MARCH 6, 2026 SPORTS KEVIN KINCHEN Groundcover vendor No. 691 For those of us who know Michigan as the "Water-Winter Wonderland," it is only befitting that the Great Lakes State be granted at least a small stake, a minute share, a morsel, of Winter Olympic glory in the aftermath of the recent 2026 Milan Cortina Winter Olympic Games. Men's Hockey Did you know that all four overtime skaters for the United States men’s hockey team, in their dramatic victory against Canada, are native Michiganders? Technically. Dylan Larkin, Zach Werenski and Connor Hellebuyck were born and bred here in Michigan (Waterford, Gross Pointe and Commerce, respectively). Golden goal scoring hero Jack Hughes was born in Orlando, Florida. However, he moved to Michigan at the age of 14 to play for the U.S. National Team Development Program based in Plymouth. It was this move that allowed him to join forces with Werenski, Larkin, and Hellebuyck as part of the Belle Tire Hockey Club in Detroit. Unbeknownst to them, they began weaving the tapestry of a destined return to glory for United States hockey that even Nostradamus didn’t see coming. It just so happens that the day on which the men’s hockey team won gold for the first time in 46 years, was the 46-year anniversary — to the date (February 22, 1980) — of the "Miracle on Ice" in Lake Placid, New York. This is the famed game in which a group of amateur ranked college kids — with dim prospects of making it into the NHL — beat the indomitable Soviet Union team, four goals to three. In the stands and in the broadcast booth, spectators were left to shout, “Do you believe in miracles!!!?” Just two weeks prior the Soviets had literally crushed United States in an exhibition inside Madison Square Garden by a score that read: USSR 10 USA 3. The event was so inspiring towards national striving and patriotism for the next generation of skaters that it eventually made its way to the silver screen as "Miracle" (2004). Figure Skating Ann Arbor-born Ice Dance figure skater Evan Bates, alongside his lovely wife Madison Chock, ensured just that with a series of riveting performances in the Individual Ice Dance event. Evan graduated from Huron High School and holds a degree from the University of Michigan in Organizational Studies. Madison is a talented and beautiful Hawaiian, Chinese, German, Irish, French and Dutch heritaged California native. Their showings in both the rhythm dance and free dance were nothing short of poetry on ice. A balletic opera performed with speed, precision, agility and synchrony that supercedes even the actors in a play by William Shakespeare. Dancing to “Paint it Black,” they were majestic; they could slide, glide and soar. They waltzed, tangoed and paso dobled across the Flagbearers Hilary Knight and Evan Bates of the United States in the parade of athletes during the closing ceremony. Milano Cortina 2026 Olympics. Verona Olympic Arena, Verona, Italy. REUTERS/Guglielmo Mangiapane ice with Chock the miniature matador and Bates the towering bull. Skating second-to-last in the final event, they temporarily seized the best score of the skate (134.67) before the final skaters, France’s Guillaume Cizeron and Lauren Fournier Beaudry, posted a 135.64 to bring their score for the dances combined to 225.82, edging our flag-bearing protagonists by 1.43 total points for the Gold. The scoring came with much controversy as the judge from France is considered to have given an inordinately high score to their home team. Some have gone as far as to say Chock and Bates were hands-down the best team, and that they were cheated out of Gold. After skating together for 15 years and four Olympics this is their first PODIUM from last page merely oversight, but a troubling normalization of a crisis that has lingered far too long and continues with no visible slowing in sight. From a Comprehensive Land Use Plan standpoint, the City’s promise of inclusion began to feel more symbolic than substantive. The plan speaks of broad participation, yet the lack of recognition for voices grounded in firsthand reality — particularly those navigating housing instability — raises important questions about how equitability is actually practiced. It did not feel like a simple overMadison Chock and Evan Bates of the United States perform during the Exhibition Gala. Milano Cortina 2026 Olympics, Figure Skating. Milano Ice Skating Arena, Milan, Italy. REUTERS/Claudia Greco sight, but rather a continuation of longstanding planning habits that have historically kept unhoused residents outside of infrastructure conversations. I found myself individual medal. They have Olympic team medal (including one on Feb. 8 of these games), as well as medals in World Championships, Grand Prix Final, World Team Trophy and World Junior Championship. Full disclosure, I had no idea that I could gain so much enjoyment out of watching figure skating. Now, Chock and Bates are the envy of the world. As it turns out, Milano Ice Skating Arena in Italy was a place in the world where true love was alive, moving, grooving, and oh so soothing. At least, that’s the picture the most decorated United States dance ice skate team in history painted on the world stage, with their Olympic experience culminating in a Silver medal on February 11, 2026. GROUNDCOVER NEWS Mich. athletes represent in 2026 Winter Olympics 9 wondering whether my perspective was overlooked because it came directly from lived experience rather than from an organization or credentialed representative considered more formally recognized within the planning process. When planning processes lean more heavily toward institutional authority than real-world insight, the goals of sustainability, dynamic community growth, and equity risk becoming aspirational language rather than measurable practice. Still, whether or not my remarks were acknowledged by the media, the public record reflects that I was present and that I spoke. That fact alone affirms a larger truth: unhoused residents are not peripheral to the city’s future. We are part of its infrastructure, and we deserve a place in shaping its design.
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