#olympics

#olympics

LIVIGNO, Italy (AP) Chloe Kim fell short in her bid to become the first Olympic snowboarder to win three consecutive gold medals, finishing second to Choi Gaon of South Korea in the women's halfpipe on Thursday. The 17-year-old Choi dethroned the two-time defending champion with a score of 90.25 on her final run. Kim had one more shot to get back on top but she fell on her last of three runs. The 25-year-old American took silver, while Japan's Mitsuki Ono claimed bronze.

LIVIGNO, Italy -- Canadian snowboarder Mark McMorris said he's "coming around and starting to feel like myself again" after suffering a concussion and pelvic injuries during a nasty fall in training on the big air course before the Milan Cortina Olympics started. In an interview with The Associated Press on Thursday, McMorris said he lost consciousness when he fell eight days earlier during training for the contest that opened the action at Livigno Snow Park last week.

President Donald Trump called Team USA member Hunter Hess "a real Loser" and said it was "very hard to root for someone like this" after the 27-year-old freeskier's comments about representing his country at the Winter Olympics. A reporter asked Hess at a news conference on February 6 what it means to him to represent the United States in the current climate, both domestically and internationally. He responded that it "brings up mixed emotions" and was "a little hard."

At these Milan Cortina Games, that balance has clearly shifted, with Japan emerging as the world's deepest and most formidable snowboarding power, particularly on the men's side. In the early days of this Olympic competition, Japan has captured gold in both the men's and women's big air competitions, including Kokomo Murase's impressive victory Monday night. Japan now has three snowboarding medals in these Games, while the United States is still looking for its first podium visit at Livigno Snow Park.

On Tuesday, the Norwegian cross-country phenomenon did what he has been doing all week: made world-class athletes look as if they were chasing a mirage. Technique? Flawless. Tactics? Ruthless. Power, speed and a hill-climbing gear that seems to defy physics? Check, check and check. Klbo cruised through the sprint classic rounds, detonated the field on the final climb and skied away with his second gold of these Games and his seventh gold overall, putting him just one shy of the all-time Winter Olympic record.

"The IOC fully understands the desire of athletes to remember friends who lost their lives in that conflict," IOC spokesman Mark Adams told a news conference on Tuesday. "He has done that in training and on social media he has expressed his feelings but what we have said is this helmet contravenes the ... guidelines," he added.

A Ukrainian skeleton racer has accused the International Olympic Committee of betrayal after it banned his racing helmet, which showed images of athletes and his friends that were killed following Russia's invasion, from the Winter Olympics. On Tuesday morning, Ukraine launched an appeal against the decision, arguing that Vladyslav Heraskevych should be allowed to use his helmet of memory, showing the weightlifter Alina Peregudova, boxer Pavlo Ishchenko, ice hockey player Oleksiy Loginov at the Winter Olympics.

Chloe Kim and Eileen Gu, two Olympic standouts who have faced their share of hate over the years, each weighed in Monday on Donald Trump's bashing of their friend, American freeskier Hunter Hess, for having said he didn't back the U.S. president's heightened crackdown on immigrants. I think in moments like these, it is really important for us to unite and kind of stand up for one another for all that's going on,

Don't jump in them. I was jumping in excitement, and it broke,

Team Canada unveiled their initial practice lines at the Olympics yesterday, and the Washington Capitals' Tom Wilson is on the top line with Connor McDavid and Macklin Celebrini. That lineup choice might upset some hockey fans, but it makes a ton of sense for Canada. And for Wilson, this Olympic journey and the lineup choice is a dream come true.

"Wondering if I could get a short extension on this week's reflection," the email read. "I was competing in the Olympic Games yesterday and thought it was due on Sunday, not Friday."

When Team USA entered the San Siro during the parade of nations, the speed skater Erin Jackson led the delegation into a wall of cheers. Moments later, when cameras cut to US vice-president JD Vance and second lady Usha Vance, large sections of the crowd responded with boos. Not subtle ones, but audible and sustained ones. Canadian viewers heard them. Journalists seated in the press tribunes in the upper deck, myself included, clearly heard them.

The Winter Olympics are officially upon us, so naturally, it felt like the perfect time to turn it into a quiz. Some Olympic sports are obvious. Others sound like someone completely made them up. In this quiz, you'll see 20 weird-sounding sports, and your job is simple: decide whether each one is actually in the Olympics or absolutely not.