Sports
Canada stun Italy, US starts 2-0 in mixed doubles curling
Feb 5, 2026; Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy; Cory Thiesse and Korey Dropkin of Team United States high five during curling mixed doubles round robin competition during the Milano Cortina 2026 Olympic Winter Games at Cortina Curling Olympic Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Eric Bolte-Imagn Images CORTINA D’AMPEZZO, Italy — Italy’s Olympic title defense got off to a mixed start at the Milano Cortina Games on Thursday, as the mixed doubles curling champions beat South Korea before suffering their first defeat in major competition at the hands of Canada.
The Italian pairing of Stefania Constantini and Amos Mosaner, who are also the world champions, cruised to an 8-4 victory over Koreans Jeong Yeong-seok and Kim Seon-yeong in the morning session.
However, a poor start in their game against Canada’s Brett Gallant and Jocelyn Peterman ended their record, after they had made it through the only two competitions they played together — the 2022 Olympics and the 2025 World Championships — undefeated.
An inch-perfect play from Peterman left the Italians trailing 5-0 after the first end and the home favorites quickly unraveled, with Mosaner missing a string of shots as they reached the halfway mark trailing 6-2.
That deficit proved too much for Italy, who eventually conceded at 7-2.
“It went terrible in the first end for me. We gave up five in the first end, but I have to accept I missed the shots and they played better. We have to accept the loss and we try to start better tomorrow,” Mosaner said.
The Canadians, making their mixed doubles debut at the Games, produced an impressive display on Thursday as they also beat Norway’s two-time Olympic medalists Kristin Skaslien and Magnus Nedregotten in the afternoon session.
Asked how it felt to end Italy’s unbeaten record, Gallant said: “It feels great, obviously. Going into that game, you really only have one option, you have to play really well because they’re such a strong team.
“Defending world champs, defending Olympic champs. You have to get off to a great start, play really well. I’m just proud that we were able to execute that plan tonight.”
Canada’s win moved them level at 3-0 with Great Britain’s Jennifer Dodds and Bruce Mouat, who beat the Czech Republic and Estonia on Thursday.
Switzerland (2-1) and the United States (2-0) occupy the remaining two playoff spots.
American curlers Korey Dropkin and Corey Thiesse, world champions in 2023, prevailed 8-6 over Norway’s Skaslien and Nedregottenand later beat Switzerland 7-4.
The Norwegian duo was leading for a large part of the contest, before their opponents flipped the script in the final end.
“We struggled early on with our draw weight and had a really good fourth end break, refocused, talked about the different speeds and the different paths, and just wanting to communicate that more out on the ice,” Thiesse said.
In the evening session, Estonia’s Marie Kaldvee and Harri Lill claimed their country’s first ever curling victory at the Olympics in any category, beating Sweden’s brother-sister duo of Isabella and Rasmus Wrana 7-5.
Teams play nine matches in the round-robin stage, which continues on Friday at the Cortina Olympic Curling Centre, with the top four advancing to the semi-finals next week.
–Reuters, special to Field Level Media
Sports
NC State looks to keep rolling against Virginia Tech
NC State Wolfpack head coach Will Wade yells down court Tuesday, Jan. 20, 2026, during the NCAA men’s basketball game against the Clemson Tigers at Littlejohn Coliseum in Clemson, South Carolina. North Carolina State has been building a solid resume, and the Wolfpack don’t want to see that diminished as they navigate a potentially difficult portion of the schedule.
Virginia Tech will arrive looking to boost its stock when the teams meet Saturday afternoon at Raleigh, N.C.
“I think Virginia Tech is way better than their record in league,” NC State coach Will Wade said. “And so we’ve got to get ready for a really good Tech squad.”
NC State (17-6, 8-2 Atlantic Coast Conference) has dropped a pair of ACC home games since Jan. 3, while Virginia Tech (16-7, 5-5) has won two road games all season.
With a five-game winning streak, NC State is hovering just outside the top 25 in NET rankings. The Wolfpack battled back from a 13-point hole to win 84-83 at SMU on Tuesday night. Quadir Copeland supplied 16 assists without a turnover.
“We’re a different team when he’s not out there,” Wade said, pointing out the importance of Copeland dodging potential foul trouble. “Obviously 16 assists, but he wouldn’t have gotten those assists if he couldn’t have had some discipline defensively and done everything he needed to do not to foul.”
NC State’s Darrion Williams has connected on three or more 3-pointers in three straight games after hitting six of those shots on his way to 25 points in the SMU game. That was his highest point total in 2 1/2 months.
Virginia Tech has been off for a week after last Saturday’s 72-58 home loss to Duke, which leads the ACC.
“We need a break,” Virginia Tech coach Mike Young said. “We need to get healthy and improve some things.”
Virginia Tech had a player with 20 or more points in six consecutive games, with four players — Jailen Bedford, Tobi Lawal, Ben Hammond and Amani Hansberry — on that list.
Guard Tyler Johnson, who hasn’t played since before Christmas because of an injury, was expected to return against the Wolfpack, but Young told Tech Talk Live on Thursday Johnson is “doing very well” but will miss Saturday’s game.
“He’s just not ready. When you consider wearing that boot as long as he did, he’s making progress, but he’s not ready yet,” Young said of Johnson, who averages 9.5 points per game.
With or without Johnson, it’s a matter of the Hokies making more shots. They’ve shot less than 42% from the field in the past three games.
“You got to step to the plate and got to get a big one down,” Young said.
–Field Level Media
Sports
4-time All-Star Brionna Jones injures meniscus playing overseas
Sep 14, 2025; College Park, Georgia, USA; Atlanta Dream forward Brionna Jones (24) reacts to a call against the Indiana Fever in the third quarter during game one of round one for the 2025 WNBA Playoffs at Gateway Center Arena at College Park. Mandatory Credit: Brett Davis-Imagn Images Four-time WNBA All-Star forward Brionna Jones sustained a torn meniscus last week while playing overseas but her agent told ESPN she is expected to return in time for the WNBA season.
Agent Boris Lelchitski also told the network that Jones will undergo surgery this weekend in the United States and miss the remainder of the season with the Czech-based club USK Praha.
Jones, 30, averaged 12.8 points and 7.3 rebounds in 44 games (all starts) last season with the Atlanta Dream. She is a free agent this offseason.
Jones spent her previous eight seasons with the Connecticut Sun, earning Most Improved Player and Sixth Player of the Year honors in 2021 and 2022, respectively.
She has averaged 10.5 points and 5.1 boards in 263 career games (157 starts) with the Sun and Dream since being selected by Connecticut with the eighth overall pick of the 2017 WNBA Draft.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Protests prevalent in Milan ahead of Olympics' opening ceremony
Demonstrators take to the streets as part of a protest organized by Committee Against Winter Olympics on the day of the opening ceremony for the Milan Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics, in the neighborhood of Segesta, in Milan, Italy, on Friday. MILAN, Italy — Hundreds of protesters chanted slogans, blew whistles and set off flares at a rally on Friday to oppose the presence in Italy of U.S. immigration agents and the closure of streets ahead of the Milan Cortina Winter Games’ opening ceremony.
The reported presence of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officials to protect Americans around the Olympics has galvanized protests, given their front-line role in U.S. President Donald Trump’s aggressive deportation push at home.
“ICE OUT” and “ICE should be in my drinks not my city” read some of the banners held by the student-led demonstrators.
Blowing plastic whistles, which have become a symbol of anti-ICE rallies in the U.S., the demonstrators in Milan also urged visiting U.S. Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio to go home.
“I thought that this was a good opportunity to show that the rest of the world is not OK with what’s happening in Minnesota,” said Katie Legare, a protester from Minnesota currently studying in Europe, in reference to ICE agents’ killing of two U.S. citizens in her home city.
“It’s not OK to just acquiesce and go with the status quo. But to say there’s something wrong that’s happening and to speak out.”
Italy’s government has said the controversy is unfounded, with ICE personnel not on the streets during the Olympics and only operatives from its Homeland Security Investigations in Italy working out of U.S. diplomatic missions.
The U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee has also said no agents from ICE were providing security for Team USA.
With the opening ceremony due on Friday evening, Italian authorities ordered schools in central Milan to remain shut and blocked access to some areas to bolster security and ease traffic disruptions.
In the afternoon, a separate demonstration was held in a square near the San Siro stadium, where the opening ceremony will take place.
A few hundred people — including a committee of public-housing tenants protesting against the high cost of living, and the Unsustainable Olympics Committee, which accuses the government of funneling public funds rather than supporting lower-income residents — marched against what they see as the social and economic impact of the Games.
Protesters say the Olympics are a waste of money and resources while housing prices are unaffordable and public meeting places scarce. Some demonstrators also chanted slogans criticizing Israel and expressing support for Palestinians.
On Thursday, environmental group Greenpeace staged a protest in front of Milan’s cathedral, protesting the role of Italian oil major Eni ENI.MI as a sponsor of the Games.
Later on Friday a torchlit march organized by a protest movement against the Games is expected in an area close to the site of the opening ceremony.
–Reuters, special to Field Level Media
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