Winter Olympics End On High Note, Italy Passes Torch To France, Team USA's Hockey Stunner: Live Updates

After two weeks of winter sports glory, the Milan Cortina Olympics had one last dose of drama to give before officially passing the torch to France, which will host the 2030 Winter Games in the Alps.

The closing ceremony featured plenty of pyrotechnics, a parade of the world's athletes and odes to Italian opera before ending with an impromptu dance party courtesy of DJ Major Lazer.

Before the cauldrons were extinguished, International Olympic Committee President Kirsty Coventry addressed the athletes.

"This is the true Olympic spirit, competing, embracing, lifting each other up, whatever the result, you showed us what excellence, respect and friendship look like in a world that often forgets these values,” she said.

"You showed us that the Olympic Games are a place for everyone, a place where sport brings us together."

The closing ceremony for the 2026 Milan Cortina Games kicked off from historic Verona Arena at 2:30 p.m. ET on Sunday.

Norway, the United States of America, the Netherlands and host country Italy were the top gold medal winners at this year's Winter Olympics.

The closing ceremony is being held at a Roman amphitheater and UNESCO World Heritage site in the heart of Verona that was built nearly two thousand years ago, older than the Colosseum in Rome.

Stefania Opipari, director of the closing ceremony, told Olympics.com that the festivities — set to the theme of "Beauty in Action" — will weave Italian opera culture to sports and the surrounding area.

"The [arena] represents a great challenge and an unforgettable opportunity. It is a place full of emotions, stories, and energy, which forces us to imagine something different from the past," Opipari said.

Opipari emphasized that the crew behind the production made efforts toward sustainability, noting that 80% of the stage was made of wood, 90% of the lighting fixtures are LED and stage costumes were made of recycled materials or multi-use fabric.

Italian musician/DJ Gabry Ponte, singer-songwriter Achille Lauro and actor Benedetta Porcaroli are among the acts expected to take the closing ceremony stage.

Italy is also set to pass the Olympic flag to France, a symbolic gesture ahead of the 2030 French Alps Games.

Team USA men's ice hockey and Canada are taking their Olympic gold medal showdown to overtime.

The Americans, led by goalie Connor Hellebuyck's sensational defensive efforts, kept it tied despite the Canadians outshooting them 33-18 in the second and the third periods combined.

The U.S. squad looks to seek revenge in OT against Canada, who took the 4 Nations Face Off final to extra time before defeating the Americans 3-2 just over a year ago.

Canada's men's curling team channelled their fury at being labelled cheats into their quest for Olympic gold, skip Brad Jacobs said on Saturday after his team ended their tumultuous campaign standing on top of the podium.

Canada beat world champions Britain 9-6 in the final to win the country's first men's curling gold since 2014, despite being thrust into a media storm after Sweden accused them of cheating during a round-robin game.

A fired-up Jacobs pulled no punches in his post-game press conference, calling the allegations "outrageous". "I'll guarantee you that only motivated us further to go out and prove to everyone that we're the best team, and now (we're) at the top of the podium, I would say the best team in the world," he added.

"Canada and curling in Canada is special to us. It means a lot to us. Integrity means a lot to us. We wanted to go out there and prove everyone wrong and rise to the top of the podium."

Much of the controversy centred on Canada's Marc Kennedy following his expletive-laden response to the cheating accusations, with the 44-year-old saying his family received threats and abuse on social media.

Jacobs praised Kennedy's mental fortitude, adding: "Marc's mind is sealed. Most athletes, if they had to go through what Marc Kennedy went through, what we went through as a team here, it would have crippled them and it would have crumbled most teams.

"But Marc's done a lot of self-improvement and just surrounded himself with us and the support that we gave him, his family gave him this week, our coaches.

"He is one tough fella to be able to block out all the noise and just go out and curl and curl his absolute best. We're just so proud of him for everything that he was able to do this week and how he handled the whole situation."

Jacobs, who also led Canada to gold at the Sochi Games in 2014, delivered a pointed parting shot to doubters, saying: "For anyone who called us cheaters ... I hope that the image of us standing on top of the podium, embracing one another, smiling ear to ear with our gold medals is burned into your brain forever."

MILAN (AP) — Canada has not decided whether injured captain Sidney Crosby will play in the gold medal game at the Olympics against the U.S. on Sunday, coach Jon Cooper said Saturday.

Crosby skated in practice, which was closed to reporters to maintain a shroud of secrecy around the status of the 38-year-old center who is the most decorated player on the team with two Olympic gold medals and three Stanley Cup rings and was a key contributor before getting hurt.

"Obviously we’d love to have him," Cooper said. “He won’t put himself in harm’s way, and he’s not going to put the team in harm’s way.”

Crosby left the quarterfinal game Wednesday night against Czechia with an apparent right knee injury and did not play against Finland on Friday night in the semifinals. Connor McDavid wore the “C” in Crosby's absence and assisted on Nathan MacKinnon's go-ahead goal with 35.2 seconds remaining.

International rules allow teams to dress 13 forwards instead of the 12 permitted in the NHL, but Cooper cast doubt on the possibility of Crosby being in uniform just to fill a limited role.

“No. No, it’s too important,” Cooper said. "We don’t want to have somebody in there as an inspiration when we could have a player that could be capable of helping. You never know if guys are going to get hurt in the game. He wouldn’t want to do that, either.”

Cooper pointed to two of his players with the Tampa Bay Lightning, Brayden Point and Anthony Cirelli, who were chosen for the roster but stayed home because they were not healthy enough to be a bigger help than their replacements. Injured defenseman Josh Morrissey has been ruled out.

“When it comes to the flag, nobody’s getting in the way,” Cooper said. “If they’re not capable of giving what they think is optimal effort, they don’t want to put the country at harm. They understand what we have here.”

Canada rallied from a two-goal deficit to beat Finland, motivated in part by giving Crosby a chance to play one more game at what could be his final Olympics.

“We’ve done that, and we’ll see,” McDavid said. “He’s been around a lot. Obviously, he’s been extremely positive: still contributing, even though he didn’t play last game, but still being the leader he is.”

Nick Suzuki, who moved into the spot playing between Mitch Marner and Mark Stone, figures to be there again in the final if Crosby is unavailable. Suzuki said Crosby “looked really good out there on the ice” and hopes the well-respected captain will be good enough to go.

“It’d mean a lot to him and probably us," Suzuki said. “He’s such a big leader, big voice. Everyone looks up to him. It’d be awesome if he could play.”

Mike Sullivan, who coached the Pittsburgh Penguins when they won the Stanley Cup back to back with Crosby as captain in 2016 and '17, is now behind the bench for the U.S. and does not expect his game plan to change either way.

“Sid’s a tremendous player,” Sullivan said. "The focus that we have is on our own team game and trying to play the game that we think sets us up for success, regardless of who our opponent is, or who’s in their lineup or not.”

The U.S. got an injury scare in the semifinals against Slovakia when winger Tage Thompson left after blocking a shot. Thompson, who is tied for the team lead in goals with three, practiced Saturday and did not look to be hampered at all.

Lindsey Vonn late Saturday addressed critics who suggested she was selfish for deciding to compete at the 2026 Milan Cortina Winter Olympics, which began just days after she ruptured her ACL.

“One thing that stung was when people said I was selfish and should give my Olympic spot to someone else,” the American ski superstar, who crashed out of the 2026 Games and has since undergone multiple surgeries, wrote on Instagram.

Vonn recapped her season “for all the haters out there that don’t understand what it means to earn your spot, and on a more positive note, to just reflect….,” noting how she was: “#1 in the downhill standings, 3rd in sg standings, 2x Downhill wins, On every downhill podium all season, 7/8 podiums overall (only one 4th place)."

“It wasn’t all for nothing… it was everything. And it wasn’t a dream… although sitting in this hospital bed it seems far away now…,” she wrote. “But I did it. I came back. I won. I showed up and did what most thought was impossible at my age with a partial knee replacement. These memories I’ll have forever and I’m grateful for every one of them. Every moment was amazing. Every moment was worth it.”

“It’s not impossible until it’s done. I didn’t reach my ultimate goal…. But I still did a lot,” she concluded. “Thank you to those who believed.”

See the full post on Instagram.

Johnny Gaudreau was working hard to make the U.S. team heading to the 2026 Winter Olympics. He and brother Matthew watched the event growing up, always with eyes on playing in it.

“It was their dream,” Jane Gaudreau said of her sons.

Johnny and Matthew died on Aug. 29, 2024, when they were struck by an SUV while riding bicycles near their hometown in New Jersey on the eve of their sister Katie’s wedding. Their deaths shocked the hockey community, and they have been honored since by retired numbers, a memorial 5K and more.

An elite player a decade into his NHL career and the all-time U.S. leading scorer in international play, Johnny Gaudreau was on track to be in Milan for the tournament that wraps up Sunday when the Americans play rival Canada for the gold medal. Guy Gaudreau said USA Hockey was gracious enough to tell the family their oldest son was on the projected roster.

“He wanted to be on this team,” Guy Gaudreau said during the third period of the U.S. semifinal win on Friday night. “And it would’ve been nice if he’d been here.”

The U.S. is honoring the Gaudreau brothers with a tribute to them in the team's locker room at the Milano Santagiulia Ice Hockey Arena. A blue No. 13 Gaudreau jersey hangs there as a reminder of the player known as “Johnny Hockey,” who was beloved by so many on the national team and beyond.

“It means everything — we all know he should be here with us,” said Dylan Larkin, who played with Gaudreau at multiple world championships. “He should be with us. We love him, and I like that we continue to think about him and I wouldn’t imagine it any other way.”

Jane and Guy Gaudreau, along with Johnny's widow, Meredith, and their two oldest children arrived in Milan on Friday. The Gaudreau parents had been planning a trip to Las Vegas and initially hesitated after USA Hockey invited them to attend.

“Our two daughters, for 24 hours, they just kept at us: ‘You have to go. The boys would want you to do this. This would mean so much to John,'” Jane said. “It just means so much to our family, and we’re so excited to remember what our boys meant to hockey.”

The Gaudreau family connections to players on the roster run deep, from Boston College to the NHL. In addition to the world championships, Johnny played with Noah Hanifin on the Calgary Flames and Zach Werenski on the Columbus Blue Jackets.

“Johnny was close to a lot of guys in that room,” Hanifin said. “We know he’d be here with us, so we’ve been thinking about him and carrying him with us.”

Werenski said after he and his teammates advanced to the final that Meredith reached out to his wife a few days earlier to let them know they were coming.

“It’s great having them here, and it’s super special,” Werenski said. “We’re happy that we made it to the gold medal game so they can watch that and be a part of it. It’s on us to make them proud.”

Not that it would have been much of a debate, but coach Mike Sullivan confirmed what management told the Gaudreaus: Johnny would have been on the team if he were still alive, based on his body of work and how well he has played in a U.S. uniform.

“He was one of America’s very best,” Sullivan said. “He’s just a good person on the ice and off the ice, and I think he’s an inspiration to our players to this very day.”

Players still talk about Gaudreau, and “all the stories are funny,” according to Charlie McAvoy, who played alongside him at worlds.

“Just an amazing person, just an infectious personality,” McAvoy said. “The detail, really, with our staff and our equipment staff especially to make sure that he’s always with us, little reminders of him in the room, and they just go a long way. You always see them. They’re just gentle. They’re right there. But we know that he’s always with us.”

Along with Johnny's No. 13 jersey is that number on the wall alongside Matthew's No. 21. It's similar to what USA Hockey did a year ago at the 4 Nations Face-Off, when Guy Gaudreau took part in practice as a guest coach.

This would have been Johnny Gaudreau's first chance to play at the Olympics after the NHL did not participate in 2018 and 2022. But it almost certainly won't be the last time his jersey hangs in the U.S. locker room at the game, a tradition that could continue for years to come.

“I hope so,” Larkin said. “I sure hope so.”

Jorrit Bergsma will be 44 by the time the next Winter Games arrive but the Dutchman, who rolled back the years to claim the second Olympic gold of his career in Milan on Saturday, said his speed skating story is far from over.

"I do not know yet if I will be back in four years, but now I guess I have to defend my title, right?" said Bergsma, who stunned the field alongside Denmark's Viktor Hald Thorup with a daring attack on the third lap of the 16-lap men's mass start race.

The duo quickly built a commanding lead - at one point over half a lap - as the pack hesitated to respond. Sensing his moment, Bergsma launched another blistering move with a couple of laps to go, decisively shaking off Thorup to claim victory.

"I do not think I realise just yet what I have done. I even had to pinch myself when I was standing on the podium," Bergsma said.

"Four years is going to be really tough, especially with the young guys coming up on the single distances. I will see year by year, but I am not done yet."

Bergsma's triumph added to an exceptional Olympic resume that includes 10,000m gold at Sochi 2014, silver at Pyeongchang 2018, bronzes in the 5,000m at Sochi and 10,000m at Milano Cortina.

"I had already won bronze, so my Olympic Games were already complete, but to be standing here with a gold medal as a 40-year-old guy is a privilege, even more so that I managed to do it in the mass start. I did not expect this at all," he said.

For Bergsma, the number 13 proved anything but unlucky. He raced wearing helmet number 13, having won his 10,000m bronze on February 13.

"It has been my lucky number already. In the Netherlands, I am skating marathons with leg number 13. One week ago I won a bronze medal on Friday the 13th. And today I win with number 13. It is like magic for me," he added.

With his birthday falling on February 1, Bergsma could celebrate turning 44 on the very day the 2030 Winter Olympics open - a fitting stage should he choose to chase yet another chapter in his remarkable career.