DAILY COUNTDOWN 15 – Penultimate pressure: four Golds and an Olympic clean sweep at stake
Feb 21, 2026·ilovesnow:format(webp))
The penultimate day of Milano Cortina 2026 carries a distinct end-of-Games energy, four gold medals to be decided, traditions upheld, and history within reach before the Closing Ceremony draws near.
In Tesero, the Men’s 50km Mass Start Classic takes centre stage, a race long regarded as one of the defining finales of the Olympic Cross-Country programme. Today it’s the men’s turn to write their chapter, with Johannes Hoesflot Klaebo chasing a rare clean sweep of six gold medals from six starts. The 50km is never simply another race, it is endurance, tactics and legacy stretched over the longest distance on the schedule.
Livigno delivers a freestyle triple-header. Mixed Team Aerials opens the morning with Olympic champions combining forces in a discipline where precision and collective composure are everything. Men’s Ski Cross follows with its unforgiving head-to-head format, before the Women’s Halfpipe closes the evening under the lights, the final freestyle contest of the Games, where amplitude and progression will decide the last Livigno champion.
With only a handful of podiums remaining, Saturday is about statements, of dominance, of redemption, and of closing chapters in style.
Inside the Numbers – Day 15 Snapshot
4 gold medals to be decided on the penultimate day
52 of 57 podiums awarded: just 5 remain across the final two days
1 quest for an Olympic clean sweep: Klaebo chasing 6 golds from 6 events
1 husband–wife double act; Wang Xindi and Xu Mengtao aiming for a shared Mixed Team Aerials medal after both winning individual gold
3 freestyle finals in Livigno, closing out the park & pipe programme
50 kilometres: the longest race of the Cross-Country schedule headlines Tesero
Medal Events Day 15 – Saturday, 21 February
10:45 Livigno - Freestyle Skiing Mixed Team Aerials - Results
11:00 Tesero - Cross-Country Skiing Men's 50km Mass Start Classic - Results
13:10 Livigno - Freestyle Skiing Men's Ski Cross - Results
19:30 Livigno - Freestyle Skiing Women's Freeski Halfpipe - Results
Across the Games, a total of 57 Olympic podiums will be awarded in ski and snowboard disciplines.
All times are local CET. Full Olympic schedule available here.
Athletes & Storylines to Watch
Freestyle Skiing Mixed Team Aerials
Mixed Team Aerials opens Saturday’s freestyle finals in Livigno, with China aiming to complete a full sweep of Aerials gold after Wang Xindi and Xu Mengtao claimed the individual titles. The husband-and-wife duo now team up alongside Li Tianma in pursuit of a historic shared triumph.
USA, led by defending Olympic champion Christopher Lillis and backed by Kaila Kuhn and Connor Curran, look to retain the title they won in Beijing, while Canada field the same trio that secured bronze in 2022. With individual champions and proven contenders on each roster, the team event promises a fitting aerial finale.
Cross-Country Skiing Men's 50km Mass Start Classic
Johannes Hoesflot Klaebo (NOR) will chase a rare Olympic clean sweep at Milano Cortina 2026 when he lines up for the Men’s 50km Mass Start Classic, aiming to make it six gold medals from six events. Already the most decorated Cross-Country skier in Olympic history with 10 career golds, the Norwegian stands on the brink of a perfect Games, a feat achieved by only a select few in Winter Olympic history, including Eric Heiden (USA, Speed Skating, 1980) and Ole Einar Bjørndalen (NOR, Biathlon, 2002), who each won every event they entered.
After winning his 10th total Olympic gold in the Team Sprint with Einar Hedegart on Wednesday, he then rose up the rankings of all Olympic athletes, second only to American swimmer Michael Phelps, who has 23 gold medals.
Awaiting to challenge him is a formidable field featuring France’s Mathis Desloges, USA’s Ben Ogden and a deep Norwegian lineup, while Italy’s Federico Pellegrino, competing in his final Olympics, will look to deliver one last statement on home snow.
Freestyle Skiing Men's Ski Cross
Reece Howden (CAN) enters Men’s Ski Cross as the leading gold contender, sitting comfortably atop the World Cup standings and on course for a fourth Crystal Globe. Italy’s Simone Deromedis, buoyed by a long-awaited home World Cup victory, will aim to challenge on familiar snow. Defending Olympic champion Ryan Regez (SUI) and Beijing 2022 silver medallist Alex Fiva (SUI) also return with podium ambitions, setting up a fiercely competitive showdown in Livigno.
Freestyle Skiing Women's Freeski Halfpipe
The Freestyle Skiing programme at Milano Cortina 2026 is set for a high-profile finale as Eileen Gu (CHN) targets a third medal of the Games in the Women’s Halfpipe. The defending champion and the only athlete in the 21-woman field contesting multiple freestyle events qualified fifth after already securing silver in both Slopestyle and Big Air.
Reigning world champion and Crystal Globe winner Zoe Atkin (GBR) topped qualification, with China’s Li Fanghui second, Canada’s Cassie Sharpe third and Australia’s Globe leader Indra Brown fourth, setting up a stacked final to close out freestyle competition in Livigno.
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