Italy Takes Down Team USA For Speed Skating Pursuit Gold
Feb 17, 2026, 8:48 AM | Updated: 9:32 am
MILAN, ITALY - FEBRUARY 17: Casey Dawson, Emery Lehman and Ethan Cepuran of Team United States compete in the semi-finals of the Speed Skating Men's Team Pursuit on day eleven of the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympic games at Milano Speed Skating Stadium on February 17, 2026 in Milan, Italy. (Photo by Elsa/Getty Images)
(Photo by Elsa/Getty Images)
MILAN, Italy – The first loss of the season for Team USA came in the brightest moment as Italy blew the field away for Gold in the men’s pursuit speed skating final.
2026 Milan Cortina Winter Olympics Medal Count
The Americans skate to SILVER in men’s team pursuit. 🥈👏#WinterOlympics pic.twitter.com/THpyK2SM8U
— NBC Olympics & Paralympics (@NBCOlympics) February 17, 2026
The U.S. women struggled to keep pace with Japan in their Bronze medal race, losing by 3.5 seconds.
Men’s Team Pursuit
Semifinal
Team USA took the track against China, looking to set up a gold-medal race against Italy.
A team of Ethan Cepuran, Casey Dawson, and Emery Lehman wasted no time jumping out to a multi-second lead.
Team USA has a strong win in semifinals and is headed to the Gold Medal race vs. Italy! pic.twitter.com/CQodBV63k3
— NBC Olympics & Paralympics (@NBCOlympics) February 17, 2026
China trailed by 7.55 seconds with one lap remaining.
The trio moved on to the Gold medal round with a time of 3:44.29.
Gold Medal Race
With Dawson in front, the U.S. built a .48 seconds lead halfway through the race.
The Italians flipped the script 2/3 of the way through, sprinting past the favorites behind a boost from the home crowd.
Italy won Gold with a time of 3:39.20, 4.51 seconds ahead of Team USA.
China topped the Netherlands in the Bronze medal race.
Women’s Team Pursuit
Semifinal
The U.S. team took the ice in semifinal one, facing their Canadian neighbors to the north.
Canada immediately grabbed an advantage that it would not relinquish.
The loss sent Giorgia Birkeland, Brittany Bowe, and Mia Manganello to the Bronze medal race against Japan.
Bronze Medal Race
Greta Myers replaced Birkeland in the Bronze medal race.
Led by Bowe, the U.S. trailed by a second and a half with two laps remaining.
They couldn’t make up the gap with Japan skating a superb race.
Team USA finished 3.5 seconds behind Japan for Bronze.
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Brian Preece is a sports.ksl.com insider covering the Utah State Aggies, Locals in MLB, and Salt Lake Bees. Follow Brian’s Bees, Beehive baseball, and Aggie athletics coverage here.
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