5 things to know from Saturday at the Winter Games – National

MILAN – From Canada’s first medal to an opening win in women’s hockey, here are five things to know from Saturday, Feb. 7 at the 2026 Milan Cortina Games:

VETERAN VALÉRIE

Valérie Maltais won her first national title in 2009, and has enjoyed a highly decorated career as both a short-track and ling-track speedskater since. On Saturday, the 35-year-old from La Baie, Que., reached another career milestone with her first-ever individual medal, and Canada’s first medal at the Milan Cortina Olympics. Skating in a pairing with eventual gold medallist Francesca Lollobrigida of Italy, Maltais put down a time of three minutes 56.93 seconds that kept her on the podium even with two pairs of skaters to go. Maltais has a gold and a silver in team events from previous Olympics.

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CANADA BLANKS SWITZERLAND

Canada bested Switzerland 4-0 win in women’s hockey preliminary play Saturday, as the Canadians began their push to claim a second consecutive gold medal. Sarah Fillier, Natalie Spooner and Julia Gosling scored power-play goals and Darryl Watts struck even strength for the defending champions, while defender Claire Thompson had a pair of assists. Saturday’s game at the Milano Rho Ice Hockey Arena came after the entire Swiss team spent Friday night in isolation and skipped the opening ceremony after a player tested positive for norovirus, but was later cleared to play.

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DEBUTING WITH A PERSONAL BEST

Canada is heading into the figure skating team event finals after Toronto’s Stephen Gogolev finished third in the men’s short program in his Olympic debut. The 21-year-old marked his performance with a personal-best score of 92.99. Marjorie Lajoie and Zachary Lagha later took the ice in the free dance, scoring 120.90 to land them third place. Canada remains in fourth place overall with 35 points as it enters the final skates, trailing the United States (44), Japan (39) and Italy (37).

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TRICOLOR TRIUMPH

The hosts had a successful Day 1 at the Games, led by Lollobrigida’s win in the women’s 3,000-metre speedskating race. Skating in a blistering pairing with Maltais, Lollobrigida won in an Olympic-record time of 3:54.28 on her 35th birthday. Earlier, Giovanni Franzoni took silver in the men’s downhill ahead of Italian teammate Dominik Paris for bronze. Paris, 36, won his first Olympic medal in his fifth Games.

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IMPRESSIVE DEBUT

The first medal of the Milan Cortina Games went to Swiss skier Franjo von Allmen, who raced to victory in the men’s downhill. Von Allmen powered through the challenging Stelvio course in Bormio in 1:51.61 to win in his Olympic debut. It was a disappointing day for Canadian racers, with James (Jack) Crawford the top Canadian in ninth.

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This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 7, 2026.

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