Jordan Stolz, Erin Jackson, and Brittany Bowe — three of the United States' top speed skaters — officially punched their tickets to the 2026 Milan Cortina Olympics in a thrilling second day of competition at the U.S. Olympic Trials which also saw two U.S. skaters earn a spot on their first Olympic team.

Jackson opened the day with a surprise win in the 1000m, surpassing world record-holder Bowe to secure her third Olympic berth less than a decade after she first stepped onto an oval. She bested Bowe, who finished 2nd, by just 0.39 seconds.

At the third World Cup this season, Jackson, a 500m juggernaut, added a hamstring injury to a long list of afflictions she has battled since 2023, including herniated discs, gastrointestinal issues, and uterine fibroids. As a result, Jackson scratched her races at World Cup No. 3 and skated cautiously at the circuit's fourth stop. Heading into Trials, it had been a month since Jackson had skated at full capacity at a competition.

In Saturday's 1000m, Jackson posted both the fastest first (27.3 seconds) and last (29.2 seconds) lap times.

"It's a really big relief," Jackson told NBC Sports' Lewis Johnson after the race. "Just a few days ago, I wasn't sure if I was gonna be able to race it at all with that hamstring injury, so I'm just grateful to be out here and really excited to be on the team."

Having finished on the 500m podium at the first two fall World Cups in November, Jackson already had pre-qualified for her signature distance ahead of Trials. By starting the race at Trials on Sunday, Jackson will lock up her spot in a second distance in Milan.

Ahead of the 2022 Beijing Games, Jackson, who at the time was the best 500m skater in the world, slipped in the race at Trials and finished 3rd, one spot shy of the Olympic team. Bowe, who had won the 500m and had already qualified in two other distances, relinquished her spot so that Jackson could compete in Beijing. Jackson then went on to become the first Black American woman to win an Olympic speed skating medal and the first Black woman to win an individual Winter Olympic gold, taking 1st place in the race in Beijing.

Bowe, who has owned the world record in the 1000m since 2019, plans to retire at the end of this season after 16 years in the sport. Since switching from inline to ice in 2010, the 37-year-old skater has established herself as one of the most prolific American speed skaters in history, collecting 91 World Cup medals, 22 national titles, six world titles, and four world records (three of which she earned in the 1000m).

The United States currently owns two Olympic quota spots in the women's 1000m. With her 2nd-place finish, Bowe fills the second spot to officially make her fourth and final Olympic roster.

Though Bowe has yet to find her way to the 1000m podium during this World Cup campaign, she is ranked 3rd in the distance globally, having skated into the top six in every race in both the 1000m and 1500m.

"I'm right there in the mix on the world level. Had a lot of 4th places, a couple 5ths, but that consistency just shows I'm able to stick with it and maintain my composure," Bowe told Johnson.

In Beijing, her third Olympic Games, Bowe raced to bronze in the 1000m for her first individual Olympic medal.

Like Jackson in the 500m, Stolz had prequalified for the 1000m with podium finishes at the first two World Cups of the 2025-26 circuit, meaning he only had to start the race at Trials in order to confirm his spot on the Olympic team. Despite an uncharacteristic blip early on in the race, where he caught the tip of his skate in the ice and stumbled, Stolz kept his composure and skated to a 3rd-place finish, just 0.12 seconds behind 1st.

"When I got back up on my feet, I just [skated] as hard as I could," Stolz, who owns the world record in the distance, said after the race. "I thought maybe I could catch them."

Stolz, who in 2023 became the youngest-ever world champion in the 1000m, is undefeated in the distance on the World Cup level so far this season.

The 21-year-old also has prequalified in the 500m and 1500m, which will be contested at Trials on Sunday, as well as the mass start, happening on the final day of competition, Jan. 5.

At the Milan Cortina Games, Stolz could become the second American to win three or more gold medals in any sport at one Winter Olympics. The first was fellow Wisconsinite Eric Heiden, who won all five speed skating events at the 1980 Lake Placid Games.

Conor Mcdermott-Mostowy and Cooper McLeod will round out the U.S. contingent in the men's 1000m after placing 1st and 2nd, respectively. Mcdermott-Mostowy crossed the finish line in 1 minute, 7.606 seconds, while McLeod posted a final time of 1:07.845. Both will make their Olympic debuts in Milan.

Mcdermott-Mostowy, paired with Stolz in the race Saturday, battled an illness in the month leading up to the 2022 Trials that left him able to compete but not to his full ability. There, he finished 4th in both the 1000m and 1500m, just one spot shy of the Olympic team.

"It feels amazing. It's like redemption," Mcdermott-Mostowy said after his win Saturday. "I was so disappointed four years ago ... so it's amazing to come back and win this year."

The same year, McLeod missed the Olympic roster by just five one-hundredths of a second.

"I feel like that race four years ago was a big turning point in my career in terms of having to analyze and look at myself and where I need to be better, so I've been thinking about this, and I wanted to get the opportunity to be back here, and I did it this time," McLeod said.

The 2026 U.S. Olympic Speed Skating Trials will continue Sunday, Jan. 4, with the 500m and 1500m competitions, beginning at 2 p.m. ET.