2 golds in 3 days for Swiss skier Franjo von Allmen at Olympics, Eileen Gu wins silver

CORTINA D’AMPEZZO, Italy (AP) — Swiss skier Franjo von Allmen won the first gold medal of the Milan Cortina Winter Olympics over the weekend, and he added another on Day 3.

It's turning into quite the Olympic debut for von Allmen, who partnered with Tanguy Nef to win the team combined Monday in the event's Olympic debut.

Unlike Saturday when he captured downhill gold, von Allmen needed some help two days later.

The Swiss-2 team was in fourth place after von Allmen's downhill run, but Nef made up a 0.42-second deficit on a rutted slalom course on the Stelvio to post a combined time of 2 minutes, 44.04 seconds.

The Swiss-1 team of Marco Odermatt and Loic Meillard tied for silver with the Austrian-1 team of Vincent Kriechmayr and Manuel Feller. Both teams finished 0.99 seconds behind.

The Netherlands won its first gold of the Milan Cortina Games, helped by some star power.

Dutch speedskater Jutta Leerdam captured the women’s 1,000 meters in front of her fiancé, YouTuber-turned-boxer Jake Paul.

After securing gold, Leerdam stopped near the stands to blow kisses toward Paul.

It was a Dutch 1-2, with Femke Kok taking silver for the speedskating-loving nation. Defending Olympic champion Miho Takagi of Japan won bronze.

Mathilde Gremaud retained her Olympic freeski slopestyle title, denying Eileen Gu a gold medal for a second straight Winter Games.

And once again, it was by the most slender of margins.

Gremaud won the final with a score of 86.96 from the best of her three jumps, while Gu took silver behind her Swiss rival with her best effort of 86.58.

That's a margin of 0.38. Four years ago in Beijing, it was 0.33.

Gremaud, who also has a silver and bronze from previous Olympics, described it as “the best run so far of my life.”

Gu, the sport's biggest name, has two more gold-medal shots — in big air and halfpipe.

Later Monday, Japanese snowboarder Kokomo Murase won the women’s big air. Two-time defending champion Anna Gasser finished eighth, falling short in her bid to become the first snowboarder to win three consecutive Olympic gold medals.

Canada and the U.S. will head into the highly anticipated preliminary round match on the back of big wins.

And a significant injury.

Caroline Harvey and Joy Dunne each had a goal and two assists in the United States' 5-0 victory over Switzerland. The Americans improved to 3-0.

Canada, the defending champion, responded by beating Czechia 5-1 later but saw captain Marie-Philip Poulin limp off in the first period and not return. It was unclear if Poulin would be available to play against the U.S. on Tuesday.

The Americans lost to Canada in the Olympic final in 2022 but are the defending world champions and have won their last six meetings.

The final of the mixed doubles in curling is set: United States will take on Sweden for gold on Tuesday.

Korey Dropkin and Cory Thiesse guaranteed the U.S. its first Olympic medal in the mixed event with a 9-8 victory over defending champion Italy in the semifinals.

Swedish siblings Isabella and Rasmus Wranå beat the British pair of Jennifer Dodds and Bruce Mouat 9-3 in a blowout that finished after seven ends. Dodds and Mouat were favorites.

A small error could have big consequences for Madison Chock and Evan Bates in their bid for ice dance gold.

The three-time world champions from the U.S. made the minor mistake on their pattern step in the rhythm dance, and it left them behind France's Laurence Fournier Beaudry and Guillaume Cizeron going into the free dance Wednesday night.

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

Switzerland's Mathilde Gremaud celebrates her gold medal on her final run in the women's freestyle skiing slopestyle finals at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Livigno, Italy, Monday, Feb. 9, 2026. (AP Photo/Abbie Parr)

Silver medalist China's Eileen Gu celebrates after the women's freestyle skiing slopestyle finals at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Livigno, Italy, Monday, Feb. 9, 2026. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull)

Jutta Leerdam of the Netherlands celebrates winning the gold medal in the women's 1,000 meters speedskating race at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Milan, Italy, Monday, Feb. 9, 2026. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis)

Switzerland's Franjo von Allmen, right, and teammate Switzerland's Tanguy Nef show their gold medals in an alpine ski men's team combined race, at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Bormio, Italy, Monday, Feb. 9, 2026. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)

The Tampa Bay Rays added Nick Martinez on Monday, agreeing to a $13 million, one-year contract with the versatile right-hander, according to a person familiar with the deal.

The person spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because the agreement was pending a physical. The deal includes a mutual option for the 2027 season.

The 35-year-old Martinez went 11-14 with a 4.45 ERA in 26 starts and 14 relief appearances with Cincinnati last year. He finished with a career-high 165 2/3 innings.

Tampa Bay had a 77-85 record in 2025 in its second consecutive losing season. It signed left-hander Steven Matz to a $15 million, two-year contract and traded right-hander Shane Baz to Baltimore in December.

Speaking carefully because the team had not confirmed the agreement, manager Kevin Cash said he had heard Martinez is unselfish and a “first-class personality."

“If we were fortunate enough to be able to add him to our club, I look at him being able to provide meaningful starter innings for us,” Cash said. “So excited by the rumors.”

The Rays' pitchers and catchers are slated to have their first spring training workout on Thursday. The team's first full-squad workout is scheduled for Feb. 17.

Martinez was selected by Texas in the 18th round of the 2011 amateur draft out of Fordham. He made his big league debut with the Rangers in 2014.

He pitched in Japan for four seasons before signing with San Diego in March 2022.

Martinez is 48-59 with a 4.16 ERA in 151 relief appearances and 129 starts over eight years in the majors. He had his best season in 2024, when he went 10-7 with a career-low 3.10 ERA in 42 games with the Reds.

AP Baseball Writer Ronald Blum contributed to this report.

AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb

FILE - Cincinnati Reds pitcher Nick Martinez delivers during the first inning of a baseball game against the Pittsburgh Pirates Aug. 9, 2025, in Pittsburgh. (AP Photo/Matt Freed, File)

FILE - Cincinnati Reds starting pitcher Nick Martinez delivers during the first inning of a baseball game against the Los Angeles Angels, Aug. 20, 2025, in Anaheim, Calif. (AP Photo/William Liang)