Hello from Milan and Cortina, where she is an American figure skater Alysa Liu summarized today’s events in a nutshell. After her flawless performance in the women’s free skate, the cameras captured Liu saying, “That’s what I’m—-talking about!”
Liu won gold medal in women’s singles skating, the first for an American woman since 2002, before Liu was born. And the U.S. women’s hockey team beat rival Canada, 2-1, in overtime to win its first gold medal since 2018.
Our reporters are all included below and at NBC News. Catch it all streaming Peacock.
Live from Milan Cortina
During his free skating today, Alysa Liu he seemed to be smiling all the time, as he walked gracefully across the snow. When he finished he smiled again, stuck out his tongue and raised his hands. Liu had left figure skating after the 2022 Beijing Games, but returned, on her own terms, and fell back in love with the sport.
Liu then waited for the other two skaters to leave before he learned: He won the gold. Soon, he was being directed down the back hallway towards the awards ceremony. During that quiet moment, NBC cameras caught him reflecting on his performance.
“I just want to, I can’t process this,” said Liu. “No way. I loved my skate so much.”
On Tuesday, Liu had finished the short program in third place. He then scored 150.20 points during today’s free swing, giving him a total of 226.79 points, which dropped him to first place.
A friend of America Amber Glenn he had started the day at 13, after a mistake cost him in the middle of the short session. But she made a remarkable recovery today, scoring a season-best 147.52 in the free skate, helping her finish fifth.
After finishing his routine, he was seen uttering the words “So close.”
About an hour earlier, the US women’s hockey team had a chance at glory.
For about 57 minutes today, Team USA couldn’t break through. After scoring over 30 goals in the tournament, the US was held scoreless and trailing Canada 1-0. All required US, Hilary Knight he said afterwards, it was to put “a good shot in the net.”
With more than two minutes left to play, Laila Edwards shot towards goal, where Knight was camped in front of the goalkeeper. Knight bent the puck into the net, tying the game.
Then, in overtime, Team USA’s Megan Keller he made an unbelievable play, he went around a defender and then hit a puck past the keeper.
“We knew it was a matter of time, we depended on them, little by little,” Knight said in an interview with NBC. “But you can also run out of time against a big team. Fortunately, we have an amazing team that can do the job.”
This marked Team USA’s third gold medal and first since 2018. The Americans finished the Olympics 7-0 and outscored their opponents 33-2. With that goal, Knight also became the all-time leading scorer for American women’s hockey at the Olympics.
“I’m happy to have the gold medal,” he said. “Oh my god, this sounds amazing.”
Speedskating corner
After Jordan Stolz he crossed the finish line of the 1,500-meter speedskating final, bent over, put his hands on his legs and took a deep breath. Stolz finished second behind China Zhongyan Ningby only 0.77 seconds, and took the silver.
“Ning’s time was amazing. He had the race of his life,” Stolz told reporters after the race. “I didn’t know much about putting the ball until I got to the finish line.
Stolz started slowly and admitted that he “didn’t have any.” [his] the best races.” He still has a chance to get his third gold of the Games: He will compete in the first speedskating mass event on Saturday.
Picture of the Day
When Should You Watch?
In the quarterfinals of the men’s hockey tournament, three of the four games went to overtime. The penultimate should be viewing appointments. Are the USA and Canada on the collision course for the gold medal game? Or can Finland or Slovakia pull off the upset? Listen to find out.
All times are in the East, and an asterisk indicates a medal event:
Friday, February 20
- 4:30 a.m.: Freestyle skiing, men’s aerials title 1
- 4:30 a.m.: Freestyle skiing, men’s freeski halfpipe qualifications 1
- 5:15 a.m.: Freestyle skiing, men’s aerials title 2
- 5:27 am: Freestyle skiing, men’s freeski halfpipe qualifications 2
- 6 a.m.: Freestyle skiing, women’s ski cross 1/8 finals
- 6:35 a.m.: Freestyle skiing, women’s ski cross quarterfinals
- 6:54 am: Freestyle skiing, semi-finals of women’s skiing
- 7:10 am: Freestyle skiing, women’s ski cross finals*
- 7:30 a.m.: Freestyle skiing, men’s aerials finals*
- 8:05 a.m.: Curling, women’s semifinal
- 8:15 a.m.: Biathlon, men’s mass start 15 km*
- 10:30 a.m.: Speedskating, women’s 1,500-meter*
- 10:40 a.m.: Men’s hockey, semi-finals, Canada vs. Finland
- 12pm: Bobsled, two women’s heat 1
- 1:05pm: Curling, bronze medal sport*
- 1:30 pm: Freestyle skiing, men’s freeski halfpipe* final
- 1:50 p.m.: Bobsled, two women’s heat 2
- 2:15 p.m.: Short track speedskating, women’s 1,500-meter quarterfinals
- 3:02 pm: Short track speedskating, women’s 1,500-meter semifinals
- 3:10 pm: Men’s hockey, semi-finals, USA vs. Slovakia
- 3:30 pm: Short track speedskating, men’s 5,000m relay final*
- 4:07 p.m.: Short track speedskating, women’s 1,500m final*
That’s it for now! We will be back tomorrow.
