MILAN (AP) — Ilia Malinin playfully threw a couple of jabs at a TV camera while skating off the ice Tuesday night, the pressure of his first Olympics having seemingly vanished following a team gold medal and a near-perfect short program to begin the men's competition.

Retired figure skating legend Johnny Weir referenced a “stare heard round the world” during his Olympic commentary a day ago. No, it doesn’t involve any participants in the 2026 Milan Cortina Winter Olympics.

Jordan Stolz is speed skating's hottest property heading into Wednesday's men's 1,000 metres at the Milano Cortina Winter Games, but a pack of seasoned challengers led by three-times Olympic champion Kjeld Nuis are ready to crash the American's party.

A potential Olympic medal for Team USA was lost not to a rival, but to a treacherous sheet of ice. Recently, Corinne Stoddard suffered a costly slip, causing her to miss out on a potential medal.

Team USA already won gold in the team event for the second consecutive Winter Olympics. Now some of its members are competing for individual glory. Team USA has another chance for a repeat gold in figure skating in the men’s singles.

Following his performance on Tuesday, Naumov honored his late parents.

The ice dance competition began Monday at the Winter Olympics with the rhythm dance. Madison Chock and Evan Bates finished in second place.

By Agnieszka Flak MILAN, Feb 10 (Reuters) - No matter where Piper Gilles and Paul Poirier finish at the Milano Cortina Games, the Canadian ice dance duo believe they have already won simply by standing on Olympic ice again.