Winter Olympics briefing: united by 2022 fiasco, Maier and Smith rise to the top

They say if you want to go fast, go alone, but if you want to go far, go together. On day 14 of Milano Cortina, the slopes of Livigno proved that theory in spectacular fashion.Four years ago at Beijing 2022, Daniela Maier of Germany and Fanny Smith of Switzerland were the unwilling protagonists of a convoluted medal dispute. Smith had crossed the finish line in third ahead of Maier in fourth. But the race jury flipped the result after ruling Smith had interfered with Maier, despite both skiers disagreeing

Crash ethics, colourful commentary and other questions from watching Winter Olympics | Emma John

Having avoided the horrific February weather by staying on my sofa for two weeks, I have embraced the Winter Olympics as a quadrennial extra Christmas holiday. It offers pine trees, baubles and the chance to gather around the TV while someone with an RP accent tells us how determined and courageous the British are.The Olympic Games have always presented something of a paradox – on one hand, they are the peak of human athleticism, and on the other, they can look like an elite school sports day. There’s normally at least one activity that reminds you of your youth, whether it’s table tennis or trampolining. Presumably the skiing and snowboarding on display this month have felt very relatable to swathes of Surrey

England head into T20 World Cup Super 8s with a clean slate and a clear aim to improve

Late on Friday morning, after the entire playing surface had spent most of the preceding few days shrouded in plastic sheeting, the sun broke out. The covers were peeled back and the ground staff – a huge team of about 70 people, those covers don’t move themselves – set about trundling their roller slowly across a fresh pitch at Pallekele International Cricket Stadium.The bad weather had lifted and, finally, work could begin. England were training at the time, hoping their own clouds are about to break and that after progressing awkwardly through the World Cup’s opening group stage they will, finally, in the words of Jacob Bethell, “go out there and give it the full shebang”.There has been much comment about the two Super 8s groups, determined by pre-tournament seedings rather than results, one of which happens to contain all the first-stage group winners and the other all the runners-up, including England

Cheating, Penisgate and boos for Vance: the 10 wildest stories of the Winter Olympics

Amid the triumphs, failures and broken medals in Milano Cortina, here’s our countdown of the outstanding moments that will live long in the memoryCheating has been part and parcel of the Olympics since at least Eupolus of Thessaly in 388BC. But crooked boxers from ancient Greece never confessed their indiscretions on live television. Norwegian biathlete Sturla Holm Lægreid did exactly that after winning bronze in the men’s 20km biathlon for his first individual Olympic medal, publicly admitting he’d two-timed his girlfriend three months earlier and calling it “my biggest mistake” in an overshare for the ages carried live by national broadcaster NRK. Lægreid’s shot appeared to have missed the target one day later when the wronged party, wishing to remain anonymous, told the Norwegian paper VG it was “hard to forgive” what he did.Every Olympics produces at least one breakout star

Constitution Hill could switch to Flat full-time after triumphant debut

The mercurial career of Constitution Hill took a dramatic upward turn on Friday as the 2023 Champion Hurdle winner turned his belated Flat debut into a procession up the Southwell straight, coming home nine and a half lengths clear of the runner-up, with Oisin Murphy, the champion jockey, motionless in his saddle.Even those closest to Constitution Hill were left astonished by his performance, which may make it increasingly likely that the champion jumping horse who had famously forgotten how to jump will now switch to racing on the Flat full-time.“I couldn’t have dreamed that one up, I must admit,” Nicky Henderson, the nine-year-old’s trainer, said. “We probably should have sorted this about four years ago, shouldn’t we? It’s nice to be back with positive vibes, we’ve got lots to look forward to and lots of decisions to make.“One thought this would tell us roughly what we would do and this does open up a lot of doors, doesn’t it? We have to think long and hard

USA and Canada to meet in Olympic men’s ice hockey gold medal game

The United States and Canada men’s ice hockey teams will play for the gold medal on Sunday’s final day of the Milano Cortina Games after both teams came through semi-final contests of varying difficulty on Friday evening, setting up a blockbuster final in the first Olympic tournament to feature National Hockey League players in 12 years.Canada left things late in the first game, fighting back from two goals down to win 3-2 over Finland on Nathan MacKinnon’s winner with 35.2 seconds remaining. The US made far lighter work of Slovakia in the nightcap to set up the heavyweight clash, strolling to a 6-2 win after Jack Hughes and Jack Eichel scored in a 19-second span during the second period to blow things open, ensuring the Americans no worse than silver and their first men’s hockey medal in 16 years.“When we started this journey last summer and got together for an orientation camp, our goal was to be in the gold medal game,” Eichel said