By JAMES ELLINGWORTH AP Sports Writer
MILAN (AP) — Federica Brignone and Johannes Hoesflot Klaebo glided into history at the Milan Cortina Olympics on Sunday in very different ways.
Host nation Italy was delighted as Brignone’s sensational comeback continued with a second gold medal of these Games. She’s still in pain after a badly broken leg last year.
Klaebo has the most gold medals of any Winter Olympian in history with nine after taking gold with Norway’s cross-country men’s relay team.
Brignone does it again
Winning one gold medal in super-G made Brignone feel like she was living in a movie.
What do great movies get? A sequel.
The Italian skier known as “the Tiger” was unbeatable in the giant slalom for her second gold of the Olympics and fifth career medal, breaking her own record as the oldest women’s Alpine skiing Olympic champion.
There were two silver medalists as Sara Hector and Thea Louise Stjernesund finished in exactly the same time and bowed to Brignone to mark her victory.
After breaking multiple bones in March, Brignone needed two surgeries and 42 stitches to put her leg back together. She only returned to skiing in January.
Mikaela Shiffrin of the United States was 11th and has now failed to win a medal in eight straight Olympic races since Pyeongchang in 2018.
Record ninth gold medal for Norwegian skier
Klaebo stands alone as the most successful Winter Olympian in history after winning his ninth career gold medal in cross-country skiing.
Norway’s prime minister was watching as Klaebo anchored his team’s relay gold Sunday. That broke a tie at eight gold medals with three other Norwegians: cross-country skiers Marit Bjoergen and Bjoern Daehlie and biathlete Ole Einar Bjoerndalen.
Klaebo could get into double figures by the end of the Milan Cortina Games. His next chances for a 10th gold are in the team sprint on Wednesday or the 50-kilometer race on Saturday. Also, he’s only 29 years old.
Norway ended Sunday with a Games-leading 26 medals, 12 gold. Host nation Italy reached 22 on Sunday, its best-ever Winter Olympic medal haul. The U.S. and Japan have 17 apiece.
More controversy rocks curling
The typically calm world of curling has been rocked by a controversy over double-touching, and it broadened Sunday as the British men’s team had a stone removed for the violation.
Until Sunday, the Canadian men’s and women’s teams had been in the focus of scrutiny. An expletive-laden outburst by Canada’s Marc Kennedy after an accusation of a double touch against Sweden on Friday highlighted the problem. A double touch is when a player touches a stone again after releasing it.
U.S. and Canada win again in men’s hockey
In men’s hockey, the U.S. and Canada both made sure of quarterfinal spots with convincing wins in the final game of group play. Canada routed France 10-2 and took the top seed on goal differential. Canada will play either Czechia or Denmark in the quarterfinals.
The U.S. beat Germany 5-1 and is set to face the winner of the qualification round game Tuesday between Sweden and Latvia.
Another win for the moguls king
Mikael Kingsbury of Canada has won almost everything there is to win in moguls skiing. When a new Olympic event was added, he won that, too.
Kingsbury took gold, his fifth career Olympic medal, in the inaugural dual moguls event Sunday, three days after settling for silver in the traditional moguls event, won by Australian Cooper Woods.
Dutch speedskater Jutta Leerdam won another medal but it was silver, not gold, as her teammate Femke Kok won the women’s 1,000 meters. Miho Takagi of Japan was third and defending champion Erin Jackson of the U.S. fifth.
Britain won its first snow-sport Olympic gold in history, a victory for Charlotte Bankes and Huw Nightingale in team snowboardcross. There was another British gold in team skeleton hours later.
Biathlon saw a first Olympic gold for Italy as Lisa Vittozzi won the women’s pursuit, hours after Sweden’s Martin Ponsiluoma took a surprise gold in the men’s event.
Norwegian ski jumper Anna Odine Stroem won the first-ever Olympic women’s large hill event to finish the Games with two gold medals and a silver.
German figure skaters Minerva Fabienne Hase and Nikita Volodin lead the pairs event after the short program after other gold-medal contenders made mistakes. The free skate is Monday.
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This story has been corrected to fix the spelling of Lisa Vittozzi’s last name.