Steven Dubois of Canada struck the first gold for the proud Short Track nation at the Olympic Winter Games Milano Cortina 2026 on Wednesday in the Men's 500m. The Korean Women recaptured the Olympic title in the 3000m Relay as another exciting day of racing at the Milano Ice Skating Arena concluded.

Dubois is finally golden, Van ‘t Wout brothers together on the podium 

Canada’s Steven Dubois finally claimed his first individual Olympic gold medal and got the first Short Track gold for his country at these Olympic Winter Games. A big surprise was Melle van ‘t Wout, who outskated his brother and two-time Olympic Champion Jens to win the silver on his birthday. 

Steven Dubois and Melle van 't Wout celebrate after Wednesday's thrilling race © Getty Images

Dubois dominated from the quarter-finals and did not let his gold medal chance slip away in the final. The reigning ISU World Champion controlled the race from the beginning and never relinquished the lead. Four years ago, Dubois had won gold in the Men’s Relay, silver in the 1500m and bronze in the 500m and now added the first individual gold medal to his resume. 

“It's pretty special,” Dubois shared. “It [the gold medal] was the only one I was missing really, and I wanted it pretty bad. It feels nice to actually get a grasp on the gold and beat these guys here that are super strong.

"I am really conscious of my strengths and weaknesses, and I knew the only way to beat Jens was to do a little bit of a controlled start. I took my shot and it paid off."

It is the first individual Short Track gold for Canada since Charles Hamelin won the 500m in Vancouver in 2010.

Steven Dubois celebrates with his gold medal on Wednesday in Milan © Getty Images

“It means a lot to me and for Canadian Short Track,” Dubois added. He is now looking forward to the final event, the Men’s 5000m Relay. “It’s going to give us a little fire for the last relay coming up.”

Little heralded Melle van ‘t Wout had never competed at the ISU World Championships and has only a bronze medal from the 2026 ISU European Championships on his record. However, Wednesday was his day in Milan and he earned himself the biggest birthday present. Van ‘t Wout, rather unexpectedly, made it to the final A when the favored Pietro Sighel (ITA) and Maxime Laoun (CAN) fell in his semi-final. Coming from the fifth starting position, Van ‘T Wout got himself into second place and held on to that while his younger brother Jens crossed the finish line just behind him. To the delight of the fans, the brothers hugged and celebrated together. Jens van ‘T Wout won his third medal in Milan after the gold in the 1000m and 1500m.

“It's really unbelievable,” Melle van ‘t Wout said. “It's been a hard road coming back from injuries and I felt like I kept on getting better every competition during the season but an Olympic medal was definitely not something I thought was possible. I was skating my best. I have been in training building up to the Olympics, so I had a lot of confidence but then again I was just two feet on the ground and I came in today with just wanting to skate three good races. I was really proud of my quarter-final leading of 40.5, for me that's by far the fastest I've ever led, so after that race my day was already pretty good, so this is just, it's unbelievable."

His brother was incredibly happy for him. 

“I think this is probably the most special medal I've ever won,” Jens van ‘t Wout noted. “I'm of course very proud to be up here again myself, but to be here with my brother is something we've always dreamed of as children, but we never really knew it was doable. It's already super hard to make the Olympics and then to get to the A final is another task and to do it together and then get on the podium together, it's like… I don't know what the percentage is, but it's small, so I'm so happy about the medals that we have.

“To see my brother after such a hard season, with injuries and such, to be on the podium here, I can't even think to explain how this feels for me."

The Van 't Wout brothers celebrate after a thrilling 500m race in Milan © Getty Images

Jens van ‘t Wout was even rooting for his brother during the race. 

"I think around lap three, when I saw Melle go from five to two, I wasn't even racing anymore, I was just watching him. So I wasn't even in this race for myself, I was just hoping he would stay on his feet. I really had to tell myself to not yell, because I wanted to yell at him to go."

Four-time ISU World Champion William Dandjinou (CAN) missed his last chance for an individual Olympic medal after being penalized in the final A.

The 2022 Olympic Champion in the 500m, Liu Shaoang (CHN), failed to qualify for the A final when he fell in the semis and went on to come first in the final B.

Republic of Korea races to gold in dramatic Women’s 3000m Relay

The Republic of Korea prevailed in a dramatic Women’s Relay final, edging Italy for the gold. Canada clinched the bronze while top favorites Netherlands finished out of the medals, like in the Mixed Relay. 

The Republic of Korea team celebrate after winning gold in the Women's 3000m Relay © Getty Images

The Koreans, led by Choi Minjeong and Kim Gilli, were in third position for most of the race before making their move and pulling ahead of Italy and Canada.

Choi won the fourth Olympic gold of her illustrious career while Italian Short Track queen Arianna Fontana skated with her team to her 14^th Olympic medal. She is now the most successful Italian Olympian in history. 

Italian skating legend Arianna Fontana waves to the crowd after winning silver on Wednesday © Getty Images

Shim Sukhee, Noh Dohee and Lee Soyeon raced with Choi and Kim to gold. The Korean squad had taken silver four years ago in Beijing behind the Netherlands and now are back on the top of the podium. 

“Bringing back the gold to Korea in the Women’s relay is a testament to our strength and to show that Korea is a powerhouse in Short Track relay,” Choi noted. “We really wanted to prove that we are very strong. It was a very difficult competition with very strong opponents.”

The Italians were only in fourth position but used their chance when the Dutch express derailed as Michelle Velzeboer crashed. The top seeded Dutch team rallied to catch up but were not successful. 

“We were able to stay focused, calm and collected through the whole race,” Fontana commented. “I knew it was going to be chaotic and we tried to put some pressure on the others. We just stayed calm and took advantage of other skaters’ mistakes to find our way to the podium."

The Canadians were leading from the third to the 22nd lap before being overtaken.

“I think I'm just really proud of this team for how we held ourselves,” Sarault said. “A lot of chaos happened, it's short track, it happens a lot in our sport. I'm just super impressed by the girl's ability to handle those situations and just see their determination and drive to try and win this race. I feel we're all on the same page and we all did our best and that's really all you can do. We can walk away with our heads held really high because we left our heart out there.”

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