The Winter Games have begun in Italy. From the rink to the slopes, a new generation of stars has emerged to chase gold. We’ll keep you connected to all of the thrilling moments and top stories as we track the medal race each day of the Games.
The United States is up to 14 total medals so far in Italy, and will have several opportunities to add to that count in Day 7 of the 2026 Winter Olympics.
Here are the top five things to watch on Friday at the 2026 Milan Cortina Olympics:
1. Ilia Malinin goes for ascension — and a quad axel (1 p.m. ET)
It all comes down to this for the "Quad God." After a pair of so-so skates in the team event — which didn't prevent Team USA from winning gold — Malinin returned to deity level in the short program of the men's event.
Malinin holds a five-point lead going into the free skate and is virtually guaranteed a gold medal if he lands all of the major parts of his routine. He's also poised to become the first skater to successfully land a quad axel in the history of the Olympics, if he pulls off figure skating's most difficult jump. He landed it just fine in practice Thursday.
A win would make him and Nathan Chen the first Americans to win the event back-to-back since Scott Hamilton and Brian Boitano did it in 1984 and 1988.
2. Team USA enters women's hockey knockout round (3:10 p.m. ET)
The Team USA women's hockey looked overwhelming in group play, most notably when it blew out co-favorite Canada 5-0. The Americans are so far 4-0 and have scored 20 goals, while allowing just one.
The first challenge of the playoffs will be against the host country, Italy, which isn't seen as a medal threat here. It's widely assumed every game in this event is just a warm-up for the USA-Canada gold medal game, but teams like this deserve to be appreciated.
3. 17-year-old Alessandro Barbieri tries to shock world in men's snowboard halfpipe (1:30 p.m. ET)
The women's snowboard halfpipe saw reigning champion Chloe Kim get stunned by a 17-year-old. Team USA is now hoping history repeats a day later.
In a stacked men's halfpipe field featuring defending gold medalist Ayumu Hirano of Japan and four-time world champion Scotty James of Australia, 17-year-old Alessandro Barbieri looms as Team USA's best chance at a medal. He had the fourth-best score in qualifying, but will need something even better in the final.
4. The chaos of women's snowboard cross (7:30 a.m. ET)
Lindsey Jacobellis' breakthrough win after 16 years of crushing disappointment was one of the best stories of the 2022 Olympics. She'll be in the broadcast booth for this one, with a wide-open field in a sport prone to chaos.
Stacy Gaskill is the top-ranked American in the field, while reigning world champion Michela Moioli of Italy will be trying to keep another gold in the host country.
5. Contenders face off in men's hockey (10 a.m. ET)
Canada and Team USA are the co-favorites in men's hockey, but Sweden and Finland are the two other countries to most benefit from the reintroduction of NHL players, and they're about to take each other on in group play. This could be a bronze medal match preview, or even more if they can take down one of the top teams.
Friday, Feb. 13, 2026 (Day 7)
All times ET.
Biathlon
10 kilometer sprint
8 a.m.: Men’s final (airs on USA Network at 11 a.m.)🏅
Cross-Country Skiing
10 kilometer
5:45 a.m.: Men’s final (USA Network coverage begins at 6 a.m.; airs on NBC at 12 p.m.)🏅
Curling
Men's round-robin
3:05 a.m.: Canada vs. USA (USA Network), Great Britain vs. Italy, China vs. Norway, Switzerland vs. Czechia
1:05 p.m.: Switzerland vs. China, Czechia vs. Norway, Germany vs. Italy, Canada vs. Sweden (airs at 9:30 p.m. on USA Network)
Women's round robin
8:05 a.m.: Denmark vs. Sweden, China vs. Switzerland, USA vs. Canada (airs at 5 p.m. on CNBC), Great Britain vs. South Korea
Figure Skating
Free skate
1 p.m.: Men’s final (USA Network; NBC coverage begins at 3 p.m.)🏅
Hockey
Men's pool play
6:10 a.m.: Finland vs. Sweden (USA Network), Italy vs. Slovakia
10:40 a.m.: France-Czechia
3:10 p.m.: Canada-Switzerland (airs at 12:30 a.m. Saturday on USA Network)
Women's quarterfinals
10:40 a.m.: Czechia vs. Sweden (airs at 8 p.m. on USA Network)
3:10 p.m.: USA vs. Italy (USA Network)
Skeleton
10 a.m.: Women's runs 1, 2 (USA Network)
1:25 p.m.: Men's runs 3, 4 (airs on USA Network at 5:30 p.m.)🏅
Snowboarding
Snowboard cross
4 a.m.: Women's qualifying (4 a.m.)
7:30 a.m.: Women’s final (airs at 8:30 a.m. on USA Network and 1 p.m. on NBC) 🏅
Halfpipe
1:30 p.m.: Men’s final (NBC)🏅
Speed Skating
10,000 meters
10 a.m.: Men’s final (airs at 10:30 a.m. on USA Network)🏅