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The first gold medal of the 2026Milan Cortina Winter Gameswas awarded on Saturday at the men's downhill race.

On a picture-perfect day in Bormio, Swiss racer Franjo von Allmen powered through the challenging course in 1 minute, 51.61 seconds.

His time was good enough to withstand the challenge of Italy's Giovanni Franzoni, who finished 0.2 of a second behind von Allmen to take the silver medal. Franzoni's teammate, Dominik Paris, had a fast run to take bronze and knock Marco Odermatt of Team Switzerland off the podium.

The highest-ranked American in the men's downhill was Kyle Negomir, who finished 10th.

Sweden goes 1-2 in women's skiathlon

Team Sweden has a strong showing at the women's 10km+10km skiathlon, taking gold and silver on Saturday at Tesero Cross-Country Skiing Stadium in Val di Fiemme, Italy.

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Frida Karlsson powered to the top of the podium, covering the 20-kilometer course (just a little more than 12 miles) in 53 minutes, 45.2 seconds.

Her teammate, two-time reigning world champ Ebba Andersson, crossed the finish line 51 seconds later. Heidi Weng, of Norway, took bronze.

Either a Swedish or Norwegian woman has won the skiathlon gold medal in the last five Winter Olympics.

Jessie Diggins of Team USA finished eighth, more than three minutes behind Karlsson.

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Fernando Mendozawill not throw at the upcomingNFL combine.

The formerIndiana footballquarterback shared the news while appearing in person on ESPN's "The Pat McAfee Show" on Friday, Feb. 6 from Media Row at Super Bowl 60 in Santa Clara, California.

For his reasoning,the Heisman Trophy winnersaid he wants to throw at theHoosiers' pro day on March 4instead, where he can help give his "guy the best chance" at making an impression in front of NFL executives and turning a few of their heads.

"At the combine, you're throwing to different receivers, it's a whole different thing," Mendoza said. "And I want to make sure I give my guys the best chance. I want to throw at pro day with my guys, with my running backs and be there with the boys.

"The combine, I don't think throwing's going to be a priority just because it's such a quick turnaround."

REQUIRED READING:Fernando Mendoza was 'declined walk-on offer' at Miami. He just beat Canes for national title

Mendoza put together a career-high season in his lone year atIndiana, where he led the Hoosiers to a perfect 16-0 season and the program's first national championship title. In 16 games, Mendoza threw for 3,535 yards and 41 touchdown passes, while running in seven touchdowns, which includes a12-yard score on fourth downin the national championship game vs. Miami.

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He's the widely consensus projected No. 1 overall pick in April's NFL draft by NFL draft analysts, includingUSA TODAY Sports' Michael Middlehurst-Schwartz.Should Mendoza go No. 1 to the Las Vegas Raiders, he'd be the first Hoosiers' player taken with the top overall pick since the then-Cleveland Rams took Corby Davisin the 1938 NFL Draft.

He mentioned during his appearance that he's begun training in California.

"It's been a great process. Everybody always says when I watch interviews or ask former NFL players, like you guts, they say, 'Hey, this is an eight-week interview. You've got to give it your all, limit the distractions and really lock in because where you go and how you set yourself up in front of these GMs and in front of these teams is going to change your life forever,'" Mendoza continued.

"So, I'm making sure to put my head to the grindstone, and like you said, I wanna help my guys (so) at pro day, throw to the boys."

The NFL combine is set to run from Sunday, Feb., 23 to Monday, March 2 in Indianapolis at Lucas Oil Stadium, with on-field workouts starting on Thursday, Feb. 26.

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:Fernando Mendoza throw at Indiana pro day, not NFL combine

Former slugger Mark McGwire is back with his first organization, rejoining the Athletics as a special assistant to player development.

He played at least parts of 12 seasons for the then-Oakland Athletics and was a nine-time All-Star. McGwire was the AL Rookie of the Year in 1987 after hitting 49 home runs, at that time the record for a first-year player. He also was an instrumental part of A's teams that went to the World Series from 1988-90, winning it all in 1989 by sweeping the Bay Area rival San Francisco Giants.

The A's inducted McGwire into their hall of fame in 2019.

McGwire was traded to St. Louis in the 1997 season, and he went on to break Roger Maris' single-season home run record by belting 70 in 1998 during a chase with the Chicago Cubs' Sammy Sosa. Their competition reignited interest in baseball, but both became tied to the sport's steroid scandal that tarnished their reputations and has kept them out of the Hall of Fame.

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After his playing days, McGwire went to serve as bench coach for San Diego (2017-18) and as a hitting coach for the Los Angeles Dodgers (2013-15) and Cardinals (2010-12).

The A's are about to play the second of at least three seasons at aTriple-A ballpark in West Sacramento, California. They are scheduled to move to Las Vegas and play in a$2 billion 33,000-person capacity stadiumbeginning in 2028.

AP MLB:https://apnews.com/mlb

SAN DIEGO (AP) — A judge says the federal government must return three families hurt by the first Trump administration's policy of separating parents from the children at the border, saying their deportations in recent months relied on "lies, deception and coercion."

The order, issued Thursday, found the deported families should have been allowed to remain in the United Statesunder terms of a legal settlementover the Trump administration's separation of about 6,000 children from their parents at the border in 2018. Each mother had permission to remain in the U.S. until 2027 under humanitarian parole.

U.S. District Judge Dana Sabraw in San Diego said the administration also had to pay for their return travel costs.

One woman and her three children, including a 6-year-old U.S. citizen, were deported to Honduras in July after being ordered to check in with ICE at least 11 times over two months, which, she said, caused her to lose her job.

Sabraw rejected the government's argument that the family left the U.S. voluntarily. The woman said ICE officers visited her home and asked her sign a document agreeing to leave but she refused.

"This did not make any difference to these officers. They took me and my children to a motel and removed my ankle monitor. They detained us for three days and then removed us to Honduras," the woman said in court documents.

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The other two families, identified only by their initials, bore similarities.

"Each of the removals was unlawful, and absent the removals, these families would still be in the United States and have access to the benefits and resources they are entitled to," wrote Sabraw, who was appointed by President George W. Bush.

Lee Gelernt, an attorney for the American Civil Liberties Union who represents the families, welcomed the decision.

"The Trump administration has never acknowledged the illegality or gratuitous cruelty of the initial family separation policy and now has started re-deporting and re-separating these same families. The Court put its foot down and not only ordered the families return but did so at government expense," he said.

The Homeland Security and Justice departments did not immediately respond to messages seeking comment Friday.

Under a "zero-tolerance" policy, parents were separated from their children to be criminally prosecuted when crossing the border illegally. Sabraw ordered an end to the separations in June 2018, days after Trump halted them on his own amid intense international backlash. The settlement prohibits such a policy until 2031.

President Donald Trump said the United States had "very good talks" with Iran after delegations from both countries participated in indirect discussions in Oman Friday.

"Iran looks like it wants to make a deal very badly. We have to see what that deal is," the president said aboard Air Force One.

Friday's meetings in the Gulf Arab state were the first round of negotiations between the two sides since the US and Israel struck the Islamic Republiclast summer.

Both parties have since agreed to hold follow-on discussions after consultations with their capitals, according to a source familiar with the negotiations. Speaking aboard Air Force One, Trump said that another round of negotiations will be held again "early next week," but Araghchi said no date had yet been set for the future talks.

The talks took place amid an American military buildup in the Middle East, and after Trump threatened to strike Iran if itused lethal force against protestersor refuses to sign a nuclear deal.

Ahead of the talks, Iran's foreign minister said his country "enters diplomacy with open eyes and a steady memory of the past year," and after negotiations concluded, Araghchi described it as a "good start."

Still, sharp language has persisted on both sides, with Trump saying on Thursday that Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei "should be very worried," and a day after the high-stakes negotiation, Iran's foreign minister reiterated that Iran would attack regional US bases should Washington carry out its threat of striking the Islamic Republic.

And despite what he said were productive discussions, Trump said Friday a "big fleet" was heading towards Iran and would be arriving soon.

Here's what we know about the talks.

Who is involved?

Araghchi and US envoy Steve Witkoff took part in the talks, along with Jared Kushner, Trump's son-in-law. The talks were indirect – mediated by Omani Foreign Minister Badr Albusaidi, who earlier on Friday met with each of the parties separately.

Despite negotiations being indirect, Araghchi said he had direct contact with the US delegation and that the parties exchanged a handshake, Al Jazeera reported. It's unclear for how long both parties met directly.

In photos released by the state-run Oman News Agency, the commander of US Central Command (CENTCOM), Admiral Brad Cooper, was also seen attending the meetings.

Negotiations are meant to ⁠adopt a format similar to previous rounds, Iranian media said. Before the 12-day Iran-Israel war in June, Tehran and Washingtonhad gone through five rounds of negotiations, where Omani mediators shuttled between US and Iranian delegations.

Those talks effectively came to an end after Israel struck Iranian nuclear and military sites in mid-June, after which the US struck three Iranian nuclear facilities.

What was discussed?

Araghchi presented to his Omani counterpart a "preliminary plan" to "manage the current situation" between Iran and the US, Iranian media reported, in a bid to advance negotiations. On Saturday, Iran's top diplomat told Al Jazeera that talks with the US revolved solely around Iran's nuclear program with no discussions held over Tehran's ballistic missiles or regional proxies.

Albusaidi then conveyed the plan to the US delegation led by Witkoff, and the American response will be delivered to the Iranian side during the talks, Iranian media added.

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The scope of the talks was unclear. Before the meetings, Iranian officials insisted they only wanted to discuss issues related to the nuclear program, and that other matters such as Iran's ballistic missile program, proxies across the region and domestic unrest were off-limits.

The US had demanded a broader set of discussions that includes ballistic missiles, Tehran's armed proxies that remain a danger to US and Israeli interests in the region, and Iran's recent brutal crackdown on protests.

On the nuclear issue, a key point of contention remains Iran's demand to enrich uranium – a nuclear fuel that can be used to make a bomb if purified to high levels – which the US and its allies reject. Iran has offered to place checks on its nuclear program to ensure that it isn't weaponized, demanding the lifting of sanctions in return.

A day after the negotiation on Saturday, Araghchi told Al Jazeera that his country will not accept completely halting its nuclear enrichment.

After the talks ended on Friday, in a sign that the US wants to keep up economic pressure, it rolled out new sanctions on Iranian oil and 14 vessels carrying it.

"Instead of investing in the welfare of its own people and crumbling infrastructure, the Iranian regime continues to fund destabilizing activities around the world and step up its repression inside Iran," said State Department Deputy Spokesperson Tommy Pigott.

What's at stake?

The US moved military assets, including the USS Abraham Lincoln carrier strike group, closer to the Middle East, raising concerns that prospects of war were growing.

Trump said last month that the US had"an armada"moving toward Iran "just in case," adding that while he would rather not "see anything happen," his administration is watching Iran "very closely."

The talks gave rise to hopes that a full-blown war may be averted. However, Trump on Friday said a "big fleet" will be arriving in the region soon.

Regional countries have been attempting to de-escalate and deter Trump from launching an attack on Iran, knowing that a new war will only plunge the region into crisis.

Tehran has made it clear that any US attack will not be met with the same "restraint" it showed last summer after Israel and the US struck the country.

Iran has a number of tools at its disposal should war break out with the US or Israel. It is believed to have thousands of missiles and drones that could target US troops and assets in the Middle East.

When US bombers struck Iranian nuclear facilities in the summer, Iran launched an unprecedented missile strike in Qatar, targeting al-Udeid Air Base, the largest US military installation in the Middle East.

Iran could also mobilize a vast network of proxies across the region, potentially hitting Israel and US bases, and disrupting shipping in the Strait of Hormuz, a narrow waterway through which more than a fifth of the world's oil and a large share of its liquefied natural gas flow. This could send shock waves around the world.

CNN's Fred Pleitgen, Samantha Waldenberg, Lex Harvey, Jessie Yeung, Jennifer Hansler, Mohammed Tawfeeq and Todd Symons contributed to this report.

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