The results for the US team were mixed.
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Meanwhile, there was exciting action and a dramatic finish in the men’s big air freestyle final. And Lindsey Vonn is back in the United States after undergoing multiple surgeries on her shattered left leg in Italy.
Here are five of the biggest news from Milan Cortina on Tuesday:
Joy and heartbreak for ‘Blade Angels’
It was a mixed bag for the US “Blade Angels” in the women’s figure skating short program.
Alysa Liu was first and performed a seemingly effortless skate that left her in third place (76.59 points) and in contention for the gold medal in Thursday’s free skate.
Isabeau Levito skated a relatively clean program that left her with some work to do to have a shot at the podium with an eighth-place finish (70.84).
But it was Amber Glenn’s performance that was the story of the day. Glenn opened his skate with a clean triple axel, a difficult move accomplished by only one other skater on Tuesday: Ami Nakai of Japan.
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But Glenn came up short on a planned triple loop combination that instead landed as a double. That error invalidated the element, cost her seven points and sank her in the standings despite a relatively clean program.
She didn’t fall. But the mistake left her in 13th place (67.39) and with an outside chance of making the podium when she would have otherwise remained in gold medal contention. She left the ice in tears knowing how costly the mistake was to her medal chances.
“I already had it,” he said as he received a comforting hug from his coach in the kiss-and-cry zone.
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Japan, for its part, leaves Tuesday’s short program in possession of the first two places. Nakai, 17, takes first place (78.71) after a joyful skate in her Olympic debut.
Kaori Sakamoto will enter Thursday’s skate in medal position after finishing in second place (77.23).
And his Japanese teammate Mone Chiba is a medal contender with a fourth-place finish (74.00) in the short program.
Great drama in the grand aerial final
The men’s high-air final saw high drama on Tuesday before Norway’s Tormod Frostad took gold, just ahead of American silver medalist Mac Forehand.
Frostad took control of first place early on and appeared to be headed for gold after posting the highest score in each of the first two rounds. In a competition where the two best-of-three races count, their combined score of 192.25 in those rounds had a chance of counting for gold.
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But Forehand, who entered the final round in second place, was overtaken by Austria’s Matej Svancer in the third round and entered his final jump in bronze medal position. He needed a score of 96.25 to win back the silver.
Instead, he set a 98.25 for the highest score yet of the Games with a jump that had never been completed in competition. It was good enough to take first place.
But his gold medal position was short-lived. Frostad responded to the pressure with a 98.50 on the final jump of the day to reclaim the top spot on the podium.
The three medalists stood together at the bottom of the hill as they awaited Frostad’s final score. When it landed they exchanged hugs and congratulations while celebrating a grand finale to remember.
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Italians mock United States during short track gold and silver final
Hosts Italy and the United States entered Tuesday’s men’s 500-meter team pursuit final as rivals.
Italy won the world championship in 2024. The United States won in 2025. American skaters entered Milan Cortina undefeated in World Cup competition this season and as favorites to win gold.
Andrea Giovannini hosts the evening celebration alongside fellow Italians Michele Malfatti, left, and Davide Ghiotto.
(ASSOCIATED PRESS)
And with Olympic gold on the line, the United States took an early lead in Tuesday’s final and extended it near the halfway point of the eight-lap race. But Italy began to close the gap with five laps remaining. And he pulled away from there before taking the lead with two laps to go.
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By the time they crossed the finish line, the Italians had opened up a wide margin and enough time for Andrea Giovannini to hit the American team with a celebration quite familiar to American sports fans (Stephen Curry’s late-night taunt) before the American skaters crossed the finish line.
Giovannini, Michele Malfatti and Davide Ghiotto took gold with a time of 3:39.20, 4.51 seconds ahead of the American team of Casey Dawson, Emery Lehman and Ethan Cepuran, who settled for silver.
United States finishes fourth behind Germany in two-person bobsledding
The American team of Frank Del Duca and Joshua Williamson entered their final race in the two-man bobsled in fourth place after three of four races. He achieved his best streak of the competition with a 55.34 and remains in contention with three German sleds remaining.
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But the Germans did not give in and finished 1-2-3 on the podium. Johannes Lochner and Georg Fleischhauer won gold (3:39.70), Francesco Friedrich and Alexander Schüller took silver (3:41.04) and Adam Ammour and Alexander Schaller took bronze (3:41.52).
Del Duca and Williamson finished just off the podium in fourth place (3:41.96), 2.26 seconds off the gold medal pace and 0.44 seconds off the podium.
The podium was the second in a row for Germany after a 1-2-3 in Beijing.
Lindsey Vonn is back home
It’s still a tough road for Lindsey Vonn after her horrific alpine downhill accident. But now he’s browsing it from home.
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Vonn announced via social media Monday night that she returned to the United States from Italy after spending nine days in an Italian hospital and undergoing three surgeries to repair a complex fracture in her left leg.
“I haven’t stood up in over a week… I’ve been lying motionless in a hospital bed since my run,” Vonn wrote. “And even though I’m not able to stand up yet, being back home feels amazing.
“Thank you very much to everyone in Italy for taking good care of me.”
That Vonn still can’t stand up isn’t a surprise given her previous updates. She announced on February 11 that she had undergone her third surgery since the accident and posted an image of herself in a hospital bed with a complex brace on her injured leg.
Two days later, he announced that he would undergo a fourth surgery on his leg before being cleared to fly home to the U.S. He anticipates that he will need another surgery now that he is back in the U.S. and has acknowledged that he has “a long, long way to go” in his recovery.
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Vonn also posted an upbeat video of herself smiling from her hospital bed while receiving treatment and physical therapy with her caregivers. On Monday he declared that he is “slowly coming back to life.”
Highlights of the day
A snowstorm delayed the start of Tuesday’s aerial grand finale. But he didn’t cancel it.
And when the first race started, the snow was still falling heavily. It didn’t seem to slow any of the competitors down, including Forehand, who hit a monster triple cork 2160 that set the tone for his silver medal performance.
one more thing
Ilia Malinin is not shying away from the Olympics after his devastating free skate knocked him out of gold medal position into eighth place and off the podium in men’s figure skating.
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Wearing his gold medal from the team skating competition, the American figure skater joined NBC for an interview and revealed that he had received messages of support from some of America’s top athletes.
“I got a lot of love and a lot of support,” Malinin said. “Everyone was there to help me. A lot of people reached out to me: Tom Brady, Steph Curry, Simone Biles, Snoop.
“Honestly, I’m very honored by that. Honestly, it made my day.”