Ragne Wiklund of Norway will hope to go one better than Francesca Lollobrigida after missing out on the world title last year.

She warmed up for these Games by winning both the 1500m and 3000m at the European Championships and she claimed silver in the 3000m on Staurday behind Lollobrigida.

Image source, Getty Images

As impressive as Francesca Lollobrigida's gold in the 3000m was, it was her two-year-old son that stole the headlines ...

Italy's Francesca Lollobrigida is the reigning world champion in 5000m and will be one of the favourites to win gold in her home country.

She celebrated her 35th birthday in style on Saturday by winning 3000m gold and setting a new Olympic Record time of three minutes and 54.28 seconds in the procress.

Her victory also meant she became the first Italian woman to win the Olympic gold medal at that distance.

Can she win her second gold of the Games? We will soon find out.

One thing is for sure though, and that's she will have the crowd on her side at the Milano Speed Skating Stadium.

Image source, Getty Images

Richard Winton
BBC Sport Scotland in Cortina

More frustration for the Swedes. Again, they can only take one with the hammer.... and Niklas Edin has had enough. He offers a hand to Bruce Mouat and we're all done here with two ends to spare.

Speed skating is held on a 400m oval track that is divided into two lanes.

With the exception of team pursuit and mass start, only two skaters are on the ice at any given time.

Rather than racing head-to-head in an elimination format, the competitors are ranked solely on the time that they record. Fastest time wins gold!

One skater begins in the inner lane, the other in the outer. To ensure both cover identical distances, they switch each lap at the crossing straight.

So who could win gold, I hear you ask?

Image source, Getty Images

I can hear Lady Gaga playing now. Whoever is on the tunes in Milan is smashing it.

Emma Smith
BBC Sport at Milano Speed Skating Stadium

Hello all - I have rolled on up to Milano Speed Skating Stadium, to watch the medals be won in the women's 5000m event.

Walking to the arena, all I could see everywhere was orange. This is the sport the Netherlands have traditionally dominated at the Winter Games, and there is an expectancy of more Dutch medals today.

Before the action, we've just had a light show and 'It's Raining Men' was played over the speaker system. It's like being in Soho.

The women's 5000m speed skating final is coming up and the exciting news is that there will be a new Olympic champion in Milan due to reigning champion Irene Schouten not competing.

Dutch speed skater Schouten claimed gold in the 3000m, 5000m and mass startevent at the Beijing Games, but she retired in 2024 at 31-years-old.

Image source, Getty Images

Here are some of tonight's TV highlights:

On BBC One

Now Great Britain are currently facing Sweden in the men's curling, which is a repeat of the 2022 Olympic final.

15:40 GMT Women's 5000m speed skating gold medal run, followed by the men's Group A ice hockey, where Czech Republic play Canada.

BBC Two

18:30 GMT The women's snowboarding halfpipe final, in which Chloe Kim of the USA will be aiming for her third consecutive Olympic gold medal.

You can catch session two of the women's curling after that when China play Great Britain in the round robin phase.

20:30 GMT We will then see two short track speed skating finals take place - the women's 500m and the men's 1000m.

There are five medal events to come, plus plenty of other non-medal action.

So let's take a look at what will be shown on the TV so that you can plan your Thursday evening accordingly ...

Richard Winton
BBC Sport Scotland in Cortina

Image source, Getty Images

This must be toe-curling (sorry) for Niklas Edin. His team are doing all they can for him, but the skip - one of the best to have ever thrown a stone - is not delivering with his shots.

Jackie Lockhart
Four-time Olympic curler on BBC One

This is very uncharacteristic from Niklas Edin. His poor team look deflated, they are doing everything they need to do but he doesn't finish it off.

GB are capitalising on this at the moment and their stone placement is second to none. They are making it very difficult at the moment.

Richard Winton
BBC Sport Scotland in Cortina

Another Niklas Edin mistake and another great end for Team GB. Bruce Mouat slides in a composed final stone to take another two and cleave open a four-point lead with three ends remaining.

Image source, Getty Images

Vladyslav Heraskevych wore the helmet in all his training runs before the competition began and carried it through media mixed zones and in multiple interviews.

But IOC rules dictated that he would not be allowed to wear it during official competition.

They cited rule 50.2 of the Olympic Charter, external, external, which states: "All competitors, team officials or other team personnel in the Olympic Games shall enjoy freedom of expression in keeping with the Olympic values and the fundamental principles of Olympism, and in accordance with the guidelines determined by the IOC Executive Board."

These are the athlete expression guidelines, external, external, determined in 2023 and which have been codified into Olympic law.

They say athletes can express their views during Olympic Games when speaking to the media, on social media, and on the field of play at the start of competition or during their introduction.

However, they forbid these expressions during medal ceremonies, during competition and in the Olympic village.

Read more here

Richard Winton
BBC Sport Scotland in Cortina

There are a load of Germans in here today and they are making some racket. They've got black, red and yellow bubble perm wigs on - at least, I think they're wigs - and they appear to have brought a carry out in with them.

Their team are playing Norway on another sheet and the fans are getting right into it.

The biggest controversy of the Milan-Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics came to a head on Thursday morning, as Ukraine's Vladyslav Heraskevych was banned from competing.

Heraskevych, who was his country's flagbearer at the opening ceremony, wished to compete in the men's skeleton while wearing a special helmet featuring artwork depicting Ukrainian athletes killed during the Russian invasion.

But the International Olympic Committee (IOC) said this contravened the Olympic charter – the rules and bylaws for the organisation of the Games – and informed him on Tuesday that he would not be allowed to compete in the helmet.

After two days of discussions in which Heraskevych refused to back down, it was confirmed on Thursday morning that he had been disqualified.

Image source, Getty Images

Richard Winton
BBC Sport Scotland in Cortina

Sweden get themselves out of a tough spot there to ensure they take one, when it looked like GB could snatch something from the sixth end. But Bruce Mouat and his boys are the ones asking all the demanding questions here.

Here's an overview of what's happening and what is still to come on day six at Milan-Cortina 2026...

• 15:40 - Ice hockey: Men's preliminary
• 17:30 - Luge: team relay
• 18:05 - Curling: Women's round robin (including GB women v China)
• 18:30 - Snowboard: Women's halfpipe final
• 19:15 - Short track: Women's 500m & men's 1000m
• 20:10 - Ice hockey: Men's preliminary

It's been a busy day so far. Here's what been going on...

• Great Britain's Matt Weston leads men's skeleton by 0.3 seconds after first two runs; Marcus Wyatt in seventh
• Ukraine's Vladyslav Heraskevych banned from skeleton over helmet featuring images of athletes killed during Russia's invasion of his country - and tells BBC he feels "emptiness"
• Italy's Federica Brignone wins alpine skiing women's Super-G gold - 10 months after sustaining multiple leg fractures and a torn ACL
• Australia's Cooper Woods takes gold on tie-breaker ahead of Canada's Mikael Kingsbury in men's mogul
• Frida Karlsson storms to victory in women's 10km cross-country skiing as part of Swedish one-two
• Alessandro Haemmerle of Austria retains his Olympic snowboard cross title in dramatic style
• GB men in action against defending champions Sweden in curling round-robin