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I'm with the fans watching the women’s gold-medal game. Newly minted bronze-medallist ice dancer Piper Gilles just arrived at the Santagiulia arena to cheer on Canada.  

"The women are going to win the gold, I can feel it," said Gilles. 

Gilles has been taking in other competitions since her bronze-medal win with Paul Poirier last week. She was spotted at the speed-skating women’s pursuit, where Canada took gold.  

On the commitment of Canadian fans attending these games, she said it "means so much." 

While the gold-medal game doesn't appear to be sold out, you wouldn't know it from the competing cheers erupting from the stands.

In the crowd, there are plenty of flags, many jerseys bearing the name Poulin. I've counted at least two eagle heads from the U.S. Fans.

It's a major shift from Beijing 2022, when the stands were empty under pandemic protocols.

An early power play for the Canadians, after the Americans get caught with too many players on the ice.

Canada creates a couple of great chances, but we’re still scoreless here in the first.

A reminder: Poulin has scored seven goals in Olympic gold medal games, more than anyone else on the planet.

The women's game is now underway and we're scoreless after four minutes. The arena is packed with a mix of Canadian and U.S. Fans, with the latter chanting "U-S-A" from the stands.

We know this will be the last battle we will see between team captains Marie-Philip Poulin and Hilary Knight on the Olympic stage.

Knight has said this will be her final Olympics. Poulin has said she hasn't thought that far ahead yet, so we could very well see her at another Games.

It's the fifth Olympics we've gotten to watch this rivalry — and it's been one of the best.

It's unlikely the Canadians will be able to outscore the Americans in a final. They'll need to grind out the game, play aggressively and with belief.

Assistant captain Renata Fast said she felt her team has played "timid" against the Americans, letting the other team take control. This time, she promised, will be different.

"The team that shows up for the gold medal game will be a team that's going to be fearless and won't back down," Fast said.

The Canadian women's hockey team had its final practice yesterday before today's gold-medal game. Captain Marie-Philip Poulin talked about managing their time and space better against the U.S.

Poulin had to watch from the stands last time around. Not this time.

Assistant captain Renata Fast described it as the biggest game of her life. She said her team has heard the narrative about their seven straight losses to the U.S.

"It's just noise in the background," she said.

All three men on the 1,500-metre long-track podium skated under the previous Olympic record. 

This is the seventh different speed-skating event to produce a new Olympic record at these Games — which is still less than the 10 records set at Beijing 2022.

China's Ning Zhongyan led the charge, stopping the clock in 1:41.98 to claim gold.

It's Zhongyan's third medal of the Games after bronze in the 1,000 metres and the team pursuit, and he could yet make it four in the mass start. 

American star Jordan Stolz added silver to his already golden Games with a time of 1:42.75. Stolz, 21, won gold in both the 500 metres and 1,000 metres. 

The Netherlands's Kjeld Nuis took bronze in 1:42.82, falling short in his bid to win a third straight Olympic 1,500-metre title after triumphs in 2018 and 2022.

Canadians David La Rue, 27, and Daniel Hall, 20, finished 15th and 23rd, respectively. Both men are making their Olympic debut at Milano-Cortina.

Here's how the Americans are lining up. The puck will drop at 1:10 p.m. ET:

Forward

Defence

Goaltender

The lines are in and Canada has made only one small tweak from yesterday: Natalie Spooner has swapped places with Jenn Gardiner, who's now the extra forward.

Claire Thompson didn't practice with the group yesterday to get some treatment for an injury, but she is good to go.

No surprise here, but Ann-Renée Desbiens gets the start. She'll need to have a big game today.

Here's the full lineup:

Forward

Defence

Goaltender 

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