US wins its record 11th gold medal at the Winter Olympics

LIVIGNO, Italy (AP) — The U.S. Olympic team won its record-breaking 11th gold medal of the Winter Games on Saturday, with at least one more good possibility when its men's hockey team wraps up the action on closing day with the title game against Canada.

The trio of Kaila Kuhn, Connor Curran and Chris Lillis gave the U.S. the record by capturing the American team's second straight title in mixed aerials.

The 11th gold breaks the country's mark set at the last Olympics on U.S. soil — in Salt Lake City in 2002, which has long stood out as a turning point for a winter sports program that had struggled over previous decades.

This could end up being another turning point, not so much for the sheer number of medals but the variety of places from which they came: Twelve of the 17 sports disciplines represented in the Winter Games produced medals for the U.S.

“Our focus and our strategy has always been about breadth,” said Sarah Hirshland, the CEO of the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee. “We want to win in everything. We want to make every sport better. Some could argue there are countries that go a mile deep in certain sports and really dominate. Our goal has been to improve Winter sport across the board.”

The aerials medal, then a bronze in speedskating from Mia Manganello later in the day, lifted the U.S. to 31 overall for the Olympics with one day left.

That's second to Norway, which had a record 18 gold medals and 40 overall through Saturday evening. Seventy-two percent of the golds came in the endurance sports of cross country, biathlon and Nordic combined. The biggest gold-medal hauls for the U.S. came in four disciplines — two each (18%) in Alpine skiing, freestyle skiing, figure skating and speedskating.

There are 38 more medal events on the program this year than there were in 2002. A lot of the new events have come at the snowpark — halfpipe, slopestyle and big air — which used to be America's domain but has now been taken over by Japan, which, for instance, won nine medals in snowboarding, compared to two for the U.S.

“We stated we wanted to be a podium nation,” Fin Kirwan, the USOPC's chief of Olympic sport, said of the U.S. goal of being top-three on the medals table. “We said it will likely take 30 medals and we got after it. The athletes delivered on their potential and, by turn, we hit the record on gold-medal performance, which shows that our very best were able to execute.”

Here are some looks and links to the rest of the 11 U.S. gold medal winners:

Halfpipe skier rounds out his Olympic collection — gold, silver, bronze. Back home, he’ll keep going with streamer “Hotdog Hans” where he dressed up like an 80-something ski sensation.

Her long journey included a knee injury four years ago on the same mountain where she won the gold.

Nicknamed “Lizard,” she joins a long line of great U.S. moguls skiers, including 2010 champion Hannah Kearney and her teammate, Jaelin Kauf, who now has three silver medals.

The 20-year-old stepped away after the 2022 Beijing Games, rediscovered her love for figure skating and happily claimed the title.

At her sixth Olympics, she finally broke through, becoming the oldest Winter Olympian to win gold at age 41.

The most winning skier of all time cashes in at the Olympics with slalom gold after a tear-stained shutout four years ago.

Joined Eric Heiden at Lake Placid in 1980 as only the second man to capture the 500 and 1,000.

Liu, Amber Glenn and Ilia Malinin are among the members of a team that brings home second straight gold; the last one took two years to capture after a Russian doping saga.

A tense thriller, highlighted by Hilary Knight's equalizer with 2:04 left, then Megan Keller's winner in overtime.

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

United States' Elana Meyers Taylor, front, smiles at the finish during a two women bobsled run at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy, Friday, Feb. 20, 2026. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)

Amber Glenn of the United States competes during the women's figure skating free program at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Milan, Italy, Thursday, Feb. 19, 2026. (AP Photo/Francisco Seco)

United States' Kendall Coyne, left, and United States' Hilary Knight celebrate after victory ceremony for women's ice hockey at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Milan, Italy, Thursday, Feb. 19, 2026. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)

Bronze medalist United States' Elizabeth Lemley wears her gold medal alongside her bronze medal after the women's freestyle skiing dual moguls finals at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Livigno, Italy, Saturday, Feb. 14, 2026. Lemley won the gold medal in women's moguls earlier this week. (AP Photo/Lindsey Wasson)

United States' Breezy Johnson at the finish area, during an alpine ski, women's super-G race, at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy, Thursday, Feb. 12, 2026. (AP Photo/Andy Wong)

United States' Alex Ferreira reacts during the men's freestyle skiing halfpipe finals at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Livigno, Italy, Friday, Feb. 20, 2026. (AP Photo/Abbie Parr)

Jordan Stolz of the U.S. competes to win a silver medal in the men's 1500 meters speedskating race at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Milan, Italy, Thursday, Feb. 19, 2026. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis)

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)

Gold medalist Alysa Liu of the United States displays her medal after competing in the women's free skate program in figure skating at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Milan, Italy, Thursday, Feb. 19, 2026. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough)

From left, gold medalists United States' Christopher Lillis, Connor Curran and Kaila Kuhn celebrates after the freestyle skiing mixed team aerials final at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Livigno, Italy, Saturday, Feb. 21, 2026. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull)

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — A tenuous ceasefire appeared to be holding Saturday after the United States struck two Iranian oil tankers, while the country that hosts the U.S. Navy’s regional headquarters said it arrested dozens of people it alleged were linked to Iran’s Revolutionary Guard.

Attacks Friday cast doubt on the month-old ceasefire that the United States has insisted is still in effect. Washington is awaiting an Iranian response to its latest proposal for a deal to end the war, reopen the Strait of Hormuz and roll back Tehran’s disputed nuclear program.

The U.S. military said Friday that its forces had disabled two Iranian tankers that were trying to breach an American blockade of Iran’s ports. Hours earlier, the military said it thwarted attacks on three Navy ships and struck Iranian military facilities in the strait.

Meanwhile, in the small Gulf island of Bahrain, the nation's Ministry of Interior said Saturday it had arrested 41 people it alleges are part of a group affiliated with Iran’s Revolutionary Guard. It said investigations are ongoing to take further action against anyone affiliated with the group but did not provide further details.

Bahrain is led by a Sunni Muslim monarchy but, like Iran, its population is majority Shiite. Rights groups have said that the kingdom has used the war between Iran and the U.S., which bases its Fifth Fleet in the country, as an excuse to crack down on dissent at home.

Iran has mostly blocked the critical waterway for global energy since the U.S. and Israel launched the war on Feb. 28, causing a global spike in fuel prices and rattling world markets. The U.S. has imposed its own blockade of Iran’s ports.

The U.S. military posted video of the two Iranian tankers as their smokestacks were struck by an American fighter jet on Friday. Earlier in the week, an American military jet shot out the rudder of a tanker the U.S. military said was attempting to breach its blockade.

A U.S. strike overnight killed at least one sailor and injured 10 others aboard a cargo vessel that caught fire, a news agency affiliated with Iran's judiciary reported. It was not clear if the ship was one of the two tankers the U.S. acknowledged striking.

Despite the attacks, U.S. President Donald Trump has insisted the ceasefire is holding. He also has reiterated threats to resume full-scale bombing if Iran doesn’t accept an agreement to reopen the strait and roll back its nuclear program.

On Friday, Iranian foreign ministry spokesperson Esmail Baghaei said the country was not paying attention to “deadlines” and Tehran continues reviewing a U.S. proposal related to ongoing negotiations, according to state-run IRNA.

A top Iranian official also said Friday that the country's Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei was in “complete health" and that he would eventually appear in public.

The comments were made by Mazaher Hosseini, who is affiliated with the office of Iran’s former Supreme Leader, at a pro-government gathering. Hosseini said Mojtaba had suffered knee and back injuries but that they’ve largely healed and he’s now in good condition.

Khamenei hasn't been seen in public since the war began and the continued absence of verified images, audio, or video of him has fueled speculation about his status. Remarks such as Hosseini's are seen by some as attempts to counter doubts that he may no longer be alive.

Britain’s defense ministry said it was deploying a warship to the Middle East to join a potential mission to protect commercial ships in the Strait of Hormuz.

The ministry said the destroyer HMS Dragon will “pre-position” in the region, ready to join a U.K.- and French-led security plan once hostilities end. France also announced this week it was moving its aircraft carrier strike group into the Red Sea in preparation for a potential mission in the strait.

Britain and France have led planning meetings involving several dozen countries on a coalition to reestablish freedom of navigation in the strait. But they stress it won’t start until there is a sustainable ceasefire and the maritime industry is reassured ships can go through the strait safely.

Satellite images reviewed by The Associated Press show what appears to be an oil slick in the Persian Gulf emanating from the western side of Kharg Island, Iran’s main crude export terminal.

Images taken Friday show the slick covering about 71 square kilometers (27 square miles) and appear to show oil still leaking from the terminal, said Ami Daniel, CEO of maritime intelligence firm Windward AI.

Daniel estimated that the equivalent of roughly 80,000 oil barrels has spilled from Kharg Island since the slick was first detected by satellite images Tuesday. It’s unknown whether the spill was caused by a malfunction, an airstrike or something else.

He said the spill appears to be spreading southwest and within the next two weeks could potentially reach the shores of the UAE, Qatar or Saudi Arabia.

The Pentagon declined to comment on whether the U.S. military was tracking the spill or whether there had been recent strikes on the Iranian island. Based on the imagery taken earlier this week, the spill occurred before the most recent round of U.S. strikes.

As tensions escalate there's been a flurry of diplomacy across the globe.

Russia’s foreign ministry said Saturday that it, as well as Saudi Arabia, is calling for continued diplomatic efforts to reach a “sustainable, long-term agreement” to end the war, according to Russia's foreign ministry.

Egyptian and Qatari top diplomats have also have reiterated that diplomacy is the sole path to finding a solution, according to a readout of a Saturday phone call between Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty and his Qatari counterpart Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani.

Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said his country has been in contact with the U.S. and Iran “day and night” in an effort to extend the ceasefire and reach a peace deal.

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Magdy reported from Cairo, Egypt. Associated Press reporter Jill Lawless contributed from London.

Cargo ships, including bulk carriers and general cargo vessels, sit at anchor offshore as a small motorboat passes in the foreground, in the Strait of Hormuz off Bandar Abbas, Iran, Monday, May 4 , 2026.(Amirhosein Khorgooi/ISNA via AP)

Two men sit in a small boat on the water as cargo ships are anchored in the background in the Strait of Hormuz off Bandar Abbas, Iran, Monday, May 4, 2026. (Amirhosein Khorgooi/ISNA via AP)