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Winter Olympics 2026 Day 0 recap: Opening Ceremony unites, Lindsey Vonn defies and Team USA sets the early tone

· Yahoo Sports

All eyes were on Friday's Opening Ceremony for the Milan Cortina Winter Olympics in Italy. Erin Jackson and the bobsledder Frank Del Duca were the U.S. flag bearers, while Sofia Goggia, Alberto Tomba and Deborah Compagnoni lit the Olympic cauldrons. Lindsey Vonn continues to prove doubters wrong with a miraculous comeback, while the U.S. skating and curling teams got off to hot starts. The U.S. women's hockey team has also taken precautions against the norovirus outbreak.

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While the 2026 Winter Olympics started Wednesday, the Opening Ceremony took place Friday in Italy. The U.S. flag bearers were speedskater Erin Jackson and bobsledder Frank Del Duca.

Jackson, 33, is a three-time Olympian and the reigning Olympic gold medalist in the 500 meters. Jackson also became the first Black woman to win an individual gold medal at the Winter Games. Del Duca, 34, is also a two-time Olympian and a sergeant in the U.S. Army. The U.S. team walked out in Ralph Lauren, the sponsor for the Opening and Closing Ceremony. The ceremony ended with Sofia Goggia, Alberto Tomba and Deborah Compagnoni lighting the Olympic cauldrons in dramatic fashion.

A week after tearing her ACL in last week's upper section of the World Cup downhill race in Switzerland, Lindsey Vonn completed a successful training run early Friday morning. The run was required if Vonn wanted to compete in Sunday's Olympic women’s downhill competition. Vonn scored 1:40.33, a time that placed her 11th out of the 43 finishers.

Vonn also gave updates on her injury diagnosis on social media. On Thursday, she posted a high-intensity workout that included weighted squats and box jumps. She revealed Friday that her ACL is "100% ruptured" and that she is not taking medications to reduce the pain.

Despite entering last week's race leading the downhill standings and sixth in the overall competition, Vonn opted to try to get more World Cup points.

The 41-year-old is a four-time overall World Cup champion and won gold in the downhill event in 2010. Vonn made a return after retiring from skiing in 2019. This is the most recent of the injuries she has had in the last few years.

The ice dance duo of Madison Chock and Evan Bates started the day with 91.06 to finish atop the standings and gain the United States 10 points. Ellie Kam and Danny O’Shea posted a score of 66.59, fifth overall in the segment, despite Kam falling during an attempted triple loop. Liu finished the day with a score of 74.90 to keep the United States in first place after the first day of the team event.

The United States mixed doubles curling team of Cory Thiesse and Korey Dropkin is 4-0 after wins over Canada and Czechia on Friday. Their 4-0 start was the best among any U.S. men's, women's or mixed doubles curling team since the sport was added in 1998.

Thiesse and Dropkin will continue round-robin play Saturday against 5-0 Great Britain and 0-4 South Korea.

After Thursday's 5-1 win over Czechia, U.S. women’s hockey goalie Aerin Frankel avoided giving the other teams hugs because of the norovirus outbreak.

Norovirus, according to the Center for Disease Control, is a “very contagious” illness that is the leading cause of vomiting and diarrhea in the United States. Most people with norovirus illness recover in 72 hours or less, the CDC says, but they can still spread the virus for several more days afterward.

The entire Swiss team was isolated “as a precaution” after a player was diagnosed with norovirus. The Swiss team is scheduled to play Canada on Saturday. The Canadian team has yet to play a game after their opening game against Finland was postponed when the Finnish team had a norovirus outbreak.

The Swiss team's outbreak reportedly took place after Friday’s 4-3 comeback win over the Czech Republic and shortly before the Olympic Opening Ceremony.

Pita Taufatofua made his return to the 2026 Olympics, this time wearing a shirt!

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