Italy upsets United States for men’s speed skating team pursuit gold; Canada captures second straight women’s title

Italian skaters Davide Ghiotto, Michele Malfatti, and Andrea Giovannini downed reigning world champion and world record holder United States in the men’s team pursuit final Tuesday, claiming gold for Italy’s first Olympic medal in the event since 2006 — the last time the country hosted the Winter Games, and the first time the team pursuit was contested on the Olympic level.

Casey Dawson, Emery Lehman, and Ethan Cepuran crossed the finish line a staggering 4.51 seconds behind Italy for silver. 

The two countries were neck and neck through the first half of Tuesday’s final, both trios racing in near-perfect unity. Midway through the fifth lap, the Americans began to fall apart, tensing and dropping out of sync. Dawson, Lehman, and Cepuran lost over two seconds off their pace through the final three laps of the race.

“I thought we skated a great first half of the race. We were right where we needed to be,” Cepuran said after the race. “Sometimes, you blow up a little bit, but we went out there, and we tried. We tried really hard.”

Italy also came out on top when the two countries went head-to-head in the quarterfinals two days earlier, but only by 0.97 seconds.

With its third victory of the 2026 Games, the host country now leads the gold medal count in speed skating. The Dutch, longtime giants in the sport, have two.