Olympics

Ilia Malinin won his third consecutive title at the 2025 U.S. Figure Skating Championships on Sunday at Intrust Bank Arena in Wichita, Kansas.

He earned a total of 333.31 points, defeating runner-up Andrew Torgashev by 46.82 points, marking the third-largest margin of victory in U.S. Championships history, according to NBC Sports' Nick Zaccardi.

"One of the things I would say is maybe that I'm still not at my full potential yet, and that there's a lot bigger of a limit that I can go for," Malinin said, per Zaccardi. "So I think that's something to look forward to worlds."

Championship Men: Free Skate (Top 5)

1. Gold: Ilia Malinin — 333.31
2. Silver: Andrew Torgashev — 286.49
   
3. Camden Pulkinen — 252.92
   
4. Maxim Naumov — 248.165
   
5. Jimmy Ma — 236.78
   

Highlights

The 20-year-old landed a record-tying six quadruple jumps during Sunday's free skate, including a quad flip, a quad Axel (the first ever landed by any skater), two quad Lutzes, a quad toe loop and a quad Salchow.

After attempting to become the first-ever skater to land seven quads in a single skate, he fell on his fourth attempt.

"It wasn't the perfect program that I exactly wanted," Malinin said, per Zaccardi. "But I think it really gives me a good, solid start of what is working in this program and some things I might need to take time to really develop or take away from the program."

Entering Sunday with nearly a 20-point lead and securing a massive win, Malinin wasn't focused on the impressive victory but rather on improving his skating and reaching his highest potential.

"I wouldn't say that I'm really far ahead of everyone else; I think that it's just a slight lead," he said, per the Olympic's Scott Bregman. "Overall, it just comes with me trying to push myself more and more and just try to push my own limit, be my own competitor."

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Since winning the Grand Prix in France in Nov. 2023, Malinin has triumphed in every competition he's entered, including last year's World Championship and two consecutive Grand Prix Finals. He will be skating in Boston this March as the favorite to defend his title.

The figure skating season continues this week, with the European Championships beginning on Wednesday.

Lindsey Vonn registered a DNF at a World Cup downhill event in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany as she continues her quest to qualify for the 2026 Winter Olympics following a nearly six-year retirement.

Per Zack Pierce of The Athletic, Vonn "was kicked out of position around a turn and skied out with seven gates to go."

The 40-year-old Vonn has won 82 times on the World Cup tour with four overall titles from 2008-2010 and then again in 2012. Of note, forty-three of her wins occurred in the downhill event, while 28 derived from the Super-G.

Vonn is also a three-time Olympic medalist, taking gold in the downhill in 2010 and bronze in the Super-G in 2010 and downhill in 2018. She's a two-time gold medalist in the World Championships as well (downhill and Super-G in 2009).

Injuries forced her retirement in 2019, as Vonn said her body was "broken beyond repair." She's dealt with a host of knee surgeries and issues during her career.

However, a 2024 knee replacement gave her a new life in the sport, and Vonn announced her return in November of his past year.

Vonn joined the World Cup tour and finished 14th in the Super-G at St. Moritz on Dec. 21. She steadily improved from there, taking sixth at the downhill on Jan. 11 in St. Anton, just .58 seconds behind first place. Then she finished fourth one day later.

Vonn hasn't fared as well since, taking 20th at the downhill in Cortina d'Ampezzo on Jan. 18 before a fall led to a DNF at the Super-G the next day.

Of course, there's still plenty of time for Vonn to qualify, and more events remain this season. She also has time to register a good finish this weekend with the Super-G on Sunday.

Vonn has ultimately been impressive at times since her return, especially given the long and arduous road she travels just to compete again. In fact, her pre-fall pace at Cortina d'Ampezzo in the Super-G "would've contended for a podium spot," per Pierce.

Vonn has some work to do, but she's clearly got eyes on the next Winter Olympics, which begin in Milan and Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy on Feb. 6. Vonn has previously said, per Andrew Dampf of the Associated Press, that competing there "would be a great way to end things — for once and for all."

Netflix is taking viewers back to Paris for the 2024 Olympics, and this time it's on the basketball court.

The streaming service released a trailer for Court of Gold on Thursday, which previewed its upcoming series that will provide a behind-the-scenes look at the men's basketball teams for the United States, France, Serbia and Canada that participated in the Summer Games. The series will be available on Netflix on Feb. 18.

Barack and Michelle Obama are among the executive producers for Court of Gold, which will consist of six episodes that are each 45 minutes long.

Netflix is no stranger to docuseries revolving around the Paris Olympics.

After all, its Simone Biles Rising chronicled the greatest gymnast of all-time's pursuit to return to the top of her sport, while Sprint and Sprint Part 2 went behind the scenes of the track and field competitions that featured Noah Lyles, Gabby Thomas and more.

It also released a 10-part series titled Starting 5 that took viewers through the 2023-24 NBA season through the eyes of LeBron James, Jimmy Butler, Jayson Tatum, Anthony Edwards and Domantas Sabonis.

Netflix mixed in plenty of on-court and off-court scenes in Starting 5 and will surely do the same in Court of Gold.

The choice of the United States, France, Serbia and Canada was no accident, as there was no shortage of NBA star power on those rosters.

The Americans won the gold with James, Stephen Curry, Kevin Durant, Tatum, Anthony Davis, Edwards and plenty of other headline names, although a France squad that included Victor Wembanyama and Rudy Gobert provided quite the challenge in the gold-medal game.

Curry had to play the role of hero with a barrage of three-pointers in the final minutes to help the Red, White and Blue clinch the victory.

Denver Nuggets star Nikola Jokić led the way for a Serbia team that defeated Germany to win the bronze.

Canada will be the only featured team that didn't win a medal, which was something of a surprise considering it was seen as a potential challenger to the Americans going into the Games. Its roster included Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Jamal Murray, Dillon Brooks and RJ Barrett, although it lost to France in the quarterfinals.

The Monnaie de Paris, a French mint, will replace a number of Olympic medals that have begun deteriorating after being awarded in the 2024 Games, according to the Associated Press.

"The Monnaie de Paris has taken the issue of damaged medals very seriously since the first exchange requests in August, and has mobilized its internal teams," the mint told the AP. "Since then, the company has modified and optimized its relative varnishing process. The Monnaie de Paris will replace all damaged medals at the athletes' request during the first quarter of 2025."

Neither the Monnaie de Paris, French Olympic committee and or International Olympic Committee offered a figure for the total number of medals that were returned to the mint, though French website La Lettre reported that it was over 100, per the AP.

United States skateboarder Nyjah Huston and French swimmers Yohann Ndoye-Brouard and Clément Secchi were among the athletes who showed the deterioration of their medals in social media posts.

"These Olympic medals look great when they are brand new. But after letting it sit on my skin with some sweat for a little bit and then letting my friends wear it over the weekend, they're apparently not as high quality as you would think," Huston said in his Instagram Stories back in August while showcasing his bronze medal, which looked worn and had black discolorations throughout. "I mean look at that thing; it's looking rough. Even the front is starting to chip off a little. So, yeah, I don't know, Olympic medals, you gotta maybe step up the quality a little bit."

The medals were designed by Parisian jewelry house Chaumet. The defining feature of the design was a polished chunk of iron taken from the Eiffel Tower and embedded into every medal awarded at the Paris Games.

"Damaged medals will be systematically replaced by the Monnaie de Paris and engraved in an identical way to the originals," the IOC said.

The International Olympic Committee plans to replace the 10 medals swimmer Gary Hall Jr. lost when his home was destroyed in the California wildfires last week.

IOC president Thomas Bach issued a statement regarding the matter on Sunday per USA Today's Tom Schad.

"We are in full solidarity with the citizens of Los Angeles and full of admiration for the tireless work of the firefighters and the security forces," Bach said. "Currently the full focus must be on the fight against the fires and the protection of the people and property."

Hall, 50, competed for America from 1996 to 2004, winning five gold medals, three silvers and two bronzes between the Atlanta Games, Sydney Games and Athens Games.

According to The Los Angeles Times' Chuck Schilken, Hall fled his house in Pacific Palisades, California, last week, taking with him only his Type 1 diabetes, a painting of his grandfather and a religious artifact. He said he planned to retrieve his medals but didn't have time.

"I was getting pelted by embers on that first run," Hall said. "So I grabbed my dog and some dog food, and that was it."

While Hall won't have the exact medals he lost in the tragic fires, he'll at least get to have a keepsake to remember his accomplishments from the Olympics thanks to the IOC.

Three-time United States Olympic swimmer Gary Hall Jr. said Wednesday that he lost his Pacific Palisades home and nearly all of his possessions due to the raging Los Angeles wildfires.

Speaking to Kyra O'Connor of 12News, Hall said: "It's not just a home, it's all worldly possessions. I really am that guy with nothing to lose."

Hall, 50, noted that his 10 Olympic medals were among the items he had to leave behind when he evacuated.

Across three Summer Olympic appearances in 1996, 2000 and 2004, Hall won five gold medals, three silvers and two bronze. That included individual gold in the 50-meter freestyle at the 2000 and 2004 Olympics.

Hall said he was only able to grab his dog, a pair of shoes and a pair of underwear before leaving his home.

Gary Hall Sr., who is Hall Jr.'s father and a three-time Olympic swimming medalist in his own right, posted on social media (h/t TMZ Sports) that Gary Jr. was also able to escape with his insulin and some paintings, including one depicting his grandfather.

Hall Jr. described the scary scene he experienced before fleeing to a hotel and then his sister's house, saying: "It grew quickly, then flames, and you could see the houses going up one by one as it moved down the hill to where I was. It was not very far away when I drove off. ... Hot embers were raining down on me as I jumped into the car," Hall Jr. said. "It was just pandemonium."

Hall Jr. added that he saw people abandoning their cars and running in the streets, noting that it "was just unlike anything I've ever seen in any apocalypse movie."

CNN reported Thursday that at least five different wildfires had broken out, spreading across a combined 28,878 acres.

Nearly 180,000 residents have been told to evacuate their homes, and while five deaths have been reported, the total death toll remains unknown.

Ágnes Keleti, the oldest living Olympic medalist, died on Thursday at the age of 103.

Per the Hungarian state news agency (h/t Bálint Dömötör of the Associated Press), Keleti died in her hometown of Budapest after being hospitalized in critical condition with pneumonia on Dec. 25.

Keleti, whose family is Jewish, was on track to compete in the 1940 Olympics, but the start of World War II canceled the Games in 1940 and '44.

Per the Olympics website, after Keleti's father was killed by Nazis after being sent to Auschwitz, she and the other members of her family were able to survive by finding refuge in a safe house in Budapest administered by Swedish diplomat Raoul Wallenberg.

Keleti resumed her gymnastics career after the end of the war. She represented Hungary at the Olympics in 1952 and '56, winning a total of 10 medals across the two Games.

Per the Hungarian Olympic Committee (h/t Reuters), Keleti was the oldest female gymnast to win a gold medal when she accomplished the feat at the age of 35 in 1956. She finished the Melbourne Games with four golds in the uneven bars, balance beam, floor exercise and the team portable apparatus event.

Keleti's 10 Olympic medals are tied for the fourth-most all-time among female gymnasts. She is behind only Larisa Latynina (18), Věra Čáslavská (11) and Simone Biles (11).

After the end of her competitive career, Keleti immigrated to Israel in 1957 and eventually became coach of the national women's gymnastics team. She was awarded the Israel Prize by the state government in 2017 for her athletic achievements and contributions to developing artistic gymnastics in Israel.

After a historic 2024 that saw her become the most-decorated United States gymnast in Olympic history, Simone Biles has added another accolade to her legendary career by being named Sports Illustrated's Sportsperson of the Year.

SI announced Biles as the recipient of the honor on Thursday. Colorado football star Travis Hunter, the 2024 Heisman Trophy winner, was named Breakout Star of the Year.

Other honorees include Basketball Hall of Famer Dikembe Mutombo receiving the Muhammad Ali Legacy Award and NWSL commissioner Jessica Berman being named the inaugural Innovator of the Year winner.

Biles is the first Olympian to be recognized as Sportsperson of the Year since 2012 when LeBron James led the U.S. men's basketball team gold at the London Games in the same year he also won the NBA MVP award, Finals and Finals MVP.

The 2024 Games saw Biles retake her crown as the world's greatest active gymnast. She won four overall medals, including gold in the team competition, individual all-around and vault.

Biles' 11 career medals and seven gold medals are tied with Czechoslovakia's Věra Čáslavská for the second-most ever by a female gymnast.

Despite all of her accomplishments, Biles admitted she's not ready to think about her legacy in the sport:

"I don't think the reality has set in of what I've exactly done in the sport. I can see it, and I hear it from people, and I see a glimpse of it, but the full magnitude I don't think I've realized just yet. I don't think I'll realize 'til maybe I retire and look back in a couple years like, Damn, she was good. Because I can see that, but I do it every day. So for me, it's normal."

As for what's next, Biles hasn't decided about possibly competing at the 2028 Los Angeles Games.

"If you go back, you'll be greedy. Those are the consequences," she said about the possibility of a fourth Olympic appearance. "But that's also your decision to decide. What sacrifices would be made if I go back now? When you're younger, it's like, prom, college. Now it's like, starting a family, being away from my husband. What's really worth it?"

Biles will be honored at the Sportsperson of the Year awards ceremony on Jan. 7 in Las Vegas.

Joining Biles as one of the big winners from 2024 is Hunter. The Buffaloes two-way superstar turned in one of the best individual seasons by a player in college football history. He caught 92 passes for 1,152 yards and 14 touchdowns as a receiver, along with 11 pass breakups and four interceptions as a cornerback.

Hunter's 1,356 snaps played were 84 percent of Colorado's total snaps and 434 more than any other FBS player this season. His stellar showing catapulted him to become the second Heisman winner in Colorado history, joining Rashaan Salaam in 1994.

The Buffaloes finished the regular season with a 9-3 record. It was the program's first time winning at least nine games since 2016 (10-4). Hunter has stated his intention to declare for the 2025 NFL draft, when he will almost certainly be one of the top players selected.

Biles, Hunter, Mutombo and Berman will all be honored at the Sportsperson of the Year awards ceremony on Jan. 7 in Las Vegas.

Swiss Olympic snowboarder Sophie Hediger died at 26 years old following an avalanche at the Arosa mountain resort in Switzerland on Monday.

The Associated Press noted Switzerland's skiing federation released a statement Tuesday confirming the death of the 2022 Olympic competitor.

"We are shocked and our thoughts are with Sophie's family, to whom we offer our deepest condolences," Swiss-Ski CEO Walter Reusser said in the statement. "(She lost her life) tragically, brutally and far too soon."

Christian Arnold of the New York Post noted Grisons cantonal police announced Monday that a snowboarder died in the avalanche, although it never released Hediger's name.

According to Arnold, she was not located until two hours after emergency services were notified of the situation unfolding in the backcountry area.

Hediger was best known for competing in the 2022 Beijing Games, but she also finished in second place in St. Moritz in January and accomplished her first two World Cup podium finishes during the 2023-24 season.

She competed in the women's snowboard cross and the mixed team snowboard cross for Switzerland during those 2022 Olympics.

Lindsey Vonn returned to World Cup skiing on Saturday for the first time in six years, finishing 14th in the super-G.

"This was the perfect start," she told reporters after the race. "Today is just the first step, and I'm not looking for more. Today I really needed to get to the finish. I wanted to have a solid result. And that's exactly what I did."

The 40-year-old, who had been retired, also plans to run the Super-G on Sunday.

"I didn't risk anything with the line," she said. "I was a little bit conservative in some sections, but overall I skied really well. Now I just need my top section to be a little faster and I'll be in really good shape."

Austria's Cornelia Huetter finished in first place, followed by Switzerland's Lara Gut-Behrami, and Italy's Sofia Goggia.