Emma Smith
BBC Sport at Milano Santagiulia Ice Hockey Arena

Three weeks ago the ice hockey action began here with Italy women against France. Today it concludes with Canada v USA in the men's gold medal match - it is the final the neutrals wanted.

My personal Olympic experience started five days before the Italy game, visiting the stadium and finding it an unfinished construction site.

The arena still isn't fully done - there's scuffs, paint marks and random gaffer tape everywhere - but it is certainly atmospheric, and we should have an incredible noise here today.

Image source, Getty Images

Image source, Getty Images

USA went unbeaten in the group stage, topping Group C with three regulation wins (although they were 2-1 down to Denmark at the end of the first period before winning 6-3).

• USA 5-1 Latvia
• USA 6-3 Denmark
• USA 5-1 Germany

They contested a low-scoring quarter-final with Sweden, coming through 2-1 in overtime courtesy of a game-winning goal from Quintin Hughes, before hammering Slovakia 6-2 in the semi-finals. Jack Hughes scored twice, with Dylan Larkin, Tage Thompson, John Eichel, and Brady Tkachuk also on the scoresheet.

Image source, Getty Images

Canada cruised through Group A, winning all three of their matches while scoring 20 goals and conceding just three.

• Canada 5-0 Czech Republic
• Canada 5-1 Switzerland
• Canada 10-2 France

However, it hasn't been smooth sailing (or should that be skating?) in the knockout stages.

In the quarter-finals, they twice had to come from behind to force overtime against Czech Republic before Mitchell Marner secured the 4-3 win.

They went 2-0 down to defending champions Finland in the semi-finals before fighting back to win 3-2 in regulation time, Nathan MacKinnon scoring the winner with 36 seconds to play.

Canada are bidding to become the first nation to earn 10 men's ice hockey gold medals, most recently winning gold in 2014.

USA haven't won the men's title since 1980's 'Miracle on Ice' and haven't beaten Canada in the men's final since 1960 (they had to settle for silver in 2002 and 2010).

USA are the reigning men's world champions, with Canada's most recent gold coming in 2023.

This is the first Games to feature NHL players since 2014. NHL players have previously been involved in five Olympics (1998-2014), with Canada winning gold on three occasions.

You can read Emma Smith's preview of the final here.

USA took the gold when the two sides met in the women's gold medal match on Thursday, winning 2-1 courtesy of Megan Keller's overtime goal.

Now it's the turn of the men.

But will USA or Canada be crowned men's Olympic champion and take the final gold of the Milan-Cortina Games?

Face-off in Milan is at 13:10 GMT.

• Team GB's Zoe Atkin won a bronze medal in the women's halfpipe, with Eileen Gu defending her title
• Sweden's Ebba Andersson won gold in the cross-country skiing women's 50km
• Germany completed a 1-2 in the four-man bobsleigh, with Johannes Lochner's sled taking the gold medal
• Sweden beat Switzerland 6-5 to win women's curling gold

Switzerland's final stone nestles in next to the Swedish stone on the edge of the green ring.

One stone to play.

Not a problem, says Anna Hasselborg, dismissing the guard stone.

One stone each to play. Sweden still have one in the house.

With their penultimate stone, Switzerland put a guard in place.

Sweden have one stone in the house, sitting just outside the inner green ring.

Team GB

Image source, Getty Images

Great Britain's Leon Greenwood, spoke to BBC Sport after finishing seventh in the four-man bobsleigh: "It is my first Olympics, I got my two-man debut two days ago and the focus was on the four-man.

"I'm just so appreciative to be here - I was told I'd never run again so to be here and have such strong relationships, it means to the world to me. I come from a little town in Yorkshire so to be here and to have everyone at home supporting me I really appreciate it.

"As a team we sacrifice so much. I would like to say it was worth it, and it was. I love these guys."

Team GB

Image source, Getty Images

Great Britain's Taylor Lawrence, spoke to BBC Sport after finishing seventh in the four-man bobsleigh: "Missing the two-man was mainly precautionary. I came into the four-man feeling really good. The push results kind of spoke for themselves so that's a real positive to take away.

"Coming into the Games, we'd been doing really well for the past couple of years so coming away in seventh place is a bit of a bittersweet pill to swallow to be honest. From myself, that last push was sub-par from what I expect.

"But the lads pushed well and Brad drove well and that's another four-year cycle ticked off."

Team GB

Image source, Reuters

Great Britain pilot Brad Hall spoke to BBC Sport after his four-man bobsleigh team finished seventh.

On injuries holding the team back: "Taylor [Lawrence] was out for most of the season with a calf tear, I'm still coming back from my back surgery I had a couple of years ago and getting better and better. We've had a lot of niggles and injuries and it's tough to gain momentum and confidence.

"We only won one World Cup medal this year, which is completely out of the norm. Last year and the year before, we were pretty much on the podium the whole season in the four-man so it's been a really tough lead up to this and it's just unfortunate it's the way it's ended up."

On losing momentum in the past 12 months: "That's the way it happens sometimes. You're building momentum for the whole four years and then all of a sudden, it starts to go the other way and it's not that we've mistimed it, we've just been unfortunate.

"We've had a lot of these issues but we've always managed to come back from it. We come back fighting and manage to succeed, but it's just the one time we haven't been able to."

A huge end from Switzerland, taking two points to level the match with one end to play!

When these two sides met in the final in Turin (2006), it went to an extra end. Could that be about to happen again?

Sweden will have the hammer.

Team GB

Image source, Getty Images

Great Britain pilot Brad Hall spoke to BBC Sport after his four-man bobsleigh team finished seventh: "It's very difficult to put into words to be honest. It's pretty devastating to finish where we did today but we weren't in the place we wanted to be overnight and we said we were going to come out fighting and do the best we can - and that's what we feel like we did.

"It didn't work out the way we wanted it to but we have so much to be proud of over the past four years - World Championships medals, European champions and World Cup medals as well so, it's just sucks to end a four-year Olympic period with a result like this but it's difficult to put into words right now."

Image source, PA Media

Team GB bronze medal winner Zoe Atkin on having her family cheering her on: "So amazing. My first Olympics was in 2022 and with Covid, we weren't allowed to have family so, it was pretty lonely and isolating so to be able to have all my family come out - my close family and my extended family from England - they were so stoked to wave the flag and it was so special.

"It just means so much because I couldn't do it without them and their support is everything to me. It was so special to see them at the bottom and give them big hugs and be twinning with my sister with the bronzes."

Is the medal heavy? "It's really heavy! This is going on my trophy shelf for sure."

On what's next: "We actually have two more events after this which is crazy to think about after such a pinnacle event. Right now I'm really finding my flow with skiing more than I ever have.

"I'm overcoming mental blocks and learning how to have a better mindset and be a better athlete and that's the kind of thing I'll be taking forward into these next couple years and hopefully the next Olympics! But I'm going to enjoy this for now."

Sweden have stolen a point in the eighth end!

Switzerland had the opportunity to clear two stones out of the house with the final throw but Alina Paetz didn't put quite enough into it. One stone is successfully removed, the other sticks in the outer ring.

Sweden lead 5-3 with two ends to go. Switzerland retain the hammer.

Team GB

Image source, Getty Images

Great Britain's Zoe Atkin spoke to BBC Sport after winning bronze in the women's halfpipe: "I am so happy. I've been looking forward to this for at least the past four years and it was so overwhelming with the crowd and knowing it was the Olympics - so many emotions.

"I was so stressed out I was crying, and to put two runs down felt so good - and the cherry on top is getting on the Olympic podium. It means so much to me and I've literally dreamed about this moment since watching my sister [Izzy] win her bronze in 2018 so, to back her up eight years later feels so good and to have her supporting me here it feels full circle. I am so stoked."

On how it felt after putting down a top score in the first run: "I definitely had a little bit of a strategy. I chilled it a little bit on the first one just to put one down so I wouldn't be nervous about having to put one down after a couple of falls.

"I tried to step it up but I ended up falling on my second run so I was like 'OK I'm going to step up a little bit but not a huge amount' and I was able to put down the third and step up a little bit more in the score.

"There are so many emotions, I'm so sorry, I look a mess I've been crying. It means so much to me but it truly is about the journey and how much I've learned and trained for this event and the athlete I've become."