Medals will be awarded in five events on the first full day of the Winter Olympics competition.
WASHINGTON — The first full day of competition Saturday at the 2026 Milan Cortina Winter Olympics will also bring the first medal — in men’s downhill.
The men’s downhill event starts at 5:30 a.m. ET at the Stelvio Alpine Ski Centre. The 7,398-foot course is a regular stop on the World Cup circuit and is considered one of the most challenging, thanks to its steepness and technical demands, according to Olympics.com.
Team USA skiers competing are Bryce Bennett, Ryan Cochran-Siegle, River Radamus, Kyle Negomir and Sam Morse.
In the first training, which was on Thursday, Cochran-Siegle — the 2022 Olympics silver medalist in Super-G — was the fastest man down the hill. He was the only American, man or woman, to earn a medal in Alpine skiing at the 2022 Beijing Games.
The favorite for the gold is World Cup leader Marco Odermatt of Switzerland.
The 2022 gold medalist, Beat Feuz of Switzerland, announced his retirement later that year, so these Olympics will crown a new men’s downhill champion.
Other big events Saturday at the Winter Olympics
There are four other medal events on Saturday:
The cross-country skiing women’s skiathlon competition, at 7 a.m. ET, will include three-time Team USA medalist Jessie Diggins.
Speed skating has its first medal race at 10 a.m. ET with the women’s 3000m.
Ski jumping women’s normal hill will start at 11:45 a.m. ET.
And finally, Team USA’s Ollie Martin will go for gold in the finals of men’s snowboard big air, starting at 1:30 p.m. ET.