Winter Olympics briefing: Shiffrin’s sublime showing delivers release of emotion

High above the jagged peaks of the Italian Alps, Mikaela Shiffrin stood at the top of the podium once again. After eight long years without an Olympic medal, the American produced two sublime runs to win the women’s slalom by a commanding 1.50sec – the third-largest margin of victory in Olympic history for the event. In doing so, she became the first American skier to claim three Olympic alpine gold medals and further cemented her status as the greatest alpine skier of her generation.The setting in the Dolomites was spectacular

Power points: scrum battle could be crucial in England v Ireland clash

Two snapshots will be nagging away in Irish minds before Saturday’s visit to south-west London. The first is the sobering sight of Tadhg Furlong and Dan Sheehan, both distinguished British & Irish Lions, being rocketed skywards by Italy’s power in the set scrums last Saturday. The second dates back 14 years to another Anglo-Irish contest that epitomised the “no scrum, no win” ethos that remains non-negotiable at the highest level.The airborne Furlong footage has certainly caught the eye of England’s front-rowers and a quick dip into the archives will also remind both teams of what can happen when things up front go pear-shaped. In 2012, Ireland were left badly exposed when Mike Ross injured his neck at the first scrum and ended up conceding a penalty try, six scrum penalties and three scrums against the head as they subsided to a humbling 30-9 defeat

Winter Olympics 2026: USA defeat Sweden in men’s ice hockey and glory for Shiffrin on day 12 – as it happened

Wow. Nothing like some late night Olympic drama. Before you hit the hay, spare a thought for Sweden’s goalkeeper Jacob Markström who stopped 38 of 40 shots this evening but ends up on the losing side and with his medal hopes dashed. Beautiful, cruel sport.Friday’s men’s Ice Hockey semi-finals are confirmed as Canada vs Finland and USA vs Slovakia

When curlers need snookers: Team GB fight on at Winter Olympics after day of drama

These are strained days at the curling arena, where the chances of the two British teams are teetering like a bus full of bullion that’s backed over the lip of a cliff.Both the men and women ended up in a position where they need to win every game they play and hope other results go their way to have any chance of making the semi-finals. Curling is one of the very few sports left being contested at the Winter Olympics in which the British fancy their chances, and Team GB’s hopes of getting anywhere near their medal target will turn on the curl of the stones in the next few days.Hang on a minute lads, anyone got a bright idea? “Play better,” the British skip Bruce Mouat told his team. The Brits had three matches between them on Wednesday

Mikaela Shiffrin overcame grief, crashes and her own self-doubt to win slalom gold again

The greatest American skier of all time won her first Olympic medal in 2014. The 12 years in between have been marked by brutal ups and downsA lot can happen in 12 years. If you’re Mikaela Shiffrin, as a teenager you can become the youngest ever person to win the Olympic slalom, stack a couple more medals at the next Olympics, become the most successful World Cup skier of all time with a record 108 victories, go 10 more Olympic races in a row over three Winter Games without reaching the podium, overcome the two biggest crashes of your career and subsequent battles with self-doubt and post-traumatic stress disorder and eroding trust in your own skiing, and then bring it all back home with a second Olympic slalom gold.You can also lose your dad.Shiffrin, considered by many the greatest alpine skier in history, saw her incandescent career come full circle on Wednesday beneath the jagged limestone peaks above Cortina d’Ampezzo, winning her signature race by 1

‘Princess Anne thought I was Joe Marler’: Heyes mixed up in case of mistaken identity

Anyone who tuned in to the celebrity version of The Traitors last year will be familiar with the former England rugby player Joe Marler. With the exception, it turns out, of Princess Anne who was involved in a case of mistaken identity during the Calcutta Cup pre-match formalities at Murrayfield last Saturday.Clearly unaware Marler had retired from rugby 15 months ago, the Princess Royal stopped for a chat with her new favourite prop while being introduced to the England team in her role as patron of Scottish Rugby. She even confided how amusing she had found him on Celebrity Traitors, which would have been fine had the player in front of her been Marler rather than another bearded English front-rower, Joe Heyes.“She thought I was Joe Marler which was … quite upsetting,” said Heyes