LIVIGNO, Italy (AP) — Four years ago, after a convoluted medal dispute with race officials, freeskiers Daniela Maier and Fanny Smith both ended up the proud recipients of Olympic bronze medals.
Fast forward to Friday, and they were celebrating together from the top two spots on the podium after Maier won the women's skicross final right ahead Smith at the Milan Cortina Winter Games.
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From left, silver medalist Switzerland's Fanny Smith (3), gold medalist Germany's Daniela Maier (1), and bronze medalist Sweden's Sandra Naeslund (2) celebrate after the women's ski cross finals at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Livigno, Italy, Friday, Feb. 20, 2026. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell)
Switzerland's Fanny Smith (3), left, and Germany's Daniela Maier (1) embrace after the women's ski cross finals at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Livigno, Italy, Friday, Feb. 20, 2026. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell)
From left, Germany's Daniela Maier (1), Sweden's Sandra Naeslund (2) and Switzerland's Fanny Smith (3) compete during the women's ski cross finals at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Livigno, Italy, Friday, Feb. 20, 2026. (AP Photo/Gabriele Facciotti)
From left, Sweden's Sandra Naeslund (2), Germany's Daniela Maier (1) and Switzerland's Fanny Smith (3) compete during the women's ski cross finals at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Livigno, Italy, Friday, Feb. 20, 2026. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell)
Gold medalist Germany's Daniela Maier (1) celebrates after competing in the women's ski cross finals at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Livigno, Italy, Friday, Feb. 20, 2026. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell)
Silver medalist Switzerland's Fanny Smith (3), left, and gold medalist Germany's Daniela Maier (1) embrace after the women's ski cross finals at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Livigno, Italy, Friday, Feb. 20, 2026. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell)
Friends and rivals, the two were at the center of a judging controversy during the 2022 skicross final in Beijing when Smith crossed the finish line third, ahead of Maier in fourth.
But the race jury flipped that result after deciding that Smith had interfered with Maier, despite protests both from Smith and Maier herself. Smith had to appeal the jury’s decision to the Court of Arbitration for Sport, which eventually overruled the officials’ decision and deemed that bronze medals should be awarded to both skiers. Smith got her bronze a year later back in Switzerland.
Reflecting on the ordeal after Friday's medal ceremony, Maier said that she had supported Smith in that dispute, which ultimately drew them closer together.
“It’s so nice because yeah this story made us a good team,” Maier said. “And we (came) together and (became) good friends, we like to train with each other. So yeah, that we are both at the podium again is just a good story.”
The 2022 bronze medal dispute had led Smith to feel she had completely lost her “trust” in the freeski officials, she said before these Games.
Yet with the silver medal now around her neck, Smith said that she had moved on.
“It’s like a story which is behind me,” Smith said. “So today it’s just something that we could have really show an amazing and nice final. I think that’s what we need to keep.”
Maier, competing in her second Olympics, took an early lead in the four-woman race and protected her racing line to the bottom of the course in Livigno. She added her gold to a bronze from 2022.
“It’s crazy. I’m really speechless and overwhelmed and I think I need a few days to realize that I have a gold medal,” Maier said after the 29-year-old German reached the pinnacle of her career.
Smith, 33, added her silver to two bronzes from the past two Games.
Smith’s three medals in women’s skicross is an Olympic record. Marielle Thompson of Canada has two career medals — gold in 2014 and silver in 2022 — but was knocked out of Friday’s quarterfinals.
“It’s been like a crazy journey,” Smith said. “I know today was my fifth Olympic Games, my third Olympic medal. Yeah, (I'm the) only one in skicross (with three medals). I’m so proud about that, to just be so consistent.”
Defending champion Sandra Naeslund of Sweden collected the bronze after she had a slow start behind Maier and then let Smith pass her midway down the course of banks, rollers and jumps.
The final featured the top four women in the World Cup skicross points standings this season. Marielle Berger Sabbatel of France finished fourth.
AP Winter Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/milan-cortina-2026-winter-olympics
From left, silver medalist Switzerland's Fanny Smith (3), gold medalist Germany's Daniela Maier (1), and bronze medalist Sweden's Sandra Naeslund (2) celebrate after the women's ski cross finals at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Livigno, Italy, Friday, Feb. 20, 2026. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell)
Switzerland's Fanny Smith (3), left, and Germany's Daniela Maier (1) embrace after the women's ski cross finals at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Livigno, Italy, Friday, Feb. 20, 2026. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell)
From left, Germany's Daniela Maier (1), Sweden's Sandra Naeslund (2) and Switzerland's Fanny Smith (3) compete during the women's ski cross finals at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Livigno, Italy, Friday, Feb. 20, 2026. (AP Photo/Gabriele Facciotti)
From left, Sweden's Sandra Naeslund (2), Germany's Daniela Maier (1) and Switzerland's Fanny Smith (3) compete during the women's ski cross finals at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Livigno, Italy, Friday, Feb. 20, 2026. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell)
Gold medalist Germany's Daniela Maier (1) celebrates after competing in the women's ski cross finals at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Livigno, Italy, Friday, Feb. 20, 2026. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell)
Silver medalist Switzerland's Fanny Smith (3), left, and gold medalist Germany's Daniela Maier (1) embrace after the women's ski cross finals at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Livigno, Italy, Friday, Feb. 20, 2026. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell)
LONDON (AP) — Police searched the former home of Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor again on Friday, a day after he was arrested and held in custody for nearly 11 hours on suspicion of misconduct in public office related to his friendship with the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
Following one of the most tumultuous days in the modern history of Britain's royal family, the former Prince Andrew is back at his new residence on the Sandringham estate, King Charles III 's private retreat, which is around 115 miles (185 kilometers) north of London.
Police have concluded their search at Wood Farm, where Mountbatten-Windsor is living while waiting for his new home nearby, Marsh Farm, to be ready.
They are still searching Royal Lodge, his 30-room former home in the parkland near Windsor Castle, just west of the capital, where the king's younger brother had lived for decades until his eviction earlier this month. Unmarked vans, believed to be police vehicles, have been entering the grounds throughout Friday morning.
Mountbatten-Windsor, who was pictured slouched in the back of his chauffeur-driven car following his release Thursday evening from a police station near Sandringham, remains under investigation, which means he has neither been charged nor exonerated by Thames Valley Police, the force responsible for areas west of London.
His arrest follows years of allegations over his links with Epstein, who took his own life in a New York jail in 2019. The accusation at the heart of his arrest is that Mountbatten-Windsor — who was known as Prince Andrew until October when his brother stripped him of his titles and honors and banished him from Royal Lodge — shared confidential trade information with the disgraced financier when he was a trade envoy for the U.K.
Specifically, emails released last month by the U.S. Department of Justice appeared to show Mountbatten-Windsor sharing reports of official visits to Hong Kong, Vietnam and Singapore.
One, dated November 2010, appeared to be forwarded by Andrew five minutes after he had received it. Another a few weeks later appeared to show him sending Epstein a confidential brief on investment opportunities in the reconstruction of Helmand Province, Afghanistan.
Thames Valley Police has previously said it was also reviewing allegations that a woman was trafficked to the U.K. by Epstein to have a sexual encounter with Andrew. Thursday's arrest had nothing to do with that.
Other police forces are also conducting their own investigations into Epstein's links to the U.K., including the assessment of flight logs at airports, large and small.
Mountbatten-Windsor has consistently denied any wrongdoing in his association with Epstein but has not commented on the most recent allegations that have emerged with the release of the so-called Epstein files.
Police swept into the grounds of Mountbatten-Windsor's home to arrest him at 8 a.m. Thursday — his 66th birthday — before taking him to Aylsham police station for questioning.
It's not known what he told them. He may have said nothing, or “no comment,” as is his right.
Experts said that misconduct in a public office is notoriously difficult to prove.
“Firstly, it must be determined if Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor was in a role within government that constitutes the title of public officer,” said Sean Caulfield, a criminal defense lawyer at Hodge Jones & Allen. “There is no standard definition to clearly draw on.”
The Crown Prosecution Service will ultimately make a decision about charging Mountbatten-Windsor, who remains eighth in line to the throne.
Andrew Gilmore, a partner at Grosvenor Law, said that prosecutors will apply the two-stage test known as the “Code for Crown Prosecutors.”
“That test is to determine whether there is a more realistic prospect of a conviction than not based on the evidence and whether the matter is in the public interest,” he said. “If these two tests are met, then the matter will be charged and proceed to court.”
Mountbatten-Windsor was the first royal since King Charles I nearly four centuries ago to be placed under arrest. That turned into a seismic moment in British history, leading to civil war, Charles’ beheading and the temporary abolition of the monarchy.
His arrest is undoubtedly one of the gravest crises to affect the House of Windsor since its establishment more than 100 years ago. Arguably, only the abdication of King Edward VIII in 1936, and the death of Diana, Princess of Wales, in 1997, have been as grave for the institution of the British monarchy in modern times.
Though the king and the royal family will carry out their normal duties as normal, the questions surrounding Mountbatten-Windsor will continue, not least because the investigations are likely to take time.
In a statement Thursday, the king said the “law must take its course,’’ but that as ”this process continues, it would not be right for me to comment further on this matter.’’
The allegations being investigated Thursday are separate from those made by Virginia Giuffre, who claimed she was trafficked to Britain to have sex with the prince in 2001, when she was just 17. Giuffre died by suicide last year.
Still, Giuffre’s sister-in-law Amanda Roberts said that she was overjoyed when she got a phone call at 3 a.m. telling her the news of the arrest. But those feelings of elation were quickly complicated by the realization that she couldn't share the feelings of "vindication" with Giuffre.
“We can’t tell her how much we love her, and that everything that she was doing is not in vain,” Roberts added tearfully.
A journalist looks at today's newspaper front pages in London, Friday, Feb. 20, 2026 after Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor was arrested and held for hours by British police on suspicion of misconduct in public office related to his links to Jeffrey Epstein.(AP Photo/Kin Cheung)
Reporters stand in front of Buckingham Palace in London, Thursday, Feb. 19, 2026 after Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor was arrested by British police on suspicion of misconduct in public office. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung)
FILE - Britain's Prince Andrew, center, and his daughters Princess Eugenie, left, and Princess Beatrice leave Westminster Abbey after the wedding of Prince William to Catherine Middleton, in London, April 29, 2011. (AP Photo/Gero Breloer, File)
FILE - Britain's Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, formerly known as Prince Andrew, looks round as he leaves after attending the Easter Matins Service at St. George's Chapel, Windsor Castle, England, April 20, 2025. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth, File)
A journalist reports at the entrance gate of the Sandringham Royal Estate in Sandringham, England, Friday, Feb. 20, 2026 after Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor was arrested and held for hours by British police on suspicion of misconduct in public office related to his links to Jeffrey Epstein.(AP Photo/Alastair Grant)
Journsalists wait at the entrance gate of the Sandringham Royal Estate in Sandringham, England, Friday, Feb. 20, 2026 after Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor was arrested and held for hours by British police on suspicion of misconduct in public office related to his links to Jeffrey Epstein.(AP Photo/Alastair Grant)
