Sports

United States players celebrate after a women's ice hockey gold medal game between the United States and Canada at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Milan, Italy, on February 19, 2026. HASSAN AMMAR / AP Megan Keller's spectacular overtime strike earned the USA the Olympic women's ice hockey gold medal with a 2-1 win over defending champions Canada on Thursday, February 19. It was the first time the Americans have won the women's title since the 2018 Pyeongchang Games. Keller skillfully deked a Canadian defender and beat goaltender Ann-Renee Desbiens just over four minutes into overtime. Her goal sparked huge celebrations on the Team USA bench and among the thousands of US fans in the Santagiulia Arena in Milan. "I'm lost for words...

USA's Alysa Liu after winning the gold in the figure skating women's single free skating final during the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympic Games at Milano Ice Skating Arena, Milan, February 19, 2026. GABRIEL BOUYS / AFP American Alysa Liu surged from third at the start of the day to win the Olympic women's singles figure skating gold with an electrifying performance at the Milan-Cortina Games on Thursday, February 19. World champion Liu took the title ahead of Japan's Kaori Sakamoto who won silver with 17-year-old Ami Nakai winning bronze after the free skating final at the Milano Ice Skating Arena. Liu hit a career-best score in the free skate and her overall 226.79 points was also a lifetime best as she grabbed her second...

Laurence Fournier Beaudry and Guillaume Cizeron during the free dance at the Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics, in Milan, Italy February 11, 2026. JULIEN DE ROSA/AFP Picture it: Music evoking the ocean's depths and two skaters clad in blue-green costumes reminiscent of the sea, moving in perfect harmony. A couple who, in turn, connect, break apart and then come together as one. On Wednesday, February 11, 9,700 spectators at the Milano Ice Skating Arena and millions more watching on television were captivated by four minutes and 30 seconds of pure spectacle: a fusion of skating and theater. This performance earned French ice dancers Laurence Fournier Beaudry and Guillaume Cizeron Olympic gold. They were already leading the competition after the first segment, the rhythm dance, ...

Ukraine's Vladyslav Heraskevych starts a men's skeleton training session at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy, on Wednesday, February 11, 2026. AIJAZ RAHI / AP Ukraine denounced a decision to ban skeleton racer Vladyslav Heraskevych from the Winter Olympics on Thursday, February 12, after he refused to back down over his banned helmet, which depicted victims of Russia's invasion of his country. Heraskevych, 27, had insisted he would continue to wear the helmet, which carries pictures of Ukrainian sportsmen and women killed since Russian forces invaded Ukraine in 2022, during the men's skeleton heats on Thursday. But the International Olympic Committee (IOC) said Heraskevych had been kicked out of the Milan-Cortina Games aft...

Unfazed by the glass doors of the Palais Omnisports Marseille Grand Est, a handful of children, hockey sticks in hand and using a plastic ball for a puck, mimicked their favorite players. On Wednesday, January 21, the Spartiates, Marseille's local ice hockey team, hosted the Ducs d'Angers in a match of France's top ice hockey league, Ligue Magnus. Nearly 4,000 people filled the stands of France's largest ice rink – slightly below the season's average attendance of around 4,900. Later that night, Olympique de Marseille was scheduled to play Liverpool at the Stade-Vélodrome in a UEFA Champions League match. "After football, we are the city's second biggest sport, both in terms of attendance and level," said Jonathan Zwikel, the general manager of the Spartiates. ...

A Russian flag is held above the Olympic Rings at Adler Arena Skating Center during the Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia on February 18, 2014. DAVID J. PHILLIP / AP Six Russian and four Belarusian athletes will be allowed to compete under their own national flags at the 2026 Paralympics in Milan-Cortina, the Games' governing body confirmed to Agence France-Presse (AFP) on Tuesday, February 17. The International Paralympic Committee (IPC) told AFP the athletes would be "treated like [those from} any other country." Athletes from Russia and Belarus had been banned from competing under their own flags since Russia's 2022 invasion of Ukraine. The IPC unexpectedly lifted its suspension on Russian and Belarusian athletes at the organization's genera...

Christine Lagarde, president of the European Central Bank, attended the final day of the Munich Security Conference in Munich, Bavaria, on February 15, 2026. LIESA JOHANNSSEN/REUTERS President of the European Central Bank (ECB) Christine Lagarde appears to be preparing for an early departure before her term ends in October 2027. Responding to reports from Bloomberg on Monday, February 16, and then from the Financial Times on Wednesday, February 18, the ECB released a statement leaving the possibility open: "President Lagarde is totally focused on her mission and has not taken any decision regarding the end of her term." In June 2025, when initial rumors suggested she might be leaving to take over as president of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, the French na...

Laurence Fournier Beaudry and Guillaume Cizeron after winning the Olympic gold medal in ice dance at the Milan rink, February 11, 2026. GABRIEL BOUYS / AFP At Italy's Blaise & Francis Hotel in Northern Milan on Thursday, February 12, Laurence Fournier Beaudry and Guillaume Cizeron entered to a round of applause. It was barely 10:30 am, and the duo, fresh off an Olympic gold medal win in ice dance the previous night, had already lost count of how many interviews they had given. French and international media alike were, of course, beyond eager to hear from the golden pair. In a first-floor meeting room, relaxed with their well-earned medals around their necks, they answered Le Monde's questions, as attuned to each other as they were in their performance on the ice. ...

Kazakhstan's Mikhail Shaidorov reacts after competing in the figure skating men's singles free skating final during the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympic Games at Milano Ice Skating Arena in Milan on February 13, 2026. WANG ZHAO / AFP US star Ilia Malinin suffered the biggest upset of the Winter Olympics on Friday as the overwhelming favorite for the men's figure skating title fell twice to finish off the podium, with Mikhail Shaidorov of Kazakhstan taking a surprise gold. Malinin, a two-time defending world champion and undefeated for over two years, had been leading after Tuesday's short program, but he capitulated and ultimately finished 15th in the free skate, and eighth overall, after an error-strewn routine. "I was not expecting that. I...

Los Angeles Clippers guard Chris Paul drives to the basket during the second half of an NBA basketball game against the Orlando Magic, on November 20, 2025, in Orlando, Florida. PHELAN M. EBENHACK / AP Chris Paul, a 12-time NBA All-Star point guard, announced his retirement on Friday in a social media post after the 40-year-old American was released by the Toronto Raptors. "This is it! After 21 years I'm stepping away from basketball," Paul posted on Instagram after being dropped following his trade to Toronto by the Los Angeles Clippers last week. Paul has averaged 16.8 points, 9.2 assists, 4.4 rebounds and 2.0 steals a game over 1,370 career NBA games for New Orleans, Houston, Oklahoma City, Phoenix, Golden State, San Antonio and the Clippers. ...