MICHEL MARTIN, HOST:
It was a dramatic weekend for Team USA at the Winter Olympics in Italy. U.S. alpine skier Breezy Johnson won America's first medal of the Games on Sunday, but American superstar skier Lindsey Vonn also suffered a bad crash. Joining us now from Milan is NPR's Rachel Treisman. Rachel, hello.
RACHEL TREISMAN, BYLINE: Hey, Michel.
MARTIN: I got to say, watching that video of Lindsey Vonn was really scary. What happened?
TREISMAN: Oh, it was just devastating, especially when you consider all that she had to overcome to even get to that start. And then just seconds into her run, she clipped a gate and crashed. Vonn didn't get up and was eventually airlifted to a hospital. NPR has confirmed that she has since had surgery to stabilize a fracture in her left leg. And U.S. Ski & Snowboard say she's in stable condition and being treated by a team of Italian and American doctors.
MARTIN: OK. Well, that sounds like good news. And in better news, you were at the figure skating competition in Milan last night, where the U.S. took home another gold medal in the figure skating team event. Tell us about that.
TREISMAN: So the top-10 ranked skating countries compete in the team event, but really the whole three days, it was a battle for gold between the U.S. and Japan, who finished first and second in 2022 as well. And at the very last moment, they were tied heading into the men's free skate, the last event of the competition. So it all came down to the final two skaters of the night, Japan's Shun Sato, and Team USA's Ilia Malinin. And you could just feel the suspense in the rink. Here's Team USA captain Danny O'Shea afterward.
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DANNY O'SHEA: I was more nervous watching Ilia than I was skating myself (laughter).
TREISMAN: But Malinin did it. He delivered a powerhouse performance with five quad jumps and a one-footed backflip to put the U.S. back on top. And as O'Shea said...
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O'SHEA: Something we couldn't have done without an entire team effort. Everybody counted. Every point counted. So it was a wonderful experience.
TREISMAN: And in the end, Team USA beat Japan by 1 point, and Italy took home bronze.
MARTIN: Wow. It was a thriller. So one figure skating medal down, many more to go. What will we see next?
TREISMAN: So now it's on to the individual competition, starting with ice dance today. The U.S. duo to watch there is Madison Chock and Evan Bates. They're the reigning world champions. And this is their fourth Olympics together. So they've now won two team Olympic golds but have yet to make the podium in their own event. That medal event happens on Wednesday, and before then, we'll get to see the first part of the men's competition tomorrow.
MARTIN: OK. Rachel, what else is on tap for today?
TREISMAN: There's a lot. There are a couple medal events in skiing, both women's and men's, as well as the 1,000-meter women's long-track speed skating race. And there are a couple of Team USA folks to watch out for there. Brittany Bowe holds two bronze medals and the world record in this event. She's looking to close out her Olympic career with a gold, and her friend and teammate, three-time Olympian Erin Jackson, will also be racing this event for the first time. Her specialty is shorter distances, and we won't see her race those until next week.
MARTIN: OK. I'm trying not to be jealous, Rachel. But you are in Milan and I'm here. That's NPR's Rachel Treisman in Milan. Rachel, thanks.
TREISMAN: Thank you.
MARTIN: And I want to mention that Rachel is writing a daily newsletter about what it is like to go experience the Games in person. It's called Rachel Goes To The Games. You can subscribe to it at npr.org/wintergames, and check out Up First Winter Games, a new video podcast from the team - that's us - that brings you Up First. Find it every afternoon at youtube.com/npr.
(SOUNDBITE OF THE OLYMPIANS' "EUROPA AND THE BULL") Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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