The 2026 Winter Olympics are now officially underway after the opening ceremony in Milan, which is co-hosting with the City of Cortina.

Today's star-studded spectacle featured performances by Mariah Carey and Andrea Bocelli, among others.

About 2,800 athletes from more than 90 countries are taking part.

And this week's episode of our podcast,

Settle In, is all about the games and what you need to know. I spoke with Christine Brennan of USA Today

before she flew to Italy for more on the games, the athletes, and the world coming together

in an uncertain era. Let's talk about some of the big storylines to watch because there's so many fascinating

personalities and so many potentially exciting moments.

Let's start with women skiing and Michaela Schifrin because if you are someone like me

who loves a redemption story or loves a comeback, this could be the one, right?

Absolutely.

Tell us about Michaela.

Michaela Schifrin is only 30 years old.

She's lived a lifetime or two or three, you know, early success, Sochi and Pyongcheng,

and then absolutely a devastating Olympics in 2022, which she just broke my heart to watch.

And you and probably millions of people watching. No, and it just had a terrible run of bad luck, didn't finish.

Everything that she had done so beautifully over the time she'd been in the public eye, it all fell apart.

You know, everything that could go wrong

did go wrong. But, you know, great why people love her so much and why she is such a terrific

role model and good person is the way she handled it, answered every question, showed up at

interviews, didn't run away, didn't hide. Absolutely pro. Talked about her mental health, talked about

how hard this was. It's bigger than sports. And she handled it beautifully. And here she comes. She is

...