GREEN MAG

TheU.S. women swept Canada in the 2025 Rivalry Series, something neither team has done in the tournament's six-year history. The Americans dominated and outscored the Canadians 24-7 throughout the tournament's four-game slate, led by five goals fromHilary Knight,who is set to appear in her fifth and final Olympic Games.

Meanwhile, the U.S. men are looking to end a 46-year gold-medal drought. The Americans should get a boost from the return of NHL players to the Olympics for the first time since the 2014 Sochi Games.

Here's what you need to know about ice hockey at these Games.

Stripes on the back of the white jersey

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US hockey jerseys unveiled for 2026 Olympics

When did ice hockey become a Winter Olympic sport?

Men's ice hockey dates back to the 1920 Summer Olympics, before it was transferred to the Winter Olympics in Chamonix, France, in 1924. The women's event was added to the program at the 1998 Nagano Winter Olympics.

How does Olympic ice hockey work?

Just like the NHL but with wider rinks, Olympic ice hockey pits two teams against each other in each game, and whichever team scores the most goals wins. During a hockey match, each team has a goalie plus five skaters (usually two defensemen and three forwards) on the ice, with substitutions sometimes coming as often as every 30 seconds. An ice hockey game normally lasts 60 minutes, divided into three periods of 20 minutes each, and will move to an overtime and then a shootout to break a tie.

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• Men's ice hockey: Maximum of 25 players: 22 skaters and 3 goaltenders

• Women's ice hockey: Maximum of 23 players: 20 skaters and 3 goaltenders

USA Hockey veteran Hilary Knight heads to Milan‑Cortina as team leader

Top Team USA athletes

• Hilary Knight: The five-time Olympian has a gold and three silver medals Olympic medals to her name. Knight has 10 gold medals at the IIHF Women's World Championship, the most of any player, and holds records for all-time goals, points and assists. Knight, 36, said Milano Cortina will be her last Games.

• Kendall Coyne Schofield: The three-time Olympian has won a gold and two silver medals, in addition to seven gold medals at the IIHF Women's World Championship. She welcomed son Drew in July 2023.

• Matthew Tkachuk: Tkachuk led the Florida Panthers to back-to-back Stanley Cup championships in 2024 and 2025. He won silver with Team USA at the 2025 4 Nations Face-Off, alongside his brother Brady Tkachuk, an Ottawa Senators left winger.

• Auston Matthews: The Toronto Maple Leafs forward is set to make his Olympic debut after dominating the NHL, where he's won rookie of the Year, MVP, most outstanding player and scored the most goals in the league four times. Matthews won silver with Team USA at the 2025 4 Nations Face-Off.

What's the international landscape in Olympic ice hockey?

The American and Canadian women each have seven Olympic medals, but Canada has the edge with five gold medals, compared to the United State's two. The Canadian men also have the most Olympic medals with sixteen overall and nine golds. The Soviet Union won nine medals overall and seven golds before dissolving in 1991.

Olympics hockey schedule

Women's tournament

• Feb. 5-10: Preliminary rounds

• Feb. 13-14: Quarterfinals

• Feb. 16: Semifinals

• Feb. 19: Gold medal game; bronze medal game

Men's tournament

• Feb. 11-15: Preliminary rounds

• Feb. 17: Playoff qualification

• Feb. 18: Quarterfinals

• Feb. 20: Semifinals

• Feb. 21: Bronze medal game

• Feb. 22: Gold medal game

Contributing: Ellen Horrow

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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY:Ice hockey at 2026 Winter Olympics: How it works, what to know

The high-flying sport returns at the2026 Winter Olympicsin Predazzo, Italy, with six events, including the debut of individual women's large hill and the men's super team.

It's been 102 years since an American ski jumper has made the podium at the Winter Olympics. Team USA's one and only ski jumping medal came in 1924 when American Anders Haugen won bronze in men's large hill individual in the inaugural Chamonix Winter Olympics. The U.S. was shut out at the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics.

Suzanne Schulting (NED) celebrates with Xandra Velzeboer (NED) and Yara van Kerkhof (NED) and Selma Poutsma (NED) after winning the women's 3000m relay final during the Beijing 2022 Olympic Winter Games at Capital Indoor Stadium.

" style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> Jessie Diggins (USA) celebrates winning the silver medal in the women's cross-country skiing 30km freestyle during the Beijing 2022 Olympic Winter Games at Zhangjiakou Cross-Country Centre.

" style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> Hein Otterspeer (NED) in the men's speed skating 1000m during the Beijing 2022 Olympic Winter Games at National Speed Skating Oval.

" style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> Daeheon Hwang (KOR) celebrates after winning the men's 1500m final during the Beijing 2022 Olympic Winter Games at Capital Indoor Stadium.

" style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> Iivo Niskanen (FIN) celebrates winning the gold medal in the men's cross country skiing 15km during the Beijing 2022 Olympic Winter Games at Zhangjiakou Cross-Country Centre.

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Frozen Focus: The intensity of Winter Olympic faces

When did ski jumping become a Winter Olympic sport?

Ski jumping was featured in the inaugural 1924 Chamonix Winter Olympics with men's large hill ski jump. Men's normal hill ski jump was added to the program at Innsbruck in 1964, while the men's team event was introduced at Calgary in 1988. Women's normal hill ski jump was added at Sochi in 2014, and the mixed team event was first contested at Beijing in 2022. Two new events are set to make their debut in 2026: Individual women's large hill event and the men's super team event.

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How does Olympic ski jumping work?

The high-flying sport features athletes launching themselves as far as they can off a ramp. The jump features four elements: In-run, takeoff, flight and landing. Don't forget about style points. Judges score athletes not only on their length and distance traveled, but also on their form throughout the entirety of the jump. The amount of jumps per event varies, but the end goal is the same. The highest combined score wins. There's six events:

• Normal hill individual (men and women): Each athlete gets two jumps.

• Large hill individual (men and women): Each athlete gets two jumps.

• Super team (men): Each team, made up of two athletes, gets three jumps. This event replaces the traditional men's team event that was contested from 1988-2022.

• Mixed team: Each team, made up of two men and two women, gets two jumps.

Top Team USA athletes

• Kevin Bickner (men's large/normal hill): The 29-year-old briefly retired after the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics following a 39th-place finish in large hill and 43rd-place finish in normal hill, but he's returned to competition and is vying for his third Olympic appearance at Milano Cortina.

International landscape

Norway has the most gold (12) and overall medals (36) of any country, followed by Austria (27 overall medals) and Finland (22). Here's some international stars to keep an eye on:

• Nika Prevc (women's large/normal hill): The 20-year-old Slovenian may be young, but she's already one of the most decorated ski jumpers of all time. Prevc is the reigning world champion in the normal and large hill events, becoming the first woman to win two individual gold medals at the same championship. Her resume is rounded out by two consecutive Crystal Globes, 35 individual World Cup wins (including 15 in one season) and a world record at 236 meters (774 feet). Is an Olympic gold medal next?

• Daniel Tschofenig (men's large hill): The 23-year-old Austrian secured a Crystal Globe in the 2024–25 season and won the Four Hills Tournament. He's set to make his Olympic debut in Milano Cortina.

The USA TODAY app gets you to the heart of the news — fast.Download for award-winning coverage, crosswords, audio storytelling, the eNewspaper and more.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY:Ski jumping at 2026 Winter Olympics: How it works, what to know

"We are working in the same formats as yesterday: trilateral consultations, group work, and further synchronization of positions," said Rustem Umerov, Ukraine's National Security and Defense Council chief, who was present at the meeting.

The delegations from Moscow and Kyiv were joined in the capital of the United Arab Emirates by U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff and U.S. President Donald Trump's son-in-law, Jared Kushner, according to Umerov. They were also at last month's talks in the same place as the Trump administration tries tosteer the two countriestoward a settlement.

General Alexus Grynkewich, NATO's Supreme Allied Commander in Europe, was also present at the talks, according to a spokesman for the general who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive matters.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy urged allied countries to press Moscow into ending itsall-out invasion, which began almost four years ago on Feb. 24 2022, and said his country needs security guarantees to deter any postwar Russian attacks.

Ukrainians must feel that there is genuine progress toward peace and "not toward a scenario in which the Russians exploit everything to their advantage and continue their strikes," Zelenskyy said on social media late Wednesday.

Fighting has continued in parallel with the talks. Russia hashammered Ukraine's electricity network, aiming to deny civilians power and weaken their appetite for the fight, while a grinding war of attrition continues along the roughly 1,000-kilometer (600-mile)front linesnaking along eastern and southern parts of Ukraine.

Last year saw a 31% increase in Ukrainian civilian casualties compared with 2024, the advocacy group Human Rights Watch said in a report published Wednesday.

Almost 15,000 Ukrainian civilians have been killed and just over 40,000 injured since the start of the war through last December, according to the United Nations Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine.

Emma Burrows in London contributed to this report.

Follow AP's coverage of the war in Ukraine athttps://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine

HONG KONG —Taiwan's president said its relations with the United States are "rock solid" on Thursday, after Chinese PresidentXi Jinpingstressed his country's territorial claims to the island in a call with PresidentDonald Trump.

According to a Chinese readout from the wide-ranging call on Wednesday, Xi also warned Trump over U.S. arms sales to Taiwan, suggesting that the self-governing democracy could become a more prominent issue in U.S.-China relations after spending months in the background.

Like most countries, the U.S. has no formal diplomatic relations with Taiwan, which Beijing has vowed to bring under its control by force if necessary. But the U.S. is Taiwan's most important international backer and is legally bound to supply it with defensive weapons.

"Taiwan–U.S. relations are rock-solid and our various cooperation projects will continue without change," Taiwan PresidentLai Ching-tetold reporters, adding that U.S. commitments to Taiwan had not changed.

Though long a source of friction in U.S.-China relations, Taiwan has not been high on the agenda since Trump returned to office as the world's two biggest economies engaged in a trade war.

The Trump-Xi call suggests those days "are perhaps over," said Lev Nachman, a professor of political science at National Taiwan University.

Taiwan is now likely to be a central topic of discussion when Trump visits Xi in China this April, he said.

"I think Taiwan needs to be prepared," said Nachman, who is based in Taipei. "There's going to be more language and rhetoric on Taiwan coming from both the U.S. and China in 2026."

In December, the U.S. announced itslargest-ever arms sale packageto Taiwan, with a value of more than $11.1 billion. Chinaopposes such sales, and Xi told Trump on Wednesday that the U.S. must handle them with "prudence."

According to a Chinese government readout of the call, Xi emphasized that Taiwan is the most important issue in U.S.-China relations, and that China "will never allow Taiwan to be separated."

Trump said in a social media post that he had an "excellent" call with Xi that was "long and thorough." He said they discussed trade, Taiwan, theRussia-Ukraine war, the situation in Iran, and Chinese purchases of U.S. oil, gas and agricultural products, among other issues, "all very positive."

"The relationship with China, and my personal relationship with President Xi, is an extremely good one, and we both realize how important it is to keep it that way," Trump said.

It was the first public contact between Trump and Xi since their last phone call in late November. Trump did not mention Taiwan in his description of the November call.

The two leaders also held anin-person meetinglast October on the sidelines of a regional summit inSouth Korea, where they agreed to a one-year trade truce. Trumptold reportersafter that meeting that Taiwan "never came up" and "was not discussed."

Even if the focus of U.S.-China relations is shifting, that doesn't mean that Taiwan, the main producer of advanced semiconductor chips that are integral to modern life, needs to be "in panic mode," Nachman said.

"I think Trump is keenly aware of how important Taiwan is to the United States' current economic growth, and I don't think he would do anything to put that in jeopardy," he said.

It's also encouraging that Trump and Xi are having "open communication" about Taiwan, Nachman said.

"At the very least, this should hopefully minimize misunderstandings and misinterpretations that happen from from a lack of speaking to each other," he said.