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Jens van ’t Wout of the Netherlands raced to his second Olympic gold medal in three days at the Milano Cortina 2026 Olympic Winter Games in an exciting Men’s 1500m final at the Milano Ice Skating Arena on Saturday. The many Dutch fans at the packed stadium had good reason to celebrate once more. 

Van 't Wout strikes again in 'crazy race'

“Flying Dutchman” Jens van ’t Wout fended off a challenge from the Beijing 1500m Olympic Champion Hwang Daeheon of the Republic of Korea to secure his second gold in his second individual competition in Milan. 

Roberts Kruzbergs of Latvia was a surprise bronze medalist as he won an historic first Short Track medal for his country at the Olympic Winter Games.

Van ’t Wout sat in third or fourth position throughout the first eight laps before he took his chance to pull ahead of the pack. The newly crowned 1000m Olympic Champion held onto his lead and crossed the finish line first, closely followed by Hwang - the Korean had also come from behind but fought until the end to snatch silver. 

Jens van 't Wout proudly waves the flag of the Netherlands after adding 1500m gold to the 1000m title he won on Thursday © Getty Images

“I'm super, super pumped. I always dreamed to become Olympic champion, but it never crossed my mind that I could win two distances,” van 't Wout said, sharing his winning strategy.

“This race is crazy, with nine people. I decided to watch the race from four years ago in Beijing when Hwang Daeheon won. It was exact the same set up. I tried to maybe copy his [Hwang’s] tactic a little bit, stay in the front, and I have no idea how it worked, but it worked. And that's the beauty of short track.”

For Hwang, his silver was meaningful after a tough season with not the best results. 

"I went through a lot of hardships to get here, and I'm incredibly happy and honored to be standing in this place again,” he commented.

“I think at these Games I was able to prove myself again and this medal is really precious for me. I feel extremely grateful to all those who kept supporting me so steadily.”

Kruzbergs makes history for Latvia

Kruzbergs signalled his potential by claiming silver in the 1500m at the ISU European Championships earlier this year, and on Thursday made it into the 1000m Final A where he came fifth. 

In the 1500m final in Milan, Kruzbergs made sure not to lose touch with the leaders and at the finish was rewarded with bronze.

Van 't Wout, Hwang Daeheon (KOR) and Roberts Kruzbergs (LAT) avoided any collisions to take the podium places © Getty Images

"I'm the first one to do it [win an Olympic Short Track medal] and I'm not the type of guy which usually shows the crazy emotions, but basically I knew that this is a huge, huge achievement because of how my teammate was celebrating for me,” Kruzbergs noted. 

“The emotions will settle in and I think tomorrow I will know what I did today.”

Kruzbergs celebrated a big breakthrough this season. 

“I'm super glad that I did the championship medal at Europeans and this was when I was even not feeling super great,” he explained. 

“I'm really, really happy also for my coach Gregory Durand because after the 1000m he was crying and he said it's not over. This gave me an incredible boost and I wanted to show him that yes, it's not over.”

Reigning 1500m ISU World Champion William Dandjinou (CAN) was out of luck again after missing a medal in the 1000m and finished fifth despite sitting in a medal position for almost the entire race.

"The race was going great. I think you saw it, I got bumped out,” Dandjinou said. 

“Tried to come back, kind of managed to, but my legs were cooked by then. Not much I could do."

1000m silver medalist Sun Long (CHN) and Olympic Record holder Liu Shaoang (CHN) both made it to Final A but fell in a collision. Due to advancements from the fiercely contested semis, nine skaters competed in a crowded Final A. 

The 1500m Olympic bronze medalist Rim Jongun (KOR) crashed out in the quarter-final. 

2022 Olympic Champion Hwang took silver and Kruzbergs the bronze, Latvia's first ever Olympic Short Track medal  © Getty Images

Netherlands, Italy, Korea and Canada to race for Women’s 3000m Relay medals

The Netherlands, Italy, Korea and Canada advanced to Final A of the Women’s 3000m Relay. 

The Dutch trio, led by 500m Olympic Champion Xandra Velzeboer, won the first semifinal ahead of Italy, whose team included the legendary Arianna Fontana.

Canada's Courtney Sarault, left, passed Li Gong (CHN) in the final metres to finish second behind Korea's Kim Gilli © Getty Images

The team of the Republic of Korea, including three-time Olympic Champion Choi Minjeong, came out on top in the second semi-final. Canada led the first 18 laps but then fell back until final racer Courtney Sarault overtook China's Li Gong on the last half-lap to secure second place and a spot in Final A. 

The Women’s 3000m Relay finals will take place on Wednesday, February 18.

Olympic Champions Velzeboer, Fontana qualify for 1000m quarters

There were few surprises in the Women’s 1000m heats. New 500m Olympic Champion Xandra Velzeboer, Italian Short Track queen Fontana, 500m bronze medalist Sarault as well as 1000m Olympic silver and bronze medalists Choi Minjeong (KOR) and Belgium’s Hanne Desmet all qualified easily for the quarterfinals. 

The Women’s 1000m will conclude on Monday, February 16 with the quarterfinals, semifinals and finals.

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