The women’s short-track speed skating quarterfinals were briefly paused at the 2026 Winter Olympics on Friday after Kamila Sellier of Poland suffered a scary injury after an opponent’s blade sliced her face during a fall.

Sellier led the pack with nine laps to go in the sixth quarterfinal heat of the 1,500-meter race on Friday before she was passed by Italy’s Arianna Fontana. As racers jockeyed for positioning with six laps remaining, Sellier lost her footing on a turn and crashed. The blade of American Kristen Santos-Griswold sliced Sellier above her left eye during the crash. Fontana and Santos-Griswold also went down; the race was stopped due to injury.

Sellier, who is ranked No. 20 in the world, remained down on the ice for several minutes and officials brought out a white sheet to shield her as she was tended to. Sellier was eventually placed on a stretcher and wheeled out of Milano Skating Arena to an applause by the crowd and she was taken to a hospital for further medical attention.

Sellier received stitches above her eye in the arena, according to The Associated Press. USA TODAY Sports reached out to the Polish Olympic Committee for comment.

Racers typically wear helmets that don’t have a face shield, instead opting for protective eye wear. Sellier’s glasses, however, were knocked off by the impact of the collision with Santos-Griswold’s blade.

Santos-Griswold was penalized for an illegal lane pass that led to the incident and didn’t advance to the semifinals, effectively ending her Olympic campaign without a podium finish. She appeared to be confused when informed by a referee and fought back tears before putting on her blade guards and exiting the ice.

American Corinne Stoddard went on to win bronze in the 1,500-meter race on Friday. Korea’s Kim Gilli took gold, while Korea’s Choi Minjeong took silver.

At the 2022 Beijing Olympics, Santos-Griswold was in medal contention in the 1,000-meter race when she was bumped by an opponent and fell. She finished just off the podium in fourth place and contemplated retirement. Santos-Griswold, 31, came back strong and won five medals at the 2024 World Championships, including a 1,000-meter gold, to become the first U.S. skater to win medals at three individual distances (500m, 1,000m, 1,500m) at one world competition. She won her first Crystal Globe for the 2024-25 season, which is awarded to the best overall skater.

Meet Team USA 2026: Get to know the athletes behind the games

LSU football coach Lane Kiffin and Ole Miss coach Yolett McPhee-McCuin are in a wild online spat.

‘Have y’all ever heard of a football coach, tagging a WBB coach, after a game?’ McPhee-McCuin posted to X on Friday. ‘This guy doesn’t even like women’s sports! Cope harder! #GoldingEra’

Without naming anyone, McPhee-McCuin’s tweet seemed to take issue with the Rebels former football coach while also supporting the current one, Pete Golding.

In the quotes of McPhee-McCuin’s tweet, was Kiffin, the previous head coach of Ole Miss football. Kiffin left Mississippi earlier for LSU. In response to the Rebels women’s basketball coach, Kiffin posted a photo of himself holding hands with LSU’s women’s basketball coach, Kim Mulkey and throwing a pitch at a softball game.

‘Not true,’ Kiffin said. ‘Love women’s sports.’

However, the exchange between the pair wasn’t the only one over the past week.

Here’s how Kiffin and McPhee-McCuin arrived at this strange online beef.

Why is Lane Kiffin tweeting Ole Miss women’s basketball coach?

After beating Tennessee at home on Tuesday, Feb. 17, McPhee-McCuin told the media she was disappointed with the fan turnout for the game.

‘We had a good amount of fans tonight. I was expecting a little bit more. I’m gonna be completely honest. We need more support,’ McPhee-McCuin said.

‘We’re gonna need you on Thursday (Feb. 19), when we go up against No. 7 LSU, who had a chance to go to Mardi Gras tonight, while we fought for 40 minutes. So, the only thing that’s gone help us get through that game is the crown support because it matters.’

On the day of the LSU-Ole Miss matchup, Kiffin responded to McPhee-McCuin.

‘Don’t worry it will be #justdifferent tonight @YolettMcCuin,’ the LSU football coach said. ‘They will show up for @LSUwbkb game.’

Then, the trolling began.

Ole Miss lost 87-70 to LSU at home after a putrid fourth quarter. The Rebels didn’t score a single field goal in the period (0-for-17) and the seven points they did have came from free throw attempts. After the game, LSU’s Bella Hines, Amiya Joyner and Kate Koval seemingly trolled Ole Miss with cutouts of Kiffin.

‘BTA ⁦@LSUwbkb,’ Kiffin tweeted along with a photo of the trio. (‘BTA’ is an acronym that stands for ‘belt to ass.’)

However, Kiffin wasn’t done. He tagged Ole Miss’s coach in seperate tweet with a photo (see below) of LSU fans holding the cutouts.

‘Thanks for helping out the attendance,’ Kiffin said. ‘@YollettMcCuin was begging for @LSUwbkb. Glad they showed up. Great competitive game early ladies!!! #justdifferent’

Kiffin has since deleted the tweet.

What did Ole Miss coach say to Lane Kiffin?

After being tagged by Kiffin, McPhee-McCuin responded with her own tweet calling out the LSU football coach. ‘Have y’all ever heard of a football coach, tagging a WBB coach, after a game?’ she said. ‘This guy doesn’t even like women’s sports!’

The Ole Miss coach then followed with a post supporting the Rebels football coach, Golding, while seemingly taking a shot at the ongoing saga with Kiffin.

‘Looking [forward] to supporting our coach that has won a CFP game in the fall!’ McPhee-McCuin posted. ‘Let’s say goodbye to the past Rebs, just like I did after this!’

Is there still beef between Kiffin and Ole Miss coach?

Following the video of Golding, McPhee-McCuin seemingly sent a warning to Kiffin.

‘He woke up tweeting me and he knows I have the files so he should stop while ahead,’ She said to a fan.

Kiffin later responded with a milder tone to McPhee-McCuin.

This story will be updated with any further developments.

The growth of women’s hockey since it was added as an Olympic sport in at the 1998 Winter Olympics in Nagano, Japan, has been exponential.

That popularity showed up in the ratings for the women’s gold medal game at the 2026 Winter Olympics on Feb. 19. Team USA’s overtime victory against rival Canada was the most-watched women’s hockey game on record, according to NBC. It averaged 5.3 million viewers with an audience peak of 7.7 million viewers in overtime on USA and Peacock.

Team USA defeated Canada 2-1 in overtime, marking the Americans’ first Olympic gold medal since the 2018 Pyeongchang Games, which they won in a shootout. Team USA trailed much of the game, before Hilary Knight scored an equalizer with less than three minutes remaining in regulation to send the game to overtime.

“There was no way we were losing this game,’ Knight said. ‘That’s all. Simple as that. We had some awesome heavy hitters on the ice. I knew we were going to get possession, so I just had to find a place in front of the net.’

‘When Meg (Keller) pulled her move, I knew we had it immediately,’ Knight said.

Team USA has appeared in all but one gold medal game since 1998 — each time facing off against the Canadians. The Americans now have three golds.

‘The greatest rivalry in all sport for that reason, every game is tight,’ said Canadian defender Renata Fast, who assisted on Canada’s lone goal. ‘We knew that coming in every single battle, every single play is so important because the game is that close against this matchup. So this is the exact game we expected today, and obviously we just didn’t come out the way we wanted to.’

The next generation of the rivalry is in training. Women’s hockey has grown by leaps and bounds since 2000, as one of the fastest-growing youth sports in North America. USA Hockey reports that girls’ and women’s participation has surged 65% over the past 15 seasons.

MILAN — Lindsey Vonn says her latest surgery went well and she hopes to be out of the hospital soon.

The surgery Wednesday, Feb. 18, took a little over six hours and photos of her left leg show more than a dozen screws. Vonn suffered a complex tibial fracture in a crash in the Olympic downhill Feb. 8.

‘As you can see, it required a lot of plates and screws to put back together but Dr Hackett did an incredible job,’ Vonn wrote on Instagram, referring to her longtime orthopedic surgeon, Tom Hackett.

‘With the extent of the trauma, I’ve been struggling a bit post op and have not yet been able to be discharged from the hospital just yet,’ she added. ‘Almost there. Baby steps.’

Vonn also posted a photo of her being wheeled into surgery, her fifth since the crash. She gave a victory sign and a fist pump, and she’s holding the stuffed shark she received when she was in the hospital in Italy.

Vonn was hospitalized in Italy for eight days before returning to the United States earlier this week.

What happened to Lindsey Vonn?

Vonn hooked the fourth gate with her right arm, which sent her spinning and hurtling into the hard, packed snow. She tumbled end over end several times before coming to a stop.

‘Things just happen so quick in this sport,’ U.S. teammate Bella Wright said after the race. ‘It looked like Lindsey had incredible speed out of that turn, and she hooked her arm and it’s just over just like that.’

The three-time Olympic medalist remained prone in the snow, and she could be heard wailing in pain. The gasps and groans from fans faded into shocked silence as medics worked on her. Vonn remained on the course for approximately 13 minutes before being loaded into a helicopter.

What is Lindsey Vonn’s injury?

In an Instagram post on Feb. 9, Vonn shared the news she suffered a complex tibia fracture that will require multiple surgeries. The 41-year-old updated fans on Feb. 11 after a third surgery in Italy and included some gruesome photos of her progress. Upon returning to the United States on Feb. 17, Vonn shared that her injury was ‘a lot more sever than just a broken leg.’

‘I’m still wrapping my head around it, what it means and the road ahead,’ Vonn wrote. ‘But I’m going to give you more detail in the coming days.”

A tibia fracture is a break in the shin bone that requires immediate emergent treatment. ‘Your tibias are some of the strongest bones in your body. It usually takes a lot of force to break one,’ according to the Cleveland Clinic. ‘You probably won’t be able to stand, walk or put weight on your leg if you have a broken shin bone.’

A complex fracture involves multiple breaks in a bone and damaged soft tissue, according Yale Medicine. Symptoms include extreme pain, numbness and, sometimes, a bone that protrudes through the skin. Treatment involves stabilization and surgery.

Lindsey Vonn crash video

NBC broadcasts the Olympics and posted video of Vonn’s crash.

USA TODAY Sports’ Samantha Cardona-Norberg breaks down Linsdey Vonn’s crash just after it happened.

Fans went silent as soon as Vonn crash, reacting with shock, grief and later support as the helicopter lifted her into the sky. USA TODAY Sports talked to some fans after the crash.

Is Lindsey Vonn OK?

Vonn was in obvious pain after the crash, but she was moving her arms, head and neck.

About 18 minutes after the crash, the helicopter slowly began flying toward Cortina. ‘Let’s let Lindsey Vonn hear us!’ the American announcer said as the chopper flew away with her, and the crowd cheered and applauded.

Vonn’s sister Karin Kildow was at the course for the downhill and spoke to NBC reporters during their live broadcast: ‘I mean that definitely was the last thing we wanted to see and it happened quick and when that happens, you’re just immediately hoping she’s okay. And it was scary because when you start to see the stretchers being put out, it’s not a good sign,’ Kildow said. ‘But she really … She just dared greatly and she put it all out there. So it’s really hard to see, but we just really hope she’s OK.

‘She does have all of her surgeons and her PT staff here and her doctors, so I’m sure they’ll give us a report and we’ll meet her at whatever hospital she’s at.’

Lindsey Vonn torn ACL

It was second time in as many weeks Vonn left a mountaintop on a chopper. She fully ruptured her left ACL, sustaining meniscus damage and bone bruising, in a downhill crash on Jan. 30, in the final World Cup event prior to the start of the Olympics.

Vonn is also skiing with a partial replacement of her right knee. She had dominated the sport before the crash, making the podium in all five downhill races this season and winning two of them.

Despite the latest injury, Vonn was determined to race at her fifth and final Olympics. She said her knee felt stable and strong, and she had spent the last week doing intense rehab, pool workouts, weight lifting and plyometrics. She skied both training runs, posting the third-fastest time in the second run before it was canceled because of fog and snow.

Vonn is 41 and was skiing in her fifth Winter Olympics (2002, 2006, 2010, 2018, 2026). She has won three Olympic medals (1 gold, 2 bronze).

MILAN — Black Eyed Peas’ “I Gotta Feeling” blasted on the speakers at the Milano Santagiulia Ice Hockey Arena in Milan ahead of the gold-medal game between the U.S. women’s national hockey team and Canada.

“I got a feelin’ that tonight’s gonna be a good night,” musician Will.i.am sang on the track. The song served as a premonition for what was to come: USA captain Hilary Knight had a good night, indeed.

The five-time Olympian scored a late equalizer to send the game to overtime, where Megan Keller’s sudden-death goal lifted the Americans to the top of the podium for the first time since 2018. Knight’s goal not only kept the Americans’ hopes alive, it also established a new all-time U.S. Olympic record in points (33) and goals (15).

Knight, the first American hockey player, male or female, to win five Olympic medals, announced the 2026 Winter Games would be her last, but the 36-year-old proved her final Olympic lap was far from a swan song.

‘Hilary always goes out with a bang,’ Kendall Coyne Schofield said, referring to Knight’s whirlwind week filled with a marriage proposal to Brittany Bowe and a gold medal. ‘I mean you can’t script it any better.’

Knight is not your typical superstar. She doesn’t like to bask in the limelight and would prefer if it weren’t on her at all. When Knight scored her 14th career Olympic goal in Team USA’s 5-0 win over Finland on Feb. 7, she had ‘no idea’ she tied the U.S. Olympic all-time scoring record held by Natalie Darwitz and Katie King.

While Knight noted it’s ‘super special’ to be mentioned among legendary players like Darwitz and King, she said the goal was no less special than every other she’s scored along the way. And Knight has done plenty of that.

‘I just love scoring and the pure elation of finding the back of the net and putting our team in a better position than we were before,’ added Knight. ‘It’s just a little kid moment. … It’s pure excitement and it’s fun to celebrate.”

Although Knight herself couldn’t care less about adding yet another record to her resume, some began to wonder if she would reach the points and scoring record before her Olympic career ended. Team USA crushed Italy and Sweden in the quarterfinal and semifinals, respectively, but Knight didn’t get on the score sheet in either game.

But leave it to Knight to step up when Team USA needed her most. With their backs against the wall and the clock ticking down on their dreams, Knight tipped in a goal with less than three minutes remaining in regulation.

When asked what went through her head after scoring, Knight recalled, ‘We’re going to win the game. It was just that simple. Obviously we peppered their goaltender a lot and picked up momentum throughout the game, but you never want to run out of time, especially with a great team. So to find the back of the net, I was like, here we go, this is ours. … It’s a special feeling. It’s a rare feeling, but you get that feeling with this group.’ 

Lee Stecklein said it was the ‘perfect way for her to break (the record).’ Stecklein added, ‘She’s the best player of all time. To score goals like that as consistently as she did… it’s just a classic Hilary Knight.’

It’s also typical Knight fashion to quickly shift the spotlight off her personal accolades onto what matters most: her teammates. That’s what has kept her playing for two decades.

‘I didn’t want to put more pressure on us leading into… this tournament by saying we’re the best hockey team in the world. I truly felt that at every single step,’ Knight said. ‘This was a testament to our preparation and the togetherness and the love and the family environment that we created in that room that we’re willing to do whatever it takes to get the job done and do it for one another.’

Knight has influenced an entire generation of players throughout her career, many of whom are now her teammates who will carry on the legacy of the U.S. national team when she’s gone. First-time Olympian Haley Winn recalls taking a photo with Knight in upstate New York at a hockey camp when she was younger.

‘Obviously she’s someone a lot of us have looked up to since we were little,’ said Winn, who scored her first Olympic goal in USA’s win over Switzerland on Feb. 9. ‘I know I have a picture with her from when I was probably seven or eight, so to be able to play on a team with her, obviously it leaves you kind of speechless.’

Winn isn’t the only one. Tessa Janecke, Laila Edwards, Hannah Bilka and Caroline Harvey all idolized Knight in their youth. It was Edwards who assisted Knight’s historic goal on Thursday, alongside Keller.

‘It’s unbelievable. It just seemed to be a very small part of what Hilary’s accomplished,’ Edwards said. ‘I’m so honored and to learn from her every day, it’s just been such a blessing.’

Knight doesn’t have to say too much to lead. Her coaches and teammates describe her as a ‘silent force,’ who leads by example, as cliche as that may sound. ‘Her actions mean everything,’ added Taylor Heise, who said she just likes to sit and observe how Knight operates on a daily basis, ‘as weird as that sounds.’

‘She knows how to bring a group together, like ‘Let’s go and fight and we’re going to go to the end,’ and it’s inspiring to be around. She’s an amazing human being,’ said U.S. women’s hockey coach John Wroblewski, who was brought to tears after the gold-medal win. ‘(Knight) needs her teammates and I think that she’s as cognizant of that as anybody can imagine.’

Knight scored two goals in as many games to open Olympic play. Her first came in the second period of USA’s 5-1 win over Czechia on Feb. 5 to become the third player to score in five different Olympics, joining Canadians Jayna Hefford and Hayley Wickenheiser. Canada’s Marie-Philip Poulin later joined the list and surpassed Wickenheiser (18) as the all-time leading women’s Olympic scorer with 20 goals.

Knight again found the back of the net in the second period against Finland on Feb. 7, which was all the more impressive considering the veteran left the ice in the first period with an apparent injury.

Finland forward Ida Kuoppala collided with Knight’s left leg right in front of the U.S. bench as Knight possessed the puck with 4:28 remaining in the first period. Knight’s left leg buckled and she immediately fell down to the ice, where she withered in pain. She went right off the ice and didn’t return with the starting line the remainder of the first period as she received medical attention on the bench.

‘When we saw her kind of roll over and got hurt a little bit, (it) almost brought me to tears on the bench,’ Heise recalled. ‘(Knight) is such a resilient player and she worked so hard and you could see her when she got in the locker room, it didn’t phase her. Straight to the trainer and did what she needed to do and figured it out.’

Knight recorded two assists in USA’s 5-0 shutout of Switzerland on Feb. 9, in addition to an assist in the team’s 5-0 win over Canada on Feb. 10. She finished with six points in the tournament.

‘She’s the best player in the world,’ Heise added.

Her performance was so good that many questioned whether Knight should retire or run it back.

Heise said she’s ‘never going to count (Knight) out,’ while Coyne Schofield added, ‘I don’t put anything past Hilary Knight. Whatever goals in her head, she’s going to accomplish it.’

She accomplished her goal of winning a gold medal and even dished out a silver engagement ring to her fiancée, U.S. speed skater Brittany Bowe, all in the span of 48 hours.

‘This is my last Games and I’ve had a heck of a week personally, so it’s been an incredible ride and I have to soak this all in because this room is just so special,’ Knight said. ‘This team is so special. This is the best U.S. hockey team I’ve ever been a part of and that is just so tremendous.’

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