Lead: The Milan Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics continue on Tuesday, Feb. 17 (Day 11) with a packed slate that includes women’s figure skating competition, bobsled medal sessions and high-profile finals in big air and speedskating. All events stream live on Peacock and NBCOlympics.com, with U.S. broadcast windows noted in the schedule. Key medal sessions on Tuesday include the biathlon relay (men’s final) and speed skating team pursuit, and many matchups list USA Network or NBC windows for East Coast viewers.
Key Takeaways
- Biathlon relay: Men’s final is set for 8:30 a.m. ET on Tuesday, Feb. 17; USA Network coverage begins at 9:05 a.m.
- Speed skating: Team pursuit is scheduled on Tuesday (listed as a medal session); viewers can stream on Peacock and NBCOlympics.com.
- Bobsled and big air competitions have medal sessions during the week with selected runs airing on NBC and USA Network across multiple days.
- Hockey qualification and playoff games occur throughout Tuesday, with matchups such as Germany vs. France at 6:10 a.m. ET and other contests in later windows.
- Curling round-robin play continues on Tuesday, with men’s and women’s draws at 3:05 a.m., 8:05 a.m. and 1:05 p.m. ET and several matches slated for USA Network or CNBC broadcast windows.
- Freestyle skiing aerials and big air events have qualifying and final rounds across the morning and afternoon; times for specific finals are noted per event in the full schedule.
- All events for the Games are available to stream live on Peacock and NBCOlympics.com; some events carry delayed or alternate broadcasts on USA Network, CNBC and NBC.
Background
Milan Cortina 2026 opened earlier in February and runs through Feb. 22, bringing winter sports across northern Italy venues including major stages such as the Verona Arena for the closing ceremony. The Games mix traditional Olympic disciplines—alpine, biathlon, cross-country, speed skating—with newer additions like ski mountaineering, reflecting a continued IOC emphasis on expanding winter sport appeal.
Broadcasters and rights holders have mapped events to a mix of streaming and linear platforms. Peacock and NBCOlympics.com carry live streams of every competition, while USA Network, CNBC and NBC provide curated windows intended for national audiences in the United States. That arrangement aims to balance comprehensive coverage with prime-time highlights for larger audiences.
Logistical complexity—tight turnarounds for athletes, variable mountain and rink conditions, and overlapping session times—has made advance schedule clarity essential for teams, broadcasters and fans. Organizers publish daily competition lists with specific start times in Eastern Time to help viewers plan across multiple time zones.
Main Event (Tuesday, Feb. 17 — Day 11)
The day opens with the biathlon relay: the men’s final begins at 8:30 a.m. ET, with USA Network coverage commencing at 9:05 a.m. This team endurance event traditionally draws attention because relay performance can shift overall national standings quickly and affects Olympic momentum for participating nations.
Bobsled competition features medal sessions and multiple heat windows across the week; Tuesday’s schedule includes key runs that feed into podium decisions later in the program. Several bobsled heats and medal sessions are slated for both NBC and USA Network across different time blocks to accommodate live and highlight coverage.
Big air and freestyle skiing aerials hold qualifying rounds and finals on nearby days; Tuesday includes qualifying for women’s aerials at 4:45 a.m. ET and men’s qualifying at 7:30 a.m. ET, with USA Network windows noted for U.S. audiences. Big air finals and slopestyle contests appear in adjacent days, giving snowboarders and freeskiers a concentrated medal period.
Hockey continues with qualification playoffs on Tuesday: 6:10 a.m. ET sees Germany vs. France and Switzerland vs. Italy, with later matches including Sweden vs. Latvia at 3:10 p.m. ET. The men’s bracket will transition toward quarterfinals and semifinals in the following days, with several games assigned to USA Network and NBC windows.
Analysis & Implications
Broadcast strategy: Streaming every event on Peacock and NBCOlympics.com ensures comprehensive coverage but places pressure on linear networks to select the most viewer-friendly windows. Rights holders are balancing live coverage for niche audiences with highlight broadcasts for broader prime-time viewers, which can affect live audience size and advertising yields.
Athlete recovery and scheduling: Several athletes face compressed schedules when events like alpine slalom, Nordic combined and speed skating finals cluster within short timeframes. Nations with deeper rosters may benefit when scheduling forces difficult recovery choices, while multi-event athletes must prioritize based on medal prospects.
Host-city logistics: Milan Cortina organizers must juggle venue conditions (weather, snow, ice) alongside transport and security for multiple simultaneous competitions. Any significant weather shift could prompt rescheduling, which would cascade through broadcast plans and athlete preparation.
Competitive impact: Tuesday’s relay and team events (biathlon relay, speed skating team pursuit) carry outsized influence on national medal tallies because team results can elevate a country’s overall standing quickly. For viewers, these team-format finals often provide dramatic, lead-changing moments that are television-friendly.
Comparison & Data
| Day (Feb 17–22) | Notable Medal Sessions Listed |
|---|---|
| Tue, Feb 17 (Day 11) | Biathlon men’s relay (8:30 a.m. ET), Speed skating team pursuit |
| Wed, Feb 18 (Day 12) | Biathlon women’s relay, Cross-country team sprint, Snowboard slopestyle |
| Fri, Feb 20 (Day 14) | Bobsled two-woman, Speed skating 1500m, Hockey semifinals |
| Sun, Feb 22 (Day 16) | Curling women’s gold, Hockey men’s gold, Closing Ceremony (2:30 p.m. Verona Arena) |
The table above extracts key medal sessions from the published schedule to show how Tuesday compares with mid- and late-week finals. While Tuesday features important team finals, the highest concentration of gold-medal games appears toward the weekend and closing day, when marquee events and medal ceremonies converge for maximum broadcast impact.
Reactions & Quotes
“All events will stream live on Peacock and NBCOlympics.com.”
NBCUniversal / NBCOlympics (official streaming notice)
“Medal sessions are denoted by the 🏅 symbol in the published schedule to help viewers identify finals and podium opportunities.”
Yahoo Sports (media schedule summary)
Unconfirmed
- Several hockey and curling matchups are listed as “Teams TBD” in broadcast windows; exact participants will be confirmed after preceding qualification rounds.
- Start times for some speed skating and figure skating finals are published without an explicit ET clock in the source; networks may adjust local broadcast windows for highlights or tape-delays.
- Weather-related schedule changes are possible for outdoor venues (alpine, ski cross, ski mountaineering); any such adjustments would be published by organizers and broadcasters.
Bottom Line
Tuesday, Feb. 17 (Day 11) at Milan Cortina 2026 is a concentration day for team finals and qualifying rounds that shape medal prospects across nations. Key team events such as the biathlon men’s relay and the speed skating team pursuit can create abrupt shifts in the medal table and are flagged for live streaming on Peacock and NBCOlympics.com.
For viewers, following the published Eastern Time schedule and checking USA Network, CNBC and NBC windows will maximize live and prime-time coverage. Fans and teams should also monitor official organizer updates for any timing or participant changes, especially for events listed as “TBD” or those susceptible to weather disruption.