Forget the polite, charitable applause of the past. As the cauldron prepares to ignite tomorrow night at the Verona Arena, the Winter Paralympics have quietly morphed into a ruthless media juggernaut.
They promised us the 'most sustainable Games ever'. What we're getting is a logistical nightmare spread across 22,000 square kilometres, a reliance on artificial snow that borders on farce, and a men's downhill course that might just be too dangerous to ski.
It’s not just about the medals anymore. Between Ilia Malinin’s defying of physics and Yuma Kagiyama’s desperate defence of artistry, the soul of figure skating is being renegotiated right here in Italy. I’m rink-side, and the tension is heavy enough to crack the ice.
The Men's Free Skate is hours away. I’ve been watching the practice sessions at the Unipol Forum, and the tension is thick enough to cut with a skate blade. It's not just about Gold—it's a philosophical brawl between the 'Quad God' and the masters of the blade.
She turned 26 yesterday. Today, she drops into the Livigno course to defend her Olympic gold. But Mathilde Gremaud isn’t just skiing against Eileen Gu; she’s skiing against the laws of physics. Here’s how the Swiss sensation rewired the sport.
It was supposed to be the sensible, sustainable Olympics. Instead, the road to Milano Cortina has been paved with budget blowouts, political ego, and a bobsled track that nobody actually needed. Are we witnessing a miracle or a disaster in slow motion?
