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#Canada’s Thénault disappointed after just missing aerials super final. The 25-year-old from Sherbrooke, Que., just barely missed being within the top six that move forward to the super final. Her first finals jump was a back full-full-full that scored her 103.89 points — the same jump that vaulted her to the top of the qualifier earlier in the day.

She held on to the sixth and final spot until near the end, when American Kaila Kuhn, the reigning world champion, earned a 109.90 on the same jump, pushing the Canadian to seventh.

Thénault was last to go and launched into a back lay-full-full, but scored a 101.90 that was not enough to move her up the rankings.

“I’m clearly disappointed to not be in the super final,” Thénault said. “It’s hard, because I know I’m capable, but I landed too deep (on my skis) in the final. It’s my fault.”

Canadian trainer Jeff Bean said the slight mistake on landing was costly for Thénault.

“If she had landed that, it’s done. It’s the best lay-full-full she ever did,” he said. “She was just a little too much on her heels and a little too far forward, but we’re talking millimetres. The jump was magnificent. The job was done.”

Bean said Wednesday’s final was one for the record books.

“These are the best 24 jumps I’ve ever seen in a women’s aerials competition,” he said.

Thénault agreed.

“I think it’s the highest calibre in the history of women’s aerials,” she said. “It’s cool.”

It’s a second Olympics for Thénault, who won a bronze medal with Miha Fontaine and Lewis Irving in the mixed team aerials event in Beijing 2022.

Thénault said she had hoped for more from her Milan Cortina experience. “I was disappointed in Beijing too, so close to the super final… but now I know that I can do the best jumps in the world, that I’m part of the gang.”

Bean said Wednesday had been “the best day of jumps in her whole life” for Thénault.

“I’m really happy, but also gutted. For her, but also for me,” he said.

He noted that the jumps in the super final hadn’t reached the same level as those in round one, making the loss harder to swallow.

Thénault, however, said she sees a silver lining.

“I really had a good day today,” she said. “I’m happy with my jumps, the mental work I did, because these last months haven’t been easy. I’m very proud of that.”

China’s Xu Mengtao repeated as Olympic champion with a score of 112.90 points, beating out Australia’s Danielle Scott (102.17) and China’s Shao Qi (101.90).

The men’s aerials event is scheduled to take place on Thursday, with Fontaine, Irving, Émile Nadeau and Victor Primeau competing for Canada.

Several events in Livigno have been affected by the weather, and it remains to be seen whether it will once again disrupt proceedings with the forecast calling for possibly up to 25 centimetres of snow.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 18, 2026.

Frédéric Daigle, The Canadian Press

#BREAKING: #Canada eliminates Czechia to advance to men’s hockey semifinals.

Canada needed extra time to reach the medal round in men’s hockey at the Milan Cortina Olympics.

Mitch Marner scored a dramatic winner at 1:22 of 3-on-3 overtime as the country battled back from a late 3-2 deficit, and survived the loss of captain Sidney Crosby, to pick up a 4-3 victory over Czechia in the quarterfinals Wednesday.

The Vegas Golden Knights winger sliced through the Czech defence and roofed a backhand to send the Canadian contingent in Italy into a frenzy.

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Macklin Celebrini, with a goal and two assists, Nathan MacKinnon and Nick Suzuki provided the rest of the offence for Canada. Connor McDavid added two assists. Jordan Binnington made 30 saves.

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LeBron James becomes the oldest player to have a triple-double in #NBA history.

James became the oldest player to have a triple-double Thursday night, accomplishing the feat at 41 years and 44 days old during the Los Angeles Lakers’ 124-104 victory over the Mavs.

James had 28 points and 12 assists when he grabbed his 10th rebound with 2:06 to play. He got a standing ovation from the Lakers’ crowd when he checked out moments later with his 123rd career triple-double, the fifth-most in NBA history.

James broke the record held for the past 22 years by Karl Malone, who recorded his final triple-double for the Lakers when he was 40 years and 127 days old.

“I guess I’m more appreciative of moments like this in my career, understanding where I’m at, at the later stage of my journey,” James said. “You definitely take it in a little bit more.”

While mere statistics and longevity records don’t do much for James at this stage in his historic career, he respects triple-doubles as a particularly good measure of the high level he is maintaining on the court.

Although he has missed 18 games this season due to injury, James was no charity case when he was chosen for his 22nd All-Star Game this weekend, and he proved it by dominating the Mavs while Luka Doncic was out with a hamstring strain.

“I think what it represents is pretty cool — the fact that you can go out and have an impact in three facets of the game,” James said. “Rebounding. The assists, obviously, are what I love the most. Being able to get my guys involved, throughout my career I’ve always loved that more than anything. And being able to put the ball in the basket, that’s part of this game as well. So I think what it means, to be able to have your hand in three facets of the game, making an impact in those three, that’s pretty cool.”

James’ play has remained largely outstanding when healthy this season, and he repeated his belief that he could continue almost indefinitely at this level. James entered this game averaging 21.8 points, 6.9 assists and 5.7 rebounds, and the Lakers are in the thick of the Western Conference playoff race despite playing only 10 games with James, Doncic and Austin Reaves simultaneously healthy.

But the top scorer in NBA history hadn’t had a triple-double since Feb. 1, 2025, in New York. That day is better remembered for the late-night breaking news of the seismic trade that brought Doncic to the Lakers.

Malone had held the record as the oldest player with a triple-double since he had 10 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists on Nov. 28, 2003, during his final NBA season. James recorded the next 15 triple-doubles on that list, and he repeatedly came close to setting the record over the past year, but didn’t quite reach it until the Lakers’ final game before the All-Star break.

With Doncic out when his former team visited, James was aggressive and active from the opening tip as he returned from his own injury absence during the Lakers’ loss to San Antonio on Tuesday.

After dancing gleefully in pregame warmups and screaming his way down the tunnel when he took the court, James put up 14 points and six assists in the first quarter alone against Dallas. He factored into the Lakers’ first 23 points of the game.

James had 18 points, eight assists and four rebounds by halftime. He topped double digits in assists during the third quarter, but he didn’t come out of the game during the fourth quarter before he grabbed the three rebounds necessary to get the triple-double.

He almost had it a few possessions earlier, but Reaves beat him to a board — and got an earful from the rest of the Lakers.

“Everybody on the team yelled at me,” Reaves said. “I don’t catch myself looking at the stats during the game, so we went to the bench and everybody let me know about it. He didn’t, but everybody (else), and I looked at him and said, ‘Shoot, my fault.’”

After his streak of 20 straight All-Star Game appearances ended due to injury last year, James will be back in the midseason showcase Sunday at Intuit Dome. James is ineligible for inclusion on his 22nd All-NBA team this season because of his missed games, including the first 14 of the season while dealing with sciatica.

James has 152 career triple-doubles when the playoffs are included.

___

Greg Beacham, The Associated Press

Injured Canadian captain Poulin scratched from Finland game, but gets back on the ice.

MILAN — Canadian women’s hockey team captain Marie-Philip Poulin missed a second straight game at the Milan Cortina Olympics with a lower-body injury, but took a step toward rejoining her team.

Poulin didn’t participate in her team’s 5-0 win over Finland on Thursday in Canada’s preliminary-round finale, but she skated in the morning before the game at Milano Rho Ice Hockey Arena.

“All I’ve heard was she was positive and felt good and medical was pleased with it,” Canada’s head coach Troy Ryan said. “I didn’t go. That’s a situation you don’t need coaches. It’s more medical and for her to get a feel for things.”

Poulin hasn’t played since she was injured midway through the first period of Monday’s 5-1 win over Czechia. The 33-year-old forward from Beauceville, Que., was checked hard into the boards by Kristyna Kaltounkova.

Poulin didn’t play in Tuesday’s 5-0 loss to the U.S.

Canada (3-0-0-1) finished second in Group A behind the unbeaten Americans and will meet Germany in Saturday’s quarterfinal.

“No matter what, whether it’s a gold medal or a Germany quarterfinal, we’ll do, in collaboration with medical, our management and Pou — she’s a big part of that conversation. We just don’t decide that. We have to collaborate with her — we’ll do what’s best for her,” Ryan said.

The semifinals are Monday and the medal games are on Feb. 19.

Poulin tried to continue after she was hit by Kaltounkova, but the captain left the offensive zone mid-shift on a subsequent power play and headed for the dressing room.

She later returned to the bench to support her teammates and skated a few test circles after the first-period buzzer, but didn’t return to the game.

The five-time Olympian is the active leader in goals in Olympic women’s hockey with 17, which is one off the record held by her former teammate Hayley Wickenheiser.

Poulin has scored seven goals across four Olympic finals, making her the only player, male or female, to do so.

Her teammate Daryl Watts felt encouraged that her captain was making progress.

“It’s great that she was on the ice,” Watts said. “We can’t wait for her to get back.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 12, 2026.

Donna Spencer, The #Canadian Press

Mboko through to quarterfinals of Qatar Open after upset win over Andreeva.

Mboko, seeded 10th at the WTA 1000 hardcourt tournament, survived match point when Andreeva committed a double fault before converting a crucial break to tie the third set 5-5.

The Canadian finished off the victory in the tiebreaker by ending a match-point rally with a backhand winner.

The contest was the latest chapter in a budding rivalry between two of the top-10 players in women’s tennis.

They met for the first time last month in the final of the Adelaide International, with the 18-year-old Russian winning 6-3, 6-1.

Mboko improved her record to 11-3 this season. The 19-year-old from Toronto is coming off a breakout 2025 campaign in which she won two titles, including a 1000-level crown at the National Bank Open in Montreal.

She entered the Qatar Open with a career-high world ranking of 13th and could potentially break into the top-10 with a win in the quarterfinals.

Mboko will next face the winner of a third-round match between Australian Open champion Elena Rybakina of Kazakhstan and China’s Zheng Qinwen.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 11, 2026.

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#Canada women’s hockey captain Poulin ruled out for game against United States.

The Canadian Olympic Committee and Hockey Canada announced that Marie-Philip Poulin will be unavailable for Tuesday’s game after sustaining a lower-body injury in Canada’s 5-1 win over Czechia on Monday.

Kristyna Kaltounkova hit Poulin nine minutes into the team’s game, making contact with her helmet. Poulin returned for a shift on the resulting power play but headed back to the bench within seconds and seemed to be keeping weight off her right leg.

She headed to the locker room but was briefly back on the Canada bench, smiling broadly, near the end of the first period. Poulin did not return.

Hockey Canada said Tuesday that Poulin had a “lower-body injury.”

“You never like to see that, especially to someone like that, our leader, our rock,” said linemate Laura Stacey, who is also married to Poulin.

“It hurts, and I think our bench did feel that a little bit. We all looked at each other, we all felt it. She’s picked us up so many times, she’s led the way and it was our turn to pick her up.

Poulin, who had an assist in Canada’s tournament-opening 4-0 win over Switzerland, is listed as day-to-day.

The 34-year-old from Beauceville, Que., known as “Captain Clutch,” is in her fifth Olympics and is seeking her fourth Olympic gold medal and fifth overall.

She is known for big Olympic moments against the U.S., including the game-tying goal and the winner in Canada’s 3-2 overtime victory in the 2014 gold medal game and two goals in Canada’s 3-2 championship win in 2022.

Her 17 career Olympic goals are one short of matching the women’s team record set by Hayley Wickenheiser.

She has been particularly dominant against the U.S. in being Canada’s active leader with 74 points (42 goals, 32 assists) in 104 games against the Americans.

Canada enters the game with a 2-0 record, while the Americans are 3-0.

U.S. coach John Wroblewski called it “a shame” upon learning of Poulin’s injury following his team’s 5-0 win over Switzerland on the same evening.

#Canada will close out preliminary play on Thursday against Finland. Their opener on Feb. 5 was postponed because of multiple cases of the norovirus among the Finns.

Poulin’s availability is uncertain for Saturday, when Canada is scheduled to play its quarterfinal against an opponent yet to be determined.

With files from The Associated Press.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 10, 2026.