2026 Winter Olympics Odds, Schedule, Medal Favorites and Predictions for Friday

The 2026 Olympic schedule is jam-packed Friday, with the gold medal awarded in men's figure skating, the continuation of women's hockey with quarterfinal action, and speed skating, snowboarding, and cross country skiing medal events.

What events take place, when can viewers take in the action, which teams are odds-on favorites to accumulate the most medals, and what are predictions for some of the bigger events of the day?

Find out in this preview.

Schedule and Viewing Info

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7:30 a.m.: Snowboarding, Women's Snowboard Cross, Finals (Peacock)

8:00 a.m.: Biathlon, Men's 10k Sprint (USA, Peacock)

8:05 a.m.: Curling, China vs. Switzerland, Women's Round Robin (Peacock)

8:05 a.m.: Curling, Denmark vs. Sweden, Women's Round Robin (Peacock)

8:05 a.m.: Curling, Great Britain vs. South Korea, Women's Round Robin (Peacock)

8:05 a.m.: Curling, USA vs. Canada, Women's Round Robin (Peacock)

10:00 a.m.: Skeleton, Women's Skeleton, Run 1 (USA, Peacock)

10:00 a.m.: Speed Skating, Men's 10,000km (Peacock)

10:40 a.m.: Hockey, Czechia vs. Sweden, Women's Quarterfinal (Peacock)

10:40 a.m.: Hockey, France vs. Czechia, Men's Group A (Peacock)

10:45 a.m.: Figure Skating, Men's Free, Warm-Up (Peacock)

11:45 a.m.: Skeleton, Women's Skeleton, Run 2 (Peacock)

12:45 p.m.: Figure Skating Preview (USA)

12:45 p.m.: Figure Skating, Men's Free (USA)

1:05 p.m.: Curling, Canada vs. Sweden, Men's Round Robin (Peacock)

1:05 p.m.: Curling, Czechia vs. Norway, Men's Round Robin (Peacock)

1:05 p.m.: Curling, Germany vs. Italy, Men's Round Robin (Peacock)

1:05 p.m.: Curling, Switzerland vs. China, Men's Round Robin (Peacock)

1:30 p.m.: Skeleton, Men's Skeleton, Run 3 (Peacock)

1:30 p.m.: Snowboarding, Men's Snowboarding Halfpipe, Final (NBC, Peacock)

2:50 p.m.: Hockey Preview (USA)

3:00 p.m.: Figure Skating, Men's Free (NBC, Peacock)

3:05 p.m.: Skeleton, Men's Skeleton, Final Run (Peacock)

3:10 p.m.: Hockey, Canada vs. Switzerland, Men's Group A (Peacock)

3:10 p.m.: Hockey, USA vs. Italy, Women's Quarterfinal (USA)

5:30 p.m.: Skeleton, Men's Skeleton, Runs 3-4 (USA)

Medal Odds

Henk Jan Dijks/Marcel ter Bals/DeFodi Images/DeFodi via Getty Images

Most Gold Medals

Norway (-1000)

United States (+600)

Italy (+3300)

Germany (+6500)

Canada (+8000)

Netherlands (+10000)

Most Medals

Norway (-230)

United States (+185)

Italy (+750)

Germany (+5500)

Odds via FanDuel Sportsbook

USA vs. Italy Women's Hockey Quarterfinal Pick

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The US women's hockey team dominated preliminary competition, scoring 20 goals and yielding just one.

It was a one-sided display of excellence that included a 5-goal blanking of Canada and sent a message loudly and clearly that they are the clear favorite to leave Milano Cortina with the gold medal.

Friday, they battle the host country in the quarterfinals.

Italy went 2-2 in their preliminary games and was outscored 11-9. Still, the Italians should avoid an enormous blowout loss after giving up more than two goals just once.

The Americans, led by top scorer Caroline Harvey, Alex Carpenter, and Hilary Knight, will find the net plenty, but anyone expecting a double-digit victory should temper expectations.

The United States wins, big enough, and continues their skate to a gold medal.

Men's Free Skate Final Pick

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Ilia Malinin is the best skater in the world, and his coronation will occur on Friday.

The Virginian already won the gold medal for the United States in the Team Event and will have the opportunity to add his own, individual award Friday. He leads Japan's Yuma Kagiyama by five points entering the Men's Free Skate Final and, barring a subpar performance, should lock up the gold.

The self-proclaimed "Quad God" will likely pull out his signature move, as well as his trademark flips, in pursuit of the most coveted prize in his sport.

If he lands them all as flawlessly as he has on the road to Milano Cortina, there is no reason to believe he will not sew up the gold medal and leave no question as to who the best in his sport is.

Kagiyama is capable of upsetting him, and he has already, in the Men's Short program during the Team Event, but this very much feels like Malinin's opportunity to prove all of the hype, pomp, and circumstance surrounding him correct.