Five Wacky Stories from the Winter Olympics’ Opening Weekend

There have been thrills, spills, and Mariah Carey?

The opening weekend of the 2026 Winter Olympics in Milan-Cortina delivered plenty of drama, from Lindsey Vonn’s awful crash to the thrilling slopestyle duel between skiers Eileen Gu and Mathilde Gremaud. Outside has been watching the Games unfold on the streaming platform Peacock and also via social media. And if you haven’t been following every twist and turn from the slopes, ice rink, and luge track, here are five wacky stories you may have missed.

Austria’s Two Gen-X Snowboarders

I turned 44 this past year, making me well older than all professional athletes (and many coaches) in American ball sports. There are still a handful of elite athletes around the globe who are older than me, and as it turns out, two of them are on Austria’s Olympic snowboard team: Claudia Riegler, 52, and Andreas Prommegger, 45, Both of them raced over the weekend in the Snowboard Parallel Giant Slalom, and both were ultimately eliminated before the finals.

Riegler was the subject of a the New York Times profile on February 8, and shared some of her secrets of longevity. She eats well (“No McDonald’s”), regularly lifts weights, and tries new activities to stay motivated. “We set our own limits,” she said.

Prommegger, alas, didn’t reach the finals, as he was knocked out in the qualifying run by his countryman, Benjamin Karl. Karo won the gold medal in the event, becoming the oldest athlete to ever win an individual event at the Winter Olympics. He’s a real youngster: 40 years, 115 days old.

President Trump Calls This American Snowboarder a ‘Real Loser’

Politics and the Olympics are, of course, regularly intertwined, and over the years we’ve seen numerous athletes use the platform to voice their opinions on contemporary issues. The latest to do so has drawn the ire of U.S. President Donald Trump.

On February 6, freestyle skier Hunter Hess, 27, was asked during a press conference about what it means to wear Team USA gear and represent the United States amid the federal crackdown on immigration.

“It brings up mixed emotions to represent the U.S. right now,” Hess told reporters.  There’s obviously a lot going on that I’m not the biggest fan of, and I think a lot of people aren’t. I think for me, it’s more I’m representing my friends and family back home, the people that represented before me, all the things that I believe are good about the U.S.”

Hess’s comments made their way to the Oval Office. On February 8, Trump responded to Hess’ comments on Truth Social. “U.S. Olympic skier, Hunter Hess, a real Loser, says he doesn’t represent his Country in the current Winter Olympics. If that’s the case, he shouldn’t have tried out for the Team, and it’s too bad he’s on it,” Trump wrote. “Very hard to root for someone like this.”

The quote caused a stir throughout Cortina. Reporters asked freestyle skier Eileen Gu and snowboarder Chloe Kim (among others) to weigh in.

Alas, Outside does not have a reporter at the White House at the moment. We’d love to get the president’s opinion on whether Hess deserved the 2020 Newschoolers Trick of the Year award for his mind-melting Triple Cork 1620.

An Italian Speed Skater Just Needs a Moment

“Mommy just needs a moment!” It’s a familiar refrain for any woman who is raising a toddler. And it’s also what we were all thinking when watching the post-race interview with Italian speed skater Francesca Lollobrigida.

To set the scene: Lollobrigida, 35, had just won gold in the women’s 3,000 meters. It was a historic moment—she became the first Italian woman to win a gold medal in speed skating, and the first Italian to win gold at the 2026 Games. Lollobrigida’s moment in the sun was interrupted by her 2-year-old son, Tomasso.

Lollobrigida brought Tomasso into the interview booth, and the toddler did what toddlers do: He pinched his mother’s face, interrupted her, and begged for her attention.

“It was not that easy to combine being a mom and a skater,” she told reporters after the race. “So seriously, this one is for myself and the people who believed in me and also the people who were like, ‘Maybe she cannot do it,’ because they gave me the power to prove myself.”

This Funky Helmet Won’t Be in Cortina

Great Britain’s team for the Skeleton—yes, the scariest sport at the Winter Olympics—came to Cortina with a secret weapon. The squad developed a new crash helmet that it believed had superior aerodynamics.

But the authorities that govern Olympic sports have rained on their parade. On February 7, the Court of Arbitration for Sport ruled against Team Great Britain, forcing them to abandon the new helmet just days before the event.

Earlier this month, the International Bobsleigh and Skeleton Federation (IBSF) the governing body for the event, outlawed the helmet, ruling that it “did not comply with the IBSF rules based on its shape.”

Aerodynamics are extremely important in Skeleton, where the margin of victory can be fractions of a second. Over the years, federations have tinkered with helmets, outfits, and sled design in an attempt to gain a minute advantage here and there. The IBSF meanwhile, must set standards to ensure no one team has an unfair advantage.

At the 2010 Games, the USA and Canada filed protests against British athlete Amy Williams, arguing that her helmet had small ridges on it that gave her an unfair advantage.

The Brits say they will compete with standard, old-school helmets.

Gu and Gremaud Battle It Out

Athletes are already hailing the Olympic women’s Slopestyle event as the best in history, due in no small part to the duel between Eileen Gu and Mathilde Gremaud.

Defending champion Germaud and Gu, the 2018 champ were clearly the best in the competition, and both nailed eye-popping tricks. Gu tried in vain to land a trick she called “Disaster,” but fell twice. Gremaud, meanwhile, landed back-to-back 1260s to secure the win. Her margin of victory was .38 of a point.

Perhaps more poignant than the event was the vibe of the two women at the heart of it. Even Gu seemed extremely psyched.