Snowboard - Women's parallel giant slalom
09:00 CET - Livigno Snow Park
Ester Ledecka has her eyes set on winning what would be an unprecedented third consecutive Olympic gold in the women's parallel giant slalom.
The Czech superstar takes part in both snowboarding and super-G. She also wanted to take part in Downhill but was forced to drop the event because the PGS final is on February 8th in Livigno, at the same time as the Downhill in Cortina.
Ledecka made history in 2018 by becoming the first woman to win gold medals in two different sports by winning the Alpine Skiing super-G, and she aims to repeat the feat at these Games.
Despite her dominance, Ledecka faces a strong field of challengers, including Japan's 22-year-old rising star Tsubaki Miki, who won gold in the parallel giant slalom at the 2023 World Championships, the 2022 Olympic silver medalist Daniela Ulbing from Austria, and Slovenia's Gloria Kotnik, who won the bronze four years ago.
Meanwhile, Austria's Claudia Riegler is set to become the oldest woman to compete at the Winter Olympics at the age of 52.
Alpine skiing - Women's downhill
11:30 CET - Tofane Skiing Centre in Cortina d’Ampezzo
Six years after legendary American skier Lindsey Vonn retired from the sport, she is back to make an impact at the Winter Olympics in Milano/Cortina.
The 41-year-old specialises in downhill, and she's won a record 45 World Cup races in this event, plus her only Olympic gold medal in 2010.
The Vancouver 2010 gold medallist, who leads the World Cup overall standings, suffered an ACL injury in the last downhill race in Crans-Montana, but after promising test runs, she remains confident that she will make it to the starting gate on Sunday.
It will be kind of a victory in itself if Vonn makes it down the slope, but if she wants to claim the gold, she needs to look out for her compatriot Breezy Johnson, who is the 2025 world champion.
Italy will be hopeful of securing at least one podium place. However, World Cup champion Federica Brignone needs to pull off a miracle as she just returned to action in January ahead of the Games, nine months after breaking multiple bones in her left leg and tearing her ACL during a giant slalom crash.
Four years ago, Bergamo native Sofia Goggia took silver in the event despite suffering a knee injury just 23 days before the event.
Biathlon mixed relay 4 x 6km (M+W)
14:05 CET - Anterselva Biathlon Arena (Südtirol Arena Alto Adige) in Rasen-Antholz
The mixed relay will set the tone for the 10 events that follow when biathlon gets underway on Sunday at the Milano Cortina Games.
Excitement is guaranteed, and everything seems up for grabs as no nation really dominates the discipline, but Italy and France come into the competition among the favourites based on the two mixed relays so far this season.
The other powerhouse is Sweden, with Sebastian Samuelsson, Martin Ponsiluoma, and the Oeberg sisters. The Czech squad of Jessica Jislova, Tereza Vobornikova, Vitezslav Hornig, and Michal Krcmar usually does well in shooting but struggles to keep up with their rivals on the track.
With 55 Olympic medals, Norway is leading the medal race one ahead of Germany heading into the Games, but the Scandinavians will be handicapped by the absence of Johannes Thingnes Boe, who retired in the discipline at the end of last season. This has blown the field wide open.