“I am not aware,” said International Olympic Committee (IOC) chief Kirsty Coventry in a bizarre press conference as she was caught uninformed on multiple recent developments. She also took a dig at her PR team as she continuously struggled to respond the questions asked in the conference.

Coventry, who became the first woman and African to be elected as the IOC President last year, was asked about the recent statement of Germany’s President disapproving the country’s bid for the 2036 Olympics. She was also asked a question around Russian anti-doping agency’s involvement in doping during Sochi Winter Games in 2014 and the involvement of FIFA President Gianni Infantino in the Board of Peace.

To all these questions, Coventry said that she could not answer as she was totally unaware of these developments.

Coventry’s bizarre press conference

German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier on Friday said that it would be inappropriate for the country to host the 2036 Olympics as they will be exactly 100 years after the Games were hosted by Nazi Germany.

International Olympic Committee President Kirsty Coventry snapped at her PR team, repeatedly saying ‘I was not aware’ during a news conference, in response to questions about recent events, including a statement from Germany opposing the 2036 bid due to historical sensitivity. pic.twitter.com/xH2dQNtGCF

— DW News (@dwnews) February 20, 2026

When asked about the opinions of IOC over this, Coventry said: “Frankly, and I’m looking at my team because I was not aware that Germany had made any comments in and around 2036. So I don’t really have an opinion on on it.”

Soon after that another reporter asked that a known whistleblower informed WADA weeks ago that the current chair of the Russian Anti Doping Agency was directly involved with the widespread doping surrounding the Sochi Games in 2014 and that the IOC was aware of this.

Coventry slammed her team in front of the press, saying someone will have to be dismissed as she remained uninformed about this as well.

“OK, I really looking at my team and maybe someone needs to be dismissed because I’m not aware of that either. So, but I would be very interested to find out more about it,” she said.

Another question further added to her embarrassment when she was asked if the Olympic committee will look into IOC member Infantino’s involvement in a political project at the ‘Board of Peace’.

“Well, again, I was not aware of it. So now that you guys have made us aware of it, we’ll go back and then of course, we’ll have a look into it,” she said.

The 2026 Winter Olympics are going on in full swing in Milan and Cortina as the best of athletes are competing hard to collect medals and memories. One such wholesome moment came during the final of the women’s snowboard halfpipe event.

USA’s South Korean-origin athlete, Chloe Kim, the two-time defending champion of the event, seemed set to earn her third straight gold. In competition was also a 17-year-old South Korean Choi Ga-on.

Choi did not have the best of starts to the event but ultimately emerged as the shock winner to dethrone Chloe. As Choi won the event, Chloe rushed towards the teenager and embraced her. She had mentored Choi and despite losing the gold could not stop herself from celebrating the victory. While Choi’s win was big, there was another big story unfolding at the same time.

Asian powers rise in snowboarding

Winter Olympics is a stronghold of the western countries. European nations like Switzerland, France, and Austria dominated many Winter Olympic disciplines throughout the history of these events. They had the money, they had the infrastructure and they had a cultural affinity towards snow sports as well.

However, things are changing now. Not just did a South Korean athlete and another one of origins in South Korea won the snowboarding gold and silver medals, the bronze to went to an Asian country. Japan’s Mitsuki Ono clinched the bronze, to mark the first time in history that an all-Asian podium had been achieved in women’s snowboarding halfpipe in Winter Olympics history.

After years of playing catch-up, these East Asian powers are now rising rapidly. South Korea, Japan, China, and the Asian diaspora in western countries is now challenging old hierarchies of winter sports.

With more and more Asians at the podium leading the charge, expect more of them to join these sports back home. This will further boost Asian efforts in snow sports and soon other countries too will join in. The power dynamics in winter sports are being challenged and it helps the entire winter sports ecosystem if these sports go global.

Rich Ruohonen was in the fifth grade when he started curling in his home state of Minnesota in the United States. Since starting curling in 1981, he has taken only one season off from the sport and that was when he was injured. All that hard work brought good results for him as he became one his country’s biggest names in the sport.

Ruohonen won the national championship in 2008 and 2018. He also led the United States side at the 2018 World
Curling Championships and has back-to-back medals at the senior world championships in men’s curling (2024 silver, 2025 bronze).

Despite all these achievements, one dream would keep eluding him not matter how much he tried. The ticket to the Olympics always ditched him. After a lot of heartbreaks, Ruohonen thought that his time had passed. No one as old as him had represented the United States at the Winter Olympics. In 2022, he started focussing on his thriving law business after consistent failed at attempts to get into the Winter Games.

Ruohonen’s Olympic dream comes true

Danny Casper was expected to lead USA at the Winer Olympics in men’s curling. However, he was suffering from an autoimmune condition and that meant he could not continue to be part of the side. His team went on to look for a replacement and found their perfect alternative in Ruohonen. His age of 54 was not a bane but actually a boon for him as his experience would help him get into the team.

At 54, Ruohonen sneaked into his first Olympics listed as an alternate. He is set to become the oldest from the United States to compete at the Winter Olympics.

But he is not limiting himself to just being a useful team man on the field but off it as well.

Dad-like presence in Team USA

According to a story in the Wall Street Journal, Ruohonen has a dad-like presence in the team. He is preparing breakfast for the players, keeping the grocery lists in check and does more of such stuff to give his teammates the rest that they need. He is twice as old as some of his teammates and actually has kids of similar age.

A highly successful lawyer by profession, the 54-year-old is also spending out of his own pocket to help the athletes cover some of the travel and lodging expenses.

Before leaving for Milan for the Winter Games, he set the automatic email reply for his law firm: “I am out of the office. Playing in the Olympics.”

His teammates have promised him game time and that would complete his dream of not just getting to the Olympics but also contributing on the ice, like he has done for so many years.