Arianna Fontana (ITA) claimed the women’s 1500m gold medal at the 2026 ISU Short Track European Championships in Tilburg, Netherlands, on Sunday, showing that her form is on-point just weeks ahead of the Milano Cortina 2026 Olympic Winter Games.

The 11-time Olympic medalist was in fifth place halfway through the final, when she started to make her way toward the front of the pack. She took the lead with four laps to go and was unbeatable, finishing in 2:42.479 with silver medalist Zoe Deltrap (NED) at a comfortable distance behind her, as Italy’s Arianna Sighel claimed bronze.

Arianna Fontana (ITA) on her way to the 1500m European title in Tilburg, Netherlands © ISU

“I was just trying to race smart and use my experience. I knew pretty much what the other girls were going to do so I tried to race smart and use that as my advantage,” Fontana said.

The big aim for Italy’s most decorated Short Track skater, who won her first Olympic gold medal at Torino 2006 at the age of 15, is her second home Games, where the Short Track action starts on 10 February.

“I wasn’t really chasing any medals. I was like, ‘If a medal comes – great’, but at the end of the day I was just here to use these races as training to prepare for the Games,” Fontana said.

“I haven’t raced much this season so I needed this weekend just to get into racing mode.”

Many might think that a gold medal at the European Championships means you are good to go for Olympic glory, but Fontana does not.

“It’s a good thing we still have a few weeks before we start competing and we will definitely use them to finalize everything, for sure,” the 35-year-old said.

“We definitely have to work on a couple of things, but everyone has to do that. I’m sure I’m not the only one.”

European champion Arianna Fontana (ITA) flanked by Zoe Deltrap (bronze, NED, left) and Arianna Sighel (silver, ITA) at the 2026 ISU European Short Track Championships in Tilburg, Netherlands © ISU

The silver was Deltrap’s first individual medal at a major championship.

“I’m so happy. It’s amazing to win my first medal, and here in front of a home crowd. It’s really special,” she said.

“I crossed the line and thought, ’Oh my god, what just happened?’. It was a real shock that I came second over the line.

“Then I saw that they were going to look at my passing and I was like, ‘Oh no, don’t give me a penalty’. I was almost crying there because I was so stressed, then they said there was no call and I was so happy.”

Zoe Deltrap (NED) in action in Tilburg, Netherlands © ISU

The 20-year-old said confidence was key as she reached her first Championships podium.

“Sometimes I struggle a little with that, but the first races this weekend gave me the confidence that I can do good races and I skated with confidence. That was key,” she said.

“My coach said, ‘Just try to read the race and do what you can do in the race’. Sometimes I have some idea of what to do and then it goes wrong, so I just read the race a little bit and see what I can do.”

Beating Fontana, one of the best 1500m skaters in the world, however, remains a milestone for the future for Deltrap.

“I think I have to do a little bit more to beat her,” she said.

“I have to do more races and be more consistent. She’s got much more experience, she has skated since 2005, and that’s when I was born, so I have a few more years to beat her.”

Sighel also has her focus on the races on home ice next month, but was happy that her shape right now was enough for a bronze medal.

“It wasn’t one of my best races,” the 29-year-old said.

“I’ve had three tough weeks of training, so coming here I was not in my best shape, but I was trying to make the best of it. I wanted to at least try to do something good, and I’m happy.”

The women’s 500m final was a display of Dutch dominance, much to the liking of the full stands in Tilburg’s IJssportcentrum as the host nation produced a podium clean sweep.

European 500m glory for the Netherlands: (L-R) Michelle Velzeboer, Selma Poutsma, and Xandra Velzeboer in Tilburg, Netherlands © ISU

Selma Poutsma (NED) set off at a high pace in the first lap, with the Velzeboer sisters, Xandra and Michelle, chasing. Xandra Velzeboer held second place, found a gap in the last lap, and managed to push past her teammate to claim the gold medal in 41.859 seconds.

“It was a super exciting final. Selma opened super fast and me and Michelle had to chase her, and I’m happy that I could close the gap and pass in the last lap,” the winner said.

“The time we skated was also insane. To do this at the European Championships right here was great. The ice had a good grip but I really didn’t expect these kinds of times, so I’m excited that we showed such a high level of Short Track with this team.

“We can really push each other to get better. I really hope we can show this level, or hopefully even better, at the (Olympic) Games.”

The 24-year-old, who won gold medals in the 500m, 1000m, women’s relay and mixed relay this weekend, said she had tried to keep calm behind Poutsma, knowing that she had the capacity to pass her.

“I really felt that I had more speed, so I tried to keep calm and be confident that I could close the gap,” Xandra Velzeboer said.

“Selma and I have been in this situation a lot of times and have experience of this, and I’m super excited for her, that she’s at this level again after injury. I’m happy for this team and for being on the podium with my sister again.

“It was a really good weekend – gold in all the distances I started in – so I’m super happy with that, but I think I’m maybe even more happy with the level of skating we showed as a team.”

Triumphant in Tilburg: Xandra Velzeboer (NED) at the 2026 ISU European Short Track Championships in Tilburg, Netherlands © ISU

Chasing a first individual Olympic title, Velzeboer sees the medal haul as proof of progress.

“I really felt like I could do something extra in comparison to the beginning of the season and I think that the level was super high already then,” she said.

“So I’m really happy that I’m growing into the season. The goal is of course to be at my highest level at the Olympics and I hope that I can get there, but this is a good start.”

In the last metres, her younger sister made a move on the outside to clinch the silver 0.011 seconds ahead of Poutsma.

Michelle Velzeboer (NED) in European Championship action in Tilburg, Netherlands © ISU

“It was a challenging weekend and the first rounds of all the distances weren’t easy, so I’m really happy that this final was so fast and that I could still manage to get the second place,” Michelle Velzeboer said.

“I had a pretty good start so that I could already go to the third position, where I wanted to be. Selma is so fast in the first lap, so we had to chase her and I was really lucky that I could skate the fastest track.

“Then I closed in and in the last lap I was so close that I thought, ‘OK, I’ll just go on the outside and just try my best to get her on the finish’ and it worked out.”

On Saturday, she had claimed her first individual major championship medal as she finished in second place in the women’s 1000m final. As she did it for a second time in two days, Velzeboer also made up for the disappointment in last year’s 500m final at the European Championships in Dresden, Germany. She had taken an early lead in the race, looking like she could go for a maiden medal, but had to settle for fourth place after a fall.

Xandra (left) and Michelle Velzeboer flying the Dutch flag on Saturday at the 2026 ISU European Short Track Championships in Tilburg, Netherlands © ISU

“Last year I had a bit of an unsuccessful end of the weekend so I was really eager to get a medal in the 500m,” Velzeboer said.

“It means a lot. The past year I hadn’t thought about it that much but maybe when you are back at the European Championships, it matters a little bit more than I thought before.

“The silver in the 1000m yesterday felt really good, but the 500m is my favorite distance so I also wanted to do something special there.”

Poutsma’s disappointment of not winning gold, or even silver, quickly turned to joy. The bronze medal marks the return to the top for the 26-year-old, who was struggling with a leg injury for most of last season.

Selma Poutsma (NED) at the at the 2026 ISU European Short Track Championships in Tilburg, Netherlands © ISU

“I was so close and it was maybe a little bit frustrating, but almost directly after the line, this bronze meant so much to me because it’s the reward of my struggle coming back from this annoying injury,” she said.

“It was a race at a very high level. We had the world champion in the race, and her sister who is also a really good skater, so this race was very tense and exciting.

“I did not expect to have such a fast start. I was really fighting for gold, to try to keep that position, but I knew they were coming to catch me.

“Maybe I was not yet prepared to play with my lines and keep this up but I’m still very happy with the level I’ve shown here. I can really take this with me going forward.

“Now I can dream of more, maybe, but I have to start somewhere and for now this somewhere is bronze at the European Championships. I am very happy about it.”

As Poutsma gets more into racing again, she hopes to be able to make it harder for skaters to pass her, as Velzeboer did in the last lap.

“I knew that the first laps I just have to go, going on instinct, because I’m the quickest if I don’t think about it,” she said.

“Then afterwards, when they’re coming for me, then the Short Track game starts. Then you have to play, you have to think, and it’s something I’m not mastering perfectly but it’s something you can learn. And I hope that I can learn it one day.”

In Sunday’s first final, the Velzeboer sisters teamed up with Jens van ’t Wout and Teun Boer to claim gold in the mixed team relay.

“It’s really nice,” Michelle Velzeboer said.

“We’ve got such a good team in the mixed – also with Selma at her best. We have six really good skaters and it is also really nice to finish it like this, with the home crowd. These European Championships were just so successful for our whole team, so that’s really nice.”

Team Netherlands celebrates European gold in the mixed relay in Tilburg, Netherlands © ISU

Italy took the lead from the start and kept it for the first four laps, staying in second place until the final lap, when the team crashed out. Poland (Gabriela Topolska, Natalia Maliszewska, Michal Niewinski and Felix Pigeon) clinched the silver medal, Hungary (Diana Vegi, Maja Somodi, Moon Wonjun and Bence Nogradi) taking bronze.

“It was a quick race, that’s for sure. I think that was maybe one of my fastest ones,” Vegi said.

“We did the job that we were planning on doing, sticking with the Polish and maybe trying to overtake them or stay on them, so it was a great race for us. We obviously got lucky but I think we are fine with that now. I’m happy that it happened. But we are obviously sad that the Italians fell.”