Dutch Dominate Olympic Short Track: Velzeboer and Van ‘t Wout Secure Gold

Milan, Italy – The Netherlands continued its impressive run at the Milan Cortina Olympic Games, securing gold medals in both the women’s 500 meters and the men’s 1,000 meters in short track speedskating on Thursday, February 12, 2026.

Velzeboer Breaks Records to Claim Women’s 500m Title

Xandra Velzeboer of the Netherlands won the women’s 500m gold medal, breaking her own world record in the semifinals. She finished the final in 41.609 seconds, defeating Italy’s Arianna Fontana by more than half a second. Fontana took silver with a time of 42.294 seconds, marking her 13th Olympic medal in short track, extending her record in the sport. Courtney Sarault of Canada secured the bronze medal.

Velzeboer’s dominant performance included an Olympic-record time of 41.853 in the quarterfinals and a new world mark of 41.399 in the semifinals, surpassing her previous world record of 41.416 set in 2022. ESPN

Van ‘t Wout Wins Men’s 1,000m in Thrilling Finish

Jens van ‘t Wout clinched gold in the men’s 1,000m with a final surge, finishing in 1 minute, 24.537 seconds. He overtook Canada’s William Dandjinou with approximately one lap remaining. Sun Long of China finished second with a time of 1:24.565, and Jongun Rim of South Korea took the bronze medal.

Van ‘t Wout celebrated his victory by skating around the ice with a flag as a cape and taking a bow. NBC Olympics

Dutch Short Track Supremacy

The success of Velzeboer and van ‘t Wout highlights the growing dominance of the Netherlands in short track speedskating, traditionally a sport where they have excelled in long track. Reuters This marks a shift in Olympic speed skating, with the Dutch now firmly establishing themselves in the newer short track form.

Velzeboer previously won gold as part of the Dutch team in the 3,000-meter relay at the 2022 Beijing Games and is a three-time world champion in the 500m. ESPN

The Dutch short track team is enjoying more success in Milan than their long track counterparts, a first in Olympic history. Van ‘t Wout and Velzeboer together have four gold medals, compared with two golds for long track skaters Jutta Leerdam and Femke Kok. NL Times