Sports
A Curling Scandal Rocks Olympic Ice
Allegations of cheating, and swearing, on the curling ice have rocked the wholesome sport after the Swedes accused the Canadians of "double touching" in a match on Friday. What happened then, and what's happened since?
Italy’s athletes shine at the Milan Cortina Olympics
Call it homefield advantage, call it national pride. Italy's athletes are shining in the Winter Olympics underway in Milan and the Alps.
One Olympic sport still excludes women. This week’s viewing numbers could change that
Nordic combined is the only Olympic sport that doesn't allow women to compete, despite athletes' efforts to change that. They say their odds for 2030 hinge on people watching men's events this week.
U.S. Olympic speed skaters adapt NASCAR ‘bump drafting,’ revolutionizing team event
U.S. Team Pursuit speed skaters will top speeds of 30 mph by pushing themselves around the track mere inches from each other.
Michael Jordan, six-time NBA champion, is now a Daytona 500 winner
Tyler Reddick won "The Great American Race" on Sunday with a last-lap pass at Daytona International Speedway that sent Jordan into a frantic celebration.
U.S. Alpine skier Mikaela Shiffrin finishes another Olympic race without a medal
U.S. Alpine skier Mikaela Shiffrin looks unstoppable everywhere except the Olympics. She's running out of chances to medal at the Milan Cortina Games.
For U.S. pairs skater Danny O’Shea, these Olympics are 30 years in the making
Danny O'Shea turned 35 at his first Olympics, after three decades of skating and two reversed retirements.
American speedskater Jordan Stolz wins second Olympic gold with 500-meter race victory
With the win, Stolz joins Eric Heiden as the only skaters to take gold in both the 500 and 1,000 at the same Olympics.
Meet the power couples of the 2026 Winter Games, from rivals to teammates
Some of these power couples span multiple sports, while others compete in the same discipline — or even on the same team.
Ilia Malinin, figure skater favored for gold, finishes 8th
Malinin, undefeated since 2023, stumbled and fell multiple times, landing far off the podium. Mikhail Shaidorov of Kazakhstan won gold in an upset that shocked even himself.
Kitty cats and cloud hands – how U.S. Olympic snowboarders keep calm in competition
U.S. snowboarders psych themselves up before competition with heavy metal and pop music, cat photos, and apparently many on the men's halfpipe team now do Qigong.
Trump pardons 5 former NFL players for crimes ranging from perjury to drug trafficking
Those pardoned include ex-NFL players Joe Klecko, Nate Newton, Jamal Lewis, Travis Henry and the late Billy Cannon.
Chloe Kim’s protégé foiled her Olympic three-peat dreams. She’s celebrating anyway
Korea's Gaon Choi, 17, rebounded from a hard fall to win gold — and end her role model's historic bid for three in a row in the Winter Olympic halfpipe.
54-year-old U.S. curler sets new American Winter Olympics age record
Rich Ruohonen has tried to get to the Olympics for almost 40 years. He finally got his chance, taking to the ice at the Milan Cortina Games representing the U.S. on Team Casper for curling.
At the Olympics, skier Breezy Johnson won a gold medal — and an engagement ring, too
When Johnson and her partner Connor Watkins met on Bumble, he had "no idea" who she was. "I was out-kicking my coverage," he said
U.S. cross-country star Jessie Diggins claims bronze, medaling in third straight Olympics
She's done it again. Jessie Diggins, age 34 and skiing in her final Olympics, captured a bronze medal for the U.S. at the Milan Cortina Games. She battled through the pain from injured ribs to reach the podium.
Jordan Stolz opens his bid for 4 golds by winning the 1,000 meters in speedskating
Stolz received his gold for winning the men's 1,000 meters at the Milan Cortina Games in an Olympic-record time thanks to a blistering closing stretch. Now Stolz will hope to add to his collection of trophies.
Ukrainian Olympian disqualified over images of war dead on his helmet
The International Olympic Committee has disqualified a Ukrainian sled athlete over his refusal to remove images of war dead from his helmet in competition.
U.S. ice dancers Madison Chock and Evan Bates win Olympic silver, in a stunning upset
Chock and Bates, four-time Olympians, were heavily favored for gold. But they lost by less than two points to a French duo who has been clouded by controversy involving their former partners.
From gifting a hat to tossing them onto the rink, a history of hat tricks in sports
Hat tricks have a rich history in hockey, but it didn't start there. For NPR's Word of the Week, we trace the term's some 150-year-history and why it's particularly special on the hockey rink.
Ukrainian sled racer says he will wear helmet honoring slain soldiers despite Olympic ban
Vladyslav Heraskevych, a skeleton sled racer, says he will wear a helmet showing images of Ukrainian athletes killed defending his country against Russia's full-scale invasion. International Olympic Committee officials say the move would violate rules designed to keep politics out of the Olympics.
America’s Gen Z curlers bring new ways to traditional sport
At the U.S. Curling Olympic Trials, a team of Gen Z curlers usurped the long reigning champions in a big upset. A profile of Team Casper, who's bringing swagger, limber knees, and a some new sensibilities to a tradition-filled sport.
Snowboarder Chloe Kim is chasing an Olympic gold three-peat with a torn labrum
At 25, Chloe Kim could become the first halfpipe snowboarder to win three consecutive Olympic golds.
Reporter’s notebook: A Dutch speedskater and a U.S. influencer walk into a bar …
NPR's Rachel Treisman took a pause from watching figure skaters break records to see speed skaters break records. Plus, the surreal experience of watching backflip artist Ilia Malinin.
Judge rules 7-foot center Charles Bediako is no longer eligible to play for Alabama
Bediako was playing under a temporary restraining order that allowed the former NBA G League player to join Alabama in the middle of the season despite questions regarding his collegiate eligibility.
American Ben Ogden wins silver, breaking 50 year medal drought for U.S. men’s cross-country skiing
Ben Ogden of Vermont skied powerfully, finishing just behind Johannes Hoesflot Klaebo of Norway. It was the first Olympic medal for a U.S. men's cross-country skier since 1976.
Mikaela Shiffrin set to ski for the first time in the Olympics in team combined event
The team combined event pairs a downhill skier with a slalom skier. The top U.S. duo — the slalom star Shiffrin and Breezy Johnson, who won gold in the downhill on Sunday — is a medal favorite.
Lindsey Vonn says she suffered ‘complex tibia fracture’ in her Olympic downhill crash
The 41-year-old star said her torn ACL was not a factor in her crash. "While yesterday did not end the way I had hoped, and despite the intense physical pain it caused, I have no regrets," she wrote.
Ilia Malinin’s Olympic backflip made history. But he’s not the first to do it
U.S. figure skating phenom Ilia Malinin did a backflip in his Olympic debut, and another the next day. The controversial move was banned from competition for decades until 2024.
Olympic COVID restrictions are gone, but some athletes are still self-quarantining
For most people, the pandemic days of masking are behind them. In certain corners of the Winter Olympics, though, things still look a lot like they did in COVID times. Some athletes are taking extreme measures to stay healthy.
Mikaela Shiffrin has battled grief, PTSD and freak injury. Now come the Olympic Games
Shiffrin became a celebrity at 18 years old after becoming the youngest-ever skier to win Olympic slalom gold. Since then, she has faced grief, PTSD and freak injury — yet she is ready to bounce back.
As US Olympians call for tolerance and LGBTQ rights, some face Trump attacks and online hate
President Trump called U.S. Olympic skier Hunter Hess a "loser" after Hess voiced concern about political turmoil in the U.S. Gold medal U.S. figure skater Amber Glenn says she's faced online hate and threats after advocating for LGBTQ rights.

