Czechia v Switzerland is next up in the women’s ice-hockey, puck drops at the Milano Santagiulia Ice Hockey Arena in about five minutes.

All over in the women’s ice-hockey, Japan won it against France 3-2.

Canada’s Madeline Schizas just performed a fabulous routine to a medley of tracks from the Lion King. Will the judges be feeling the love tonight (or this afternoon, even)? Yes! Schizas scores 64.97 to add 19 points for Canada and leapfrog the French into first position. Next up, home favourite Lara Naki Gutmann.

In the women’s ice-hockey, Japan have scored twice in the third period to take a 3-1 lead against France. There’s about two minutes to go in that one.

We’ll have more curling action in about 15 minutes as Team GB return to the ice in Cortina to take on winless South Korea. The other matches on the 1.35pm (GMT) slate are Italy v Estona, Sweden v Norway and Czechia v USA

Vance meets Meloni to discuss “shared values” ahead of opening ceremony

US Vice President JD Vance and Italy’s Giorgia Meloni, a fellow conservative, hailed their “shared values” on Friday ahead of the Olympics as hundreds protested against the US in Milan.

Prime Minister Meloni, one of the European leaders closest to President Donald Trump, said sport and religion were “values that keep together Italy and the US, Europe and the US, Western civilisation”.

Vance praised Meloni for Italy’s organisation of the Olympics and also welcomed “coming together around shared values”.

There has been anger in Italy ahead of the Games over the presence of some agents from the US immigration enforcement agency ICE as part of security for the US delegation.

ICE operations in a number of US cities have triggered large-scale protests, and the recent killings of two demonstrators have caused outrage.

Hundreds of students from high schools and universities in Milan gathered in front of the Politecnico di Milano to protest against ICE.

“This is all unacceptable for us,” said Leonardo Schiavi, a protester, referring to Vance’s visit and the presence of ICE agents.

Giacomo Calvi said he was protesting the American “anti-immigration police which are carrying out all kinds of violence in the United States”.

The Italian government has said the ICE agents will not have any operational role on its soil. The agents will be from ICE’s Homeland Security Investigations Unit, which is a different division from the one accused of violence in the US.

Reporting courtesy of AFP

Thanks Billy. The figure skating team event is still ongoing with Frenchwoman Lorine Schild currently on the ice for her routine.

Tom Bassam is back to see you through the next little while.

Figure skating: GB’s Kristen Spours powers through her short program routine. Because of her spinal injury she can’t stretch her leg properly and therefore finds it difficult to do some of the spins. Nevertheless, what she does produce is pretty flawless and gets her a score of 48.28 after China’s Zhang Ruiyang got 59.83 on the first run.

In the women’s ice hockey, Japan and France re-emerge for the third period locked at 1-1 after goals from Rui Ukita and Lore Baudrit.

This is a big moment for Great Britain’s Kristen Spours in the women’s singles section of the figure skating team event. The 25-year-old is competing at her first Olympics but says she will retire from figure skating later this year having recovered from surgery on a spinal injury suffered last March.

Spours will skate to Iron Sky by Paolo Nutini and go second after China’s Zhang Ruiyang, who is skating to Frozen by Madonna.

USA freestyle skiers have been speaking about projecting a positive image for their country amid the protests against ICE’s presence in Italy.

Aerials specialist Chris Lillis said on Friday:

I think that as a country, we need to focus on respecting everybody’s rights and making sure that we’re treating our citizens as well as anybody with love and respect.

I hope that when people look at athletes competing in the Olympics, they realise that’s the America that we’re trying to represent.

Asked what it means to wear Team USA gear and the American flag, Hunter Hess said it brought up mixed emotions:

It’s a little hard. There’s obviously a lot going on that I’m not the biggest fan of, and I think a lot of people aren’t. Just because I’m wearing the flag doesn’t mean I represent everything that’s going on in the US.

In a sign of renewed sensitivities, US officials changed the name of a shared hospitality space for USA Hockey, US Figure Skating and US Speedskating, in Milan from “Ice House” to “Winter House.”

Reporting by Reuters

The final standings for the pair skating section of the team event:

1 Japan – 82.84pts
2 Georgia – 77.54
3 Italy – 76.65
4 Canada – 68.24
5 USA – 66.59
6 China – 65.37
7 France – 63.72
8 Poland – 60.20
9 Great Britain – 57.29

Up next, the women’s singles short program in about 15 minutes.

Rapper Snoop Dogg brought a touch of flair to the mixed doubles curling competition today, sporting a custom jacket featuring the faces of American duo Korey Dropkin and Cory Thiesse while cheering them to victory over Canada.

Snoop was in attendance at the Cortina Olympic Curling Stadium to witness the American pair beat Canada’s Brett Gallant and Jocelyn Peterman 7-5 in front of a raucous stadium packed with U.S. supporters.

It was the US team’s third straight win in the mixed doubles competition.

“It’s the Olympics, and our family and friends are here cheering us on. Snoop Dogg’s here cheering us on! It (the jacket) was so cool. Loved it. Coach Snoop looked good today,” a fired-up Dropkin said.

Hip-hop icon and sports fan Snoop, who was named the honorary coach of Team USA in December, got hands-on with the sport and was given a quick primer on the basics by members of the US teams on the ice after the match.

He also distributed “Coach Snoop” beanies and chains featuring the logo of his music label Death Row Records to players and coaches.

“He came out to meet the teams, he brought us all little gifts and it was fun,” US coach Phill Drobnick said.

“We got a necklace and a Coach Snoop hat. Good to see him, sitting with Korey’s mom, watching the game, learning about the sport. He had the jacket with Cory and Korey on it, so that was really cool.” Reuters

Thanks Tom. The Italian pair of Sara Conti and Niccolo Macii had just gone top of the standings in the pair skating to Concerto de España, prompting pretty emotional scenes among their supporting cast. Conti was wearing a knee brace after straining a ligament in December.

But Georgia’s pair of Anastasiia Metelkina and Luka Berulava have just trumped that to go top themselves to Bolero.

I’m due for a blogging break but Billy Munday is here to take over.

The Guardian’s photographer Tom Jenkins was at the Milano Ice Skating Arena to capture the ice dance session of the figure skating team event:

Up next are the US pair of Ellie Kam and Danny O’Shea who are skating to a cover Hallelujah. Like the Brits, the US pair are let down on the Salchow and will be requiring powers from above now. It’s a 66.59, which keeps them in first, but up next are favourites Japan.

It’s a disappointing run from the British pair who started well but Digby and Vaipan-Law’s triple Salchow goes awry. Without the additional technichal elements to boost their score, it’s a below par 57.29 for the Brits.

With the live sport we’re still on the ice but this time from Milan with the figure skating team event. British skaters Anastasia Vaipan-Law and Luke Digby are out warming up currently, but it’s the US and Japan who are favourites for this event.

Ever wondered about the origins of curling stones?

The ancient sport of curling requires the best materials to make the best stones – the granite from an uninhabited island in Scotland. Check out this archive gallery from Andrew Buchanan who went to see how the stones were produced:

Sweden have the hammer in the final end, but trail by three after GB scored a single. The Swedes will need something miraculous to take this one. Maybe the Wranå siblings should look across the ice at the US team who just managed a three-point end against Canada to take control of that match. The Americans now lead 7-4 going into the eighth and final end.

Unsurprisingly, Italy have won their match with Switzerland, that one finished 12-4. Sweden can only score a single with the hammer, so GB lead 6-4 with two ends remaining. US v Canada is 4-4.

A better end for GB with the hammer there, they picked up a couple of points with the hammer and now lead 6-3 in the sixth end. Elsewhere, Italy have a 10-4 lead over Switzerland, but it’s still tight in the US v Canada match, the Americans lead 4-3.

Team GB chief predicts ‘most potent’ Winter Games ever with sights set on eight medals

Team GB have never made anything more than the occasional ripple at the Winter Olympics. Which makes the prediction of Eve Muirhead, Britain’s chef de mission at the Milano Cortina Games, rather extraordinary.

“I believe that we are taking one of the most potent teams of athletes that we have taken to a Winter Olympic Games,” she says. “We have the capability to disrupt the norm.”

That norm, between 1952 and 2010, was just 12 medals in 16 Winter Games. Then came a surge, with five medals in Sochi in 2014 and five in Pyeongchang in 2018, before Britain won just two medals in Beijing. But Muirhead, who led the women’s curling team to Team GB’s only gold four years ago, senses that new ground will be broken by the 53 British athletes over the next 16 days.

“I see a set of athletes with a real pedigree in terms of recent results in the winter circuit,” she says. “And while we are a nation that already punches well above our weight, given the relative lack of snow and ice, I believe this team has the potential to really disrupt the natural order of big winter nations.”

Read Sean Ingle’s full story from Milan:

Sweden have struck back in the curling. Jen Dodds’ hammer stone clipped the guard and did not manage to get into a scoring position, giving the Swedes a two-point steal, it’s 4-3.

There are a couple more matches currently on the ice in Cortina. Italy are narrowly trailing Switzerland 3-4 and the US have a 3-1 lead against Canada.

Isabella Wranå drops her final stone short and Sweden only score. Another missed opportunity and GB have a chance to extend their lead in the fourth end. The Brits lead 4-2.

GB’s curling mixed doubles pair have started well against Sweden. Dodds and Mouat have raced into a 4-0 lead in the third end. The Swedes have a chance to score with the hammer here, but the sibling duo Isabella and Rasmus Wranå have struggled so far.

Struggling to understand ‘Penisgate’? The story first emerged in the German newspaper Bild and is gathering a head of steam. Natasha May has produced a helpful explainer to get to the bottom of it:

‘Penis injection’ claims in Winter Olympics ski jumping investigated by Wada

During its 26-year history, the World Anti-Doping Agency has faced thousands of questions about athletes using illicit substances. Thursday, however, surely marked the first time it was asked whether ski jumpers were injecting their penises with hyaluronic acid in order to fly further.

The Wada president Witold Banka’s reaction? “Ski jumping is very popular in Poland [Banka’s home country] so I promise you I’m going to look at it,” he said, with a wry smile.

As crazy as it sounds, there are broader concerns surrounding this issue – which has been dubbed “Penisgate” – after they were first reported by the German newspaper Bild.

Last year two of Norway’s Olympic medallists, Marius Lindvik and Johann André Forfang, were given three-month suspensions after the team was found to have secretly adjusted the seams of their suits around the crotch area at the 2025 World Ski Championships.

Norway’s head coach Magnus Brevik, assistant coach Thomas Lobben, and staff member Adrian Livelten were also banned for 18 months for their involvement in the scheme, which made the jumpers’ suits larger and therefore reduced their descent rate due to the bigger wingspan.

Is the new USA Dream Team a group of figure skaters?

This morning, inside the Milano Ice Skating Arena, the United States will launch their defense of the Olympic figure skating team title carrying something rare in a sport usually defined by individual brilliance: overwhelming depth. Which raises a question that, until recently, would have sounded almost absurd in figure skating.

Is the new USA Dream Team a group of figure skaters?

Not only because they could leave Milan with a medal haul worthy of comparison to the 1984 US boxing team or the 1996 US women’s track and field squad. But because of something more: the chance this group could push figure skating beyond its traditional audience and back into the center of the sporting conversation, much like the US men’s basketball team did at the 1992 Summer Olympics.

Bryan will be covering he events at the Milano Ice Skating Arena this morning and you can read the rest of his figure skating preview here:

You can follow all of our Winter Olympics coverage in a dedicated section of Big Website and the Guardian app too. One of the best features is the live schedule, which updates with all of the scores from the events currently taking place.

Find that here: