The 2026 Winter Games are off to a promising start for host nation Italy with gold, silver and bronze on the first day of medal events.

Many Minnesota-based athletes at the Winter Olympics this week have more on their minds than sports.

Lindsey Vonn’s stirring return to ski racing in her 40s will hit its crescendo at the Milan Cortina Olympics, while the comeback quest of another U.S. gold medalist, snowboarder Jamie Anderson, came up short.

Most of Bhavani Thekkada’s competitors grew up on skis.

United States' Jessie Diggins bursts into tears after completing a women's Tour de Ski, cross-country 10K mass start event, in Val di Fiemme, Italy, Sunday, Jan. 10, 2021. Diggins finished in second placed and clinched the Tour de Ski trophy. All rights reservedVAL DI FIEMME – Jessie Diggins won a first title for the United States in cross-country skiing’s Tour de Ski on Sunday. Four different Norwegians combined to win the past seven editions of the women’s Tour de Ski. Diggins, from Saint Paul, Minnesota, won an Olympic gold medal at the 2018 Pyeongchang Winter Games in team sprint with Kikkan Randall.