Mikaela Shiffrin returned to the top of the podium Wednesday, as the US star won the women's slalom by a dominant 1.50 seconds at the 2026 Winter Olympics — her first medal since 2018.
The 30-year-old posted a combined time of 1:39.10 across two runs. Switzerland's Camille Rast took silver, while Sweden's Anna Swenn Larsson claimed bronze at age 34, becoming the oldest slalom medalist in Olympic history.
Shiffrin led Wednesday's race from the start. She posted 47.13 seconds in the first run, building a 0.82-second lead before going last in the second run and sealing the victory.
The victory ends an eight-year Olympic medal drought. She went nine consecutive events without reaching the podium, including six at the 2022 Beijing Olympics, where she failed to finish three races. In Cortina, she's finished fourth in the team combined and 11th in giant slalom.
Mikaela Shiffrin Leaves Her Mark on the Olympic Slopes
The slalom triumph mirrored Shiffrin's Sochi 2014 gold medal performance, won at just 18 years old. Now, 12 years later, she becomes only the second skier to win two Olympic slalom golds, joining Switzerland's Vreni Schneider.
"Maybe just today, I realized what happened in Sochi," an emotional Shiffrin said afterward. "It's crazy."
The gold also makes Shiffrin the most decorated US alpine skier in Olympic history, with three golds and four total medals. Additionally, she holds the record for most World Cup victories with 108 wins.
The opening round of the 2026 Unrivaled 1v1 tournament did not miss, as Wednesday's 11 matchups — including four upsets — loaded the bracket for Friday night's knockout slate.
Unrivaled rookie No. 6-seed Sonia Citron started the upsets with a splashy 12-10 win over No. 3 Marina Mabrey, before No. 7 Rae Burrell got past No. 2 Rhyne Howard 12-9 and No. 6 Shakira Austin topped No. 3 Dearica Hamby 12-10.
The most dramatic matchup of Wednesday's first round starred 2025 WNBA Most Improved Player and Unrivaled 1v1 No. 5-seed Veronica Burton, who upset a stunned No. 4 Courtney Williams in a 11-0 shutout.
The competition's No. 1 seeds saw a chalkier path, with Paige Bueckers ousting Kate Martin 12-5, Breanna Stewart handling Li Yueru 11-6, and Kelsey Mitchel downing Rachel Banham 12-3.
Friday's bill kicks off with eight second-round showdowns before the quarterfinals narrow the pool down to four contenders, who will face-off in Saturday's semifinals ahead of a best-of-three final round to crown Unrivaled's new 1v1 champion.
The second round is full of top-tier matchups, including Bueckers squaring off against Dallas Wings teammate Arike Ogunbowale, Stewart taking on fellow big Aliyah Boston, and Austin facing defending 1v1 runner-up Aaliyah Edwards — as well as an underdog clash between Citron and Burrell.
How to watch the 2026 Unrivaled 1v1 tournament this weekend
The 1v1 tournament's second round tips off at 7:30 PM ET on Friday, with the semifinals and finals taking the Miami court at 6 PM ET on Saturday.
All Unrivaled 1v1 games will air live on TNT.
SEC basketball takes center stage on Saturday, as No. 3 South Carolina takes on No. 6 LSU in what will likely be the pair's final Top 10 test of the 2025/26 NCAA regular-season.
The Gamecocks enter the matchup riding a five-game winning streak to a conference-leading 10-1 SEC record.
Even more, South Carolina boasts a dominant 32.5-point average margin of victory this season while holding opponents to just 55.7 points per game — and scoring an average of 88.1 points of their own.
As for the Tigers, LSU is 8-1 in its last nine games, averaging a Division I-leading 96.6 points per game thanks to backcourt consistency, with a trio of guards — Flau'jae Johnson, MiLaysia Fulwiley, and Mikaylah Williams — averaging over 13 points per game.
LSU junior star guard Fulwiley notably spent her first two seasons at South Carolina before transferring last April — going on to post career highs in points, field goal percentage, and rebounds in Baton Rouge this season.
"I don't think there was any animosity or hard feelings," said LSU head coach Kim Mulkey about Fulwiley's decision to leave the Gamecocks. "Internally, she's probably going to be a little bit excited [on Saturday], have butterflies, but she's really a valuable part of our team."
The SEC rivals last met in a 66-56 South Carolina victory in January 2025, back when Fulwiley played in Columbia.
How to watch South Carolina vs. LSU basketball this weekend
The No. 3 Gamecocks will visit the No. 6 Tigers on Saturday, with the clash tipping off live at 8:30 PM ET on ABC.
Team USA returns to the ice to take on host nation Italy in the quarterfinals on Friday afternoon, when the US will look to further one of the most dominant runs in Olympic hockey history.
USA Hockey has outscored opponents 20-1 through their first four games — including Tuesday's historic 5-0 shutout win over defending champion Canada — clinching top seeding with a tournament-leading +19 goal differential.
University of Wisconsin defenseman Caroline Harvey leads the team with seven points, while University of Minnesota forward Abbey Murphy and Seattle Torrent forwards Alex Carpenter and Hilary Knight — Team USA's captain — trail close behind with five points each.
Meanwhile, after netting a 2-2 round-robin record in Group B, No. 8-seed Italy will be skating in their first-ever Olympic women's hockey quarterfinals — doing so in the team's second-ever Winter Games appearance after also hosting in 2006.
Center Kristin Della Rovere leads Italy with four points (two goals and two assists), though 19-year-old Penn State University freshman Matilde Fantin tops the team's scoring with three goals so far — including two in Italy's 3-2 win over Japan on Monday.
Notably, Italy approaches its first-ever hockey clash with Team USA armed with several Canadian-born players, including Della Rovere and 2014 and 2018 Team Canada gold medalist Laura Fortino.
How to watch USA vs. Italy in their 2026 Winter Olympics quarterfinal
The puck drops on Team USA's quarterfinal clash with Italy at 3:10 PM ET on Friday, airing live on USA Network.
Texas faces its final Top 5 test of the 2025/26 NCAA basketball regular-season on Thursday night, when the No. 4 Longhorns visit No. 5 Vanderbilt in a blockbuster showdown atop the SEC standings.
Both squads enter the clash with 23-2 overall records and just two conference play losses, with Thursday's winner taking major strides in the regular-season title race.
Fresh off dropping 34 points in Monday's 102-86 win over No. 10 Oklahoma, star Commodores guard Mikayla Blakes enters the matchup on a hot streak, averaging 27 points over her last 10 games.
That said, Texas is riding a streak of its own, racking up five straight SEC wins including a dominant 77-64 bounce-back victory over No. 6 LSU last week.
Notably, Vanderbilt remains unbeaten at home this season, with the Commodores averaging 85.4 points per game while shooting 47.7% from the field at Nashville's Memorial Gymnasium.
To upend the home team, Texas will look to lean on guard Rori Harmon, with the fifth-year playmaker currently averaging 6.6 assists per game while breaking the program's 45-year-old all-time steals record last week.
"I think the SEC is a tough league, and I think it's kind of where I thrive," Harmon said. "I like the physicality."
How to watch Texas vs. Vanderbilt NCAA women's basketball game
The No. 5 Commodores will host the No. 4 Longhorns at 7:30 PM ET on Thursday, airing live on SEC Network+.
The NWSL upped the midfield ante on Wednesday, reshuffling the league's 2026 landscape with a pair of high-profile — and history-making — trades involving USWNT midfielders Claire Hutton and Croix Bethune.
Bethune — the 2024 NWSL Rookie and Midfielder of the Year — is departing the Washington Spirit for the Kansas City Current in a $1 million deal, while Hutton heads to Bay FC for $1.1 million after leading the Current to the 2025 Shield.
Both rank among the top three intra-league transfers in NWSL history, trailing only USWNT striker Jaedyn Shaw's $1.25 million move to reigning champion Gotham FC last fall.
The current CBA requires player consent for all transactions, with 24-year-old Bethune reportedly requesting the trade while 20-year-old Hutton's involvement remains unknown.
"Croix is an exceptional playmaker with limitless potential," Kansas City GM Ryan Dell said in the club's Wednesday announcement. "Her elite creativity and passing ability combined with her tactical versatility — plus her resilience and passion — make her a great fit for our club, on and off the pitch."
"Claire is an important signing for us," said Bay FC head coach Emma Coates in a statement. "Despite her age, she brings experience and a strong mentality, and we believe she has the potential to become one of the best midfielders in the world."
Wednesday's trade news follows January's landmark Trinity Rodman re-signing, when the Spirit used the new salary cap-exceeding High Impact Player rule to make Rodman the world's highest-paid women's footballer.
While neither Kansas City nor Bay FC disclosed salary information, both Bethune and Hutton did qualify for HIP status.
Every Wednesday in February, JWS celebrates Black History Month by spotlighting a prominent Black figure in women's sports history.
Team USA skier Bonnie St. John broke barriers in Innsbruck, Austria, in 1984, when she became the first-ever African-American athlete to win a Paralympic medal at the Winter Games.
A one-legged amputee from childhood, St. John taught herself to ski at 15 years old using photocopied instructions and donated gear, going on to train at Vermont's Burke Mountain Academy and later qualifying for the 1984 Games with the US Paralympic Ski Team.
There, the San Diego product took bronze in both the slalom and giant slalom races before winning silver for overall performance across the three alpine skiing disciplines — making her the world's second fastest woman on one leg that year.
Following her athletic career, St. John graduated from Harvard and became a Rhodes Scholar at Oxford University, then later served as director for the National Economic Council under President Clinton and launched a career in corporate leadership.
"I'm not only just a role model to say, 'See what I did, you can do it, too,' but to actually give people the tools and the techniques and the research to understand how to break through those barriers," St. John said. "I love that I get to do that."
Defending Champions League winner Arsenal is back on the pitch on Wednesday, when the WSL club opens the 2025/26 UWCL Round of 16 against Belgium side Oud-Heverlee Leuven — the same team the Gunners beat 3-0 during December's league phase.
Arsenal's UWCL path hasn't been the smoothest, after an early collapse saw the title-holders slip out of the European tournament's top ranks, forcing the club to fight for playoff survival.
That said, the Gunners have momentum on their side after winning this month's inaugural FIFA Champions Cup final before topping WSL frontrunner Manchester City 1-0 last Sunday.
Wednesday's first-leg clash, however, will likely see Arsenal facing the Belgium league-leaders without goalkeeper Anneke Borbe or forwards Stina Blackstenius and Beth Mead, after recent injuries sidelined the standout trio.
"We respect who they are," Gunners head coach Renée Slegers said of OH Leuven on Tuesday. "So even though we came away with a 3-0 win here last time, we're very humble for the challenge tomorrow."
How to watch Arsenal in the 2025/26 UWCL Round of 16
Arsenal will visit OH Leuven at 12:45 PM ET on Wednesday before hosting the Belgian side for the pair's second-leg match at 3 PM ET on February 18th, with the winner set to face reigning WSL champion Chelsea FC in the UWCL quarterfinals on March 24th.
All 2025/26 Champions League matches will stream live on Paramount+.
Once-unbeaten Vanderbilt basketball is back in the groove, as the No. 5 Commodores recorded a second straight ranked win on Monday by handing No. 10 Oklahoma an emphatic 102-86 loss.
The Vanderbilt offense exploded for 59 first-half points — the most allowed by the Sooners in any half this season — with the Commodores taking a 26-point second-quarter lead behind sophomore guard Mikayla Blakes's game-high 34 points, marking her third consecutive 30-point performance.
Also joining the Commodores' 30-point club on Monday was guard Aubrey Galvan, with the freshman joining Blakes to become the first Vanderbilt duo to do so in the same game since 1999.
"I'm really proud of them," Vanderbilt head coach Shea Ralph said afterwards. "What we're trying to do here is just be relentless in our quest to improve… so that we can put ourselves in position not only to win, but ultimately to be the best possible team we can be at the right time."
The Dores' defense also stepped up on Monday as Vanderbilt scored 26 points off turnovers, holding Oklahoma star freshman Aaliyah Chavez to just 14 points on the night — and 0-11 from deep.
Meanwhile, 19 points and 11 rebounds from Sooner center Raegan Beers — her 62nd career double-double — wasn't enough to move the needle as the senior fouled out with 4:26 to go off a season-high six turnovers.
Falling to 5-5 in the SEC basketball standings, Oklahoma will look to make up ground with just six games and two Top 25 opponents left on their 2025/26 regular-season docket.
How to watch Vanderbilt basketball this week
Though the No. 5 Commodores will contend with four ranked teams in their final five regular-season games, Vanderbilt's biggest test left is a Top 5 matchup against No. 4 Texas on Thursday.
The Dores will host the Longhorns at 7:30 PM ET, with live coverage airing on SEC Network+.
Duke is racing up the NCAA women's basketball Top 25, rising six spots to No. 11 in Monday's AP Poll after extending their winning streak to 15 games.
Buoyed by Thursday's upset win over No. 9 Louisville, the Blue Devils also claimed the ACC's top spot last week, climbing the conference standings after flipping the script on what was a concerning 3-6 season start.
"Now we're just locked in on getting better," Duke head coach Kara Lawson said, after the Blue Devils turned their early-season struggles into one of the NCAA's hottest runs. "In my experience, when you do that consistently, you get consistent results."
Elsewhere in Monday's AP Poll, UConn remained the unanimous No. 1, tallying all 31 first-place votes after a week that saw the Huskies defeat DePaul by 46 points and Butler by 32.
UConn has now won 20 straight games by at least 25 points — the longest 25-point margin-of-victory streak by any Division I team in more than 25 years.
No. 2 UCLA, No. 3 South Carolina, and No. 4 Texas also held steady behind the Huskies, with the Bruins remaining undefeated in Big Ten play after eking out a narrow win over No. 7 Michigan on Sunday.
On the other hand, No. 15 Iowa experienced the poll's biggest stumble, dropping five spots after suffering a three-game losing streak.
How to watch Duke basketball in action
The No. 11 Blue Devils will next face in-state rival No. 21 UNC, with the Tar Heels visiting Durham at 1 PM ET on Sunday, airing live on ABC.
2025/26 AP Top 25 Women's College Basketball Poll: Week 14
1. UConn (25-0, Big East)
2. UCLA (23-1, Big Ten)
3. South Carolina (24-2, SEC)
4. Texas (23-2, SEC)
5. Vanderbilt (23-2, SEC)
6. LSU (22-3, SEC)
7. Michigan (20-4, Big Ten)
8. Ohio State (22-3, Big Ten)
9. Louisville (22-4, ACC)
10. Oklahoma (17-6, SEC)
11. Duke (18-6, ACC)
12. Baylor (21-4, Big 12)
13. Michigan State (20-4, Big Ten)
14. Ole Miss (19-5, SEC)
15. Iowa (18-5, Big Ten)
16. Texas Tech (22-3, Big 12)
17. TCU (21-4, Big 12)
18. Kentucky (18-7, SEC)
19. West Virginia (20-5, Big 12)
20. Maryland (19-6, Big Ten)
21. North Carolina (20-5, ACC)
22. Tennessee (15-6, SEC)
23. Alabama (20-5, SEC)
24. Princeton (19-2, Ivy)
25. Washington (18-6, Big Ten)