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Let the Games begin. For real.
Though we’re now three days into competition, the Milano-Cortina Winter Olympics officially kicked off today with the main opening ceremony at Milan’s historic San Siro stadium and satellite celebrations in three ski-resort towns across northern Italy.
Canadian flag-bearers Mikaël Kingsbury and Marielle Thompson took part in the parade of nations in Livigno, about a four-hour drive from Milan, leading a pack of Canadian athletes into the festivities there. Others participated in the parades in Milan, Cortina d’Ampezzo or Predazzo, depending on where they’re competing.
Canada’s Milan contingent entered the San Siro to loud cheers. The centrepiece show at the home of the beloved AC Milan and Inter Milan soccer teams also featured performances by two of the greatest voices in music: renowned Italian tenor Andrea Bocelli and American pop icon Mariah Carey. And, this being one of the fashion capitals of the world, there were of course some sharply dressed Italian models and global celebrities.
New International Olympic Committee president Kirsty Coventry, the first woman ever to head up the IOC, gave her first in-Games address. “Let these Games be a celebration of what unites us,” she said.
Two Olympic cauldrons were lit, each by an Italian alpine skiing great. Alberto Tomba ignited the flame at Milan’s Arco della Pace, near the San Siro, while Deborah Compagnoni did the honours in Cortina. Here’s more on the opening ceremony.
Before everyone took a break for the show, we had a few interesting results in competition today.
Canada suffered its first defeat in mixed doubles curling, losing to the United States to fall to 3-1 at about the halfway point of the round robin. In figure skating, Canada sits fifth in the team event and will need to hold on to advance to the final round.
Now we head into the first full day of competition — and the first medal events. We’ll start our daily viewing guide with the leading contenders to win Canada’s first medal(s), then cover some other top Canadians to watch on Saturday. Plus, a penis-related controversy in ski jumping (yes, really).
Oh, and if you’re looking for something that will get you fired up for the Olympics and also probably make you cry, watch this.
When will Canada win its first medal?
We might not have to wait long, as there are a handful of hopefuls on Saturday. Here they are in chronological order:
Alpine skiing: Jack Crawford and Cam Alexander in the men’s downhill at 5:30 a.m. ET
These two 28-year-olds are considered Canada’s best hopes for a men’s alpine medal in Bormio. At the 2022 Games in Beijing, Crawford took bronze in the individual combined event (which has since been replaced by a pairs combined) and placed fourth in the downhill. Then he captured gold in the super-G at the 2023 world championships. Last year, Crawford won the most prestigious race on the World Cup tour, taming the treacherous Streif downhill course in Kitzbuhel, Austria, while Alexander joined him on the podium with a bronze. Combined, they’ve won 11 World Cup medals.
But both men have struggled this season, placing no better than seventh in any of their downhill or super-G races and often finishing much further back.
There are some rays of hope, though. Alexander won World Cup bronze on Bormio’s notorious Stelvio downhill track in both 2023 and ’24, and Crawford earned a silver there in 2022. Also, Crawford had the fastest time in the final practice run today, but half the field skipped it and others seemed to treat it as a warmup.
The co-favourites to win the first gold medal of these Games are World Cup overall leader Marco Odermatt and reigning downhill world champion Franjo Von Allmen, both of Switzerland. But look out for a couple of Italians: Dominik Paris has won six World Cup downhills on the Stelvio, while youngster Giovanni Franzoni won at Kitzbuhel last month for his first World Cup downhill victory.
The women’s downhill is on Sunday. American star Lindsey Vonn clocked the 11th-fastest time in the opening practice run today, one week after tearing the ACL in her left knee.
Speed skating: Valérie Maltais and Isabelle Weidemann in the women’s 3,000m at 10 a.m. ET
Weidemann was one of Canada’s best performers at the 2022 Games in Beijing, winning gold in the team pursuit and individual silver and bronze in the 5,000m and 3,000m. For that, she got the honour of carrying the Canadian flag at the closing ceremony.
The 30-year-old remains an individual podium contender after winning two solo medals on the World Cup tour this season, including a silver in the 3,000. But Maltais, 35, was Canada’s top performer with five individual medals across the five tour stops, including a silver and two bronze in the 3,000.
Snowboarding: Frank Jobin in the men’s big air final at 1:30 p.m. ET
After star Mark McMorris pulled out of this event due to a hard crash in practice, Jobin was the only Canadian to advance to the 12-man final, placing sixth in qualifying. The 27-year-old won gold in a World Cup slopestyle event last year but has not reached a big-time big air podium since taking bronze at the junior world championships in 2017.
McMorris said today he’s “getting better” after hitting his head in that crash and thinks there’s “a really good chance” he’ll be medically cleared to compete in the slopestyle on Feb. 16. McMorris has won three consecutive Olympic bronze medals in that event.
Ski jumping: Abi Strate in the women’s normal hill (final at 1:57 p.m. ET)
Strate, a certified beekeeper, has generated a lot of buzz this season, winning six medals on the World Cup circuit — including three in a row heading into the Olympics. Five of those came in the large hill discipline, but she took bronze on the normal hill in Japan a couple weeks ago. The 24-year-old currently ranks sixth in the overall World Cup standings.
The normal hill competition starts at 11:45 a.m. ET with a trial round to determine the starting order. The first round is at 12:45 p.m. ET, and the top 30 jumpers advance to the final. The final results are determined by adding the scores from both jumps.
Other Canadians to watch on Saturday
Figure skating: Canada tries to advance in the team event
With three of the four short segments completed, Canada ranks fifth out of 10 teams, behind the United States, Japan, Italy and Georgia. The top five countries after the men’s short program at 1:45 p.m. ET move on to the free skates, which will decide the medals. So it will be up to 21-year-old Stephen Gogolev, who has never competed in the Olympics or the world championships, to hold Canada’s position.
If Gogolev delivers, Canada will continue in the ice dance free at 4:05 p.m. ET, and then the pairs, women’s and men’s free on Sunday.
Today, ice dancers Piper Gilles and Paul Poirier placed fourth before the pairs duo of Lia Pereira and Trennt Michaud, filling in for an injured Deanna Stellato-Dudek and Maxime Deschamps, held their own with a fourth-place showing too. Madeline Schizas was a respectable sixth in the women’s short after someone played the wrong music at the beginning of her program. She alerted the judges and was allowed to re-start.
Hockey: Canadian women (finally) open against Switzerland
The defending Olympic champs were supposed to play Thursday against Finland, but the matchup was postponed until Feb. 12 because more than a dozen Finnish players were suffering from the norovirus.
Assuming the teams are healthy, Canada will finally hit the ice at 3:10 p.m. ET against Switzerland, which opened with a 4-3 shootout win over Czechia today. The world-champion United States, which beat the Czechs 5-1 on Thursday, is set to face Finland at 10:40 a.m. ET. The Finns say they’re confident they’ll be able to play.
Mixed doubles curling: Another challenge for Canada
Since beating a bad Czech team in their opening game on Wednesday, Canada’s Jocelyn Peterman and Brett Gallant have had to run the gantlet. On Thursday, they defeated a Norwegian duo that has won two Olympic medals, and then they stunned reigning Olympic and world champions Stefania Constantini and Amos Mosaner of Italy. Today, Peterman and Gallant lost to Americans Cory Thiesse and Korey Dropkin, who went on to beat Czechia to improve to 4-0.
The going somehow gets even tougher as the Canadians face the 5-0 British team of Jennifer Dodds and Bruce Mouat at 4:05 a.m. ET. Mouat skipped Scotland to the men’s world title last year and will also represent Great Britain in the Olympic men’s event. At 1:05 p.m. ET, Peterman and Gallant play Estonia (1-3), which eliminated them in the first round of the playoffs at last year’s world championship.
Canada heads into the day tied for third place with Italy at 3-1. The top four teams advance to the medal rounds.
Freestyle skiing: 5 Canadians in slopestyle qualifying
Four of them are on the women’s side, led by Megan Oldham, who has won a slopestyle medal at three consecutive world championships. Oldham and Elena Gaskell grabbed a silver and bronze, respectively, in a World Cup competition in Aspen, Colo. last month. Naomi Urness burst on the scene earlier this season with three straight World Cup medals in big air, including a gold, before winning a slopestyle silver at the Winter X Games in Aspen two weeks ago. Evan McEachran is the lone Canadian in the men’s competition.
Women’s qualifying starts at 4:30 a.m. ET, and the men’s at 8 a.m. ET. The top 12 advance to the finals on Monday and Tuesday, respectively.
And finally…
Penisgate? Crotchgate? Inflategate? What the hell is going on in ski jumping?
This is all going to sound a bit silly and extremely awkward. But here goes.
Yesterday, the head of the World Anti-Doping Agency addressed a recent report in a German newspaper claiming there was talk that some ski jumpers might be gaining an advantage by injecting their penises with hyaluronic acid.
How? Why? Well, according to a doctor quoted in the report, the substance could cause a “temporary, visual thickening of the penis,” giving ski jumpers larger genitalia when their suits are measured by 3D scanners. This could result in them being given a slightly bigger, looser suit, with the excess material creating a sail-like effect that would help them do longer jumps. According to a study, a two-centimetre change in a suit can lengthen a jump by close to six metres.
At the moment, no specific athletes are being accused of this scheme. But the sport is on high alert for any whiff of cheating after last year’s scandal involving two Norwegian Olympic medallists who were suspended for secretly altering the seams around the crotch area of their suits at the world championships. Here’s more on, well, whatever you want to call this latest potential scandal.
How to watch the Olympics
Along with TV broadcasts on CBC and its partner networks Sportsnet and TSN, you can stream all of the action from the Milano-Cortina Games live and on demand exclusively on the free CBC Gem app. You can also access Gem on your desktop web browser at gem.cbc.ca.
For a full listing of what’s on each day, see the full CBC Olympic streaming schedule.
Also, be sure to visit CBC’s Milano-Cortina Olympics website for news, in-depth features, event schedules, athlete bios and on-demand highlights of the biggest moments and events. You can personalize your Olympics feed to feature your favourite sports, and get daily emails with news and schedules related to your choices.
Here’s more on all the ways you can follow the Olympics with CBC.