Jens van ’t Wout (NED) won two gold medals at the 2026 ISU Short Track European Championships in Tilburg, Netherlands, on Saturday. On Sunday, his show continued in front of the home fans in the packed IJssportcentrum as he completed the set of individual golds with a 1000m triumph, earning a confidence boost ahead of the upcoming Milano Cortina 2026 Olympic Winter Games.

“I don’t think I could’ve got any more confidence out of this weekend than this, so I’m really happy,” said the 24-year-old, who also won a silver in the men’s relay and gold in the mixed relay on Sunday.

“This year has been a bit rough for me, podium-wise, so this really gives me some confidence again.”

At last year’s European Championships in Dresden, Germany, van ’t Wout had taken the lead in the 1000m final’s fourth lap and kept it until the last lap, when Italy’s Pietro Sighel pushed past him and grabbed the title.

On Saturday, the Dutch superstar had said that it was his turn to “sit behind him and chase” but he quickly scrapped that tactic and went to the front. Van ’t Wout took the lead in lap one and kept it until the finish line, staying out of trouble as Türkiye’s Furkan Akar fell and dragged Sighel with him.

“It was a crazy race,” the winner said.

“At the start I just realized that there were seven skaters on the line and the first thing that came to mind was, ‘Don’t get to the back’, so I tried to control the race from the front and it went very well.

“If I’d gone behind the Italians, I would’ve thrown the race away. Of course, it’s a nice moment to test this (tactics) but here in Tilburg I also want to win for the public and this was also a very dominant race, showing the audience a good time.”

Italy’s Luca Spechenhauser and Thomas Nadalini claimed silver and bronze, respectively.

European champion Jens van 't Wout (NED) flanked by Italy's Luca Spechenhauser (left) and Thomas Nadalini - medalists in the 1000m at the 2026 ISU European Short Track Championships in Tilburg, Netherlands © ISU

“In the last World Cup I couldn’t perform as I’d done in training and I just needed something positive, to see that what we are doing is the right thing. The silver was good and we have to keep going like that,” Spechenhauser said.

Finishing 0.458 seconds behind van ’t Wout, the 25-year-old said he had no clear plan of how to beat the Dutchman at the Olympic Winter Games.

“Jens is one of the best skaters in the world right now. My philosophy is to try to do my best every day, putting 200% of myself into it, and that is the most important thing. I just want to control what I can,” he said.

“Now I’m excited to push even more in the last month before Milano. Sure, there is pressure, but I just see opportunities. It is a gift to be an athlete and compete at this level. Everyone would pay to take my spot so I’ll just have fun and do everything I can.”

Italy’s Luca Spechenhauser in European Championship action in Tilburg, Netherlands © ISU

Nadalini, who won his first individual medal at a major championship when he finished third in the 1500m on Saturday, was more pleased with Sunday’s bronze medal.

“It was a good thing to share the podium with a teammate of mine,” Nadalini said, thankful to have made it to the finish line.

“It was a pretty dangerous race. It was more like wrestling or kickboxing rather than Short Track. My team entered the race with the only objective to not die. There was a lot of chaos so I tried to do my best.

“I was a little mad at the end because there was a lot of chaos, but no-one got injured, luckily.”

Thomas Nadalini (ITA) races at the 2026 ISU European Short Track Championships in Tilburg, Netherlands © ISU

There were no hard feelings from Sighel after falling and losing his 1000m title.

“I was a little bit unlucky but it’s Short Track. Most of all, we are safe and we can battle for the next week,” he said.

Sighel, Nadalini, Spechenhauser and Andrea Cassinelli closed the weekend in the best way possible as they won the men’s 5000m relay, keeping Netherlands in second place as Poland claimed bronze.

“When you win a medal with the team, it is more rewarding,” Spechenhauser said.

“It shows that everything we’ve done in the last couple of years – and in the last month – was good.

“The goal for sure is not to win here (but at the Olympic Games) so it is good for the head, mentally, to see that we are going in the right direction.

“We have to still keep going and train harder to get better, because in Milano we want to show that we are good.”

Spechenhauser said the Italian tactics had been to stay in the front for as much of the final as possible.

“We saw that the other team didn’t want to go in the front,” he said. “So we kept the speed smooth and accelerated at the right time. Pietro did it well in the last lap but everything was good.”

The Italians dedicated their victory to their teammate Martina Valcepina, who left the women’s 500m quarterfinals with an injury.

Martina Valcepina competes at the 2026 ISU European Short Track Championships in Tilburg, Netherlands © ISU

“It’s a victory for ‘Marti’. The crash is part of the sport but this is for her and we wish her best of luck for everything. I’m so sad about that.”

Sighel kept van ’t Wout behind him in the last leg, managing to fend off the Dutchman’s attempts to pass.

“It’s always hard to battle with Jens in the end because he’s really strong, he’s got a lot of skills and a lot of speed. It’s really hard but it’s always a pleasure to share the race with him,” Sighel said.

“I hope we can do that at the Olympics as well. It will be crazy and beautiful. Jens made a beautiful weekend, with golds in all individual distances and also the mixed relay.”

The gold medal was Sighel’s only at these European Championships, and he was pleased to close the weekend on top of the podium.

“We needed that,” the 26-year-old said.

“It was a race weekend of many ups and downs, especially today, with Martina’s injury. We tried to focus on the race and this gold for sure is for her. We finished with the best moment, but today was more bad than good for the team.”

Italy's Pietro Sighel celebrates his team's European title in Tilburg, Netherlands © ISU

Preparing for a big competition on home ice, Nadalini was happy to beat the Dutch on theirs.

“There were strong teams in the final. Even though it’s the European Championships, the level is still high,” he said.

“So it was a fun race and winning here in front of the Dutch felt a little bit special. We showed them that we are a strong team in the 5k.”

Van ’t Wout had no problems with having to settle for a silver medal in one race as he leaves Tilburg with four golds.

“We always want to win but I wasn’t expecting it to be easy. Pietro and I battled well and he was just really strong,” he said.

“I was expecting him to be a little more tired towards the end but he kept up the speed really high. I made a bit of a poor pass attempt, a little too late, so that sucked. But it was a great relay, it was really fun to skate.”