BERN, Switzerland (AP) — Switzerland left 44-year-old ski-jumping great Simon Ammann out of a team of 175 athletes picked Monday for the Milan Cortina Olympics that includes three defending champions.
At the 2002 Salt Lake City Olympics, he was a double gold medalist whose Harry Potter-like spectacles and boyish charm led to him being a studio guest on David Letterman’s late-night show.
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FILE - Simon Ammann of Switzerland shows off his two Olympic gold medals after receiving his second gold medal for his performance in the K120 ski jump in Salt Lake City, on Feb. 13, 2002. (AP Photo/Tom Hanson, CP, FILE)
Switzerland's Marco Odermatt speeds down the course during an alpine ski, men's World Cup downhill, in Wengen, Switzerland, Saturday, Jan. 17, 2026. (AP Photo/Gabriele Facciotti)
Switzerland's Marco Odermatt listens to the national anthem on the podium after winning an alpine ski, men's World Cup downhill, in Wengen, Switzerland, Saturday, Jan. 17, 2026. (AP Photo/Giovanni Zenoni)
Simon Ammann of Switzerland in action during the men's team flying trial round at the Nordic skiing/ski jumping World Championships in Oberstdorf, Germany, Sunday Jan. 25, 2026. (Karl-Josef Hildenbrand/dpa via AP)
Ammann competed at all seven Winter Games since 1998 in Nagano, Japan and also won two gold medals at the 2010 Vancouver Olympics.
An eighth selection would have tied him with the Winter Games record held jointly by Japanese ski jumper Noriaki Kasai and German speed skater Claudia Pechstein, according to the history site Olympedia.
Kasai took silver at age 41 in the large hill event at the 2014 Sochi Olympics, where Ammann placed 23rd.
The Swiss selectors, instead, will take to Italy the 19-year-old Felix Trunz, who was not born when Ammann won at Salt Lake.
Ammann has a best result of 20th in a World Cup event this season and last finished on a podium in January 2018.
Alpine ski superstar Marco Odermatt is a standout selection and shapes as a strong medal contender in downhill and super-G. He will also defend the giant slalom title he won in China four years ago.
The other defending champion skiers are Corinne Suter in women's downhill and Ryan Regez in men's skicross.
The Milan Cortina Olympics open Feb. 6.
AP Winter Olympics at https://apnews.com/hub/milan-cortina-2026-winter-olympics
FILE - Simon Ammann of Switzerland shows off his two Olympic gold medals after receiving his second gold medal for his performance in the K120 ski jump in Salt Lake City, on Feb. 13, 2002. (AP Photo/Tom Hanson, CP, FILE)
Switzerland's Marco Odermatt speeds down the course during an alpine ski, men's World Cup downhill, in Wengen, Switzerland, Saturday, Jan. 17, 2026. (AP Photo/Gabriele Facciotti)
Switzerland's Marco Odermatt listens to the national anthem on the podium after winning an alpine ski, men's World Cup downhill, in Wengen, Switzerland, Saturday, Jan. 17, 2026. (AP Photo/Giovanni Zenoni)
Simon Ammann of Switzerland in action during the men's team flying trial round at the Nordic skiing/ski jumping World Championships in Oberstdorf, Germany, Sunday Jan. 25, 2026. (Karl-Josef Hildenbrand/dpa via AP)
U.S. markets were on track to open with modest losses Monday, while Japan's benchmark took a tumble after the yen rebounded against the U.S. dollar on rumors of possible government intervention.
Futures for the S&P 500 edged back 0.1%, while Dow Jones Industrial futures were largely unchanged. Futures for the Nasdaq retreated 0.2%.
Most major airlines were down more than 1% in early trading as thousands of flights were canceled due to a massive winter storm that affected travel from the Rockies all the way to the East Coast.
Natural gas futures climbed another 4.5% as cold weather set in across the country following the winter storm that dumped more than a foot of snow in places and left many without power.
In Asia, Japan's benchmark Nikkei 225 dropped 1.8% to finish at 52,885.25 on selling of big exporters like Toyota Motor Corp., whose shares fell 4.1%.
A weak currency is generally favorable for Japanese exporters because it helps elevate the value of their overseas earnings. In recent months, the dollar has gained against the yen but has fallen sharply in the past few days after officials in both Japan and the U.S. indicated they were prepared to intervene to support the yen.
Although finance officials did not directly confirm such intervention was in the works, they acknowledged being in close coordination with the U.S. on currency fluctuations.
“Intervention chatter did the trick," said Ipek Ozkardeskaya, a senior analyst at Swissquote. "Since Friday, the yen has staged a sharp rebound on expectations that Japanese authorities — possibly with U.S. coordination — would step in.”
The Japanese yen has been weakening against the U.S. dollar — and many other major currencies — since 2021. So Japanese consumers and companies pay more now for imported food, fuel and other items needed to keep the world’s fourth largest economy running.
The dollar slipped to 154.14 Japanese yen from 155.01 yen. It had been trading around 158 yen last week.
Gold gained another 2%, briefly breaching $5,100 an ounce, while silver jumped 8.5% to $110.04 per ounce. The value of precious metals has surged in recent months as investors sought relatively safe places to invest amid rising geopolitical uncertainty.
Markets this week will be focused on corporate earnings, some of which might show the negative effects from recent U.S. tariff policies.
In the latest such development, a threat by U.S. President Donald Trump to impose a 100% tariff on goods from Canada was countered by Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney. Trump had warned he might hike tariffs if Canada signed a free trade deal with China. Carney said Canada had no plans for such a deal.
In 2024, Canada mirrored the United States by putting a 100% tariff on electric vehicles from Beijing and a 25% tariff on steel and aluminum. China had responded by imposing 100% import taxes on Canadian canola oil and meal and 25% on pork and seafood.
Breaking with the United States this month during a visit to China, Carney cut its 100% tariff on Chinese electric cars in return for lower tariffs on those Canadian products.
Earnings reports this week include the latest financial results from United Airlines, Boeing, General Motors, Meta, Microsoft and Apple.
Markets will also be paying close attention to the latest developments at the U.S. Federal Reserve, where officials meet this week to decide where to take interest rates. Most expect central bank officials to stand pat after they cut rates at the final three meetings of 2025.
Elsewhere in Asia, South Korea’s Kospi dipped 0.8% to 4,949.59.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng inched up less than 0.1% to 26,765.52, after vacillating earlier in the day, while the Shanghai Composite fell nearly 0.1% to 4,132.60.
Markets were closed in Australia, New Zealand, India and Indonesia.
France’s CAC 40 dipped nearly 0.2% at midday, while Britain’s FTSE 100 picked up 0.2%. The German DAX was unchanged.
In energy trading Monday, benchmark U.S. crude fell 14 cents to $60.93 a barrel. Brent crude, the international standard, lost 8 cents to $64.99 a barrel.
Trader Daniel Krieger is framed by his computer monitors as he works on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, Wednesday, Jan. 21, 2026. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)
A dealer walks past near the screens showing the Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI), right, and the foreign exchange rate between U.S. dollar and South Korean won at a dealing room of Hana Bank in Seoul, South Korea, Monday, Jan. 26, 2026. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)
Specialist Douglas Johnson works at his post on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, Thursday, Jan. 22, 2026. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)
A dealer walks past near the screens showing the Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI), right, and the foreign exchange rate between U.S. dollar and South Korean won at a dealing room of Hana Bank in Seoul, South Korea, Monday, Jan. 26, 2026. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)
A dealer walks past near the screens showing the Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI), left, and the Korean Securities Dealers Automated Quotations (KOSDAQ) at a dealing room of Hana Bank in Seoul, South Korea, Monday, Jan. 26, 2026. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)
A dealer walks past near the screens showing the foreign exchange rates at a dealing room of Hana Bank in Seoul, South Korea, Monday, Jan. 26, 2026. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)
