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Patrick Redford

France's Emily Harrop competes during the qualifications of the Mixed Relay event at the Ski mountaineering (ISMF) World Championships in Les Crosets on March 3, 2025. (Photo by GABRIEL MONNET / AFP)

Competitors In The Newest Olympic Sport Will Scale Extraordinary Heights Of Suffering

Maitreyi Anantharaman

Canada's #29 Marie-Philip Poulin reacts during the women's play-off semi-final ice hockey match between Canada and Switzerland at the Milano Santagiulia Ice Hockey Arena during the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympic Games in Milan, on February 16, 2026.

Canada Needs Marie-Philip Poulin To Bail Them Out One More Time

Alex Sujong Laughlin

An image of (left to right) Maddie Mastro, Breezy Johnson, and Maxime Germain with their knitted creations, taken from their respective Instagram accounts.

Let’s Check In With The Knitting Olympians

Kathryn Xu

Austin Florian of Team United States wears a Venom helmet.

A Tour Of The Sick-Ass Helmets Of Skeleton

Casey Wasserman at the Vogue World: Hollywood Announcement at Chateau Marmont on March 26, 2025 in West Hollywood, California. (Photo by Michael Buckner/Variety via Getty Images)

Casey Wasserman, Radioactive With Epstein Fallout, Says He Will Sell His Agency

Michael is a writer who has worked with The Atlantic, The New Yorker, WIRED, Vox, The New York Times, and other publications. His first book, The Other Olympians, which uncovers the stories of several European athletes who transitioned gender in the 1930s, is now available for purchase.

Michael Waters

Officials in hazmat suits remove a medal around an olympian's neck

Chromosome Testing Will Take Sports Back To The Dark Ages

Kelsey McKinney

a USA bobsledder pushes a sled (with a long exposure so it looks artsy)

Which Terrifying Sliding Sport Would You Brave?

Barry Petchesky

LIVIGNO, ITALY - FEBRUARY 15: Ikuma Horishima of Team Japan crosses the finish line backwards after a fall as he competes in the Men's Dual Moguls 1/8 Finals against Nick Page of Team United States (not pictured) on day nine of the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympic games at Livigno Air Park on February 15, 2026 in Livigno, Italy. (Photo by Hannah Peters/Getty Images)

This Backward Guy Medaled

Marc Kennedy of Team Canada competes in the curling men's round robin between Canada and USA during the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympic Games at the Cortina Curling Olympic Stadium in Cortina d’Ampezzo on February 13, 2026. (Photo by Tiziana FABI / AFP)

The Big Canada-Sweden Curling Beef, Explained

Ilia Malinin of Team United States reacts after competing in the Men Single Skating on day seven of the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympic games at Milano Ice Skating Arena on February 13, 2026 in Milan, Italy.

Even Ilia Malinin Is Mortal

US President Donald Trump (R) looks on as LA 2028 Chairman Casey Wasserman (L) speaks during an event on creating a White House 2028 Olympics task force in the South Court Auditorium of the White House in Washington, DC, on August 5, 2025. The 2028 Summer Olympics will be held in Los Angeles. (Photo by Brendan SMIALOWSKI / AFP)

Famous Clients Bail On Casey Wasserman Over Gross Sex Emails To Ghislaine Maxwell

Ukraine's Vladyslav Heraskevych, with his helmet, which features pictures of people killed in the war with Russia.

Ukrainian Skeleton Slider Banned From Competition Over Helmet Honoring Athletes Killed By Russia

charismatic megafauna (they/them)

Sabrina Imbler

Wojciech Chmielewski and Michal Gancarczyk of Team Poland compete in the Men's Doubles Run 1 on day five of the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympic games at Cortina Sliding Centre on February 11, 2026 in Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy

High-Level, Actionable Insights From Watching Doubles Luge For The First Time

MILAN, ITALY - FEBRUARY 11: Elias Pettersson #40 of Sweden tries to score against Goalie Damian Clara #i20 of Italy during the Men's Preliminary Group B match between Sweden and Italy on day five of the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympic games at Milano Santagiulia Ice Hockey Arena on February 11, 2026 in Milan, Italy. (Photo by RvS.Media/Robert Hradil/Getty Images)

Damian Clara Was Italy’s Improbable Bastion

Ilia Malinin (United States of America) competes during the Figure Skating Men Single Skating Short Programme Final Figure Skating competition.

Ilia Malinin Brings Figure Skating To The Crossroads

Laila Edwards #10 of Team United States celebrate her first goal with Hilary Knight #21 during the Women's Ice Hockey - Group A match between Team Canada and Team United States on day four of the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympic games at Milano Santagiulia Ice Hockey Arena on February 10, 2026 in Milan, Italy.

Team USA’s Speedy Children Delivered A Beatdown Of Canada

Brandy Jensen

Sturla Holm Laegreid from Norway reacts emotionally at the award ceremony.

Adulterous Norwegian Biathlete’s Appeal Denied

10 February 2026, Italy, Tesero: Olympia, Olympic Winter Games Milan Cortina 2026, Nordic skiing/cross-country skiing sprint classic, men, race, Johannes Hoesflot Klaebo (Norway) is on the track. Photo: Daniel Karmann/dpa (Photo by Daniel Karmann/picture alliance via Getty Images)

Johannes Klæbo Ran Everybody Off The Course

Julia Simon of Team France competes in the Mixed Relay 4 x 6km (M+W) on day two of the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympic games at Anterselva Biathlon Arena on February 08, 2026 in Antholz-Anterselva, Italy. (Photo by Alexander Hassenstein/Getty Images)

The Saga Of The French Teammate-Defrauder Taught Me To Appreciate The Essence Of Biathlon

Bronze medallist Norway's Sturla Holm Laegreid covers his face on the podium

Norwegian Biathlete, At Summit Of His Life’s Work: I Cheated On My Girlfriend

The President of the Lombardy Region, Attilio Fontana, is welcoming the mascots Tina and Milo of the XXV Winter Olympic Games Milano Cortina 2026 in Piazza Citta di Lombardia, in Milan, Italy, on February 27, 2024.

Which Other Olympic Mascots Could Italian Stoats Tina And Milo Slaughter In Cold Blood?

Italy's Verena Hofer competes in the luge women's singles run 1 at Cortina Sliding Centre during the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympic Games in Cortina d'Ampezzo on February 9, 2026. (Photo by FRANCK FIFE / AFP via Getty Images)

Olympic Photographers: Stop Doing The Lugers Dirty

Diana Moskovitz is Defector&#8217;s investigations editor. You can contact her at diana@defector.com or dfmoskovitz@protonmail.com. She&#8217;s also on Signal @dmoskovitz.99

Diana Moskovitz

A black and white photo of Laurence Fournier Beaudry and partner Guillaume Cizeron of Team France competing in the Ice Dance - Rhythm Dance on day zero of the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympic games at Milano Ice Skating Arena on February 06, 2026 in Milan, Italy.

France’s Viral Ice Dancing Team Has A Dark Backstory

Albert Burneko

Italy's Stefania Constantini and Italy's Amos Mosaner compete in the curling mixed doubles round robin semi-final between USA and Italy during the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympic Games at the Cortina Curling Olympic Stadium in Cortina d’Ampezzo on February 9, 2026.

The Super Bowl Could Not Compete With Tape-Delayed Olympic Curling

a bright light shines through the space between a ski jumper's legs