All posts tagged: 2026 winter olympics

The Weird, Twisting Tale of How China Spied on Alysa Liu and Her Dad

The Weird, Twisting Tale of How China Spied on Alysa Liu and Her Dad

Published by skeptic

On November 16, 2021, Matthew Ziburis sat in his car in a residential neighborhood in the Bay Area stalking an “enemy,” as he put it. A veteran of both the US Army and Marine Corps, Ziburis had previously served in Iraq. But on this mission, he was working at the behest of China’s government. The targets that autumn day were American citizens: Arthur Liu and his teenage daughter, Alysa. Arthur’s personal story was an exemplar of the American Dream. As a university student, he took part in the 1989 pro-democracy movement in China. After the crackdown at Tiananmen Square that year, he fled to the United States, settling in California. Arthur poured a small fortune and an equal amount of energy into molding Alysa into a figure skating phenom. As a national champion at age 13, she bantered along with Jimmy Fallon on The Tonight Show, and was at the time on track to represent America at the Winter Olympics the following year in Beijing. Ziburis was surveilling the Liu home when he called Arthur, …

France’s Michelon wins Olympic gold in women’s biatholon mass start, teammate Simon takes silver

France’s Michelon wins Olympic gold in women’s biatholon mass start, teammate Simon takes silver

Published by Sam Flores

In the final biathlon event of the Milan Cortina Winter Olympics, France’s Océane Michelon overcame a missed target in the final shooting stage in the 12.5-kilometre mass start race to take gold. In heavy snow and low visibility, Michelon left the range in fourth place but moved ahead on the ski trails to complete the five laps in 37 minutes, 18.1 seconds. Michelon’s teammate, Julia Simon, also moved up in the final 2.5 kilometres, crossing the finish line 6.6 seconds back and securing the silver medal. Czech biathlete Tereza Vobornikova had been leading after the final shooting but had to settle for bronze after being overtaken by the French powerhouse team, finishing 7.4 seconds behind Michelon. France’s Oceane Michelon celebrates after winning gold in the women’s biathlon during the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympic Games on February 21, 2026. © Franck Fife, AFP Anna Magnusson of Sweden, the only biathlete to hit all 20 of her targets, finished fourth, 26.6 seconds back.  Italy’s Dorothea Wierer, favoured by the fans who roared with excitement each time …

Souvenirs From the 2026 Winter Olympics Are Being Resold for Big Bucks Online

Souvenirs From the 2026 Winter Olympics Are Being Resold for Big Bucks Online

Published by skeptic

As the 2026 Winter Olympics come to a close, a whole new game is afoot: the mad dash to make money on exclusive memorabilia. When the Games are over, most of the event’s coolest collectibles will become very hard to find, plundered by scalpers and bargain hunters and only available through online marketplaces like eBay and Vinted. And if the eye-popping prices already placed on the gear are any indication, they’re going to be quite valuable. Of all the Milano Cortina Olympics memorabilia that’s hit the internet so far, the plushies of mascots Milo and Tina and the Swatch watches given to volunteers have proven to be standouts. Pins are also proving popular, particularly Snoop Dogg’s special edition and the ones dedicated to the torchbearers. Originally, the Milo and Tina stuffed animals ranged in price from €15 to €50 (about $18 to $60), depending on size. Now the smallest stoat plushies are going for as much as three times their original price, and the bigger ones are four times as expensive as they originally were. …

After the 2026 Winter Olympics, Figure Skating Will Never Be the Same

After the 2026 Winter Olympics, Figure Skating Will Never Be the Same

Published by skeptic

These athletes here have reminded a lot of people that Americans are good people. Americans are kind people. And Americans stand up for the little guy and they stand up for their communities and they speak out because those are rights that Americans are given. You watch the news and see what the current administration is saying and doing and it’s really awful. It’s fucked-up shit. I don’t even think that what these people are saying is political. They’re talking about things that are happening in their own communities. And some of them have faced backlash for speaking out. Amber Glenn said she got “a scary amount of hate/threats.” Vice President JD Vance and President Trump have responded to some of the athletes who’ve made comments. They seem to be putting themselves out there, and the echo chamber seems even louder than it was a few years ago. One hundred percent. This is 100 times louder than it was during the first Trump administration. It sometimes feels scary to say something, because it feels like …

The Olympics and Politics Are More Intertwined Than Ever. Maybe That’s a Good Thing

The Olympics and Politics Are More Intertwined Than Ever. Maybe That’s a Good Thing

Published by skeptic

Back in 2018, figure skater Adam Rippon objected to then vice president Mike Pence leading the US delegation to the Olympics in Pyeongchang, citing Pence’s track record on LGBTQ+ rights. At the time, Rippon, who came out as gay in 2015, said Pence doesn’t “stand for anything that I really believe in.” Reflecting on it eight years later, Rippon says athletes speaking out about the Trump administration’s policies during the 2026 Games takes a lot more bravery than it did less than a decade ago. The echo chamber is “a hundred times louder than it was during the first Trump administration,” Rippon says. Now, he says, athletes could face real repercussions for speaking out about ICE’s activities or anything else the administration is doing. But by speaking up, they’re giving the world a different view of how Americans feel about the country’s policies. Theoretically, he adds, the Olympics are “supposed to be this apolitical event, where everything gets put to the side and we can come together” to celebrate athletes from everywhere. “Well, it’s not, …

Husky gatecrashes team sprint race to pip Olympians at the finish line

Husky gatecrashes team sprint race to pip Olympians at the finish line

Published by Sam Flores

A husky with lots of enthusiasm ​but no credentials gatecrashed a women’s team sprint cross-country race at the Winter Olympics 2026 event on Wednesday, giving an impromptu performance that had spectators howling with delight. The dog wandered onto ‌the stadium course in Tesero during the qualifying ⁠event, spotted a couple of athletes on the finishing straight and decided to join the ‌action. Read moreUS ski star Shiffrin beats Swiss world champion Rast to win Olympic slalom gold The canine sniffed around for a bit before racing ⁠across the line ahead of the skiers to wild cheers from a crowd clearly entertained by the unexpected addition to ​the field. “It was so fun. I like dogs, ‌we have a dog at home,” said Sweden’s Jonna Sundling, who went on to win gold with teammate Maja Dahlqvist. “When it came to ‌the finish line I was like, ‘Okay we have a new member.’ He or she wanted ​to go through the mixed zone as well, so it was fun,” she added referring to the area where competitors speak to ​the media. Read more2026 Olympics: France tie all-time medal record with one week left Not all racers agreed. “I was cooling down on the …

Why Olympic Choreographer Benoît Richaud Went Viral Just for Changing Jackets

Why Olympic Choreographer Benoît Richaud Went Viral Just for Changing Jackets

Published by skeptic

Benoît Richaud might be one of the most visible people at the 2026 Winter Olympic Games. Not because he’s a star athlete, but because he is coaching 16 figure skaters from 13 different countries. Each time one of them is on the ice, he stands on the rink’s edge, changing into the jacket of their team. Richaud has become somewhat famous for this move. Olympics viewers began catching on to the French coach’s antics just a few days into the Games when they noticed the same slender bald man sitting next to so many different skaters. He always had on the jacket of the team he was sitting with in the “kiss and cry,” but his stoic, thoughtful expression remained the same. Soon his omnipresence went viral. But, as Richaud tells WIRED Italia, he could have been even more of a presence around the ice. He’s currently coaching 16 Olympians, but that’s just the number of them that qualified. “I actually coach a lot more of them,” he says. Having such a large roster of …

The Curling Controversy at the Winter Olympics Isn’t What You Think

The Curling Controversy at the Winter Olympics Isn’t What You Think

Published by skeptic

The curling ice at the Winter Olympics is often full of shouting—but not like this. Last Friday, in a match that Canada won 8-6, a verbal altercation broke out between the third throwers from each team. Near the end of the match, after a debate over minor rules reached its crescendo, Sweden’s Oskar Eriksson passive-aggressively accused Canadian vice-skip Marc Kennedy of cheating. Kennedy promptly declared that he “didn’t give a shit,” twice telling Eriksson to “fuck off.” Within hours, the dustup had been covered by nearly every major news outlet and had blown up on social media, inspiring scores of people to suddenly become experts on a 500-year-old Scottish sport. By the end of the weekend, they all had a fully-formed opinion on whether Kennedy had touched the curling stone after releasing it, in violation of the rules. (If they didn’t have an opinion, they definitely had a meme.) Nearly all of them were wrong. I am a four-year club curler in a Thursday-night beer league and multiple-time D-bracket champion of local bonspiels. In layman’s …