CORTINA D&#39;AMPEZZO: Canada, who were mired in a cheating controversy earlier in the tournament, beat Great Britain 9-6 in a tense final to win the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.pakistantv.com/article/italy-set-for-2026-winter-olympics-opening-ceremony" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);" rel="noopener noreferrer">Olympic</a>&nbsp;men&#39;s curling gold for the fourth time on Saturday. Brad Jacobs&#39;s team secured their country&#39;s first title in the event since defeating Britain in the 2014 gold-medal match in Sochi. Britain had to settle for a third silver medal in the last four Olympic men&#39;s curling competitions after slipping up in the last two ends in Cortina d&#39;Ampezzo. They are still waiting for their first men&#39;s title since 1924, after which curling was absent from the Olympic program for 74 years. The tournament was marred by controversy earlier in the Milan-Cortina Games after Canadian Marc Kennedy insulted a Swedish opponent who was accused of cheating. The spat led to fears that curling was losing its once genteel image and the Canadians faced criticism in their own national media. After winning the title on Saturday, Kennedy said, &quot;It means the world to me to see my teammates with a medal around their neck.&quot; &quot;I don&#39;t know if people will ever understand what we went through this week as a team, what I put them through this week as a team. I&#39;m just so proud of them. I love these guys. &quot;There was a lot of hate out there this week, but we made a choice to not let any of that hate in the room, not give it a voice in our heads, and just trust one another.&quot; After trailing 4-3 at the halfway stage of the final, Britain edged ahead with a two in the sixth end. The teams traded points after that until Canada struck a crucial blow in the penultimate end. Canadian skip Jacobs successfully secured a three for his team, although his yellow stone slipping out of the house prevented a four and gave Britain a glimmer of hope heading into the 10th at 8-6 behind. Bruce Mouat&#39;s Britain were beaten in an extra end by Sweden in the 2022 final, but they could not even force an extra end this time as their opponents held their nerve.

Olympic Champions from L, Canada's Ben Hebert and Canada's Brett Gallant pose with their gold medals at the ceremony during the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympic Games at the Cortina Curling Olympic Stadium in Cortina d’Ampezzo on February 21, 2026. (AFP

Athletics

Britain had to settle for a third silver medal in the last four Olympic men's curling competitions after slipping up in the last two ends.

Canada beat Britain to win fourth Olympic men's curling gold

CORTINA D&#39;AMPEZZO, Italy: Lindsey Vonn crashed out of the Winter Olympics downhill on Sunday, brutally ending the American skiing great&#39;s improbable dream of winning a medal despite competing with a ruptured anterior cruciate ligament. Vonn was just 13 seconds into her run in bright sunshine in Cortina d&#39;Ampezzo when she lost control, twisted in the air and crumpled in the snow.&nbsp;The 41-year-old&#39;s cries of pain could be heard on the microphones as medical staff attended to the stricken skier on the piste.&nbsp;Thousands of spectators at the bottom of the run fell silent as they watched the images of the crash on giant screens.&nbsp;Vonn was eventually strapped into a stretcher and winched into the air by helicopter to be flown to hospital.&nbsp;Her US teammate Breezy Johnson went on to win the gold medal, but her first thoughts were for Vonn, saying: &quot;My heart goes out to her. I hope it&#39;s not as bad as it looked.&quot;&nbsp;Johnson finished in front of Germany&#39;s Emma Aicher by just 0.04sec with Italy&#39;s Sofia Goggia taking bronze in front of her home fans.&nbsp;Vonn&#39;s sister Karin Kildow, who watched the crash on giant screens at the course, said: &quot;That definitely was the last thing we wanted to see.&quot; Hopes dashedJust two weeks ago, Vonn, one of global sport&#39;s most recognisable faces, looked in contention to cap a remarkable comeback from retirement by winning the second Olympic gold medal of her career -- her last came 16 years ago in the downhill at the 2010 Vancouver Games.&nbsp;She had retired in 2019 but returned to the slopes in 2024 after surgery to insert a titanium implant in her right knee to quell persistent pain.&nbsp;But her Olympic plans were thrown into disarray when she crashed in a World Cup race at Crans Montana, Switzerland, on January 30.&nbsp;In a press conference once she arrived in Italy, she admitted she had ruptured her ACL in the crash, but insisted she could still compete for medals.&nbsp;&quot;This is not obviously what I had hoped for.... I know what my chances were before the crash and and I know my chances aren&#39;t the same as it stands today,&quot; she said then.&nbsp;&quot;But I know there&#39;s still a chance, and as long as there&#39;s a chance I will try.&quot;&nbsp;She even batted aside those who doubted her ability to perform with such an injury, taking to social media to fire back at a sports doctor for doubting her ACL tear was as bad as she claimed.&nbsp;In other action on Sunday, the second full day of the Milan-Cortina Games, Czech snowboarder Zuzana Maderova won gold in the women&#39;s parallel giant slalom after the shock exit of defending champion Ester Ledecka.&nbsp;Ledecka crashed out in the quarter-finals as the Czech chased what would have been a historic snowboarding title in three consecutive Olympics.&nbsp;Maderova enjoyed a comfortable victory over Ledecka&#39;s conqueror Sabine Payer, cruising to victory by 0.83sec.&nbsp;In Tesero, Norwegian cross-country skier Johannes Klaebo racked up the sixth Olympic gold medal of his career by taking the skiathlon title.&nbsp;Later, attention will switch the ice rink as the USA go into the final day of the figure skating team event seeking to resist a stiff challenge from Japan.&nbsp;Ilia Malinin, the US sensation who was upstaged on his Olympic debut on Saturday by Japan&#39;s Yuma Kagiyama, skates again on Sunday in the free programme.

Lindsey Vonn crashed out of the Winter Olympics downhill on Sunday, brutally ending the American skiing great's improbable dream of winning a medal despite competing with a ruptured anterior cruciate ligament.

Vonn crashes out of Winter Olympics in brutal end to medal dream

ROME: Agents from the divisive Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) will help support US security operations for the <a href="https://www.pakistantv.com/article/ski-body-blocks-russian-belarusian-athletes-from-2026-winter-olympics" target="_blank" style="color:#0073e6;" rel="noopener noreferrer">Winter Olympic</a> Games in Italy next month, a spokesperson told AFP. &quot;At the Olympics, ICE&#39;s Homeland Security Investigations is supporting the US Department of State&#39;s Diplomatic Security Service and host nation to vet and mitigate risks from transnational criminal organizations,&quot; the agency said in a statement. &quot;All security operations remain under Italian authority.&quot; It added: &quot;Obviously, ICE does not conduct immigration enforcement operations in foreign countries.&quot; The potential presence of ICE agents at the February 6-22 Games has sparked huge debate in Italy, following the outcry over the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.pakistantv.com/article/second-death-in-minneapolis-crackdown-heaps-pressure-on-trump" target="_blank" style="color:#0073e6;" rel="noopener noreferrer">deaths</a>&nbsp;of two civilians during an immigration crackdown in Minneapolis. Italian authorities initially denied the presence of ICE and then sought to downplay any role, suggesting they would help only in security for the US delegation. US Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio are attending the opening ceremony in Milan on February 6. On Monday, the president of the northern Lombardy region, which is hosting some of the Olympic events, said their involvement would be limited to monitoring Vance and Rubio. &quot;It will be only in a defensive role, but I am convinced that nothing will happen,&quot; Attilio Fontana told reporters. However, his office then issued a statement saying he did not have any information on their presence, but was responding to a hypothetical question. Thousands of <a href="https://www.pakistantv.com/article/us-ice-agent-shoots-venezuelan-man-amid-record-immigration-enforcement" target="_blank" style="color:#0073e6;" rel="noopener noreferrer">ICE agents</a> have been deployed by President Donald Trump in various US cities to carry out a crackdown on illegal immigration. Their actions have prompted widespread protests, and the recent killings of US citizens Renee Good and Alex Pretti, both 37, on the streets of Minneapolis sparked outrage.

Europe

ICE agents will support US security operations at Italy’s Winter Olympics, officials said, prompting controversy amid recent immigration crackdowns, protests and civilian deaths in the United States.

Articles tagged with "Winter Olympics"

Canada beat Britain to win fourth Olympic men's curling gold

Vonn crashes out of Winter Olympics in brutal end to medal dream

ICE agents to help with security at Winter Olympics