Ukrainian skeleton pilot Vladyslav Heraskevych was disqualified from competing at the Olympics for continuing to wear a helmet that commemorates the lives of Ukrainian athletes lost since Russia’s invasion. The IOC’s announcement had elements that were frighteningly tone deaf, our columnist writes.

For men's hockey's big three, Teams USA, Sweden and Canada, performing as best as they can simply isn’t sufficient. The result has to be there. Other Olympic teams are afforded the luxury of celebrating every win. But for them, anything less than gold is considered a national failure.

Some of this year’s non-NFL playoff teams seem likely to rebound fairly quickly. Others will have to endure a lengthy rebuilding process. We ranked the top 10 based on their outlook.

The Athletic first reported the Steve Tisch-Jeffery Epstein connection last month. It continues its investigation into the New York Giants’ co-owner, analyzing more emails from the Epstein files. 🔗: www.nytimes.com/athletic/704...

Team USA and Canada start their men's hockey campaigns on Thursday. Follow our live coverage of the Milan Cortina Games with nine more golds secured ⤵️ www.nytimes.com/athletic/liv...

Lack of practice time is one of the biggest impediments to SailGP's growth, which is why all the teams have welcomed the announcement of a new training base in Pensacola, Fla. With a six-year deal in place, Pensacola is going to be very busy indeed. 🔗 www.nytimes.com/athletic/703...

Meet the Jackals: The rowdy, European-style supporters section created by Victor Wembanyama.

Some of the 2026 Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame finalists: ◻️ Candace Parker ◻️ Team USA’s 1996 "Women’s Dream Team" ◻️ Doc Rivers ◻️ Blake Griffin ◻️ Amar’e Stoudemire ◻️ Elena Delle Donne ◻️ Chamique Holdsclaw ◻️ and more

World Cup winner and 2x Olympic gold medalist Abby Wambach is ending her 20-year association with the agency led by Casey Wasserman after the Epstein files documented the founder's ties to Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell.

Day 5 of Milan Cortina is in the books, and Norway sits atop the medal count 🥇

Team USA's Madison Chock and Evan Bates won the silver medal in the Olympic figure skating ice dance competition. It is their first career Olympic medal in ice dance.

BREAKING NEWS: Kansas City Current has signed USWNT midfielder Croix Bethune, the club announced on Wednesday. The 24-year-old joins the reigning NWSL shield winners through the 2027 season.

Bay FC has signed USWNT midfielder Claire Hutton, the club announced today. In exchange, the Kansas City Current will receive $1.1 million in transfer fees, which is among the most expensive intra-league transfers in NWSL history.

Is Milan Cortina's hottest prize a medal? To some, it’s actually Tina and Milo, the two mascot stoats representing the Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games. The stuffed animals are flying off the shelves and the best way to get one may be to win an Olympic medal. Talk about motivation 😅

Team USA’s Jordan Stolz wins the Olympic gold medal in speedskating and sets a new Olympic record. Stolz, the world-record holder in the event, had been saving the exact blades he broke the record in to wear again in Milan.

For former NHL players in Milan, the Olympics are a last chance to earn one more opportunity in the league. Dominik Kubalik, who plays for Czech Republic, was put on the NHL’s radar by competing in the 2018 Olympics. He last played for the Ottawa Senators in 2023-24.

Lindsey Vonn delivered a second update on her health since crashing in the Olympic women’s downhill on Sunday. “I had my 3rd surgery today and it was successful. Success today has a completely different meaning than it did a few days ago.” www.nytimes.com/athletic/703...

NEWS: Netflix is pursuing Barry Bonds to be part of its exclusive coverage on Opening Day when the San Francisco Giants host the New York Yankees on March 25th, sources tell The Athletic.

NEWS: Luka Dončić is part of an investor group headed by former Dallas Mavericks GM Donnie Nelson that is seeking to bring a team to Rome as part of NBA Europe, sources tell The Athletic.

Moments after claiming bronze in Tuesday’s 20-kilometer men’s biathlon, Norway’s Sturla Holm Laegreid used the spotlight to make an emotional confession about infidelity and lingering feelings for his former partner. On Wednesday, she responded.

NEWS: Unrivaled is welcoming back one of its superstars for the league’s stretch run: Angel Reese. The rebounding leader and defensive player of the year from Unrivaled’s inaugural season is returning to Rose BC for the remainder of the 2026 campaign.

ICE agents will form a “key part” of the security at this year’s men’s World Cup, its director has said. Todd Lyons, ICE’s acting director, was responding to a question from Democrat Nellie Pou before a panel in the House of Representatives.

Bum shoulder or not, Chloe Kim is one step closer to history. The 25-year-old American snowboarder opened her third Olympic Games in style Wednesday in the Italian Alps, topping the field in qualifications for the women’s halfpipe.

It’s Day 5 of the 2026 Milan Cortina Winter Olympics with eight more golds decided today.

Iga Swiatek was angered by cameras following her every move at the Australian Open — and she wasn’t alone. But how much privacy should athletes expect? And who decides where the line is drawn? 🔗 www.nytimes.com/athletic/703...

A bill in the Iowa State Senate was introduced seeking an expansion of its economic growth attraction program with a goal of luring an NFL franchise, specifically the Chicago Bears. “While Illinois and Indiana squabble over this issue, we are ready to get off the sidelines and into the game."

Bad Bunny’s Super Bowl LX halftime show reached 128.2M people, down 5.3M viewers from Kendrick Lamar’s performance in 2025, the most watched Super Bowl halftime show ever. Here's how it compared to the Turning Point USA’s halftime show which was designed as an alternative to Bad Bunny's.

Austin Klapman walked onto the field at Super Bowl LX dressed as a sugarcane plant for Bad Bunny’s performance. He decided to document the entire performance on the fitness app Strava. Well, just his steps. Now he’s reaping the rewards of the public’s fascination with the people behind the bushes.

Ilia Malinin delivered, and the Quad God finds himself ideally positioned for an individual gold medal on Thursday.

RIVALRY WIN. USA women’s hockey dominates Canada and earns the top seed in the knockout stage.

Sturla Holm Laegreid’s Winter Olympics celebration took a shocking turn on Tuesday. The Norwegian, fresh off winning bronze in the 20km individual biathlon race, stunned fans by confessing on live TV that he had cheated on his girlfriend. “It’s been the worst week of my life.”

USA TAKES SILVER IN MIXED DOUBLES CURLING 🥈 Korey Dropkin and Cory Thiesse bring home the first-ever medal for the Americans in the event.

Regardless of the result, Cory Thiesse will be the first-ever American woman to win a medal in curling at the Olympics 🇺🇸

Chloe Kim is on the brink of Olympic history. She could become the first halfpipe snowboarder — male or female — to win three consecutive gold medals.

From @theathletic.com: Ilia Malinin has already helped deliver a gold medal for Team USA. Here's how to watch the “Quad God” in his remaining individual performances that begin on Tuesday afternoon. nyti.ms/4aoh63Y

On February 7 2001, Manchester United and the New York Yankees, two of the biggest names in the business, announced a partnership. This is the story of that day, why it might have been a missed opportunity - and a push for the Steinbrenner family to buy Manchester United. 📝 @oliverkay.bsky.social

The International Olympic Committee has told a Ukrainian skeleton athlete he cannot wear a helmet that commemorates the lives of Ukrainian athletes lost since Russia’s invasion in competition at the Winter Games, saying it breaks Olympic rules on neutrality.

Three more Japanese stars will be making the transition to MLB from NPB, and for the first time in a while, none of them will debut with the Dodgers 👀

The Seattle Seahawks ended the season like they played most of it — dominating on defense. They claimed the top spot in the season's final NFL power rankings. There's been some shuffling in the standings after that, though.

It’s Day 4 of the 2026 Milan Cortina Winter Olympics, and nine more gold medals will be secured. Follow our live coverage as the U.S. goes for gold in the women’s Alpine team event and mixed doubles curling ⤵️ www.nytimes.com/athletic/liv...

A brawl broke out during Hornets-Pistons 😳 Moussa Diabaté, Jalen Duren, Miles Bridges and Isaiah Stewart were all ejected. 📸 Bleacher Report on X

The sight of Marie-Philip Poulin in agony on the bench Monday night sent a shockwave through the hockey world. What does possibly losing the consensus best women’s hockey player on the planet mean for Canada’s Olympic gold medal hopes?

"Grand Theft Alvarado" made it back to New York City before Grand Theft Auto VI came out — and it’s helped push the Knicks into the five-team contenders tier 👀

NEWS: Alabama men’s basketball player Charles Bediako can no longer play college basketball, a judge ruled Monday. Bediako previously played for Alabama from 2021 to 2023 and spent most of the past three seasons competing in the G League.

Coach Mike Macdonald and sportscaster Maria Taylor were reunited on the Super Bowl stage — both at the peak of their respective professions 🙌

In the aftermath of every Super Bowl, we talk about the game and the halftime show, but we’re also eager to discuss the commercials What were your favorites/most hated? And where did we go wrong on our list?

JUST IN: Lindsay Vonn sustained a “complex tibia fracture" when she crashed in Sunday’s women’s downhill at the Winter Olympics. "Despite the intense physical pain it caused, I have no regrets," she wrote on Instagram.

Just posted: No robot umps in the WBC this year But pitch clocks will make their WBC debut www.nytimes.com/athletic/703...

Team USA women’s hockey improves to 3-0 at the Winter Olympics 🇺🇸 They’ll face Canada on Tuesday.

A day after President Donald Trump called Olympian Hunter Hess “a real loser” over the freestyle skier’s comments about representing the United States, Chloe Kim had this to say in these Winter Olympics that are becoming ever more politically charged.