Gold medalist Antoinette Rijpma-de Jong of Team Netherlands reacts after the Speed Skating Women’s 1500m victory at Milano Cortina 2026 at Milano Speed Skating Stadium on February 20, 2026 in Milan, Italy. (Photo by Dean Mouhtaropoulos/Getty Images)
MILAN, February 20, 2026 – The speed skating women’s 1500m Olympic crown will remain in the Netherlands after Antoinette Rijpma-De Jong upgraded her bronze medal from Beijing 2022 to gold at the Speed Skating Stadium on Friday (February 20). Japanese world record holder Miho Takagi’s desperate push for the top step of the podium did not end well as she crossed the finish line in a shocking 7th place.
IT MEANS EVERYTHING “It feels so incredible, it’s so nice to be standing here,” said Rijpma-De Jong. “This medal means everything to me. I already had (Olympic) silver and bronze medals, but Olympic gold was the one still missing. I’m so proud I did it. It can’t get any better. It’s insane. Doing it in the 1500m, not even my best distance, is crazy. It’s surreal.
“It wasn’t easy, my road was one with ups and downs, but I pulled it off. Skating here with a full crowd of Dutch people, all yelling me to the finish line, was incredible.”
HEARTBREAK FOR TAKAGI Takagi, 31, the most successful Japanese speed skater of all time, seemed poised to finally clinch gold in her signature discipline after securing two silver medals at PyeongChang 2018 and Beijing 2022. And in the last four years, she has put in extra effort in different aspects of her preparations with that goal in mind. Skating in the final pairing of the event on Friday, she started strongly and was in 2nd place for the most part of the race before losing steam in the final 400m.
“In the beginning, she (Takagi) was skating faster,” Rijpma-De Jong said. “When I saw her time going into the red, I thought, ‘Oh my God, I have the gold medal’. I couldn’t believe it. It hasn’t quite sunk in yet. It was something I dreamed about but it still feels quite surreal. It wasn’t my best race today, so I thought maybe it wasn’t enough. But it was enough (laughs).”
HUGE CHEERS FOR RIJPMA-DE JONG The arena erupted when Rijpma-De Jong crossed the finish line ahead of USA’s Brittany Bowe in the penultimate heat in one minute 54.09 seconds. And even more when the 30-year-old’s victory was confirmed following Takagi’s surprising result.
The Heerenveen-born Rijpma-De Jong has now added the 1500m gold to the silver she won in the women’s team pursuit at these Games. She now has a total of six medals across four Winter Games.
“When I was 18, I was a junior when I skated my first Olympics (Sochi 2014). I wasn’t really happy with the results. In PyeongChang I was third (3000m) and also won a silver medal (team pursuit). I was really proud of that. Last time, in Beijing, I won two bronze medals.
“I was happy with that, but yesterday I said, ‘one medal I don’t have is the gold medal’. I had one chance and now I have it. I’m really proud. It feels incredible,” said Rijpma-De Jong, who also appreciated the support from her husband Coen Rijpma, a road cyclist, her parents and her sister.
TOO STRONG FOR TAKAGI For Takagi, however, despite winning three bronze medals at Milano Cortina 2026, she had been clear from the onset about how much she wanted the gold medal in her main event. With the Beijing 2022 winner Ireen Wüst from the Netherlands now retired and Joy Beune, her main 1500m rival throughout the season, failing to qualify for the distance at the Dutch Olympic trials last December, Takagi was ready to take one more step to the top, but the field proved too strong for her as she finished in one minute 54.865 seconds.
SUPER PROUD WIKLUND Norwegian Ragne Wiklund (1:54.15) and Canadian Valerie Maltais (1:54.40) won the silver and bronze medal, respectively.
The 25-year-old Wiklund, who did not win any medal at her maiden Olympics in Beijing has now won two silver medals and one bronze at Milano Cortina 2026. “I am super proud, and very satisfied. I was dreaming of one medal and leaving with three is really cool,” she said.
Speaking about the race, she added: “It was super close once again for this distance. I was dreaming of making the podium, but I did not expect it, so I am super happy.
“I did not think it would be enough for gold, but when I saw that it was so close during the last lap, I was starting to gain a bit of hope. With Miho Takagi, I would have expected her to be in front. It was super nerve-racking to watch and also very nice to see it with (bronze medallist) Valerie Maltais, who also did such a good race.
“I am super proud, and very satisfied. I was dreaming of one medal and leaving with three is really cool.”
Maltais, 35, has also won three medals at these Games – two bronze medals and one gold. At Beijing 2022, she secured a gold medal in the women’s team pursuit – a title that was defended successfully in Milan.
DUTCH CHALLENGE The Dutch challenge for the crown began with the 25-year-old Femke Kok who has already secured 500m silver and 1000m gold in Milan, but had never competed internationally in the distance before today. It was only last November that she realized her potential in the 1500m. Then the following month at the 2025 Dutch Olympic Speed Skating Trials she would demonstrate her versatility by finishing second between 2023 world champion in the 1500m Antoinette Rijpma-De Jong and the 2024 silver medalist at the European Championships Marijke Groenewoud to earn a place in the women’s 1500m line-up at Milano Cortina 2026.
Despite having to skate on her own in the first heat, since she didn’t skate in the 1500m World Cups, Kok set the tone with a blazing opener of 1:54.79 which remained unbeaten until Canada’s Valerie Maltais, skating in the 10th pairing, stopped the clock at 1:54.40 to takeover as the leader. The 35-year-old Maltais was then dethroned by Norwegian Ragne Wiklund (1:54.15), before Rijpma-De Jong reigned supreme. Kok ended up in 5th place behind American Bowe, who narrowly missed out on the podium in all her events. Finishing fourth in all the events she took part in at Milano Cortina 2026. Marijke Groenewoud finished in 10th place.
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