In Olympic and Paralympic sports this weekend, reigning world champions Ilia Malinin, Alysa Liu and Madison Chock and Evan Bates claimed titles at the Grand Prix Final, the most prestigious international figure skating competition this season before the Olympics.
Malinin lived up to his “Quad God” nickname by becoming the first skater to land seven clean quadruple jumps in one program in history. He rallied from a third-place short program to break his own world record free skate score and win by a convincing 29.88 points over Yuma Kagiyama of Japan, his closest challenger in recent seasons.
Malinin’s two-year win streak is up to 13 events in a row, matching the longest streak of 2022 Olympic gold medalist Nathan Chen’s career.
By contrast, Liu narrowly edged Ami Nakai of Japan by 1.6 points for the women’s title. Last year, Liu returned from a two-year retirement, went into March’s World Championships seeded eighth in the field by best score for the season and became the first U.S. women’s singles skater to claim a world title in 19 years.
This year, she went into the Final seeded fifth in the six-woman field by best score for the season. While Liu skated relatively clean, the other top women each made at least one significant mistake. There are currently several Olympic medal contenders, including Final fourth-place finisher and two-time U.S. champion Amber Glenn. Liu hopes to add a triple Axel by January’s nationals (a jump performed by some other top women, including Glenn), which could be significant come Milan.
Chock and Bates won their third consecutive Grand Prix Final ice dance title in an anticipated first head-to-head against Laurence Fournier Beaudry and Guillaume Cizeron of France, prevailing by 6.17 points. The two couples who share coaches and Montreal training ice are expected to have a close duel for gold in Milan.
Mikaela Shiffrin placed sixth and tied for fourth in Tremblant, Canada, for her best consecutive giant slalom results since a November 2024 GS crash that sidelined her for two months.
If Shiffrin, the 2018 Olympic GS gold medalist, can contend for GS podiums in upcoming World Cups, then she will improve her chances of having a high start number at the Olympics to boost her medal prospects in her complementary event to her dominant slalom.
The women’s Alpine World Cup holds its first downhills and super-G of the season this week in St. Moritz, Switzerland. Lindsey Vonn is expected to ski all three races in her season debut. Shiffrin plans to race Sunday’s super-G only – her first super-G since December 2023. How Shiffrin performs will factor into whether she hopes to add the event to her Olympic schedule.
In men’s Alpine, Swiss Marco Odermatt continues to ski like a contender for four Olympic gold medals. He won a downhill and GS in Beaver Creek, Colorado, giving him four wins in six starts this season.
Ryan Cochran-Siegle, whose super-G silver was the lone U.S. Alpine medal in 2022, was second in the Beaver Creek downhill, his best result since the Beijing Games.
Jessie Diggins, the most decorated cross-country skier in U.S. history, continued a strong start to her final season with first- and third-place World Cup finishes, clinching a spot on her fourth Olympic team.
The victory came in a skiathlon – 10km in classic skiing, then 10km in freestyle. It’s Diggins’ first international skiathlon win after four previous podiums. At the Olympics, the skiathlon is on the first full day of competition. Diggins could deliver the first U.S. medal, and possibly first gold, of the Games.
Jordan Stolz went into the world’s most revered speed skating arena – Thialf in the Netherlands – and broke 500m, 1000m and 1500m track records that were held by his Dutch rivals. Stolz, who can become the second American to win three gold medals at a single Winter Olympics in any sport after fellow speed skater Eric Heiden, has won nine of 11 races this season over his three primary events.
Erin Jackson, who in 2022 became the first Black woman to win individual Winter Olympic gold, scratched her weekend races due to a hamstring injury and hopes to be back competing this week. Jackson had been ranked second in the world in the 500m behind Femke Kok of the Netherlands, who won again in Jackson’s absence, extending a 22-month undefeated streak.
Anna Gibson and Cam Smith won a ski mountaineering World Cup mixed relay in Utah to ensure the U.S. will be represented in the sport’s Olympic debut. The World Cup field did not include the Olympic medal favorites from European nations. The one female and one male athlete who will represent the U.S. at the Olympics have not been announced, but that Gibson and Smith were the U.S. team in the deciding World Cup race carries significance.
Gibson, who ran the 1500m at the 2024 Olympic Track and Field Trials, picked up ski mountaineering in the last six months. Smith asked her to give it a try after they both competed at the Broken Arrow Skyrace, a mountain-climbing and trail-running event in June. Gibson was a junior national champion in cross-country skiing before focusing on running in college.
Smith has competed internationally in ski mountaineering for nearly a decade. He’s had a “lifelong obsession” with the Olympics since watching the 2002 Salt Lake City Games on TV at age 6. His phone password has been 2626 for the last two years.
Tess Johnson, a 2018 Olympian, took a big step toward returning to the Games by winning the first moguls World Cup of the season on Sunday, then placing fourth on Monday.
Olivia Giaccio placed third and second in the two events. Jaelin Kauf, the reigning World Cup overall champion who already made the Olympic team, rebounded from a crash on Sunday to place third on Monday.
Up to four women will make up the U.S. Olympic team to compete in both moguls and the new Olympic event of dual moguls. All of the top Olympic contenders made the podium either Sunday or Monday, including the last two Olympic women’s moguls champions -- Jakara Anthony of Australia and Perrine Laffont of France.
Reigning Olympic gold medalists Eileen Gu and Ayumu Hirano opened their halfpipe seasons with victories at a Snow League ski and snowboard event in China. Gu led a Chinese podium sweep in her first women’s ski halfpipe competition in 11 months. Hirano led a Japanese podium sweep in men’s snowboard halfpipe as he builds toward an anticipated Olympic showdown with Scotty James of Australia.
American Nick Goepper, a three-time Olympic ski slopestyle medalist who has switched to halfpipe, withdrew after a semifinal crash and later posted, “Good news is everything checks out fine. A little headache and a sore tailbone.”
The U.S. won its 10th consecutive Para Hockey Cup title by blanking rival Canada 2-0 in Saturday’s final in Canada. Declan Farmer, the national team’s all-time leading scorer, led the way with nine goals over five games.
Goalie Jen Lee recorded the shutout in the final after not playing in the U.S.’ win over Canada in the World Championship final in May. The U.S. won the last four Paralympic titles, including victories over Canada in the last two gold-medal games.
Oksana Masters, who owns an American record 14 Winter Paralympic medals, finished first, first and second in her first Para cross-country skiing World Cup races since January 2024. Masters missed the entire 2024-2025 winter season due to several health challenges.
