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Chapter 1: What are the highlights of the upcoming 2026 Winter Olympics?
We are now just one day away from the roar of the opening ceremonies of the 2026 Winter Olympics in Milan and Cortina, Italy. Team USA is on the hunt for gold as figure skater Ilya Malinin, who some have dubbed the quad god, pushes the sport of ice skating to dizzying heights.
hello and welcome to usa today's the excerpt i'm dana taylor today is thursday february 5th 2026. joining me now to discuss one of america's favorite events ice skating and what else to watch out for at milano cortina 2026 is usa today national sports columnist christine brennan and olympic gold medalist brian boitano the host of USA Today's Milan Magic Olympics podcast.
Christine and Brian, it is so wonderful to have you here on The Excerpt. Thanks for joining me.
Thank you so much for having us.
Thanks. Yeah, you know what? We're getting a little sick of each other, just the two of us, so it's good to have you join.
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Chapter 2: Who are the standout athletes to watch for Team USA?
Christine, of course, anything can happen at the Olympics, but Team USA is stacked. Who are the megastars we'll be watching?
You certainly mentioned one right off the bat, Ilya Malinin, who is the quad god. As you said, he is two-time world champ, four-time U.S. national champ. He is the prohibitive favorite to win the men's gold medal early in the Olympics, the first week. So it's, in fact, the team competition is beginning on the same day as the opening ceremony. So you'll see Ilya Malinin.
you know, probably quite early in the Olympics. But as Brian knows well, you know, the winter sports by design are ice and snow.
Chapter 3: What challenges do Olympic figure skaters face during competition?
And that means that they can be very slippery. It's not like someone swimming in a pool. And yes, something can go wrong for Katie Ledecky, but the odds are it's not going to be the elements. And yet with ice, with snow, that skating is a slippery sport. Delia Malinin, we're going to be keeping an eye on Amber Glenn, the three-time U.S.
Women's champ, and also Alyssa Liu, the defending world champion on the women's side. And then, of course, there are the other sports, including skiing, two huge names, Michaela Schifrin and Lindsey Vonn. So it's really, this is a stacked, power-packed U.S.
Olympic team. Brian, let's go in-depth on the U.S.
Chapter 4: How is the mental preparation different for Olympic athletes?
skaters. Who are the favorites?
Where do I start? Well, Ilya Molyneux, I mean, this guy has set the technical bar so high, higher than ever in the history of our sport. He is just phenomenal. But taking that into effect, nothing is for sure. He has some contenders that if he doesn't have a great night, that they'll be able to come in and steal his thunder. But nobody's expecting that.
But just having that amount of pressure, imagine going in and wanting to win a gold medal, but at the same time having expectation from everyone that it's a shoo-in. I mean, that's a hard, hard amount of pressure to skate under.
Chapter 5: What makes Ilya Malinin a favorite for gold in men's skating?
So he has, you know, his country, he has the quad god title. He's set the bar higher than ever. He's literally the, probably the most favorite for an Olympic gold medal that we've ever had. And that's a lot of pressure. So, you know, I like to give him a chance to take a little bit of the pressure off. So, you know, nothing's a given for sure, but he is certainly the most dominant.
And then the women, we have three really strong women, Alyssa Liu, Amber Glenn and Isabel Levito, we could really have a sweep of the podium. I don't think it is, you know, the most likely chance, but that's how talented our women's team is, is that if there are mistakes by some of the Japanese team and other people who are competitive with them, we could have a sweep of the podium.
Brian, I agree with you on that.
Chapter 6: Which American women figure skaters could sweep the podium?
You know, women's skating, I mean, obviously men's skating is a very big deal, especially in 1988 when a certain guy won the Olympic gold medal in the Battle of the Bryans. And that was my first Olympics, Winter Olympics I covered. And, you know, men's skating, certainly. I mean, with Scott Hamilton, Brian Boitano, and there have been others.
Most recently, Nathan Chen winning the gold four years ago. And then will Elia be the one this time? But the women, you know, that's that's right. That's Peggy Fleming and Dorothy Hamill. And, you know, so many of those great names that are iconic. cultural names in our country and in the world, not just sports superstars.
Chapter 7: What unique aspects of the Milan Olympics should viewers expect?
And the question is, will, to Brian's point, will there be an American woman who will rise up or two or three? Because it has been 20 years since a U.S. woman has won an Olympic medal, Sasha Cohen, silver medal, 2006 in Torino, just a few hundred miles from where the Milan Olympics will be. That's a long drought.
for a country that has just produced gold medalists, silver medalists, Michelle Kwan, Tara Lipinski, you name it. And that's the real question and they know it. Amber Glenn told us right away, she said, we understand there's this drought and we are going to end the drought. One of those three American women, maybe two, maybe three, they're the ones that can do it.
And of course the games showcase athletic excellence from across the globe. Brian, who are a few of the international Olympians to watch out for?
Chapter 8: How does the new USA Today book 'Chasing Gold' enhance the Olympic experience?
For the first time in years, we have two of the, they're not Russians, they're representing a neutral country in the men's event and the women's event. And they are touted to give a challenge to our American skaters, not so much Ilya, but in the women's event as well. Petrushin is touted to give our women a run for their money. There is a talented cast of skaters.
For Ilyan Malinin, we have Yuma Kageyama from Japan, who is just an incredible... He's probably the generation after Ilya. And we have our American guys that are doing so well. Andrew Torgashev and Max Naumoff, of course, who is... well known for an tragic reason because his parents were on flight 5342 in Washington, that tragedy.
But the phoenix rising from the ashes is Max being able to make the Olympic team, which was a little bit of a surprise, but he's always had the talent, but he really put it all together to make the Olympic team. And everybody's hearts are going to be with Max as soon as he steps on the ice.
And, you know, I'll mention also ice dance because we'd love to talk about pairs, but the U.S. pairs last won an Olympic medal in 1988 when Brian won his gold medal. That was the bronze medal. And it's, you know, it's nothing against the pairs. I mean, they're trying hard, but the U.S.
has just not been able to really put together a strong pair team for a long, long time to be on the Olympic stage. A couple of world medals and everything. Certainly national champs. But ice dance is another story entirely. As Brian knows well, there are five now, last five Olympics, there have been medals won by the Americans in ice dance, in part because of the scoring system change.
It has made ice dance in particular fairer and none of the nonsense, or at least less of the nonsense of the judges cheating. And so that has opened up the opportunities for Americans. And as of course, Brian knows well, Madison Chalk, Evan Bates, seven time national champions are gonna try to finally win their first individual in the sense of ice dance medal.
They are the gold medalists in the team competition. They finally got that medal two and a half years after the last Olympics in Beijing. So they are gold medalists, but in the team, they would love to win the gold obviously in the individual ice dance. But there's some tough teams, the French team, the Canadians are good. You know, we'll see how it all plays out.
But watch Ice Dance as well, especially wonderful, great leaders and just terrific veteran skaters, Madison Chalk and Evan Bates.
Christine, we all love a Cinderella story. Which Olympians on the U.S. roster do you think could surprise the world?
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