Winter Olympics 2026 Day 13 recap: U.S. women's hockey beats Canada in OT final; Alysa Liu skates to gold

The United States had a banner day at the Milan Cortina Olympics on Thursday. The U.S. women's hockey team won its third-ever gold medal, Alysa Liu dazzled on ice to deliver Team USA a drought-ending gold in figure skating women's singles. Speedskating icon Jordan Stolz added some more hardware, too. 

Here are five of the top stories from Day 13 of the Winter Games:

Megan Keller scores in overtime to give Team USA the gold

After a dominant tournament, the U.S. women's hockey team faced its toughest test yet Thursday. Canada nearly pulled off the upset, but Hilary Knight's record-setting goal tied things up with 2:04 to play.

The gold-medal game went into overtime, and that's when Megan Keller made the play of her career. Keller received a pass deep in Canada territory, juked her defender and just barely snuck the puck by Canada's goaltender Ann-Renee Desbiens to give Team USA the 2-1 walk-off win. 

Alysa Liu is golden, and Amber Glenn's free-skate redemption slingshotted her to a fifth-place finish

The "Blade Angels" put on a show Thursday during the free-skate portion of figure skating women's singles. Liu headlined that act with an awe-inspiring performance to Donna Summer’s "MacArthur Park." After registering the third-best short-program score on Tuesday, her 150.2-point free skate thrust the 20-year-old, two-time Olympian into first place and clinched the U.S.' first medal in the women's individual event in 20 years.

That medal turned out to be gold. She became the first American woman to top the figure skating singles podium since Sarah Hughes in 2002.

Meanwhile, her teammate, Amber Glenn, bounced back from what she described as a "soul-crushing" short program to finish fifth, thanks to a redemptive free skate that saw her land another triple axel. 

Although 18-year-old Isabeau Levito fell on a triple flip to start her free skate, she regained focus and the gracefulness that got her to that moment, ultimately clocking out 12th in the event.

Jordan Stolz takes silver in men's 1,500 meters 

The 21-year-old Stolz was seeking his third speedskating gold medal of the Olympics but fell short in the 1,500, finishing 0.77 behind China’s Ning Zhongyan, who set the Olympic record with a time of 1:41.98. Stolz came away with a silver instead, missing out on his chance to become the first athlete in 46 years to complete speedskating’s sprint treble at an Olympics.

Stolz won earlier in these Games with gold-medal performances in the 500 meters and 1,000 meters. He has one final chance at a third gold, as he's set to take part in Saturday's mass start event.

U.S. women's curling advances to semifinals on clutch shot

U.S. women's curling nearly faltered against Switzerland with a trip to the semifinals on the line. Switzerland took three points in the 10th end, tying things up and sending the game to an extra end.

But Team USA held a massive advantage in that end, the hammer. And the Americans needed it to secure the narrow 7-6 win over Switzerland.

With Switzerland clogging up the house, Team USA's Tabitha Peterson guided a clutch hammer just past those stones. She managed to put just enough force on the stone, allowing it to settle in the house just itches closer to the button than Switzerland's stones.

It was a walk-off victory for Team USA, which will play in the medal round at the Olympics for the first time since 2002.

Spain wins gold medal in Winter Games for first time in 54 years ... in ski mountaineering

Spain went more than half a century without winning a gold medal in the Winter Games. It ended the dry spell on Thursday in an event that's new to the Olympics: ski mountaineering.

Oriol Cardona Coll won gold in the men’s sprint. Plus, Ana Alonso Rodriguez, also representing Spain, earned bronze in the women's sprint.

Yahoo Sports' Dan Wolken was on site for the spectacle in Bormio, Italy, and chronicled what he saw, heard and learned about a sport that finally received Olympic validation.

Highlight of the day

Megan Keller is a defenseman. She looked like a forward late in Thursday's gold-medal game against Team Canada. Not only did the former Boston College standout assist Hilary Knight's goal that forced overtime, but she also lit the lamp in OT with a move that dropped jaws. 

Keller had the puck on a string, as she deftly directed it past the front skate of Canada defenseman Claire Thompson before tracking it down and scoring a game-winner that's now part of U.S. hockey lore.

One more thing

Maybe maturing is leaving a sibling rivalry in the past. In an act of self awareness and humor, Kate Gray's brothers proudly revealed the back of their sweatshirts on Thursday after Gray advanced to the women's freeski halfpipe final.

Gray was greeted by the words, "My sister is more athletic than me," which were front and center in all caps on their backs.

Bravo, boys. Bravo.