MILAN – From a long-awaited ice dance bronze to a nail-biting curling win, here are five things to know from Wednesday, Feb. 11 at the 2026 Milan Cortina Games:
LONG-AWAITED MEDAL FOR GILLES, POIRIER
Canada’s Piper Gilles and Paul Poirier finally climbed the Olympic podium, capturing bronze in ice dance at the Milan Cortina Games after falling short in two previous Olympics. Skating to Govardo’s cover of “Vincent,” the Toronto-based duo delivered a free dance that held up for third, with Gilles leaping from her seat in the kiss-and-cry as the score became official. France’s Laurence Fournier Beaudry, a Montreal native, and Guillaume Cizeron won gold, while American three-time world champions Madison Chock and Evan Bates took silver. The bronze gave Canada its first Olympic figure skating medal since the 2018 Pyeongchang Games.
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JACOBS CLUTCH IN CORTINA
Brad Jacobs opened men’s curling with a 7-6 extra-end win over Germany’s Marc Muskatewitz on Wednesday night, sealing it with a hit in the 11th end. The Calgary-based Canadian rink was pushed throughout before closing it out at Cortina Curling Olympic Stadium. Canada is chasing its first Olympic men’s team gold since Jacobs won in 2014.
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HASN’T MISSED A BEAT
Montreal Canadiens forward Juraj Slafkovský picked up right where he left off after an impressive 2022 Olympics. Slafkovský scored two goals, including the tournament opener, as Slovakia beat Finland 4-1 in the first men’s hockey game in Milan. Slafkovsky was a breakout star as a 17-year-old at the 2022 Beijing Games, when he scored a tournament-leading seven goals and helped Slovakia win the bronze medal. That performance paved the way for him to be selected by Montreal first overall at the 2022 NHL draft.
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SO CLOSE, SCHWINGHAMMER
Medal hopeful Maia Schwinghammer, of Saskatoon, settled for fifth in the women’s freeski moguls, but a look at the scores shows the Saskatoon skier was painfully close to a spot on the podium. Schwinghammer’s score of 77.61 points on her final run was just .39 behind bronze medallist Perrine Laffont of France. Schwinghammer will get another shot at a medal when women’s dual moguls makes its Olympic debut Saturday.
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RAREFIED AIR
Franjo von Allmen is competing in his first Olympics, but he has already taken his place among the legends of his sport. The Swiss skier picked up his third gold medal of the games with a victory in the men’s super-G. Only two other men’s alpine skiers have accomplished that feat: Jean-Claude Killy at the 1968 Grenoble Games, and Austrian Anton (Toni) Sailer at the 1956 Winter Games in Cortina d’Ampezzo.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 11, 2026.
© 2026 The Canadian Press
