What to watch on Day 1 of the Milan Cortina Olympics: Men’s downhill medal race, Ilia Malinin skates

MILAN (AP) — Men’s downhill in Alpine skiing starts as the first medal event of the Milan Cortina Olympics and will take place Saturday, which is officially Day 1 of the Games.

Also in the spotlight will be U.S. figure skating star Ilia Malinin as well as Jessie Diggins, America’s most decorated cross-country skier.

Here is a guide of what to look out for:

Men’s downhill is wide open

Swiss teammates Marco Odermatt and world champion Franjo von Allmen are among the favorites, though there’s a long list of contenders for the podium at Stelvio Ski Center in Bormio.

The home crowd will be rooting for Dominik Paris, who in his fifth Games is still looking for his first Olympic medal. The 36-year-old Italian is a Bormio specialist, having won a record six World Cup downhills there. There’s also young Italian Giovanni Franzoni.

U.S. skier Ryan Cochran-Siegle was fastest in the opening downhill training session Wednesday. It is Cochran-Siegle’s third Winter Olympics. He won silver in the super-G at the Beijing Games four years ago.

The event is scheduled to begin at 10:30 a.m. local time (0930 GMT, 4:30 a.m. ET), weather permitting.

Ilia Malinin performs in figure skating team event

Two-time reigning world champion Ilia Malinin, the overwhelming favorite to win Olympic figure skating gold, performs his short program as part of the team event. The defending champion U.S. leads Japan and Italy going into Day 2 of the three-day competition. It’s scheduled to begin at 6:45 p.m. local time (1745 GMT, 12:45 p.m. ET) in Milan.

In the free dance, the U.S. team of Madison Chock and Evan Bates is expected back on the ice. The three-time defending world champions won the rhythm dance portion of the team competition Friday.

Jessie Diggins competes in her 4th Olympics

Diggins, a 34-year-old Minnesota native, is trying to add to her Olympic haul before she retires at the end of the season. She already has a gold, silver, and bronze medal from three earlier Olympics. She will compete Saturday in the 20 kilometer skiathlon. The event is scheduled to begin at noon local time (1100 GMT and 6 a.m. ET). Cross-country skiing is held in Val di Fiemme, a valley in the heart of the Dolomites. It’s possible medals could be awarded before the men’s downhill medals.

There are also medal events in ski jumping (women’s normal hill individual), snowboard (men’s snowboard big air) and speedskating (women’s 3000 meters).

US faces Finland in women’s hockey

Women’s hockey is among the handful of disciplines that have already begun preliminary rounds. The U.S. team opened its campaign with a 5-1 victory over Czechia on Thursday.

Next up for the Americans is Finland. The game is scheduled to begin at 3:40 p.m. local time (1440 GMT, 9:40 a.m. ET) in Milan. The other games Saturday: Switzerland-Canada; Sweden-Italy; and Germany-Japan.

AP Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/milan-cortina-2026-winter-olympics