By Rory Carroll Milan, Feb 7 (Reuters) - Ilia Malinin made his anticipated Olympic debut at the Milano Cortina Games on Saturday and despite being upstaged by Japan's Yuma Kagiyama, the U.S. extended their lead in the team event thanks to the ice dancing of Madison Chock and Evan Bates.

What to watch for: Austria’s Anna Gasser is the two-time defending Olympic gold medalist, but she hurt her shoulder surfing during the summer and has been rehabbing with the hope of making it three straight. New Zealand’s Zoi Sadowski-Synnott, the 2022 big air silver medalist and also a slopestyle star, is another favorite.

MILAN (AP) — Ilia Malinin's quest for Olympic figure skating gold might not be so easy after all. Same goes for his American team. Yuma Kagiyama landed a pair of near-perfect quads, one in combination with a triple toe loop,

Figure skating star Ilia Malinin is changing the sport in ways that go beyond his status as an overwhelming favorite for Olympic gold in Italy.

Lindsey Vonn, 41, will compete in her first Olympic event since 2018, and it comes just over a week after she tore her ACL.

Team USA made an immediate impact on the first full day of competition at the 2026 Winter Olympics, headlined by another one-sided performance from the women's hockey team and a five-point lead in figure skating's team event that sets up a pivotal Sunday.

Competing against gold medal favourite Ilia Malinin always motivates Yuma Kagiyama and pushes him to do better, the Japanese figure skater said after upstaging the American in the men's short programme in the team event at the Milano Cortina Olympics.

Las Vegas-born ice dancer Diana Davis is helping make the country of Georgia a surprise contender in Olympic figure skating.