Ahead of the Olympic Winter Games Milano Cortina 2026, we take a look at the reigning Speed Skating champions and relive two special gold medals from Beijing…

Gold with a triple silver lining

All Olympic titles are special, but Miho Takagi's (pictured above) 1000m title at the 2022 Olympic Games in Beijing was particularly special. Skating all classical distances and the Team Pursuit, the Covid-struck Beijing Olympics were a two-week roller coaster for the Japanese superstar.

The 1000m was Takagi's final event. She had already come in sixth in the 3000m and won three silver medals. Heading into the 1500m as the big favorite, she was hugely disappointed to come away with silver. Her 500m silver, on the other hand, came as a surprise. The Team Pursuit had been a disappointment again, because Miho’s team-mate and sister, Nana Takagi, crashed in the last corner of the final. Miho had to settle for silver again.

The 1000m provided Takagi with a last chance to add gold to her three Beijing silvers, and she did. She concluded: "There have been lots of ups and downs for me, winning silver medals. To finally win the gold, I am happy, but not just for the medal, but because I could really give it my best today. That's why I am so content."

2022 Olympic Champions: Women

500m: Erin Jackson (USA)

1000m: Miho Takagi (JPN)

1500m: Ireen Wüst (NED)

3000m: Irene Schouten (NED)

5000m: Irene Schouten (NED)

Mass Start: Irene Schouten (NED)

Team Pursuit: Canada (Isabelle Weidemann, Ivanie Blondin, Valérie Maltais)

All due respect to Mass Start king Swings

Entering the Beijing Olympic Games, Bart Swings was on a mission. Four years earlier, he had seized a silver medal in the inaugural Olympic Mass Start race, with Lee Seung-Hoon (KOR) taking the gold. Lee was one of the favorites in Beijing again, but Swings had dominated, winning the Mass Start Trophy in the 2019-20 and 2020-21 seasons. The Belgian also went into the 2022 Games as World Cup leader.

Bart Swings stunned his opponents to win gold at the Olympic Winter Games in Beijing in 2022 © ISU

Being the favorite, Swings faced an uphill battle as the lone Belgian against two-man teams from many other countries. Swings had to deal with a lot of attacks, but he countered them all to take what rightfully belonged to him: the Mass Start crown, which made him the first Belgian Olympic Champion in the history of Speed Skating. Dutch legend, Sven Kramer (NED), who finished 16^th in the final, took off his hat afterwards: "We did not stand a real chance here”, Kramer said. “Swings countered everything. All due respect to the winner.”

2022 Olympic Champions: Men

500m: Gao Tingyu (CHN)

1000m: Thomas Krol (NED)

1500m: Kjeld Nuis (NED)

5000m: Nils van der Poel (SWE)

10,000m: Nils van der Poel (SWE)

Mass Start: Bart Swings (BEL)

Team Pursuit: Norway (Sverre Lunde Pedersen, Hallgeir Engebråten, Peder Kongshaug)

Don’t miss the latest updates on the Olympic Winter Games Milano Cortina 2026 HERE