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American snowboarder Alex Ferreira won gold and speed skater veteran Brittany Bowe finished fourth in her final Olympic appearance during the 14th day of the 2026 Milan Cortina Games on Friday (February 20).
Ferreira, 31, who took silver at the 2018 Pyeonchang and 2022 Beijing Games, finally won gold in the halfpipe after cleaning up a sketchy first run by scoring 90.50 in his second run, landing consecutive switch 1080s into regular 1620s. The Colorado native then hit a third 720 to a third 1080 during his third run to score 93.75.
"Best moment of my life. Easily. Blown out of the water, not even close," Ferreira said via NBC. "An unbelievable amount of hard work, and dedication, and perseverance and belief went into me doing this. It really takes a village. Literally so many people helped me get to where I am today."
Veteran speed skater Brittany Bowe finished fourth in the 1500m, her last race as an Olympic competitor before retirement. Bowe, 37, who got engaged to Team USA women's hockey star Hilary Knight, who is also retiring after winning gold at the 2026 Winter Olympics, earlier this week, had previously taken bronze at the 2018 Pyeonchang and 2022 Beijing Games.
The United States men's hockey team cruised to a berth in the gold medal game with a 6-2 win against Slovakia in the semifinal on Friday. Jack Hughes scored a pair of goals in the second period, with the Americans holding Slovakia scoreless through the first two periods before a pair of goals in the third with too great of a disadvantage.
Team USA will face top-ranked Canada, who defeated Finland, 3-2, in the gold medal round on Sunday (February 22), a rematch of the 4 Nations Face-Off, with Canada defeating the Americans, 3-2, in an overtime final last February. Team USA had previously defeated Canada, 3-1, in an earlier 4 Nations Face-Off matchup between the two teams last year.
The American team was featured on a 2026 Winter Olympics ad campaign with actor Jon Hamm claiming the biggest prize of all was "Canadian Tears" in the lead-up to the Milan Cortina Games. Team USA has won gold twice (1960, 1980) and silver eight times (1920, 1924, 1932, 1952, 1956, 1972, 2002, 2010), while Canada has won a record nine gold medals (1920, 1924, 1928, 1932, 1948, 1952, 2002, 2010, 2014) and four silver medals (1936, 1960, 1992, 1994) in Olympic play.
Sunday's game will air live on NBC at 8:10 a.m. ET.
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