US skier Jacqueline Wiles going for downhill gold before cheering for Seahawks on Super Bowl Sunday

CORTINA D'AMPEZZO, Italy (AP) — American skier Jacqueline Wiles has big plans for Super Bowl Sunday.

It starts with going for gold in the women’s downhill at the Milan Cortina Olympics. Then the Portland, Oregon, resident will cheer on her NFL team, the Seattle Seahawks, against the New England Patriots in the Super Bowl.

And what if — and yes, it’s a very big if — Wiles and the Seahawks both win?

“That,” Wiles said, “would be an insane day.”

While Wiles is hardly known outside skiing circles compared to her much more famous teammate and mentor, Lindsey Vonn, she tends to excel in Cortina.

It’s where she scored her first World Cup points in 2014 — which earned her a trip to her first Olympics a month later at the Sochi Games. It’s where she earned a World Cup podium finish in 2018 in a race won by Vonn. And where she returned to the podium in 2024 after a six-year absence that included a nearly two-year injury layoff.

At age 33, she says this will likely be her third and final Olympics and she led the opening downhill training session on Friday. Then in Saturday's training, she lost control and had to make a big recovery and nearly came to a complete stop to wipe snow off her goggles.

“It was very foggy on that gate and I just missed my timing and got kind of hit by the bumps and then rotated and spun around,” Wiles said. “I made the best of what I could for the rest of the way down and I feel like I executed what I wanted to. ... I feel like I have a really good plan for tomorrow.

“I’m not here just to go to another Olympics,” Wiles said Friday. “I really want to be a threat."

Whatever happens, though, Wiles said she just loves being in the Dolomites.

“Walking through town everyone has fur coats on, you kind of have that old Italian mobster feel, the food’s amazing, so it’s just a cool place to be,” she said. "The skiing is always amazing, the dry grippy snow is always a blast to be on.”

Where other skiers might hold back when they are thrown into full throttle going through the Tofana Schuss, the dark and narrow chute between cliffs of Dolomite rock on the upper portion of the course, that’s where Wiles — who has a pilot’s license — likes to accelerate to 80 mph (130 kph).

Wiles, U.S. head coach Paul Kristofic said, is “a pure downhiller” and “pure of heart."

“It’s about skiing the hill and not worrying so much about line and really capitalizing on her natural tendencies to ski like a downhiller and take speed everywhere on the racetrack,” Kristofic said. “Her natural flow on a race course and speed is fantastic.”

As a Seahawks fan in Portland, which is located less than three hours by car from Seattle, Wiles said she grew up “watching all their games.”

Now her ski racing schedule coincides with most of the football season.

“I wish I could go up to Seattle more to watch,” she said. “But in the fall, I’ve gone a couple times over the last five years. … I loved the Pete Carroll, Russell (Wilson) era, (DK) Metcalf, (Doug) Baldwin. … I was a big, big fan. The last couple years, I didn’t get to watch as much, but I’m always rooting for them.”

On Sunday — actually it will be Monday in Cortina by the time the Super Bowl kicks off — she might be able to root for her team with an Olympic medal hanging around her neck.

AP Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/milan-cortina-2026-winter-olympics

United States' Jacqueline Wiles concentrates during a race inspection ahead of an alpine ski, women's downhill official training, at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy, Friday, Feb. 6, 2026. (AP Photo/Giovanni Auletta)

United States' Jacqueline Wiles at the finish area during an alpine ski, women's downhill official training, at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy, Friday, Feb. 6, 2026. (AP Photo/Giovanni Auletta)

United States' Jacqueline Wiles speeds down the course during an alpine ski, women's downhill official training, at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy, Friday, Feb. 6, 2026. (AP Photo/Marco Trovati)

United States' Jacqueline Wiles at the finish area during an alpine ski, women's downhill official training, at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy, Friday, Feb. 6, 2026. (AP Photo/Giovanni Auletta)

BRUSSELS (AP) — European Union leaders on Thursday lashed out at Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, accusing him of hijacking critical aid for Ukraine and undermining EU decision-making in an effort to win an election at home.

In a rare public tirade against a member of their ranks, leaders insisted that Orbán must respect the 27-nation bloc’s decision in December to fund Ukraine’s armed forces and war-ravaged economy for the next two years. Orbán himself had previously approved what is seen as a critical lifeline for war-ravaged Ukraine.

“He’s using Ukraine as a weapon in his election campaigning, and it’s not good. We had a deal, and I think that he betrayed us,” Finland Prime Minister Petteri Orpo told reporters as the leaders gathered for a summit in Brussels.

Ukraine's economy is in tatters. EU officials believe it must get at least a sizeable part of the 90-billion-euro ($103-billion) loan by the start of May. For that to happen, work must move forward on the EU agreement within two to three weeks.

Orbán – who is seen as Russian President Vladimir Putin’s closest ally in Europe and is a strident nationalist admired by U.S. President Donald Trump – is trailing in opinion polls ahead of elections on April 12. Part of his election campaign has been to portray Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy as an existential threat to Hungary.

He has alleged that the Ukrainian leader, along with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, wants to drag Hungary into Russia’s war, now in its fifth year. He has claimed that his reelection is the only guarantee of peace and security.

Fellow EU leaders are now taking Orbán to task, pulling the rug from under his claims that EU institutions in Brussels are against him.

“I have the impression that this is part of his electoral campaign, but in any case we have to respect the decisions that were taken here,” Belgian Prime Minister Bart De Wever told reporters. "It’s unacceptable to decide with the leaders and then after say ‘but I’m not ready to execute what I decided.’”

Austrian Chancellor Christian Stocker said that “what we decide — and what he has agreed to —must be implemented.” He said that if Orban is using the election as a pretext, then “this is not a valid argument given the situation in Ukraine, the plight of the people in Ukraine, and what we ourselves have decided.”

The standoff has highlighted important weaknesses in EU decision-making procedures, which often require unanimous agreement among the 27 member countries. Hungary has a population of almost 10 million, a fraction of the bloc’s 450 million people.

Ukraine and Hungary have been locked in an escalating feud since deliveries of Russian oil to Hungary and Slovakia were halted in January due to damage to the Druzhba pipeline, which crosses Ukrainian territory.

Ukrainian officials blame the damage on Russian drone attacks, but Orbán accuses Zelenskyy of deliberately holding up oil supplies. Hungary has not only vetoed the loan package, it’s also blocking a new round of EU sanctions against Russia.

In an effort to break the deadlock, von der Leyen and European Council President António Costa offered this week to pay for repairs to the pipeline. An EU technical team is in Kyiv awaiting security clearance to inspect the site.

But Orbán vowed to continue to block the loan as long as oil shipments to Hungary are halted.

“What we are talking about is not politics, it is existential for Hungary. To get the oil is existential for the Hungarians,” said Orbán, who has been Hungary’s prime minister since 2010 and is seeking his fifth term. “It’s not a joke, it’s not a political game. Zelenskyy should understand it."

Pietro De Cristofaro in Berlin contributed to this report.

Belgium's Prime Minister Bart De Wever arrives for the EU summit at the European Council building in Brussels, Thursday, March 19, 2026. (AP Photo/Geert Vanden Wijngaert)

Austria's Chancellor Christian Stocker speaks with the media as he arrives for the EU summit at the European Council building in Brussels, Thursday, March 19, 2026. (AP Photo/Omar Havana)

Finland's Prime Minister Petteri Orpo speaks with the media as he arrives for the EU summit at the European Council building in Brussels, Thursday, March 19, 2026. (AP Photo/Omar Havana)

Hungary's Prime Minister Viktor Orban speaks with the media as he arrives for the EU summit at the European Council building in Brussels, Thursday, March 19, 2026. (AP Photo/Omar Havana)

Hungary's Prime Minister Viktor Orban arrives for the EU summit at the European Council building in Brussels, Thursday, March 19, 2026. (AP Photo/Geert Vanden Wijngaert)