Olympics 2026 | What Thursday brings

The 25th Winter Olympic Games are slowly but surely drawing to a close – the closing ceremony for the 2026 Olympics will take place in the arena on Sunday, February 22nd. But before that, a few medal events remain: On Thursday, a duo from Val Gardena will compete for a medal in the snow of Tesero.

February 19, 2026

From: mv

For Aaron Kostner (St. Ulrich) and Samuel Costa (Wolkenstein), the Winter Games have not gone according to plan so far. In Tuesday's individual competition, consisting of ski jumping from the large hill and a 10-kilometer cross-country race, Kostner finished 18th, while Costa came in 23rd. On Thursday, the two will be the only Italian team competing in the cross-country-heavy event. team sprint at the starting line. One thing is already certain: it will be the last race for Costa, who will end his career after the Winter Games.

The remaining events will take place without South Tyrolean participation. Many eyes will be on Milan on Thursday, where the medals will be awarded. Women's ice hockey The bronze medals will be awarded. While Switzerland and Sweden will face off for third place at 2:40 p.m., the two ice hockey powerhouses, the USA and Canada, will battle for Olympic glory starting at 7:10 p.m. The two teams already met in the group stage – the US women's team won decisively 5-0.

The women's competition was the highlight of the evening.

Im Ski mountaineeringThe men's and women's sprint, a category making its Olympic debut this year, is scheduled for Thursday. Because the men's freestyle ski jumping competition had to be canceled on Tuesday due to heavy snowfall in Livigno, it will be rescheduled for Thursday. Qualifying runs begin at 11:00 AM, with the finals set for 2:00 PM.

Lara Naki Gutmann, from Trentino, has South Tyrolean roots. © ANSA / NEIL HALL

The evening also has another highlight in store: Besides the Speed skating The men's 1.500-meter race, which is scheduled for 4:30 p.m., will take place from 7 p.m. onwards. Freestyle The women's figure skating competition is taking place. After the short program, three Japanese skaters occupy the top four spots: Ami Nakai (1st), Kaori Sakamoto (2nd), and Mone Chiba (4th) – with American Alysa Liu squeezing in third place. Lara Naki Gutmann, a skater from Trentino with South Tyrolean roots, is currently in 18th place and will try to improve her position in Thursday's free skate.