Winter Olympics 2026 live updates: Ilia Malinin goes for gold, U.S. women’s hockey battles Italy

Team USA will try to boost its medal count on Friday with a few key events throughout the day. Figure skating phenom Ilia Malinin will go for another gold medal as he looks to follow up an exceptional short program, and the U.S. women’s hockey team will take on Italy in the quarterfinals.

Malinin already has one gold medal on his mantle after he played a role in Team USA’s team figure skating victory, and he is in good position to add another one on Friday. In his short program on Tuesday, Malinin landed his signature backflip en route to a score of 108.16, which was more than five points higher than the next skater.

The big question on Friday is whether Malinin will break out the quad Axel, which he didn’t attempt in the short program. If Malinin does capture the gold medal, it will mark the second consecutive Olympic victory for the U.S. in men’s singles figure skating.

Elsewhere, the U.S. women’s hockey team will try to keep rolling through the competition when it plays Italy in the quarterfinals at 3:30 p.m. ET. The Americans outscored opponents by a combined 20-1 in the preliminary round, and they are heavy favorites to beat the host nation. Caroline Harvey has six points in the last two games, and Hilary Knight is one goal away from breaking multiple U.S. Olympic records.

In snowboarding, Team USA has four athletes competing in the women’s snowboard cross event. There will be two seeding runs, the first of which begins at 4 a.m. ET, followed by the elimination rounds. Additionally, 17-year-old Alessandro Barbieri will go for gold in the the men’s halfpipe finals after finishing fourth in Wednesday’s qualifying round. 

Keep track of Thursday’s biggest and best moment’s right here as Team USA tries to boost its medal count, which you can track right here.

2026 Olympics schedule — Friday, Feb. 13

Notable sports, team competitions and medal events | All times Eastern

• Cross-Country Skiing: Men’s 10 km Interval Start Free* — 5:45 a.m.
• Snowboarding: Women’s Cross Final* — 7:30 a.m. – 9:15 a.m.
• Biathlon: Men’s 10 km Sprint* — 8 a.m.
• Speed Skating: Men’s 10,000m* — 10 a.m.
• Figure Skating: Men’s Free Skate* — 1 p.m. – 5:10 p.m.
• Snowboarding: Men’s Halfpipe Final* — 1:30 p.m.
• Women’s Ice Hockey: Quarterfinal — Team USA vs. Italy — 3:10 p.m.

*Denotes medal event