Milano-Cortina opens with five golds and US women’s hockey win

The opening competition days at Milano-Cortina produced a flurry of medals and an early showcase for team sports, with five gold medals decided on the first day and the United States women’s hockey team opening its tournament with a win over Finland. The results, posted on the Games’ official medallists page and timed by OMEGA with results powered by Deloitte, crystallized immediate national storylines and commercial momentum for the hosts and broadcast partners.

Italy celebrated early when Francesca Lollobrigida captured gold in the women’s 3,000‑metre speed skating event, a result that will feed an already intense home‑country narrative. The medallists listings for the opening sessions also show golds for Kira Kimura of Japan, Anna Odine Stroem of Norway, Franjo von Allmen of Switzerland and Frida Karlsson of Sweden, with podium finishes across other events bringing silver medals for Giovanni Franzoni and others and bronzes to athletes including Valerie Maltais and Su Yiming.

Team sports underlined the social and commercial heft of the Games. The U.S. women’s victory over Finland in the preliminary round, scheduled to start at 10:40 a.m. ET, gave the American side an early confidence boost and a narrative to carry through group play. Canada, meanwhile, began its campaign with a win over Switzerland after a 48‑hour delay, reinforcing women’s hockey as one of the winter Games’ headline attractions and a ratings draw for broadcasters and sponsors.

On the mountain and around the arenas, fan energy was palpable. “We may still be just under half an hour from the start of the first medal event of the Games, the men’s downhill, here in Bormio, but the atmosphere is building nicely,” one on‑site dispatch observed, capturing the sunlit slopes, colorful supporters and festival‑style staging that organizers and rights holders have leaned on to sell the Milano‑Cortina brand worldwide.

Figure skating began early in the program under the team event format now in its fourth Olympic edition, a competition that mixes men’s and women’s singles, pairs and ice dance across eight segments to create more collective national storylines and more broadcast inventory. “The Milan Cortina Olympics represents only the fourth Games to feature the figure skating team event,” an event summary noted, underscoring the IOC’s and broadcasters’ interest in formats that stretch marquee disciplines into additional medal opportunities and viewing windows.

Beyond the podiums, the immediate commercial implications are clear. Early home medals and stirring team results help drive ticket sales, hospitality packages and national advertising upswings, while crisp, credited timing systems and polished medal ceremonies support the premium product that rights holders sell globally. The Games’ co‑host model, split between Milan and Cortina d’Ampezzo, also offers a test case in staging and logistics for future multi‑center events as organizers juggle urban spectacle with mountain infrastructure.

As competition moves into its second day, attention will shift to confirmation of the full slate of Day 2 medallists and the evolving medal table, with organizers and timing partners publishing official result lists to settle podium order and to provide the definitive record for athletes, federations and commercial partners. The first days have already delivered dramatic performances and cultural moments that promise to shape both sporting narratives and the business of this Olympic winter.