Olympic athletes defy gravity at 2026 Milano Cortina Winter Games

Ben Harrington of Team New Zealand competes in the first run of the Men's Freeski Halfpipe Final on day fourteen of the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympic games at Livigno Snow Park on Feb. 20, 2026 in Livigno, Italy.

Switzerland's Ryan Regez, Japan's Satoshi Furuno and Germany's Tim Hronek compete in the freestyle skiing men's ski cross semi final during the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympic Games on Feb. 21, 2026.

Birk Irving of United States in action during his second run in the Men's Freeski Halfpipe Qualification Feb. 20, 2026.

Pirmin Werner of Switzerland in action during the warm up ahead of Men's Freestyle Skiing aerials qualifications on Feb. 20, 2026.

Alysa Liu of the United States competes in the women's free skate during the Milano Cortina 2026 Olympic Winter Games at Milano Ice Skating Arena on Feb. 19, 2026.

Cassie Sharpe of Team Canada competes in run two of the Women's Freeski Halfpipe qualification on Feb. 19, 2026.

USA's Frankie Del Duca and USA's Joshua Williamson compete in the bobsleigh men's 2-man heat 3 at Cortina Sliding Centre during the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympic Games in Cortina d'Ampezzo on Feb. 17, 2026.

Annika Hocke and Robert Kunkel of Germany compete in the pairs skating short program during the Milano Cortina 2026 Olympic Winter Games at Milano Ice Skating Arena.

Austria's Lara Wolf competes in the freestyle skiing women's freeski big air final run 3 during the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympic Games at Livigno Snow Park, in Livigno (Valtellina), on Feb. 16, 2026.

An athlete competes in the Men's Snowboard Slopestyle Qualification on day nine of the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympic games at Livigno Snow Park on Feb. 15, 2026 in Livigno, Italy. "Infrared" is a series of pictures taken at the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics with mirrorless cameras that have been modified to capture the electromagnetic spectrum beyond what's visible to the human eye.

Txema Mazet Brown of Britain in action during warm up before the Men's Snowboard Slopestyle Qualification at the Livigno Snow Park, Livigno, Italy on Feb. 15, 2026.

Bronze medallist Lora Hristova of Bulgaria celebrates on the podium during the victory ceremony of the Women's 15km Individual Biathlon on Feb. 11, 2026.

Czech Republic's Anna Fernstaedt takes part in the skeleton women's training session at Cortina Sliding Centre during the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympic Games in Cortina d'Ampezzo on Feb. 11, 2026.

USA's Chase Josey competes in the snowboard men's halfpipe qualification run 1 during the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympic Games at Livigno Snow Park, in Livigno, on Feb. 11, 2026.

Carroll of Austria during freestyle skiing women's moguls final during the Milano Cortina 2026 Olympic Winter Games at Livigno Aerials & Moguls Park.

Finland's Anni Karava competes in the freestyle skiing women's freeski big air qualification run 3 during the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympic Games at Livigno Snow Park - Big Air, in Livigno (Valtellina), on February 14, 2026.

Athletes are defying gravity at the 2026 Winter Olympics. Switzerland's Franjo von Allmen competes in the men's downhill alpine skiing event during the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympic Games at the Stelvio Ski Centre in Bormio on Feb. 7, 2026.

Jakara Anthony of Team Australia participates in Freestyle Skiing Moguls Training on day one of the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympic games at Livigno Air Park on Feb. 7, 2026 in Livigno, Italy.

Canada's Juliette Pelchat competes in the snowboard women's big air qualification run 1 at Livigno Snow Park during the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympic Games, in Livigno, on Feb. 8, 2026.

Hinako Tomitaka of Team Japan participates in women's freestyle skiing moguls training on day two of the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympic games at Livigno Air Park on Feb. 8, 2026 in Livigno, Italy.

Germany's Felix Hoffmann jumps during the men's ski jumping normal hill training of the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympic Games at Predazzo Ski Jumping Stadium in Predazzo, on Feb. 8, 2026.

Switzerland's Kim Gubser competes in the freestyle skiing men's freeski slopestyle qualification run 1 during the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympic Games at Livigno Snow Park, in Livigno (Valtellina), on February 7, 2026.

Ilia Malinin performed his first skate during the team event Saturday, Feb. 7 with the men's short program, and he became the first skater since 1998 to perform a backflip at the Games, and the first since it was unbanned. Malinin closed his performance with the stunning move than wowed the crowd at the Milano Ice Skating Arena. However, Malinin finished second in the event with a score of 98.00.

Jonathan Gustafson of Team United States competes in the Luge Men's Singles Run 2 on day one of the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympic games at Cortina Sliding Centre on February 07, 2026 in Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy.

Matej Svancer of Austria during slopestyle freestyle skiing qualification during the Milano Cortina 2026 Olympic Winter Games at Livigno Snow Park

Norway's Eirin Maria Kvandal jumps during the women's ski jumping normal hill individual 1st round of the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympic Games at Predazzo Ski Jumping Stadium in Predazzo (Val di Fiemme), on February 7, 2026.

New Zealand's Lyon Farrell competes in the snowboard men's big air final run 2 during the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympic Games at Livigno Snow Park, in Livigno (Valtellina), on February 7, 2026.

Lisa Eder of Team Austria in action during a Women's Normal Hill training session on day zero of the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympic games at Predazzo Ski Jumping Stadium on February 6, 2026 in Val di Fiemme, Italy.