#olympic-selection

#olympic-selection

The last time Sweden won gold at the Winter Olympics was in 2006. That men's hockey entry, captained by Mats Sundin, rallied from a third-place group stage finish and to eventually secure the gold medal. Since that point, the men's national hockey program won just one silver medal while making it to the bronze medal game once. They also haven't won gold at the IIHF World Championship since 2018.

When Salt Lake City hosted the 2002 Winter Olympics, Deer Valley was at the heart of the action - and in 2034 it will once again take centre stage as the venue for freestyle moguls and aerials. Today, guests at The St. Regis Deer Valley can connect directly to that Olympic legacy through an exclusive partnership with the Utah Olympic Legacy Foundation.

Some of the world's greatest winter sports athletes have called on the International Olympics Committee to stop taking fossil fuel industry money, including from Italian oil giant ENI, a "Premium Partner" of the 2026 Winter Olympics. "The time has come to question the ethical implications of...normalizing the connections between our sports and the detrimental effects of the product that [fossil fuel companies] sell," reads a petition delivered yesterday to IOC officials in Milan, Italy, where the Games' opening ceremony takes place on Friday.

"We have a golden retriever, and so I walk her three or four miles a day, and I do a weight training class twice a week," says Brown, 62, of Arlington, Va. She knows muscle mass will decline without regular strength training. "We have a fun group with a personal trainer and we call ourselves the Beastie Girls," she says, describing how her group helps her stick with it. She also plays tennis and golf.

After beating Canada 3-1 during group play of the Four Nations Faceoff, you could make an argument for the United States to be considered the favourite to win gold in the final. But just five days later, in that same game, the United States could not get the job done, ultimately succumbing to Canada 3-2 in overtime. Almost a year later, that loss still stings. A lot.

In between times, we've got men's large hill ski jumping and women's aerials, then Germany play France and Switzerland take on Italy for a spot in the men's ice hockey quarter-finals. But the centrepiece of our early activity comes at high noon, with the final of the women's snowboard slopestyle. Mia Brookes didn't qualify, but Zoi Sadowski-Synnott, New Zealand's reigning champion, absolutely did, likewise Melissa Peperkamp of the Netherlands; they'll take some beating.

If a dog could compete in the Winter Olympics, which disciplines would it be best at? This age-old question took on new relevance Wednesday, when a Czechoslovakian wolfdog dashed onto the cross-country skiing course during the women's team sprint qualifiers. "So I'm going to say that it's domesticated. Wants to enjoy the finish as well," said commentator Duane Dell'Oca as the canine interloper, a local pooch named Nazgul, raced Croatia's Tena Hadzic and Australia's Phoebe Cridland across the finish line.

USA's Katie Uhlaender, a five-time Winter Olympian in skeleton, accused the Canadian team of deliberately pulling four of its six athletes from a race in Lake Placid, New York, last weekend in order to make it harder for athletes from other countries to qualify. The reduced field meant fewer qualifying points were available and Uhlaender, who won the event, missed out on a place at this year's Games, which will take place in Milan-Cortina, Italy.

But there's also the matter of making sure one's equipment is up to snuff - and, beginning with this year's Winter Olympics, that means not having any PFAS, or "forever chemicals," in the mix. What happens if a competitor does turn out to have such chemicals in their equipment? They'll find themselves disqualified. As GearJunkie's Mary Andino reports, three skiiers have been disqualified so far due to their use of fluorocarbon wax, also known as "fluoro wax."

The 2030 Commonwealth Games will be held in India, and the country is making strong efforts to host the 2036 Olympics, with the aim of giving more and more players greater opportunities to compete,

Olympic winter sports must be played on snow and ice, according to the Olympic Charter. But could a muddy field of play get its chance at a future Winter Games, even as soon as in the French Alps in 2030 or Salt Lake City in 2034? How about parquet in an indoor hall? Snow volleyball is ready and waiting. Those and other sports