Five things to watch at the Milan Cortina Games on Monday, Feb. 9

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This article was published 08/02/2026 (225 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

MILAN – From a medal chance in freestyle skiing to the start of figure skating’s ice dance competition, here are five things to look out for at the Milan Cortina Olympics on Monday, Feb. 9:

SLOPESTYLE STARS

Freestyle skiers Megan Oldham of Parry Sound, Ont., and Naomi Urness of Mont-Tremblant, Que., take to the course at Livigno Snow Park in the women’s slopestyle final. Oldham — an X Games slopestyle champion in 2023 and world championship silver and bronze medallist — finished seventh and Urness eighth in qualifying on Saturday. They’ll be in a competitive field, including defending Olympic champion and two-time world champion Mathilde Gremaud of Switzerland and Chinese star Eileen Gu.

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FILLIER THE NET

Rising superstar Sarah Fillier and defending-champion Canada take on Czechia in women’s hockey action. Fillier scored a goal on Saturday to help Canada open its title defence with a 4-0 win over Switzerland. She is back in Olympic action after a stellar debut, when she had eight goals to help Canada win gold at the 2022 Beijing Games.

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LET’S DANCE

Canada will have three figure-skating tandems in competition when the ice dance event begins with the rhythm event. Toronto’s Piper Gilles and Paul Poirier of Unionville, Ont., were silver medallists at the last two world championships and skated in the rhythm dance of the team event. Marjorie Lajoie of Boucherville, Que., and Zachary Lagha, of St-Hubert, Que., who were third in the team free dance on Saturday, and Marie-Jade Lauriault of Sainte-Anne-des-Plaines, Que., and Romain Le Gac of Laval, Que., are also in the field.

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ROCKING THE SEMIS

The mixed doubles curling semifinals will follow the end of the preliminary round at the Cortina Curling Olympic Stadium. The winners will face off for the first curling gold medal of the Games on Tuesday, while the losers will fight for bronze. Earlier, Canada’s Jocelyn Peterman and Brett Gallant, who have been eliminated from medal contention, play their final against Switzerland.

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AIR JAPAN

After Japanese athletes dominated Saturday’s men’s big air competition, their teammates will look to do the same in the women’s event. And they have reason to be confident. Murase Kokomo (gold), Iwabuchi Reira (silver) and Fukada Mari (bronze) completed a Japanese sweep of the podium at the 2025 snowboard world championships, and all three are competing at the Milan Cortina Games. Other big names in the field include defending Olympic champion Anna Gasser of Austria and 2022 silver medallist Zoi Sadowski-Synnott of New Zealand.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 8, 2026.