Milan Cortina: What to watch today in the Winter Olympics — Team USA's men's hockey in quarterfinals vs. Sweden (2/18)
- - Milan Cortina: What to watch today in the Winter Olympics — Team USA's men's hockey in quarterfinals vs. Sweden (2/18)
Ryan YoungFebruary 18, 2026 at 7:07 AM
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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.
Team USA is up to 21 medals after a pair of second-place finishes on Tuesday in Italy. There are several opportunities for the Americans to add to that count on Wednesday, too. And, while there's no medal up for grabs yet, the men's hockey team is back in action in a must-win quarterfinal game against Sweden.
Here are the top five things to watch on Wednesday at the 2026 Milan Cortina Olympics:
Men’s snowboard slopestyle final (5:20 a.m. ET)
This was rescheduled due to weather, and a trio of Americans will try to reach the podium in what is sure to be an entertaining final. Red Gerard is perhaps the most notable among them after his gold medal win in PyeongChang in 2018 when he was just 17 years old. He missed the podium completely four years ago, however. Jake Cander and Oliver Martin will also be competing for Team USA.
Mark McMorris of Canada will attempt to win a fourth straight medal in the event, too. He won bronze four years ago. China’s Su Yiming, the silver medal winner in Beijing, is also in the final.
Women’s snowboard slopestyle final (8:30 a.m. ET)
Like the men’s competition, the women’s snowboard slopestyle final was also rescheduled to Wednesday. All eyes will be on New Zealand’s Zoi Sadowski-Synnott, who is the favorite to defend her gold medal from four years ago. She posted the highest score in the qualifying round, and also won silver in the Big Air competition earlier in the Games.
Jessica Perlmutter and Lily Dhawornvej are the two Americans who reached the final, though they will have some work to do to reach the podium in this loaded field.
Women's and men’s curling vs. Great Britain (3:05 a.m. ET/8:05 a.m. ET)
The U.S. men’s and women’s curling teams will each take on Great Britain on Wednesday in group play.
The women’s team holds a 5-2 record so far in group play after a dominant 10-3 win over Denmark on Tuesday, their largest win so far of the Games. They’ll wrap up with a match against Switzerland on Thursday before the knockout stage gets going.
The men’s team is in worse shape entering the match. They hold a 4-4 record after falling to both China and Italy on Tuesday, which has them in fifth. A win is critical, and still may not get them into the finals.
Men’s hockey quarterfinals vs Sweden (3:10 p.m. ET)
After an undefeated run throughout the group stage, the U.S. men’s hockey team will take the ice again on Wednesday in the quarterfinals. They’ll take on Sweden, who beat Latvia 5-1 in a qualification round game on Tuesday.
Men’s hockey beat Germany 5-1 after a slow start on Sunday to wrap up the group stage action, though they were far less dominant than they could have been. Sweden entered Milan as a medal favorite, too, and only lost their group due to a goal differential. Wednesday’s match looks like it’ll be far from easy for the Americans.
Men’s short track speed skating 500m finals (2:15 p.m. ET)
Andrew Heo made it through qualifying on Monday, so he’ll have a shot at a medal in the men’s 500-meter short track speed skating final on Wednesday night. The 24-year-old won the event at the ISU Short Track World Tour last fall, and he won his qualifying heat handily.
Heo will have to get past Canada’s Steven Dubois, who won bronze in the event in Beijing four years ago, and favorite William Dandjinou to reach the podium. The Canadian duo posted two of the fastest three qualifying times on Monday.
Olympics schedule for Wednesday, Feb. 18 (Day 12)All times ETAlpine Skiing
Slalom
4 a.m.: Women’s run 1 (USA Network)
7:20 a.m.: Women’s run 2 (USA Network coverage begins at 7:55 a.m.)🏅
Biathlon
Relay
8:45 a.m.: Women’s final (airs on USA Network at 3:45 p.m.)🏅
Cross-Country Skiing
Team sprint
3:45 a.m.: Men’s and women’s qualifying (airs on USA Network 5 a.m.)
5:35 a.m.: Men’s and women’s finals (airs on USA Network at 8:30 a.m.)🏅
Curling
Women's round-robin
3:05 a.m.: USA vs. Great Britain (airs on USA Network at 9:15 a.m.), China vs. Denmark, Sweden vs. South Korea
1:05 p.m.: Great Britain vs. Japan, Switzerland vs. Denmark, Canada vs. Italy (airs on USA Network at 8 p.m.), China vs. Sweden
Men's round-robin
8:05 a.m.: USA vs. Great Britain (airs on CNBC at 5 p.m.), Italy vs. Canada, China vs. Czechia, Norway vs. Switzerland
Freestyle Skiing
Aerials
5:30 a.m.: Women's final (5:30 a.m.)🏅
Hockey
Men's quarterfinals
6:10 a.m.: Slovakia vs. Germany (airs on USA Network at 1 p.m.)
10:40 a.m.: Canada va. Czechia (USA Network)
12:10 p.m.: Finland vs. Switzerland (airs on USA Network at 6 p.m.)
3:10 p.m.: USA vs. Sweden (NBC)
Short Track
2:15 p.m.: Men's 500m, women's 3000m relay (airs on USA Network at 2:30 p.m.)🏅
Snowboarding
Men's Slopestyle
5:20 a.m.: Men’s final (USA Network coverage begins at 5:20 a.m.; airs on NBC at 2:15 p.m.)🏅
Women's Slopestyle
8:30 a.m.: Women's final (Peacock coverage begins at 8:30 a.m.) 🏅
Source: “AOL Sports”
