GB’s Weston bids for skeleton gold – Friday’s guide

The 25th Winter Olympics will feature almost 3,000 athletes from 90 countries competing for 116 medals at Milan-Cortina.

Team GB have sent 53 athletes to the Games with plenty of medal potential.

Here is your guide to what is happening each day and who to look out for.

Medals: Seven

Snowboard: Women’s snowboard cross (09:00-14:05)

Britain’s former world champion Charlotte Bankes has enjoyed plenty of success in snowboard cross but the Winter Olympics have so far produced only frustration.

Bankes, who was born in Hemel Hempstead but grew up in the French Alps, has competed at three previous Games (twice for France) but is yet to make the final.

She has overcome recent injury to get back to the top of the World Cup podium so she should have every chance in Livigno.

Figure skating: Men – free skate (18:00-22:10)

We are likely to see the Olympic coronation of two-time world champion Ilia Malinin, who remains the only skater to have landed the incredibly difficult quad Axel in competition and is probably one of the hottest favourites of these Games.

If the American’s free skate is anything like the routine that clinched the Grand Prix Trophy in December, it should be spectacular. That routine featured an astonishing seven quadruple jumps.

Skeleton: Men’s heats three and four (18:30-21.20)

Will Friday the 13th be a lucky one for either Matt Weston or Marcus Wyatt, who are both vying to become Britain’s first male Olympic skeleton champion?

The final two runs of the competition (18:30 and 20:05) will decide the medals with reigning world champion Weston in prime position to win gold.

The two-time world champion – and Team GB’s biggest medal hope in Milan-Cortina – holds an advantage of 0.30 seconds over his nearest rival.

The women’s competition also begins today (15:00), with Tabby Stoecker, Amelia Coltman and Freya Tarbit all competing for Team GB.

Snowboard: Men’s halfpipe final (18:30-20:05)

American legend Shaun White may have retired but there will still be plenty of gasp-inducing acrobatics as riders drop into the pipe to show off their bag of tricks.

Women’s ice hockey enters the knockout phase, with two quarter-finals taking place.

The second round of group games in the men’s tournament also gets under way, with four fixtures, including Finland against Sweden at 11:10.

The Finns are the reigning champions, while Sweden finished fourth in Beijing. Both have named squads packed full of NHL talent.

Medals: Eight

Alpine skiing: Men’s giant slalom (run one 09:00; run two 12:30)

Switzerland’s Marco Odermatt has claimed four successive World Cups in this event and is attempting to do something that not even greats like Marcel Hirscher and Hermann Maier could manage – back-to-back Olympic gold medals in giant slalom.

The only man to achieve this feat was an Italian – Alberto Tomba in Calgary 1988 and Albertville 1992 – so could the slopes of Bormio in the extreme north of the country prove a lucky omen for the Swiss superstar?

Freestyle skiing: Women’s dual moguls (09:30-11:00)

Today we’ll see the first-ever Olympic champion in dual moguls, in which skiers compete head-to-head on adjacent courses.

The USA’s Jaelin Kauf, who was the silver medallist in the moguls in Beijing, is the reigning world champion. However, she could face tough competition from teammate Tess Johnson.

Skeleton: Women’s heat three and four (17:00-19:50)

It’s the conclusion of the women’s skeleton. This is an event that has traditionally been a very fruitful one for Great Britain, which has won medals on all but one of the six occasions the event has been held.

Freestyle skiing: Women’s big air qualification (18:30-20:45)

Britain’s Kirsty Muir begins her campaign to better the fifth-place finish she achieved on her Olympic debut four years ago when aged just 17.

Also likely to be in the field are China’s California-born defending champion Eileen Gu, Beijing 2022 silver medallist Tess Ledeux of France and the sport’s latest sensation, 18-year-old Flora Tabanelli.

The two remaining women’s ice hockey quarter-finals take place, while in the men’s preliminary round there’s a rematch of the 2022 bronze medal game, won by Slovakia against Sweden (11.10am GMT).

Round robin matches of the men’s and women’s curling continue, with Great Britain’s women up against current world champions Canada at 09:05. Bruce Mouat’s rink face the Czechs at 13:05.

Medals: Nine

Alpine skiing: Women’s giant slalom (run one 09:00; run two 12:30)

After a 10th-place finish in Pyeongchang, Sweden’s Sara Hector shocked many by taking giant slalom gold in Beijing.

She became the first Swedish woman to win the Olympic title in this event since Pernilla Wiberg at Albertville 1992 and was helped by Mikaela Shiffrin’s inability to complete a run.

Freestyle skiing: Men’s dual moguls (09:30-11:00)

Can moguls king Mikael Kingsbury become the first-ever men’s Olympic dual moguls champion?

The Canadian is a five-time world champion in the discipline, and has won the last four, a run stretching back to 2019.

His biggest rival is likely to be the only other man to have won the dual moguls world title in the past decade: Japan’s Ikuma Horishima.

Snowboard: Snowboard cross mixed team (12:45-14:00)

This event made its debut in 2022, with American Lindsey Jacobellis capping a memorable Games by clinching her second gold alongside fellow veteran Nick Baumgartner.

Charlotte Bankes and Huw Nightingale finished sixth but went on to win the world title in 2023 and will be competing again today.

Skeleton: Mixed team (17:00-19:00)

The mixed team is a new event at these Winter Olympics. This is good news for Great Britain, presented with another medal chance in a sport that they have traditionally excelled in.

The make-up of their two pairs is yet to be confirmed but Tabby Stoecker and Matt Weston have won silver at the past two World Championships and Britain will be hoping at least two of their squad are standing on the podium today.

Ski jumping: Women’s large hill (17:45)

A landmark evening for ski jumping, with women competing for the first time in the large hill event.

The first day of competition in bobsleigh features the opening two women’s monobob heats (09:00), in which British shot put champion Adele Nicoll will make her Olympic debut.

The preliminary round of the men’s ice hockey concludes with four games, including the USA against Germany (20:10).

Only the three group winners plus the runner-up with the best record advance directly to the quarter-finals, with the other eight teams instead going into a play-off round.

It’s a busy day for Britain in men’s curling – they play Germany at 09:05 and then return to the Cortina Curling Stadium to meet Switzerland at 18:05.

At 13:05, the British women’s team have a tricky fixture against Anna Hasselborg’s Sweden.

The long-established Swedish rink were 2018 Olympic champions before losing out to Team GB’s Eve Muirhead and co in the 2022 semi-finals.

Female figure skaters often hit their peak while teenagers but (sporting) life really did begin at 40 for Canadian pairs skater Deanna Stellato-Dudek, who along with Maxime Deschamps won her first world title at that age in 2024.

Now 42, she and 34-year-old Deschamps will be among the medal contenders in the figure skating pairs, which starts today with the short programme (18:45).

Medals: Six

Alpine skiing: Men’s slalom (run one 09:00; run two 12:30)

Dave ‘the Rocket’ Ryding will compete in this event at his fifth and final Games. The 38-year-old slalom specialist became the first British alpine skier to win World Cup gold in 2022 and earlier this year he sealed the nation’s best World Championship result by a male since 1934 by finishing sixth. However, he is not expected to reach the podium.

Snowboard: Women’s slopestyle qualifying (09:30-11:35)

Britain’s Mia Brookes was too young to qualify for the last Winter Olympics but won the world title the following year, aged 16.

Now just turned 19, she finally has her chance to grab Olympic glory and the rider from Sandbach, Cheshire, will be aiming to book her spot in tomorrow’s final.

Maisie Hill, who is back to her best after suffering a horrific training crash three years ago, will also represent Britain. Later today (13:00), the men’s qualification takes place, with Txema Mazet-Brown Britain’s only competitor.

Bobsleigh: Women’s monobob heats three and four (18:00)

The first bobsleigh medal is up for grabs at the Cortina Sliding Centre.

Kaillie Humphries won the inaugural monobob title at the 2022 Games, claiming her third Olympic gold – and first since switching allegiance from Canada to the USA.

A fourth gold medal here would equal the record in Olympic bobsleigh.

Freestyle skiing: Women’s big air final (18:30-19:50)

Kirsty Muir was the youngest member of Team GB in 2022, coming a brilliant fifth in the final, and the 21-year-old Scot will be hoping to be in the mix again.

But it looks like being a high-class field that will include defending champion Eileen Gu and Beijing 2022 silver medallist Tess Ledeux of France.

Women’s ice hockey reaches the semi-final stage (15:40 and 20:10). Barring any surprises, Canada and the USA will be kept apart and will be red-hot favourites to advance to the final.

Six of the seven previous women’s gold medal games have been contested by those two countries.

It’s a busy Monday for Team GB in women’s curling – Rebecca Morrison’s rink play Denmark at 09:05 and Switzerland at 18:05.

In men’s curling, Britain’s quest for gold continues with Team Mouat meeting Norway at 13:05.

The figure skating pairs event reaches its conclusion (19:00), with reigning world champions Riku Miura and Ryuichi Kihara aiming to win Japan’s first Olympic title in the discipline.

The pair finished seventh at the last Games but have since finished either first or second at the last four World Championships.

Medals: Seven

Snowboard: Women’s slopestyle final (12:00-13:35)

British teenager Mia Brookes has already won the world title and is now aiming to become an Olympic champion on snow, something no Briton had achieved prior to these Games.

The 19-year-old will be putting her tricks up against some talented rivals, set to include the Japanese contingent and reigning Olympic and world champion Zoi Sadowski-Synnott of New Zealand.

The riders have three runs to impress the judges, with their best score counting.

Bobsleigh: Two-man heats three and four (18:00)

Can anyone stop the Germans and in particular pilot Francesco Friedrich, who is vying for a record fifth bobsleigh gold?

The 35-year-old led a German 1-2-3 in this event in 2022 but this season Friedrich’s long-time rival Johannes Lochner has had a decisive edge on the World Cup circuit.

The British sled, featuring Brad Hall and Taylor Lawrence, will be among those seeking to end Germany’s stranglehold.

Freestyle skiing: Men’s big air final (18:30-19:50)

New Zealand’s Luca Harrington will be aiming to add the Olympic title to the world title and World Cup title he won last season.

Women’s figure skating begins with the short programme (17:45).

It should be an intriguing competition with the likes of three-time former world champion Kaori Sakamoto up against the returning Alysa Liu, who dethroned the Japanese skater at last year’s World Championships, and her American team-mate, the rejuvenated Amber Glenn.

Britain’s Kristen Spours, who has overcome a serious back injury to make it to Milan, will also be competing.

Medals: Eight

Alpine skiing: Women’s slalom (run one 09:00; run two 12:30)

“I don’t want Beijing to be the reason that I’m scared of the Olympics,” said former double Olympic champion Mikaela Shiffrin. “For the past few years, it has been a little bit.”

“It’s not so much about unfinished business,” continued the American. “It’s more about making peace.”

Her main rivals are likely to be Croatian 21-year-old and slalom World Cup winner Zrinka Ljutic and Camille Rast, who last year became the first Swiss racer since 1991 to win the slalom world title.

Snowboard: Men’s slopestyle (11:30-13:10)

It’s the quarter-finals in men’s ice hockey, with the four winners from the previous day’s play-off games taking on the four teams with the best record in the group stage.

In curling, Great Britain’s women return after a rest day to face the USA at 09:05 and Japan at 18:05. Britain’s men meet the USA at 13:05 in the last of their round-robin matches.

Medals: Seven

Ski mountaineering: Women’s and men’s sprint finals (12:55 and 13:15)

Bormio is synonymous with downhill skiing but some athletes will also be attempting to go uphill in the only new sport at these Winter Olympics – ski mountaineering, or skimo for short.

Skiers race up and down a steep course on skis, ‘skins’ (strips of fabric attached to the bottom of skis) and on foot, putting on or taking off their equipment in transition areas between sections.

Two of the three golds on offer will be decided today in the sprint races, which consist of several knockout contests.

France’s Emily Harrop, whose parents are British but who was born and bred in the French Alps, is the women’s favourite (heats start at 08:50), with the men’s heats at 09:30.

Figure skating: Women’s free skate (18:00-22:10)

The women’s figure skating is always one of the highlights of any Winter Olympics, but in 2022 it was one of the most upsetting events. It concluded with 15-year-old Kamila Valieva leaving the ice distressed after an error-strewn performance that followed her positive drugs test.

The contest for gold in Milan-Cortina promises to be an intriguing battle – reigning world champion Alysa Liu and revitalised team-mate Amber Glenn are aiming to become the first USA winner of this title for 24 years, while Japan’s three-time former world champion Kaori Sakamoto is hoping for a first Olympic gold in her farewell season.

But could the latest young Russian talent Adeliia Petrosian – who will be competing as a neutral athlete – emerge as a contender?

Ice hockey: Women’s gold medal game (18:10)

Thursday’s final will almost certainly be the latest chapter in the increasingly bitter rivalry between the two dominant teams in women’s hockey, Canada and the USA.

The pair have contested six of the seven gold medal matches at the Olympic and met in 23 of 24 finals at World Championship level.

The Canadians usually have the edge when it matters most and claimed their fifth Olympic crown in 2022.

Freestyle skiing: Women’s halfpipe run one and two (18:30-20:25)

Zoe Atkin, one of Britain’s biggest medal hopes at these Games, begins her quest to emulate big sister Izzy and win an Olympic medal.

The 23-year-old Stanford University student is the reigning world champion and also the joint-winner of the overall World Cup title last season.

It’s the final day of the curling round robin stage, with the semi-final line-ups to be determined and – in the case of the men’s competition – played on the same day.

Prepare for some gravity-defying tricks and jumps in the men’s aerials final (10:30).

Switzerland’s Noe Roth has won the past two world titles but has not managed to land on the podium at either of the past two Olympics.

A medal in Milano-Cortina would emulate his mother Colette Brand, who won aerials bronze in Nagano in 1998. Qi Guangpu is the defending champion.

The men’s speed skating 1500m (15:30) is regarded as one of speed skating’s blue riband contests and is known by afficionados as the ‘king’s race’.

Medals: Six

Freestyle skiing: Women’s ski cross (09:00-12:35)

The exciting sport of ski cross involves plenty of drama and the last Olympics was no exception, as Switzerland’s Fanny Smith well knows.

She was demoted from bronze in the aftermath of her race, only for the decision to eventually be overturned – she received her medal more than a year later.

Now the reigning world champion, Smith again faces Sweden’s Sandra Naeslund and Canada’s Marielle Thompson, the gold and silver medallists from Beijing.

Ice hockey: Men’s semi-finals (15:40 & 20:10)

The Milano Santagiulia Ice Hockey Arena is host to a semi-final double header, with the two winners advancing to Sunday’s final and the losers playing off for bronze.

Canada are nine-time Olympic champions, while the USA last took the title in 1980.

Freestyle skiing: Men’s halfpipe final (18:30-20:05)

Expect a thrilling contest for gold. With New Zealand’s 2022 gold medallist Nico Porteous announcing last summer that he was stepping away from the sport, there is a gap to be filled – and the title could stay in Kiwi hands as 19-year-old Finley Melville Ives is the current world champion.

It’s semi-finals day in the women’s curling (13:05) and, as the defending champions, Team GB will be hoping to be involved.

However, Jen Dodds is the only returning member of the successful GB quintet in 2022, and Rebecca Morrison’s 2026 rink will probably be hopeful rather than expectant of reaching this stage.

Medals: 10

Freestyle skiing: Men’s ski cross final (09:00-12:35)

Beijing champion Ryan Regez suffered a torn ACL followed by a loss of form but his world title win last year shows he is now back to his best.

His biggest threat could be Canada’s Reece Howden, who has won the World Cup title in both of the past two years.

Bobsleigh: Two-woman heats three and four (18:00 & 20:03)

Germany’s Laura Nolte won this event in 2022 aged 23, becoming the youngest female pilot to take gold.

Since then, she and brakewoman Deborah Levi have been a model of consistency on the World Cup circuit.

Curling: Men’s gold-medal game (18:05-21:20)

Britain’s Team Mouat will be hoping to be involved as the men’s curling reaches its conclusion.

The quartet who competed in the 2022 final are all back in Milan-Cortina and determined to upgrade the silver they took home last time to gold, which would be Britain’s first in Olympic men’s curling since 1924.

The bronze medal game in the women’s curling starts at 13:05 GMT.

Freestyle skiing: Women’s halfpipe final (18:30-20:05)

Can Britain’s Zoe Atkin dethrone China’s Eileen Gu as the Olympic champion?

As well as the conclusion of the two-woman event, the opening two heats of the four-man bobsleigh take place (09:00 and 10:57).

Germany – particularly pilot Francesco Friedrich – have monopolised major titles in recent years but the British crew driven by Brad Hall also have podium aspirations.

The most gruelling event in the Winter Olympics is cross country skiing’s 50km mass start (10:00).

Medals: Four

Bobsleigh: Four-man heats three and four (09:00 & 11:12)

History beckons for German great Francesco Friedrich on the final day of the Games.

The 35-year-old arrived in Italy with four Olympic titles so, depending on how he fared in the earlier two-man event, he will be vying to become the first athlete to win five or even six bobsleigh golds.

Curling: Women’s gold medal game (10:05-13:20)

This event proved the highlight – and saving grace – of Britain’s Winter Olympics four years ago, when Eve Muirhead and her team clinched GB’s only gold of the Games on the final day in Beijing.

With only one member of that gold-winning quintet competing in Milan-Cortina, a repeat might be unlikely.

Ice hockey: Men’s gold medal game (13:10)

Each of the last three men’s ice hockey finals has produced a different winner – so could a new name be added to the roll of honour at the Milano Santagiulia Ice Hockey Arena?

Canada have claimed a record nine Olympic golds and the return of NHL players is a boost to their chances.

With all events completed, at 19:00 it’s time for the Closing Ceremony of the XXV Winter Olympic Games, which will take place in the iconic Arena, a Roman amphitheatre in the historic city of Verona.