As the golf world turns its eyes toward Augusta National this spring, local golfers will find a newly renovated course in town, just a few miles from where the Masters is held. It will officially reopen to the public the Wednesday following the Masters and the weekday resident rate will be hard to beat: $25 for 18 holes, and even less for seniors.
We speak of the reimagined Augusta Municipal Golf Course, which has long been known as “The Patch.” Augusta National stepped in three years ago to refashion the course and its offerings — on the back of a new 50-year lease with the city — with a goal of providing jobs while increasing the public golf offerings in the area. To make it all happen, the club partnered with Tiger Woods, Beau Welling and Tom Fazio, who were charged with building something new while maintaining some of the course’s original design.
Its affordability has made The Patch a longtime home to Augusta’s public golfers, particularly Black golfers who for many years couldn’t find access to the most famous private club in town unless they were donning a caddie bib. At any point in the last 40 years you could show up at The Patch and spot either Jim Dent — one of the game’s best-ever Black golfers, who called Augusta home — or his son, Jim Dent. Jr., who served as the head professional. (In 2020, the entrance road to The Patch was named Jim Dent Way.)
The Patch will reopen to the public on April 15, but will offer limited play in a soft launch beginning next month. The 16-month renovation has completely shifted the routing of the original course, moving the clubhouse to the corner of the property, adding a Woods-designed short course called “The Loop” and equipping the driving range with Trackman Range. A 12-hole putting course also is coming to The Patch, and will be free of charge.
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From renderings of the new routing, it would appear the new course will maintain the design of five of the original holes, use parts of another six and add seven new holes. (The original layout is below, left, and the new routing is on the right.) While the course has not released an official scorecard yet, it would appear to be a par 73, with five par-5s, four par-3s and nine par-4s. The old driving range is now part of the 15th hole. The new driving range sits near where the First Tee of Augusta had practice holes for juniors.
Before and after.
Google Maps (left); Courtesy of The Patch
Pricing for The Patch will be as follows:
Local resident 18 holes: $25 M-Th, $35 weekend Senior/Junior resident (60 and older, 18 and under) 18 holes: $20 M-Th, $30 weekend Non-resident 18 holes: $85, $95 weekend
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In other community collaborations, Augusta National has partnered with Augusta Tech’s golf-course management program and the First Tee of Augusta to handle operations of the course. One more fun fact: According to the course’s website, the property’s two courses now resemble the shape of an elephant, which we’ve mapped out below.
Manchester United will reportedly appeal JJ Gabriel’s red card which threatens to rule the 15-year-old out of an important upcoming FA Youth Cup clash
Jim Quinlan Sport Trends Writer
23:28, 10 Feb 2026
Manchester United have reportedly decided to appeal JJ Gabriel’s red card, which the 15-year-old received during the Under-18s’ 4-3 victory over West Bromwich Albion on Tuesday.
Gabriel contributed two assists as United took a four-goal lead into the half-time interval of their Premier League Under-18 Cup clash. West Brom managed to pull one back after 52 minutes, and upon the restart the youngster became involved in a tangle with an opponent off the ball, resulting in his sending off.
It did not take long for the academy forward – who has already trained with the senior squad under both Ruben Amorim and Michael Carrick – to react.
Posting video footage of the incident on his Instagram stories, Gabriel fumed: “How can this be a yellow let alone a red, how?”
According to BBC Sport, Gabriel’s view reflects that of United and the club intend to appeal their youth player’s impending suspension.
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The red card is due to carry a three-match ban that would prevent the young talent from featuring in United’s FA Youth Cup fifth round clash with Oxford United next Wednesday, February 18.
Gabriel featured in the previous round, starting and playing 115 minutes as Darren Fletcher‘s side defeated Derby County after extra-time at Old Trafford.
Either side of the important meeting with Oxford, Gabriel would be in line to sit out an U18s Manchester derby against Manchester City and finally a meeting with Wolves U18s.
For now, the club wish to temper expectations and as reported by MEN Sport, sources close to the youngster understand it is not much hassle in keeping the 15-year-old grounded. He has a strong family support and a circle of friends, who don’t let him get ahead of himself.
They have done all they possibly can to keep Gabriel out of the clutches of European rivals and the youngster has a bright future ahead.
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Ex-NFL star Boomer Esiason said Tuesday that American Olympians “should just pipe down” as several competitors garnered backlash for speaking out on hotly debated political topics in the U.S. while in Italy.
Esiason was on his daily WFAN Radio show with Greg Giannotti. The former Cincinnati Bengals and New York Jets star said he was watching Team USA figure skating win gold in one event over the weekend. Giannotti asked whether they were “happy to represent America.”
Boomer Esiason speaks on stage during the 2019 New York City Police Foundation Gala at New York Hilton Midtown on April 30, 2019 in New York City.(Owen Hoffmann/Patrick McMullan via Getty Images)
“They seem to be happy to represent America,” Esiason said. “Not everybody is, but everybody should just pipe down and just do their sport and play for our country and respect the flag and respect everything that’s going on.”
“It brings up mixed emotions to represent the U.S. right now, I think. It’s a little hard. There’s obviously a lot going on that I’m not the biggest fan of, and I think a lot of people aren’t,” Hess said.
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Hunter Hess of the United States reacts during the Men’s Ski Halfpipe Final at the Toyota US Grand Prix at Aspen Snowmass Ski Resort on Jan. 9, 2026 in Aspen, Colorado.(Dustin Satloff/U.S. Ski and Snowboard/Getty Images)
“I think, for me, it’s more I’m representing my friends and family back home, the people that represented it before me, all the things that I believe are good about the U.S. If it aligns with my moral values, I feel like I’m representing it. Just because I’m wearing the flag doesn’t mean I represent everything that’s going on in the U.S.
“I just kind of want to do it for my friends and my family and the people that support me getting here.”
Hess backtracked in a social media post on Monday after President Donald Trump called him a “real loser.”
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Lillis said that while he “would never” want to represent another country in the Games, he’s “heartbroken” over the administration’s actions, regarding U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) operations in Minnesota.
“I love the USA. I would never want to represent a different country in the Olympics. With that being said, a lot of times, athletes are hesitant to talk about political views and how we feel about things.
Bronze medalist Christopher Lillis poses on the podium during the awards ceremony for the men’s aerials at the 2024-25 FIS Freestyle Ski World Cup at Beidahu Ski Resort in Jilin City, Jilin province, China. It happened on Feb. 23, 2025.(Yan Linyun/Xinhua via Getty Images)
“I feel heartbroken about what’s happening in the United States. I’m pretty sure you’re referencing ICE and some of the protests and things like that,” he continued. “I think that, as a country, we need to focus on respecting everybody’s rights and making sure that we’re treating our citizens as well as anybody, with love and respect. I hope that when people look at athletes compete in the Olympics, they realize that that’s the America we’re trying to represent.”
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Fox News’ Paulina Dedaj contributed to this report.
Ukraine’s Vladyslav Heraskevych on Tuesday said he would be wearing a “helmet of remembrance” in honour of those killed in the war with Russia in the skeleton competition at the Winter Games despite the International Olympic Committee’s ban.
Dana White’s Zuffa Boxing will crown its inaugural champion next month.
The newest boxing promotion on the block has promised big things for the sport, looking to break the mould set by the four major sanctioning bodies, the WBC, WBA, WBO and IBF.
While White may have recently dialled back on a previous promise not to work with those organisations, he continues to push ahead with the introduction of a Zuffa championship, and the cruiserweight division will host the first title fight.
With signings still taking place, how Opetaia, or indeed Glanton, defend their belt following this clash remains to be seen. What will be interesting for fans, however, is how the IBF plays a part.
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With Opetaia still keen on facing either WBC champion Noel Mikaelian or WBA and WBO titleholder Gilberto Ramirez, the IBF must approve this defence – or unification of sorts – for him to keep his title. Glanton is currently ranked at number 15 with the sanctioning body. The fight tops a card at the Meta APEX in Las Vegas on March 8.
Journalists from Italy‘s RaiSport on Tuesday announced that they would stage a three-day strike after the Winter Olympics, and would no longer be putting their bylines on Olympics coverage, among other measures.
They are protesting an opening ceremony broadcast by their boss last Friday that started with a wobble and soon fell off the rails entirely.
Paolo Petrecca will not commentate on the closing ceremony, Italian public broadcaster Rai has since saidImage: Maria Laura Antonelli/Avalon/Photoshot/picture alliance
What happened at the Winter Olympics opening ceremony?
RaiSport director Paolo Petrecca, formerly the head of RaiNews, began by casting doubt on whether he knew where he was standing, and then continued in roughly the same vein.
He welcomed viewers to the “Stadio Olympico,” a reference to Rome’s renowned Olympic Stadium, while standing in Milan’s equally well known San Siro stadium, home to both the city’s football giants, AC and Inter Milan.
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Mariah Carey was indeed a star on stage at the San Siro, albeit not quite when she was announced on public TV in the host nationImage: Cemal Yurttas/Anadolu/picture alliance
Before long, Petrecca told viewers, “The show continues with Mariah Carey,” as the cameras focused on Matilda de Angelis, a famous Italian actress more than 20 years younger than the US vocalist.
De Angelis has since posted a glamorous shot of herself with almost all her identifying features obscured on Instagram captioned, “PLEASE, CALL ME MARIAH.”
When International Olympic Committee President Kirsty Coventry walked into the stadium with Italian President Sergio Matarella, Petrecca announced “Matarella … and his daughter.”
Petrecca also risked upsetting foreign viewers with observations including how the Spanish athletes were “always very hot,” and how “naturally” many of the Chinese team members “have phones in their hands.”
IOC President Kirsty Coventry is a former swimmer and Zimbabwean Cabinet minister, not the Italian president’s daughterImage: Yves Herman/REUTERS
How did the Rai jouranlists respond?
The channel’s editorial committee Comitato di Redazione, an internal union body representing journalists at the public broadcaster, issued a statement on Monday saying all journalists would withhold bylines during the Games and then strike for three days once the event is completed.
“We have all been embarrassed, no one excluded, and through no fault of our own,” it said. “It is time to make our voices heard because we are facing the worst-ever figure of RaiSport in one of the most eagerly awaited events ever.”
Concerns about shady deals ahead of 2026 Winter Olympics
Opposition politicians in Italy picked up on the gaffes as a sign of the alleged politicization of appointments at Rai in recent years. Petrecca, formerly the head of RaiNews, had been accused of bias toward Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni.
“The Olympics are a time of utmost responsibility for public service broadcasting. Instead, RAI offered its worst version: the one we know all too well, TeleMeloni,” the opposition Democratic Party said in a statement.
A spokesperson for the parent company Rai told The Associated Press on Tuesday that Petrecca had been removed from the commentary team for the February 22 closing ceremony after a meeting including Rai’s CEO Giamapolo Rossi.
Aaron Dill and I have been friends since my days at GolfWRX.com, and the friendship continued even when I worked for one of his competitors. He’s one of — if not the — hardest working men on any truck, and the sheer volume of Vokey wedges makes that statement irrefutable.
In my opinion, given how good the Vokey platform is, the Tour dominance is pretty evenly split between product and Aaron. To watch him help his players and, in the same breath, hand them a tool with precision and variety makes it almost impossible for any wedge program to keep up.
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On any given week on the PGA Tour, there are 250-plus Vokey wedges in play.
Five of the top 10 players in the Official World Golf Rankings are Vokey users. Eight of the top twenty have Vokey wedges in the bag. It’s no secret that Vokey wedges have absolutely dominated the wedge market since their introduction to the PGA Tour in 1997 (Andy Bean was the first in Memphis) and have been No. 1 since 2004. That’s 21 years and counting at the top spot, and with SM11 hitting the shelves, that number will undoubtedly grow to 22.
That’s not to say that the competition isn’t stiff. Callaway, TaylorMade, Cleveland, PXG, Cobra and Ping have all risen to an elite level in the wedge department. For the consumer, I can’t think of a time when finding the perfect wedge setup for your game has been easier. Would I say everyone is a 10/10? Yes.
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In a market full of Alphas, Vokey would be considered the Lion. Twenty-one years of doing it at peak levels, technology with recon delivered from one of the GOATs in Mr. Vokey, his Luke Skywalker in Aaron Dill and every Jedi apprentice on the way up. All this crew does is wedges, and it creates a very steep hill to climb for any contenders.
First of all, Aaron fits a set of tools, not a set of wedges. And secondly, the strike dictates everything.
Let’s take a look at what that means.
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Vokey fitting
When I say the word tool, I mean it just like that. From 135 yards out until the time I grab my putter, I am allowed four tools to navigate that space. I need proper turf interaction for full shots, something that controls spin, something I can flight, and most importantly, a tool that I can consistently live in the magic spot on the face, which is grooves two through five.
In the past, I didn’t pay much attention to the latter. At times, I got lucky and stumbled onto maybe one wedge that satisfied all that. But in a nutshell, like everything else in my bag, it was a game of hit and hope.
This is why I think fitting is the key component to any of these 2026 products. From driver to putter, with every company operating at God-like levels, it’s essential that you get with a fitter to find that magic.
Aaron’s initial fitting landed me on a setup that checked off all the boxes. The second time around was to ensure that his work harmonized with my “feel player” technique, and I must say it was perfect.
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Most notably, the SM11 tech story that centered around CG consistency across all lofts was spot on. The 54/58 came down in launch by two degrees with an uptick in spin of about 400-500 RPMs. Why? I was fitted into a set that not only jived with my short game and gapping needs but also had me owning (not leasing) grooves 2-5 across the set. Giving the player a wedge that ensures that kind of contact is massive. Especially a player like me who relies on strong wedge play to survive. Weirdly, it almost feels like I found a driver that’s 15 yards longer.
To be fair to the competition, this product quality exists across many OEMs. The pursuit of that magic CG placement in harmony with the grind has been a North Star for the entire industry. But in my opinion, it started with the Vokey T grind. That specific wedge and its low-spin, flight characteristic were so noticeable that you’d see it in countless bags on Tour (staff and non-staff), whether it was the right wedge for that player or not. Basically, the flight was so good that you would see players adapting to the wedge to play it rather than the other way around.
One of the foundations of any Vokey launch is the sheer volume of grind options: F, S, K, T, D, M. There are 27 total options for the consumer. Not to mention K*, L, V, A+, MA+ and a few more out on Tour. Another thing that keeps Vokey at the top of the bill out on Tour is that they literally have an already manufactured wedge for anybody. Can other OEM Tour reps grind a wedge to add that level of variety? Yes, but it’s hard to replicate wedge to wedge.
My New Setup
The most important thing in this exercise was understanding the marriage between loft, grind and bounce. In many cases, consumers will choose wedges based on a bounce number, with little regard for where the bounce is or how it aligns with the rest of the tool. For example, I tend to lean on “lower bounce” platforms because I’m a feel player with good hands, and my delivery changes from day to day. The problem I was having was that the L-G-B union was never really in harmony. I might get lucky and find two of the three, but I never really landed on a wedge that checked off all three. The ultimate truth teller here is the strike point. When L, G and B are running in the same direction, grooves 2-5 become the star of the show.
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If you can find a wedge setup that consistently gets you out of that part of the face, regardless of your delivery, you are in that happy place Aaron always talks about.
This is the setup I landed on, and they are in the bag as we head into my first big event of the season in less than a month.
SM11 44/10F w/ True Temper Tour Issue DG S400
Wunder
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Titleist Vokey SM11 Raw Custom Wedge
A Grind For Every Player
For every player, there’s a set of grinds fit for clean contact. SM11 provides a leading combination of lofts, bounces, and grinds to promote solid contact (between grooves 2-5), predictable performance, and the confidence to take on whatever the shot demands.
Grind Comparison
Consistent CG Location
For a given loft, SM11 features the same CG location in all grinds, resulting in a controlled, consistent launch angle. No matter which sole design fits your swing or course conditions, your launch window is locked in—leaving you free to choose the lofts and grinds that work for you.
A Smarter Way To Spin
The new Vokey Spin System combines an angled face texture, shot-specific groove shapes, and deeper spin milled grooves to deliver the right amount of spin from any lie, in all conditions
The follow-up verified everything the fitting set out to do. My gapping was in perfect 13-yard buckets. I had options around the green with the 54 and 58, and most importantly, I have confidence.
If this isn’t a testimonial to go and get fit, I don’t know what it is. If you’re following along with the Fully Fit 2026 journey, you’ll gain a true understanding not only of how important fitting is, but also of how elite every OEM is at making golf clubs this year. In all honesty, I have never had so much trouble picking a set of sticks. If the ones I picked were 9.8/10, the ones I didn’t were 9.79/10.
In this instance, it was the combo of the product and my friend that got me over the line. He’s just remarkable at what he does, and it’s not a fluke that the best in the world all have him on speed dial.
Trust me, everyone knows AD.
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Final Gapping and Full Specs
Vokey SM11 44.10F with True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue S400 35.75 EOG, D4, 64 lie, Golf Pride BCT (58R, two double side, logo down)
Vokey SM11 50.08F with True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue S400 35.5 EOG, D4, 64 lie, Golf Pride BCT (58R, two double side, logo down)
Vokey SM11 54.12D with True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue S400 35.25 EOG, D4, 64 lie, Golf Pride BCT (58R, two double side, logo down)
Vokey SM11 58.08M with True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue S400 35 EOG, D4, 64 lie, Golf Pride BCT (58R, two double side, logo down)
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Gapping on Trackman
44 Stock: 22 launch, 8750RPM, 131 Carry
50 Stock: 26 launch, 9575RPM, 118 Carry
54 Stock: 27 launch, 10,100 RPM, 104 Carry
58 Stock (60 yards): 28 launch, 9285RPM
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Now the best way to get an inside look as to what happened is to get it straight from the man who dialed me in, Vokey Wedge Rep Aaron Dill
Aaron Dill’s fitting assessment for Johnny Wunder
Goals:
Clean carry yardages off the irons
Build a matrix of wedges that cover more shots
Have a sand wedge that performs well from the fairway and around the green
Find a LW that checks off more boxes and addresses problems
My fitting with JW started with some gap work. Math with wedges is very important and sets the tone for where the fit will likely go and how many wedges the players will benefit from. This exercise is also an honest reminder of what your yardages “really” are. The goal is to reach those yardages at 85 percent speed to get the launch, carry and spin correct.
JW tested a 44F, and this was an outstanding add. The benefits of the sole and the loft gave him the carry and trajectory we wanted. JW can create some natural loft, so it was important to take the time to find lofts that get the ball on grooves 2-5 more often. The next wedge needed to carry about 13 yards less, which led us to a 50. We tested both 50-12 and 50-08. Johnny has a path that, at times, can bottom out a little early or launch the ball a little higher, so we needed to find a sole that played a little thinner or with less bounce to bottom out closer to the ball at impact.
The next wedge loft we tested was 54, and again, we wanted a 13-yard reduction in carry. The testing we did on this loft also showed it sometimes launched a little higher. This led us down a couple of paths. Do we increase bounce or decrease and see how he reacts to the feels? My gut said he needed bounce for the trajectory, but we needed to stay thin to get a clean strike on the ball for the flight. We also discussed how important it is that the 54 is good around the greens. This tends to be an undervalued wedge and is used mainly for distance. The strike and versatility were the goals here, and the thinner model with more forward bounce was the clear winner. This wedge has important jobs to do. It has to be a great fairway club with controlled trajectory, and a get-me-out-of-trouble wedge when into the grain, in a long bunker shot or in any scenario where you may struggle.
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The last club we tested was a 60, but it was clear the trajectory was still higher than we wanted, so we entertained a 58. We discussed the use of this club and the challenges JW faces around the greens when missing them. The carry yardage was not as important on this wedge, but it was still good to see that it was in the ballpark. The goal of this wedge is to check off as many important greenside boxes as possible. The change in loft from 60 to 58 lowered the trajectory and increased carry and spin. We tested multiple grinds to see if something stood out. The thinner, low-bounce soles performed similarly to the 54, but we made some sacrifices for the versatility. The M grind performed outstandingly around the greens and in the bunkers. I had concerns that JW would have a hard time creating height in form conditions. JW has great hands and had no issue getting under the ball cleanly. His ability to create height is a benefit, but it simply needs to be managed with less loft and the right grind.
The set we put together was calculated and proven to perform. This setup addressed many things, like carry, launch, spin, and, most importantly, the confidence any good player must have. The 44/50 are basic distance wedges, but the flight and hit location on the face need to be a point of focus to achieve consistent, predictable results. The 54 was my favorite part of the session and had the cleanest impact across all locations. But I loved the fact that we talked through the values of this club away from the fairway and, more so, around the green. The way JW hit bunker shots with the SW (high and spinny) made us both question if a 58 was needed. The 58 was the cherry on the sundae. This club has a lot of boxes to check. The balance of the sole gave JW the fairway launch and spin he needed for distance play, but going greenside and in the bunkers, we saw a constant flight and shape that you could trust.
After suffering a devastating loss to Canada in the gold medal game four years ago, the U.S. women’s hockey team is out for some revenge at the 2026 Winter Olympics, and it got a taste of that on Tuesday. In their final preliminary game, the Americans completely dismantled the Canadians, their heated rivals, 5-0.
Taking on a Canadian team that was without superstar Marie-Philip Poulin due to an injury, Team USA controlled the game from start to finish. The Americans’ speed simply overwhelmed the Canadians on the forecheck, and these matchups are rarely this lopsided.
Driving the bus en route to a statement win — once again — was defender Caroline Harvey. She registered her second consecutive three-point game with a goal and two assists, but Harvey wasn’t alone in her heroics. Linemates Abbey Murphy and Hannah Bilka gave Canada headaches for three periods, and they combined for two goals.
Their first tally was a beauty with Murphy showing off her blazing speed to reach a loose puck before sliding a no-look pass to Bilka in the slot. Bilka finished with two goals, and Murphy totaled three assists.
Team USA capped off a perfect 4-0-0-0 run in the preliminary round, and it’s now in the driver’s seat to win the gold medal. Even with Canada down Poulin, this was a thoroughly impressive victory for the Americans, who want to reclaim their spot atop women’s hockey.
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Canada and United States are the only two countries that have won gold in women’s ice hockey since the event was added to the Olympics in 1998. The Americans won that inaugural year in Nagano, then endured four straight Canadian victories until 2018, when Team USA struck back with a dramatic overtime win to capture gold in Pyeongchang.
It’s the kind of story that only the Olympic Games seem to produce: A talented ski jumper, who had yet to win anything of significance, delivers the performance of his life to win Olympic gold.
“I don’t know how I did it. But I’m so, so proud that I managed to do it,” Philipp Raimund told German public television moments after his his gold medal triumph in Predazzo, Italy.
“Now I’m simply an Olympic champion. Not having won a single World Cup (race) and then to be standing on the top step of the biggest stage, it’s unbelievable.”
Even harder to grasp is that the 25-year-old, who regularly launches himself from the top of dizzying ski jumps, also happens to suffer from a fear of heights.
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Following his older brother
Raimund was born in 2000 in the southwestern town of Göppingen. He and his older brother Fabian started ski jumping as children.
Philipp Raimund had to overcome a fear of heights to soar to Olympic victoryImage: Oryk Haist/IMAGO
“When I was almost five years old and watched my brother, there was no doubt in my mind: I’m going to be a ski jumper!” Philipp, nicknamed “Hille” Raimund, wrote on his website.
In 2005 and 2011, the family of six twice moved further south, eventually settling in the ski-jumping hotbed Oberstdorf. The two brothers needed larger jumps and more intensive training, and their father, Christian Raimund, got a job as a ski jumping coach at the Olympic training center.
His son Philipp initially tried his hand at Nordic combined, a sport that combines ski jumping and cross-country skiing.
“After a while, however, I threw my (cross-country ski) poles down into the snow and declared that I never wanted to torture myself like that again,” Raimund said of his decision to concentrate on ski jumping. If only it weren’t for his fear of heights.
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‘Something gets a tight grip on me’
To combat the problem, the ski jumper worked with a mental coach. He can usually handle his fear of heights, Raimund says, “but from time to time I do have a problem (mainly during ski flying). My body takes over and I can’t control it. For about a second and a half, it’s like I am just observing myself while something has a tight grip on me.”
So, at the end of the 2024-25 season, Raimund didn’t compete in the Ski Flying World Cup on the Planica hill in Slovenia, known for its exceptionally long jumps. Slovenian Domen Prevc would set a new world record of 254.5 meters there.
Normal hills, like the one in the Olympic town of Predazzo, feature jumps of only around 110 meters. This suits Raimund much better.
Only quiet when nervous
Outwardly, the ski jumper appears anything but anxious or withdrawn.
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“Hille is a really funny and lively guy, I’d even say an extrovert. He’s extremely unpretentious,” teammate Karl Geiger once said.
Philipp Raimund finally delivered on his wealth of talent at Milano CortinaImage: Oryk Haist/IMAGO
“When I’m really nervous, I’m quiet. I might not speak for three hours,” Raimund himself has noted.
Coach Stefan Horngacher had to get used to Raimund’s manner at first.
“We’ve had some real arguments. Things got heated,” the Austrian recalled.
“But I get along really well with him now. He’s a really nice person and an incredible athlete.”
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‘Incredible technique’
But that alone isn’t enough to become an Olympic champion. Horngacher describes Raimund as “extremely athletic. He has incredible technique that very few people can execute.”
Nevertheless, in recent years Raimund has seldom managed to translate his immense talent into success. He rarely stood on the top step of the podium — and when he did, it was only in the team competition.
The fact that he celebrated his first major individual victory at the Olympics is a minor miracle.
“Unbelievable,” as Philipp Raimund himself puts it.
It’s been over a year and Canada is still searching for a women’s hockey win against Team USA.
Abbey Murphy had three assists and Hannah Bilka added two goals as the U.S. continued its display of women’s hockey dominance at Milano Cortina 2026 with a 5-0 victory over Team Canada.
Caroline Harvey opened the scoring less than four minutes in, and by the end of the game she had added another two assists.
The Americans have now won seven consecutive games against Canada at the senior national level, including two at the 2025 world championships, a sweep of all four 2025 Rivalry Series games, and this preliminary round matchup at the Winter Olympic Games.
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Aerin Frankel earned her second Olympic shutout.
Kirsten Simms also scored for the U.S. after a goaltender interference review and an unsuccessful coach’s challenge by Canada.
Laila Edwards scored the fifth goal and became the first Black woman to score a goal for Team USA at the Olympics.
Canada’s Ann-Renee Desbiens was pulled from the net after allowing five goals and replaced by Emerance Maschmeyer late in the third period.
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Captain Marie-Philip Poulin missed the game for Canada. She suffered a lower-body injury on Monday and has been listed as day-to-day.
It is only the second time Canada has lost a game in the preliminary round of the Olympics. The last loss came in 1998 and was also at the hands of the Americans. Prior to Tuesday’s contest both teams were undefeated at Milano Cortina.
Canada will play their final game of this round on Thursday against Finland.
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