Winter Olympics recap: Shiffrin takes slalom gold, Canada and US advance with OT wins in hockey

CORTINA D’AMPEZZO, Italy (AP) — Redemption, at last, for Mikaela Shiffrin at the Winter Olympics.

The American superstar put in two dominant runs to win the women’s slalom on Wednesday by a massive 1.50 seconds, ending a run of eight straight Olympic races without a medal for perhaps the greatest Alpine skier of all time.

It was the largest margin of victory in any Alpine skiing event at the Olympics since 1998 and the third biggest in women’s slalom, the event she won as a fresh-faced 18-year-old in Sochi in 2014.

After adding gold and silver to her collection in Pyeongchang in 2018, Shiffrin went 0 for 6 in Beijing in 2022 and failed to medal in either the team combined or giant slalom in Cortina before nailing the slalom.

Shiffrin became the first American skier to win three Alpine gold medals.

Canada avoided what would have been a stunning quarterfinal exit in men's hockey by rallying to beat Czechia 4-3 in overtime. Nick Suzuki tied it on a deflection with 3:27 left and Mitch Marner scored in OT.

The United States also needed overtime before eventually topping Sweden 2-1. Quinn Hughes scored in OT to give the U.S. the win after giving up the tying goal to Mika Zibanejad with 91 seconds left in the third period.

Dylan Larkin deflected in Jack Hughes’ shot for the only U.S. goal in regulation.

Canada stayed in the tournament but has a major concern after losing Sidney Crosby to injury five minutes into the second period. Crosby’s right leg appeared to buckle bracing for contact from rugged Czechia defenseman Radko Gudas.

In the other quarterfinal matches, Finland also won in overtime, 3-2 against Switzerland, while Slovakia beat Germany 6-2.

Johannes Hoesflot Klaebo’s golden run continued as the Norwegian cross-country star secured his fifth gold at these Games — and a record 10th overall — by winning the men’s team sprint.

Klaebo beat back a challenge from the United States to improve on his own record tally, racing with Einar Hedegart to win in 18 minutes, 28.9 seconds.

Americans Ben Ogden and Gus Schumacher were 1.4 seconds behind for the silver, while Italy’s Elia Barp and Federico Pellegrino pleased the home crowd by taking bronze.

Sweden won gold in the women's team sprint.

Steven Dubois prevented Dutch short track speedskating star Jens van ’t Wout from making it three victories out of three at the Olympics by winning the men’s 500 meters.

Melle van ’t Wout even beat his younger brother to silver.

It was Dubois’ first individual Olympic gold after helping Canada to the relay title in Beijing four years ago. He picked up bronze in the 500 then as well as silver in the 1,500.

South Korea recovered to edge out Italy and win the women’s 3,000-meter relay, earning its first short track speedskating gold at these Games.

Su Yiming of China won the gold medal in men’s slopestyle snowboarding.

Su earned his fourth career medal and his second of these Games on his 22nd birthday.

Taiga Hasegawa of Japan took silver and American rider Jake Canter took the bronze.

Su’s first of three runs that earned him 82.41 points proved enough after no rival was able to better that score.

It was China’s first gold of the Milan Cortina Games.

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

United States' Quinn Hughes celebrates after scoring the winning goal against Sweden during the overtime period of a men's ice hockey quarterfinal game at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Milan, Italy, Wednesday, Feb. 18, 2026. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)

Canada's Mitch Marner (93) and Macklin Celebrini (17) celebrate after Marner scored the winning goal during the overtime period of a men's ice hockey quarterfinal game between Canada and Czechia at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Milan, Italy, Wednesday, Feb. 18, 2026. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

Canada's Mitch Marner (93) and Macklin Celebrini (17) celebrate after Marner scored the winning goal during the overtime period of a men's ice hockey quarterfinal game between Canada and Czechia at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Milan, Italy, Wednesday, Feb. 18, 2026. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

Gold medalist China's Su Yiming reacts after winning the men's snowboarding slopestyle finals at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Livigno, Italy, Wednesday, Feb. 18, 2026. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell)

Johannes Hoesflot Klaebo and Einar Hedegart, of Norway, pose after winning the gold medal in cross-country skiing men's team sprint free at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Tesero, Italy, Wednesday, Feb. 18, 2026. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)

United States' Mikaela Shiffrin celebrates winning the gold medal in an alpine ski, women's slalom race, at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy, Wednesday, Feb. 18, 2026. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — Members of the United Nations Security Council called Wednesday for the Gaza ceasefire deal to become permanent and blasted Israeli efforts to expand control in the West Bank as a threat to prospects of a two-state solution, coming on the eve of President Donald Trump’s first Board of Peace gathering to discuss the future of the Palestinian territories.

The high-level U.N. session in New York was originally scheduled for Thursday but was moved up after Trump announced the board's meeting for the same day and it became clear that it would complicate travel plans for diplomats planning to attend both. It is a sign of the potential for overlapping and conflicting agendas between the United Nations’ most powerful body and Trump’s new initiative, whose broader ambitions to broker global conflicts have raised concerns in some countries that it may attempt to rival the U.N. Security Council.

British Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper said there is an opportunity for the U.N.'s most powerful body to help build “a better future” for Israelis and Palestinians despite the “cycle of violence and suffering” over the more than two-year war between Israel and Hamas.

“Gaza must not get stuck in a no man’s land between peace and war,” Cooper said as she opened the meeting.

In addition to the U.K., the foreign ministers of Israel, Jordan, Egypt and Indonesia attended the monthly Mideast meeting of the 15-member council after many Arab and Islamic countries requested last week that it discuss Gaza and Israel's contentious West Bank settlement project before some of them head to Washington.

“Annexation is a breach of the U.N. Charter and of the most fundamental rules of international law,” Palestinian U.N. Ambassador Riyad Mansour said. “It is a breach of President Trump’s plan, and constitutes an existential threat to ongoing peace efforts.”

Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar said ahead of the session that it was not drawing attention and that the focus of the international world would be on the Board of Peace meeting.

Saar also accused the Security Council of being “infected with an anti-Israeli obsession” and insisted that no nation has a stronger right than its “historical and documented right to the land of the Bible.”

The board to be chaired by Trump was originally envisioned as a small group of world leaders overseeing his 20-point plan for Gaza’s future. But the Republican president's new vision for the board to be a mediator of worldwide conflicts has led to skepticism from major allies.

While more than 20 countries have so far accepted an invitation to join the board, close U.S. partners, including France, Germany and others, have opted not to join yet and renewed support for the U.N., which also is in the throes of major reforms and funding cuts.

Mike Waltz, the U.S. ambassador to the U.N., appeared to criticize countries that had not yet signed on to the Board of Peace, saying that unlike the Security Council, the board is “not talking, it is doing.”

“We are hearing the chattering class criticizing the structure of the board, that it's unconventional, that it's unprecedented,” Waltz said Wednesday. “Again, the old ways were not working.”

The Security Council is meeting a day after nearly all of its 15 members — minus the United States — and dozens of other diplomats joined Palestinian ambassador Mansour as he read a statement on behalf of 80 countries and several organizations condemning Israel's latest actions in the West Bank, demanding an immediate reversal and underlining “strong opposition to any form of annexation.”

In the last several weeks, Israel has launched a contentious land regulation process that will deepen its control in the occupied West Bank. Israeli Energy Minister Eli Cohen said it amounts to “de facto sovereignty” that will block the establishment of a Palestinian state.

Outraged Palestinians, Arab countries and human rights groups have called the moves an illegal annexation of the territory, home to roughly 3.4 million Palestinians who seek it for a future state.

The U.N. meeting also delved into the U.S.-brokered ceasefire deal that took effect Oct. 10. U.N. political chief Rosemary DiCarlo and Israeli and Palestinian civil society representatives gave briefings for the first time since the Hamas-led Oct. 7, 2023, attacks that launched the war.

“President Trump spoke of a golden era for the Middle East. That future is possible and can only be unlocked by resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, removing a central driver of instability and a fuel for radicalization,” warned Hiba Qasas, a Palestinian who is founding executive director of Geneva-based Principles for Peace Foundation.

Former Israeli diplomat Nadav Tamir, executive director of J Street Israel, echoed that, saying a strong coalition of Israelis and Palestinians believe the only way to end the conflict is through a two-state solution.

“Israel cannot remain the democratic homeland of the Jewish people if Palestinians are denied a homeland of their own. Our futures are interdependent,” Tamir said.

DiCarlo of the U.N. said this is “a pivotal moment in the Middle East” that opens the possibility for the region to move in a new direction. “But that opening is neither assured nor indefinite,” she said, and whether it will be sustained depends on decisions in the coming weeks.

“Our collective efforts must now consolidate the ceasefire in Gaza and alleviate the suffering of the population,” she said. “We need concrete progress toward stabilization and recovery, consistent with international law, to lay the foundations for lasting peace. The Board of Peace meeting in Washington, D.C., tomorrow is an important step.”

Aspects of the ceasefire deal have moved forward, including Hamas releasing all the hostages it was holding and increased amounts of humanitarian aid getting into Gaza, though the U.N. says the level is insufficient. A new technocratic committee has been appointed to administer Gaza’s daily affairs.

But the most challenging steps lie ahead, including the deployment of an international security force, disarming Hamas and rebuilding Gaza.

Trump said this week that the Board of Peace members have pledged $5 billion toward Gaza reconstruction and will commit thousands of personnel to international stabilization and police forces for the territory. He didn't provide details. Indonesia’s military says up to 8,000 of its troops are expected to be ready by the end of June for a potential deployment to Gaza as part of a humanitarian and peace mission.

Displaced Palestinian struggle to receive donated food for iftar, the fast-breaking meal, on the first day of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan at a community kitchen in Khan Younis, Gaza Strip, Wednesday, Feb. 18, 2026. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)

President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump walk on the South Lawn to the White House after arriving on Marine One Monday evening, Feb. 16, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Allison Robbert)

FILE - The symbol of the United Nations is displayed outside the Secretariat Building, Feb. 28, 2022, at United Nations Headquarters. (AP Photo/John Minchillo, File)