What to watch on Day 9 of the Milan Cortina Olympics: Mikaela Shiffrin takes aim at the giant slalom

CORTINA D’AMPEZZO, Italy (AP) — American skiing star Mikaela Shiffrin tries to put the disappointment of a fourth-place finish in the women’s combined behind her when she returns to the slopes for the giant slalom. Medals will also be handed out in biathlon, cross-country skiing, freestyle skiing, skeleton, snowboarding, ski jumping and speed skating on Day 9 of the Winter Olympics.

Here is a guide of what to look out for on Sunday:

How to watch the Milan Cortina Olympics

Viewers around the world can watch on official broadcasters, including NBC and streaming on Peacock and NBC Olympics platforms.

Shiffrin looks to end Olympic drought

While regarded as perhaps the finest ski racer in the history of the sport, Shiffrin has hit a rough patch when competing under the Olympic rings.

The 30-year-old failed to medal in six events in Beijing four years ago, and her time in Italy started with an uncharacteristically sluggish performance during the slalom portion of the women’s combined, sending Shiffrin and teammate Breezy Johnson tumbling from first to fourth.

While giant slalom is not Shiffrin’s strongest event — that’s the slalom, which is scheduled for Wednesday — she was a solid third at a World Cup event in Czechia three weeks ago, her first podium in GS in over a year.

“We’ve taken the lessons (from women’s combined), adjusted and analyzed, and we are moving forward — with focus, attention and belief in the practice,” the winningest ski racer of all time wrote on Instagram Friday.

Klaebo eyes Olympic history

Norwegian cross-country skiing great Johannes Hoesflot Klaebo can become the first Winter Olympian to win nine Olympic medals when he and his teammates take on the field in the men’s 4 x 7.5-kilometer race.

Klaebo is 3 for 3 so far in these Olympics. His victory in the men’s 10-kilometer interval-start on Friday tied him with fellow countrymen Marit Bjoergen and Bjoern Daehlie in cross-country skiing and Ole Einar Bjoerndalen in the biathlon for the most ever by a Winter Olympian.

All three are retired. Klaebo shows no signs of slowing down at 29. His victory on Friday was vintage Klaebo. He paced himself through the first half of the race, then poured it on late, powering his way up the final hill to win by nearly 5 seconds.

Return of ‘The King’?

Moguls great Mikael Kingsbury of Canada’s bid for a second Olympic gold in moguls ended with a silver during the individual competition last week when he lost to Australia’s Cooper Woods on a tiebreaker.

The 33-year-old four-time Olympic medalist (including a gold in Pyeongchang in 2018) has a shot at redemption when dual moguls makes its official Olympic debut on Sunday.

Skiers have gone down individually through the years. This time they will race each other down the mountain. The skier who receives the better score from the judges advances. Scoring is based on a combination of turns (how they handle the moguls, the tighter your legs stay together the better), air (what they do over the jumps) and speed.

Leerdam and Kok square off again in women’s 500 meters

Gold medalist Jutta Leerdam of the Netherlands and speed skating teammate Femke Kok face off in the women’s 500 meters.

Leerdam, the fiancée of internet personality turned boxer Jake Paul, surged to the top of the podium in the 1000 meters last week, setting an Olympic record by crossing the finish line in 1 minute, 12.31 seconds. Kok was just behind her at 1:12.59.

The field for the 500 also includes American star Erin Jackson, who raced to gold in Beijing in the sprint four years ago.

Elsewhere in the Games

The qualifying round of the men’s hockey tournament wraps up on Sunday. In Group A, Connor McDavid, Sidney Crosby and dominant Team Canada take on France while Czechia and Switzerland also square off.

Over in Group C, Team USA takes on Germany while Denmark faces Latvia.

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AP Winter Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/milan-cortina-2026-winter-olympics