Key events
Chemmy explains that it’s getting warmer, which is making skiing harder, the snow eating into the surface. It’s not possible to recover from mistakes, so you have to be solid, but if you’re too solid, you’re slow.
It’s a really strange thing: our commentators praise a run, then we see the clock and the time is nowhere near the leaders. That tells us how hard it is out there, but we’ve also had the best guys now, so the top few is extremely unlikely to change.
Billy Major of GB attacks the course and this is really good stuff. The weather is against him, but he’ll be happy with 12th, 2.52 off the lead. He’ll hope to be around for the second run.
The top 30, by the way, will contest the second run, going in reverse order. Which, in theory, is better for the leaders as they know what they have to do to win, but in the conditions, perhaps taking first shy is better.
There are martials tidying the course after each run, but the way the snurr is coming down, the work they can do is surely limited. No one is getting near Meillard in second, never mind McGrath in first.
Back with the curling and GB have forced further in front. They lead Denmark 5-2 playing the seventh, while Canada are up 4-3 on China with Sweden and Switzerland, first and third in the pool, locked at 3-3.
Solberg of Norway looks like he’s going nicely, but he’s still well off the lad at every checkpoint. Increasingly, it looks like getting out first was a big advantage, Atle Lie McGrath still in front, as Sala of Italy joins the growing list of those who didn’t finish.
Visibility isn’t great as Dave “The Rocket” Ryding” sets off for his penultimate Olympic run. The GB veteran isn’t likely to trouble the podium, but he’ll want to make the second run, and he finishes 13th, 3.74 off the lead.
Email! “Just a small correction,” advises gisrenist. “It’s decimO giorno, with an “o” at the end, giorno being masculine.”
Lovely stuff, thanks, and duly altered.
Denmark have pulled one back in the curling, so now trail GB 3-2 playing with sixth. The standings are as below:
Gstrein of Austria launches himself into the blizzard and he’s skiing with decent control. I wonder if this is one of those situations where you’re lucky if you get out early, but he finishes 0.94 off the lead and goes third.
Conditions are not easy here, Pinheiro Braathen, the Brazilian who won the giant slalom, unable to get to the bottom, likewise Hallberg of Finland, while Amiez of France is a chunky 4.04 off the lead. Norway’s McGrath still leads, Meillard of Switzerland 0.59 behind.
In the women’s curling, GB lead Denmark 3-1 playing the fifth; Switzerland lead Sweden 2-1 playing the fourth; and Canada lead Chins 4-2 playing the fifth.
Gosh, Noel’s making hard work of this, the snow huffing down and he manages to ski his way out of trouble and stay on his feet, just, but finishes 1.96s off the lead. I think we can say he won’t be retaining his title. Next out, Kristoffersen, Norway’s best-ever slalomer … and he finishes a huge 1.59 off the lead.
Let’s get straight into the men’s slalom; there’s a field of … er …. 90?! McGrath of Norway leads with 56.14 but here comes Rassat of France, one of the favourites … and he misses a gate. Next up is Noel, also of France and the defending champion.
Preamble
Buongiorno a tutti e benvenuti alle Olimpiadi invernali 2026 – decimo giorno!
It’s another ludicrously rammed day in Milan-Cortina, featuring six medal events and plenty else to keep us entertained from morning and into the night.
We begin with some light curling, GB women – more or less out of contention to move into the knockouts – encounter Denmark, while pool leaders Sweden meet third-placed Switzerland.
Then it’s into skiing, with run one of the men’s slalom– the second follows at lunchtime, Clement Noel, Henrik Kristoffersen and Loic Meillard the names to look out for – while the two-man bobsleigh also gets going. Mid-morning sees the quarter-finals of the women’s 1000m short track, semis and final to follow, then we’ve an afternoon of men’s curling, GB taking on Norway and Canada and Sweden both in action after weekend rancour.
Late afternoon, we’ll absorb into the women’s ice hockey semi-final between USA and Sweden then, this evening, we’ve more women’s curling – GB face Switzerland – along with the medal rounds of the women’s big air, Kirsty Muir involved but Eileen Gu the one to beat and Flora Tabanelli the young local hero; the mixed pairs, free program figure skating with Anastasia Vaipan-Law and Luke Digby going for GB but Riku Miura and Ryuichi Kihara of Japan the favourites; the women’s monobob in which 40-year-old Kaillie Humphries seeks her third Olympic gold; and the men’s super team, large hill ski jump. Then, finally, we’ll finish with the second women’s ice hockey semi, in which Switzerland seek to upset Canada.
Esattamente! Andiamo!
