20 years old, Aicher is the youngest to medal in this event since 1994 and earned Germany their first medal in the event in 28 years. But while Aicher was keeping Johnson on her toes, she stood just as stunned at the finish after what she said felt like a less-than-perfect run.

“It’s unbelievable what happened today. (My run) didn’t feel good, to be honest. Over every roller and jump, I didn’t feel great, but I think I managed to let the speed go pretty well,” said Aicher. 

These women race again on Monday in the team combined, an Olympic debut for the combined downhill and slalom event that launched Johnson to dual World Champion status last year when she won with Mikaela Shiffrin after getting the gold in the downhill event, exactly a year to the date of her Olympic gold, Feb. 8.

For Wiles and many others, this is another shot at the Olympic dream.

“I feel like I have so much speed on this hill, and I’m grateful that I have another shot at it,” she said.

The post Johnson takes downhill gold, Wiles fourth in the wake of Vonn’s crash appeared first on Park Record.

MILAN — Showcasing art, fashion and innovation, the 2026 Milano Cortina opening ceremony heralded peace above all at the “armonia,” harmony, themed evening. All through the stadium, a web of flashing lights wound a living map of the world, from those on the stadium stage floor through to the LED wristbands on the arm of every spectator. 

You could always tell where the Americans were. They weren’t just dressed in national colors, but stitched together in neon stars and stripes and red, white and blue fur coats and wigs. The Italians, and really everyone else, kept it to matching blue jackets, a discreet tricolore on the arm, with a few rowdy exceptions, of course — this is Italy. 

More than 50,000 people from around the globe flowed through the San Siro Stadium in Milan on Friday night. Despite the lines at every bathroom, concession stand and staircase to the arena, everyone smiled as they bounced on their toes in anticipation of the Games. 

As groups climbed the stadium’s concrete coils to their seats in a slow death march, shoulder to shoulder, they chanted an Italian call and response “EI, EI, EI!”, “AY, AY, AY!”, the sound echoing up the walls of the outer layer of the stadium. That, more than anything, gave life to the evening’s Olympic spirit, superseding country and overcoming conflict — and maybe more impressively, impatience. 

With the timed precision required of live TV, the stadium crowd watched as crews dressed in black staged the dancers and their equipment in the hour leading up to 8 p.m., and like watching the ball drop on New Year’s Eve, count down the seconds to air time. 

At exactly 10 seconds past the 8 o’clock hour, the room went black before pulsing lights snaked across the stadium floor and threaded up through the audience in the stands. Every wrist in the crowd flickered in sync, LED bands glowing and dimming together, turning the audience into part of the light show. 

According to the Milano Cortina 2026 organizing committee, the opening event was the result of more than 700 hours of rehearsal, 1,000 props and performers from 27 different nations. 

In the starting number, dancers from the Teatro alla Scala academy mimicked winter sports in sweeping motions around ancient Roman busts before three massive tubes of paint poured down and colored the stage in bright colors. 

A rainbow of dancing Moka pots, Italian inventions and icons paid homage to the creativity and culture of the host country’s innovation. 

Three massive caricatures bobbed onto the stage, a nod to the three great opera maestros, Gioachino Rossini, Giuseppe Verdi and Giacomo Puccini, who would return throughout the night to a Milano Cortina theme song, in a comic relief kind of way, paying respect to the opera with a wink. 

Tens of thousands of people disappeared into silence so complete you couldn’t tell where anyone was anymore as Andrea Bocelli rose to a final line, “Vincerò,” which means, “I will win.”

“Volare, oh oh,” Mariah Carey sang, and the stadium answered her back, fully committed, though entirely off-key. 

This is the most geographically spread out Winter Olympics in history, with venues stretching across roughly 8,500 square miles, an attribute many have found challenging and controversial, particularly during an opening ceremony where many countries were absent from the Milan stage while their athletes waved to the cameras from the Italian cities of Livigno, Predazzo and Cortina d’Ampezzo. 

“Welcome to the first widespread Olympic Games,” said Giovanni Malagó, president of the 2026 organizing committee.

Athletes appeared in their national colors bearing their country’s flag at every ceremony across Milan, Cortina d’Ampezzo, Predazzo and Livigno, dancing to the same beat in ski towns hundreds of miles apart. 

Greece led the Parade of Nations, as tradition demands, but without athletes present in Milan. Though at first disappointing, with the first round of countries’ athletes all spread across the other three ceremonies, as the parade settled into its rhythm, the crowd turned to the screens, tracking the energy and celebrations unfolding simultaneously across the country. With no single place bearing ownership of the Games, the Olympics really did belong to everyone.

As athletes crossed the stage in Milan, the San Siro Stadium erupted in a roar of applause and support that crossed the venue like a wave, flowing as the athletes traveled through from one side to the other. Athletes brought the stadium back to life as more and more countries were represented by athletes. Some waved shyly while others screamed through the Olympic ring, bearing the flag atop a teammate’s shoulders, taking selfies and video logs and looking around in awe as thousands, and millions at home, cheered for them. 

For being Olympians and some of the world’s very best, flag-bearing posed a new challenge for some. Athletes struggled against the wind, hitting their fellow teammates with the fabric and tangling their flags around themselves. Still, a flag mishap couldn’t bring them down as they hugged their friends and waved to the crowd, pumping their fists in victory. 

Canada arrived as big as an army with their bright maple leaf apparel in every city. Brazil earned its applause with an ecstatic performance from alpine skier and flagbearer Lucas Pinheiro Braathen, showcasing the Brazilian flag on the underside of his parka. “It’s Pinheiro!” people in the audience yelled, as teammates behind the flagbearer clutched their heads in disbelief at their place on the Olympic stage.

Jamaica brought the energy to Cortina d’Ampezzo, stopping mid-runway to dance it out while the Milan crowd laughed off-screen. Iceland broke the crowd with a spontaneous step dance in Livigno. Cream cable knits announced Team Ireland. Mexico earned cheers with just a handful of athletes in Milan. Spain brought one of the loudest sustained applause of the night, followed closely by Sweden and Switzerland. 

But it was Ukraine that brought the stadium to its feet. For the full four minutes the athletes in Milan crossed the stage, applause roared unending. 

Ukrainian athletes danced while their flagbearer walked proudly waving their flag, stopping in surprise at the outcry from the audience. “Viva Ucraina!” rang out from the stands, audible even over the pounding drums and roaring ovation. 

Italian President Sergio Mattarella’s appearance brought unanimous applause. With the roar of support for the country’s leader, Americans in the crowd were reminded of a rare kind of unity, one standing in stark contrast to the stadium erupting in dissenting boos for Vice President JD Vance as he flashed on the screens during Team USA’s walk. 

“Tonight, Italy opens its arms to the world from the city of Milan to the mountains of Cortina d’Ampezzo, we welcome you to a land of history, innovation, of creative culture and fashion,” said Malagó. “We stand ready to make Olympic history again, inspired by the values that unite all of us — excellence, friendship and respect.”

Malagó described the 2026 Games as a pioneering effort, unique in its sprawling geography. He noted these Winter Games are the most gender balanced in history, with Nordic Combined the only sport to exclude women from participating. 

“I know how hard we have all struggled to make this happen,” he said. “The road did not lead without challenges. But I was determined never to give up, because simply I love my country, I love sports and I love the Olympic movement.”

And to the athletes: “This is your time. Questo è il vostro momento.”

After the Olympic torch passed through 60 cities, 12,000 kilometers and all 110 provinces of the country over 63 days, the cauldrons were lit. For the first time in Olympic history, two cauldrons will burn for the duration of these games, with one in Milan at the Arco della Pace lit by Alberto Tomba and Deborah Compagnoni, and the Piazza Dibona in Cortina d’Ampezzo lit by Sofia Goggia. 

With five medals in alpine skiing, Tomba is the most decorated Italian skier in Olympic history. Compagnoni won skiing golds at three straight Olympics starting in 1992. Goggia is a two-time Olympic medalist and longtime rival and friend of Lindsey Vonn, and is entering her third Olympic Games on home soil. 

The cauldrons will be extinguished in sync on Feb. 22 at the Olympic closing ceremony. 

To the athletes: “You’ll show us what it means to be human. To dream. To overcome. To respect one another. To care for each other. You’ll show us that strength isn’t just about winning – it’s about courage, empathy and heart,” said the first ever female president of the International Olympic Committee and five-time Olympian, Kirsty Coventry. “This is why we all love the Olympic Games. Because through you, we see the very best of ourselves. You remind us that we can be brave. That we can be kind. And that we can get back up, no matter how hard we fall.”

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Dallin Koecher, executive director of Heber Valley Tourism, Economic Development and Chamber of Commerce, will be attending the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Games to gather information that could help Wasatch County prepare for the Utah 2034 Olympics. 

Koecher is participating in the International Olympic Committee’s observer program, which gives future hosts of the Games a chance to plan by watching event organizers behind the scenes. 

When Koecher returns, he will present his findings to fellow members of the Heber Valley Community Impact and Legacy Committee, which is made up of representatives from Soldier Hollow Nordic Center, the Utah Olympic Legacy Foundation and Heber City, Midway and Wasatch County.

Heber City Mayor Heidi Franco was supposed to attend, but personal responsibility took priority when her grandson was born. She is planning on attending the Los Angeles 2028 Olympic Summer Games or the French Alps 2030 Olympic Winter Games.

The Utah 2034 organizing committee invited several Wasatch County officials to join the program last autumn, with the expectation that they would pay their own way.

Koecher’s trip is funded through Heber Valley Tourism’s budget, which is primarily supported by revenue from Wasatch County’s 4.5% transient room tax. He estimated that his trip, including flights, food and lodgings, will cost around $4,000.

He “hemmed and hawed for a little bit” about whether the expense was worth the reward but ultimately decided it was. The Heber Valley Tourism board agreed.

Koecher will be departing for Italy on Wednesday and returning on Feb. 17. 

The group Koecher is in is the only one of four traveling to Cortina d’Ampezzo instead of Milan, chosen as his home base because of its proximity to the Antholz-Anterselva Biathlon Arena. 

Soldier Hollow in Midway hosted the biathlon and cross-country skiing competitions during the 2002 games and will host them again in 2034. 

Koecher will bring observations of how the biathlon event and stadium are handled back to leadership from Soldier Hollow. The venue’s general manager, Luke Bodensteiner, will similarly be participating in the Observer Program March 6-11 at the Paralympic Games in Val di Fiemme to study factors like venue security and accessibility.

Koecher will also be shadowing people working at the games.

“One thing I’m going to be doing is a day in the life of the workforce member. How does it work? How do the volunteers work? How does the paid staff work?” he said.

The focus of Koecher’s group is mountain operations and logistics, security and how various venues organize their events for athletes, the public and the media.

Koecher said he may also be allowed to speak with his Cortina d’Ampezzo counterparts, be it the mayor or representatives of the town’s tourism and economic development board.

Wasatch County stakeholders’ hope for the 2034 Games is that the Heber Valley sees economic spillover from observers visiting Soldier Hollow instead of being passed by like during the 2002 Olympics.

As Bodensteiner put it, “Everybody got bussed in from some other town, watched the competition and never really came to town, just drove right through it.”

This next time around, Koecher envisions watch parties, cultural exchange and bustling businesses and restaurants through the entirety of the Olympics and Paralympics.

Koecher’s trip will be his first in-person Olympics since the 2002 Games. He was 17 at the time and lived in Bountiful.

The opening ceremony is forever etched in his mind, from hearing the Mormon Tabernacle Choir sing “The Star-Spangled Banner” to seeing an American flag recovered from ground zero of the Sept. 11 attacks.

But a much simpler sentiment stuck with Koecher, too.

“It was pretty cool to see how Utah opened its arms to the world,” Koecher said. 

He hopes the Heber Valley can do the same in 2034.

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MILAN — The city welcomed the Olympic torch on Thursday as massive crowds gathered for a glimpse of the flame. Schoolchildren, office workers, couples on afternoon walks and more than a few accidental onlookers who rushed outside to see what was happening formed a chorus of support around Utah Olympic leaders Fraser Bullock and Gail Miller.

While most marveled at the fanfare and celebration, some paused to guess at who the torchbearers were — but only after trying to snap a selfie or reach out to touch the flame. A few even wagered that Bullock was actor Steve Baldwin. And when Miller passed through, many watched in reverence, whispers of “que bella” drowning out the inevitable “who is she?” questions.

Miller closed out Utah’s presence along the relay route, running last among the six Utah torchbearers who carried the flame through northern Italy. After Spencer P. Eccles, Dale O’Blia, David Huntsman and Amy Garff each took earlier legs in the name of youth sport, athlete development, mental health and education, Miller carried the torch through Milan’s CityLife shopping district on Thursday afternoon in the spirit of community and volunteerism. 

“It was so emotional to know all those people were here cheering for the same thing and I get to be part of it. They don’t even know who I am,” said Miller. “But isn’t that the exciting thing about the Olympics? It brings people together.” 

Miller last ran the Olympic torch during the 2002 Winter Games in Salt Lake City alongside her late husband, Larry Miller. 

Miller smiled at the chaos of the crowd as she moved through the Italian shopping center, saying it captured what she believes defines the Olympic movement and what Utah hopes to carry forward in its planning.

“We lit this flame, and it’s burning across the world in anticipation of something bigger and better, together,” she said.

Though at times it seemed the tidal wave of people pouring in for a photo might overwhelm the torchbearer and her crew, Miller didn’t balk. 

“Oh, I hope we’ll have more crowds than that in Utah,” she said. “I mean, that was a big crowd, but that’s one thing we can make happen. We’ve got eight, nine years to be able to bring this all together. We can do a lot to bring people together, give them experiences, and opportunities to volunteer to be a part of it.”

In her role as a captain of Podium 34, a Utah legacy fundraising initiative ahead of the 2034 Games, Miller said the relay offered a reminder of how much the Games extend beyond competition. She emphasized the importance of participation from volunteers to spectators in creating an Olympic experience that builds community.

“They all wanted to just be a part of it,” Miller said. “And the magic of the Olympics is that they can be. They can volunteer and be a part of what’s going on. These are things that the future brings for the youth of today.”

Though she couldn’t see much of the city beyond the crowd pressing in, she said she could clearly see what the next eight years could look like for Utah.

“Everyone is just excited for what’s coming. Excited to be a part of something bigger than they are. Even if they’re not an athlete, they can be part of it by being here, by watching, cheering, by participating,” said Miller. 

Employees flooded storefront displays and kids shouted from balconies above to cheer on the passing flame. 

“Those kids, they didn’t know who I was. They wanted a picture of that torch. Everybody puts at least a little bit of themselves in that flame, and when it’s put together on the cauldron, we’re all burning brightly together,” said Miller. 

Bullock, president and executive chair of Utah 2034, the organizing committee for the 2034 Winter Olympic Games, has felt that electricity before. He said there is nothing like it.

“This is the magic of the torch relay,” said Bullock, who ran the torch ahead of the games in 2002 and 2010. “The Olympic flame brings unity and hope and inspiration. They just want to be part of it, and the torch does that.”

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Park City’s Lindsey Vonn said she will try to ski in the Milano Cortina Olympic Games despite a torn ACL, meniscus tears and bone bruises in her left knee during a press conference on Tuesday at the host site of the women’s alpine races.

The speed skiing legend sustained the injuries in a crash on Friday at the Crans Montana, Switzerland, World Cup.

“I completely ruptured my ACL,” Vonn said. “I also have bone bruising, which is a common injury when you tear your ACL, plus some meniscal damage.”

The 41-year-old athlete was able to ski on the injured knee in Cortina, Italy, earlier on Tuesday with the help of a brace. She believes she will gain better insights into her ability to race on Thursday, following the first day of women’s downhill training. Each downhill racer needs to complete at least one training lap to be eligible to race on Sunday. 

In addition to Sunday’s downhill race, Vonn plans to race in the women’s team combined and the super-G races on Feb. 10 and 12, respectively. 

The Parkite has said that the Milan Games will be her fifth and final. She still hopes to finish out the World Cup season after the Olympics, in which she is the top-ranked downhill and third-ranked super-G skier in the world. Vonn said she was well aware of how her medal chances may have changed because of the downhill race crash.

“My knee feels stable. I feel strong,” Vonn said after skiing Tuesday. “My knee is not swollen, and with the help of a knee brace, I am confident that I can compete on Sunday.”

Vonn said that as long as she has a chance to race and potentially earn her fourth medal on Sunday, she’ll give it a go. She’ll use prior experience managing injuries and big competition stages to help her out on Sunday and possibly next week. 

“Unfortunately, in my career, I’ve had a lot of challenges,” she said. “Because I push the limits, I crash and have been injured more times than I would even like to admit to myself. Those are the cards that I’ve been dealt in my life, and I’m going to play my cards the best that I can.”

Vonn said for as many times as she’s fallen, she’s always gotten back up. Her latest comeback attempt saw her return from a five-year retirement caused by the accumulation of several knee and other injuries, in late 2024 to now. 

Vonn is leaning on her team to help her reach the starting gate on Sunday. She noted that at the 2019 world championships, she finished third in the downhill race despite an LCL tear and three tibial plateau fractures. 

Park City High School athletic trainer Chris Antinori, who primarily worked with the men’s alpine skiers for the U.S. Ski Team from 2010 to 2018, said he believes in Vonn’s ability to race this weekend. However, he said Vonn may struggle and that she may be jeopardizing the rest of her left knee, which Vonn also acknowledged Tuesday. 

“She’s very experienced with injuries and injury management,” Antinori said. “I also think you have to look at Cortina. It’s a course that she’s historically done well on, so I presume that she’s comfortable on that course.”

Antinori said he believes Vonn and her team wouldn’t decide to race if they didn’t like the chances of success. He said she and the other ski racers have decades of muscle memory to fall back on when such injuries happen. Antinori said he expects Vonn and her team to work on strengthening her quads, hamstrings, calves and more muscles that help stabilize the knee.

Vonn said she’s thankfully in great shape otherwise heading into the Games. 

“You find that people with this type of injury can compete and participate to a certain point,” Antinori said. “It’s where you get into lateral and rotational movements that you’re not always sure what the response outcome is going to be because the ACL is a primary rotatory stabilizer.”

Vonn said whatever happens in Cortina will be “icing on the cake,” as she never expected to recover as well as she did from her 2024 partial right knee replacement, which helped fuel her comeback. 

“This whole comeback has really just been about always believing in yourself,” Vonn said. “Doesn’t matter how old or how young you are. If you believe and work hard, anything is possible. … Maybe they should have an ACL, but I think that through hard work, determination, hope, self-confidence and belief, there’s nothing standing in your way.”

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