XXV Olympic Winter Games, Milan Cortina 2026 (More Again)

Ski mountaineering is the only new Winter Olympics sport, and the first medals are being hashed out today. 

Wikipedia casts ski mountaineering as another offshoot of the military-patrol tree which also yielded the biathlon branch. (All-time medals leaders in military patrol, which was officially competed only once, at Chamonix 1924: 1, Switzerland 1 gold, 0 silver, 0 bronze; 2 Finland 0 gold, 1 silver, 0 bronze; 3, France 0 gold, 0 silver, 1 bronze.)

At least in the events they are showing on USA Network this morning, this is a three-minute deal of skiing uphill and then downhill. You start out in front of a big grandstand of fans like they throw up at a fancy country club for a golf major. First, you navigate the "diamond section" by filing into one of two lanes through a maze of obstacles. Then you go up some stairs, and then you go down a twisty, rampy path back down toward the grandstand. The whole deal has the feel of something that rich kids would figure out on the fly for one last competitive rush after their moms texted them to get back to the clubhouse for $40 chicken strips (i.e. Bro, you've gotta go through the landscaping on the way up and tag the fountain at the top, and you've got to do at least one jump on the way down ... Ready! ... Go!).

I don't envy the TV people who are tasked with both introducing me to a curious sport like this and emotionally investing me in the competitive landscape basically all in the same breath. There has been a good bit of talk about the precision required in equipment changes, even when heart rates are very elevated, and just how treacherous the course really is ("It never looks as steep as it actually is!"). It doesn't help NBC, of course, that Team USA isn't much a medal threat in today's events. But rest assured, they said, that the American dude is actually more of a distance guy, which better positions him for some other, presumably longer event Saturday. The juice they are really trying to squeeze is ski-mountaineering juggernaut Spain, which has won only five Winter Olympics all time, none at Milan Cortina and only one gold ever, at Sapporo 1972.

For me, though, the star of today's show is the snow. It is thick and beautiful over Bormio this (my) morning (their afternoon). Milan Cortina 2026 is down to three days and change of competition. I've enjoyed so much of it so far, and I'm going to enjoy every last second of it that I can--ski mountaineering and whatever else--through Sunday night. 

Spoiler alerts in the comments ...

XXV Olympic Winter Games, Milan Cortina 2026

I sent off my $11 or whatever last week and got set up to watch all of the NBC Peacock Olympics coverage over the next couple weeks plus, and I started nosing around over the last few days--some preview stuff, some skiing qualifications a couple of days ago, some curling yesterday, etc. I love the Olympics.

But I've also been all over the place emotionally about the whole affair because I don't at all feel like having fun in cheering for the United States or giving money to any entity that is going to build up Donald Trump's wealth so he can better defend himself or escape from ... oh, my ... I see just now that this dude has shared some video depicting President and Mrs. Obama as primates.

Oh, forget it. What a disaster.

No medals awarded yet. Opening ceremonies are tonight. Please, God, for better.

Wimbledon Finals

The Wimbledon finals weren't very dramatic.  On Saturday, Iga Swiatek took less than an hour to crush Amanda Anisimova:  6-0, 6-0.  On Sunday, Jannik Sinner defeated Carlos Alcaraz in four sets:  4-6, 6-4, 6-4, 6-4.  They were both worthy champions, and Wimbledon looks as beautiful as ever.  Now we head to Northern Ireland for this week's Open Championship of golf.

Sunday at the British Open

Actually, this great picture is from Saturday, but we'll pick up with comments to this post tomorrow where we leave off in this one today:

Here are the tee times for Sunday at The 143rd Open Championship. #TheOpen http://t.co/kMz4svJw5W pic.twitter.com/ZnD5qyYPMw
— The Open (@The_Open) July 19, 2014

British Open; Rest in Peace, Casey Kasem (1932-2014)

This is just like when Bob Costas got pink-eye at the Olympics. 

Keep your feet on the ground, and keep reaching for the stars, Go Heath; this thread on the British Open is a long-distance dedication to you!

Tiger tees off his second round in about half an hour, and here are the current scores:

1. Rory "Rors" McIlroy, age 25, of Hollywood, County Down, Northern Island, 6-under through 18 holes 

T2. George "The Bionic Hand" Coetzee, 28, Pretoria, South Africa, -5 through 36

T2. Matteo "Manny" Manassero, 21, Negrar, Italy, -5 through 18

T4. Jim "West Chester Jim" Furyk, 44, West Chester, Pa., United States of America (USA), -4 through 18

T4. Sergio "El Niño" Garcia, 34, Borriol, Castellón, Spain, -4 through 18

T4. Brooks "Brooksy" Koepka, 24, Wellington, Fla., USA, -4 through 21

T4. Edoardo "Dodo" Molinari, 33, Turin, Italy, -4 through 21

T8. Eldrick Tont "Tiger" Woods, 38, Cypress, Calif., and a bunch of other guys, -3

Comments flow!

I Am Watching the Olympics (Day 1)

And China shoots to the top of the medals table, with gold and bronze in women's 10m air rifle. Poland claimed silver. Women from Lebanon, Pa., and Woburn, Mass., came in fifth and seventh.

Nineteen sports are in action today, and medals in, by my count, 11 events will award medals today. One of those, the men's cycling road race, is being televised live by NBC right now, and a 29-year-old from Boulder, Colo., is in second place. But cycling is an event of such heartbreak here at the HP that I can hardly bear to watch. So, I'm probably most interested in women's fencing, where 18-year-old Lee Kiefer of Lexington is competing in the round of 32.

Previous reports:

-- watching Day i (July 25)

-- watching Day ii (July 26)

-- watching opening day and the opening ceremony (July 27)