The orange wave swept through the Milano Speed Skating Stadium on Friday, February 20, 2026, as Antoinette Rijpma-de Jong of the Netherlands finally claimed the one medal missing from her illustrious collection—a gold in the women’s 1,500 meters at the Milan Cortina Winter Olympics. The roar from the Dutch fans, clad in their unmistakable orange, was deafening as Rijpma-de Jong crossed the finish line with a time of 1:54.09, etching her name into Olympic history and extending her nation’s dominance in the event.
For Rijpma-de Jong, this victory marked her sixth career Olympic medal but, more importantly, her first gold. Previously, she had earned two silvers and three bronzes, including a silver in the team pursuit earlier at these Games. Her triumph in the 1,500 meters continued a remarkable Dutch streak—she became the fifth straight Dutch woman to win Olympic gold in the distance, a run that began in Vancouver in 2010. The Netherlands’ grip on speed skating, particularly in the 1,500 meters, remains ironclad.
“That’s the feeling that you love the most,” Rijpma-de Jong told the press, grinning ear-to-ear after her historic skate. “That’s the feeling when you skate in the Netherlands… I am so happy that so many people came to cheer us to the finish line. It was so loud. And it feels so good.”
The race itself was a showcase of nerves and grit. Rijpma-de Jong’s final time of 1:54.09 was only 0.06 seconds faster than Norway’s Ragne Wiklund, who took silver with a time of 1:54.15. Canada’s Valerie Maltais claimed bronze at 1:54.4. The margins were razor-thin—just 0.31 seconds separated gold from bronze. Wiklund, who skated in the penultimate heat, admitted she thought she might have secured the top spot until Rijpma-de Jong’s name flashed to the top of the leaderboard. “Maybe I do have a shot,” Wiklund reflected. “She has been performing so, so well for so many years. She knows what she’s doing.”
For Wiklund, the silver was her third medal in Milan, following a silver in the 3,000 meters and a bronze in the 5,000 meters. Her performance made her the first Norwegian woman in 46 years to reach an Olympic speed skating podium, a feat that drew widespread praise back home. “I was dreaming of one medal and leaving with three is really cool,” Wiklund said, clearly satisfied with her haul.
Valerie Maltais, meanwhile, continued to build her own legacy as one of the sport’s most versatile athletes. Alongside her bronze in the 1,500 meters, Maltais captured gold in the team pursuit and bronze in the 3,000 meters at these Games. She is now one of only four athletes ever to make an Olympic podium in both speed skating and short track. For Canada, Maltais’ bronze marked the nation’s first medal in this event since their home Olympics in Vancouver 2010.
Just off the podium was American Brittany Bowe, who finished fourth with a time of 1:54.70—only 0.61 seconds behind Rijpma-de Jong and 0.3 seconds from a medal. It was a bittersweet ending for Bowe, who had also finished fourth in the 1,000 meters and the team pursuit in Milan. “I am tired of 4th-place finishes. Finishing [in] 4th place three times this Olympics is heartbreaking,” Bowe confessed. “We are all out here trying to get on that podium. To see my pair finish first and to see the gap between myself and not just a podium finish, but the top spot, is tough as a competitor.”
Bowe, who turns 38 on February 24, had announced that these would be her final Olympics. Her career, however, has been nothing short of remarkable—she retires as a two-time Olympic bronze medalist (1,000 meters in 2022, team pursuit in 2018), a six-time world champion, and the holder of four world records. “Speed skating has shaped me into the person I am, so it is so sad [to retire], but it is also so great that I am able to finish on my own terms, because a lot of athletes do not have that opportunity,” Bowe reflected. The American crowd and Dutch fans alike gave her a standing ovation as she left the ice, a fitting tribute to one of the sport’s greats.
Adding a personal highlight to her Olympic swan song, Bowe got engaged during the Games to U.S. women’s hockey captain Hilary Knight, who herself had just led Team USA to a thrilling 2-1 overtime victory over Canada for gold on February 19. “It’s so great that I’m able to finish on my own terms because a lot of athletes don’t have that opportunity,” Bowe said, her emotions evident after a whirlwind week both on and off the ice.
The Dutch dominance in speed skating was further underlined by the absence of Joy Beune, who had won all four 1,500 World Cup races this season but failed to qualify for the Olympic distance at her country’s trials in December 2025. The Dutch selection process, which left out the season’s best 1,500-meter skater, sparked heated debate back home. Still, the Dutch women swept golds in every women’s individual distance: Femke Kok in the 500 meters, Jutta Leerdam in the 1,000 meters, and now Rijpma-de Jong in the 1,500 meters. Femke Kok added to the Dutch medal tally with a fifth-place finish in the 1,500 meters.
Elsewhere in the field, Japanese legend Miho Takagi and Czechia’s Nikola Zdrahalova put up strong performances but ultimately finished outside the medals, with Takagi placing sixth after fading in the final lap. The venue itself, the Milano Speed Skating Stadium, was packed to the rafters, and the sea of orange made it feel like a home event for the Dutch contingent.
With Rijpma-de Jong’s victory, the Netherlands extended its lead atop the speed skating medal table at these Games, boasting 11 medals—seven more than host Italy, which is tied for the most golds in speed skating at three apiece. All 17 Dutch medals at Milan Cortina 2026 have come from speed skating or short track, reinforcing their status as the sport’s global powerhouse. In fact, since the first Winter Games in 1924, the Dutch have now amassed a staggering 144 Olympic speed skating medals, more than any other nation.
As the speed skating events draw to a close with the men’s and women’s mass starts on Saturday, the story of Milan Cortina 2026 will be forever linked to Antoinette Rijpma-de Jong’s golden moment—a testament to perseverance, national pride, and the enduring magic of Olympic competition. The Dutch fans, their voices still echoing through the stadium, will savor this victory for years to come.