Now that the Opening Ceremony is out of the way, it’s time for the 2026 Winter Olympics to officially begin.
Saturday’s first full day of events doesn’t disappoint, but what about the local representation?
New Yorkers will see a handful of Empire State ties on Saturday, across events like men’s luge and women’s hockey. Here’s a list of who to look for in Milan Cortina on Saturday.
Women’s hockey
From Westchester County, you can follow Aerin Frankel, the goaltender, and Haley Winn, a defenseman originally from Rochester.
The women’s ice hockey team plays at 10:40 a.m. in a preliminary round game against Finland.
Frankel, making her Olympic debut in net, stopped 13 shots in a 5-1 win over Czechia.
Men’s freeski slopestyle (qualifying)
Local competitors pick things up on the slopes as well this weekend, with Men’s freeski slopestyle featuring several from our area for the qualifying round.
Alex Hall and Troy Podmilsak will both represent The Skating Club of New York, while Mac Forehand, a Norwalk, CT native, will also look to advance to the next round.
The men’s competition begins at 8 a.m., after the women’s event ends, which will start at 4 a.m.
Team USA freestyle skier Colby Stevenson helps show how freestyle skiing slopestyle works… with his fingers.
Men’s singles luge
Jonathan Gustafson hails from Massena, NY, a town that’s just less than 80 miles from Ottawa, Canada. The 28-year-old will compete in singles competition on Saturday, looking to advance in the sport that captured his eyes at 11-years-old back in 2008.
Singles luge begins at 11 a.m.
U.S. luge athlete Emily Fischnaller discusses her crash in Pyeongchang and hopes for fun in Milan.
How to watch the 2026 Olympic Games on Saturday
The Milan Cortina 2026 competitions will be broadcast on NBC New York and USA Network. They will also be available to stream on Peacock, NBCOlympics.com, and the NBC Olympics app.
