Italian skaters celebrate victory in the team race // Photo: olympics.com
Originally seven sets of medals were at stake, but bad weather changed the snowboarding competition. Due to heavy snowfall in northern Italy, it was decided to postpone them to another day.
The French are on top for the first time
The French men’s biathlon team won the relay for the first time in history. This did not happen even during the many years of Marten Fourcade’s leadership. The most significant contribution to the victory was made by Emilien Jacquelin, who “pulled” the second leg after a disastrous start. Fabien Claude, who started the race, had to go to one penalty lap, which put the French team in the second ten.
Cantan Fillon Mayeux, who held off the French success, won his second gold medal in Italy. Earlier, he won the 10km sprint race. The biathlete is a four-time Olympic champion.
The victory allowed the French team to continue the fight for fifth place in the team medal standings. The struggle is conducted with Austria, Germany, Switzerland and Sweden, which have the same number of gold medals – five each.
The Norwegian team, traditionally considered the favorite of the relay, took the second place. The gap from the winners amounted to 9.8 seconds. The Swedish team took third place.
“German Championship at the Olympics
All three first places in the bobsleigh double races were taken by the Germans. The winners were Johannes Lochner and Georg Fleischhauer, who became Olympic champions for the first time. They were silver medalists at the 2022 Games.
Germany leads the battle for fifth place in the medal standings. Austria has the same number of gold and silver medals (five and eight each), while the Germans have more bronze medals – seven against four.
Ice wars
Two team speed skating races were held on Day 11. Among women, the Canadians took the lead, defending the title won four years ago. It is noteworthy that Ivany Blondin, Isabelle Wadman and Valerie Malthe became the first ever two-time Olympic champions in this discipline, having competed in the same team for two consecutive Olympics.
The gold medal was Canada’s third at the Games. The team moved up to 11th place in the overall standings.
Italy won the men’s event. Davide Ghiotto, Andrea Giovanni and Michele Malfatti gave the Americans no chance, beating them by more than four seconds.
The Italian athletes won nine top medals at their home Olympics and consolidated their second place position. The Americans, with six gold medals, round out the top three.
Contribution to the Vikings’ piggy bank
Two Norwegian athletes won gold medals on the 11th competition day. Jens Oftebro won gold for the second time at this Olympics – previously he was unrivaled in the double jumping event on the normal jumping hill (K-98). After his success in Italy, the 25-year-old Norwegian is a three-time Olympic champion.
Freestyle skier Thurmud Frostod, on the other hand, was the best in the Big Air discipline and brought Norway’s national team its 14th top medal. For the 23-year-old Norwegian, the Olympic gold medal was the debut in his career.
Snowboarders were less lucky. Due to bad weather, which intensified in Livigno, it was decided to postpone the competition to February 18.
Hockey players determined the quarterfinalists
Matches of 1/8 finals of the hockey tournament took place. According to their results the opponents of those national teams who won in their groups and went directly to the 1/4 finals were determined.
Germany, which defeated France (6:1), will play with Slovakia on February 18. Czech Republic, which defeated Denmark (3:2), will play with one of the tournament favorites – Canada. Switzerland, after a 3-0 win over Italy, will face reigning Olympic champion Finland, while Sweden (a 5-1 win over Latvia) will face the United States.
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Olympic results for February 17, 2026 |
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|
№ |
Athlete / Team |
Result |
|
Biathlon. Men. Relay. 4×7.5 km |
||
|
1 |
France |
1 hour 19 min 55.2 sec |
|
2 |
Norway |
+9.8 sec |
|
3 |
Sweden |
+57.5 sec |
|
Bobsleigh. Men. Doubles |
||
|
1 |
Johannes Lochner and Georg Fleischhauer (Germany) |
3 min 39.7 sec |
|
2 |
Francesco Friedrich and
Alexander Schuller (Germany) |
+1.34 sec |
|
3 |
Adam Ammur and Alexander Schaller (Germany) |
+1.82 sec |
|
Speed skating. Women. Team race |
||
|
1 |
Canada |
2 min 55.81 sec |
|
2 |
Netherlands |
+0.96 sec |
|
3 |
Japan |
2 min 58.5 sec |
|
Speed skating. Men. Team race |
||
|
1 |
Italy |
3 min 39.2 sec |
|
2 |
USA |
+4.51 sec |
|
3 |
China |
3 min 41.38 |
|
Nordic Combined. Men. Nordic Combined. Big jump (HS-140) + 10 km cross-country ski race |
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|
1 |
Jens Oftebro (Norway) |
24 min 45 sec |
|
2 |
Johannes Lamparter (Austria) |
+5.9 sec |
|
3 |
Jilkka Herola (Finland) |
+14.8 sec |
|
Freestyle. Men. Big Air |
||
|
1 |
Thurmud Frostod (Norway) |
195.5 points |
|
2 |
Mac Forehand (USA) |
193.25 points |
|
3 |
Matej Swanzer (Austria) |
191.25 points |
|
Hockey. Men. 1/8 finals |
||
| Germany – France |
6:1 |
|
| Czech Republic – Denmark |
3:2 |
|
| Switzerland – Italy |
3:0 |
|
| Sweden – Latvia |
5:1 |
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