Speed skating at the Milan Cortina Winter Olympics continues Thursday, Feb. 12, with the second of two women's long distance events — the 5000m.
It is the only speed skating event at the 2026 Games without an American competitor.
All speed skating events are available to watch on mobile, tablet and connected TV devices via the Peacock, NBC and NBC Sports apps.
| Date/Time | Event | Stream |
|---|---|---|
| Thurs, 2/12 10:30a-12p |
Women's 5000m 🏅 | Peacock, NBCOlympics.com |
The 2025-26 World Cup circuit only featured one 5000m contest. Norway's Ragne Wiklund won, Canada's Isabelle Weidemann took silver, and the Netherlands' Joy Beune rounded out the podium.
Wiklund, who opened her second Olympic appearance with a 2nd-place finish in the 3000m Feb. 7, earned her latest of two silver world championships medals in 2025. She is the world's top-ranked long distance skater.
Though she has never made a world championship podium, placing 4th four times and 5th twice, Weidemann climbed to silver at the 2022 Beijing Games.
Italy's Francesca Lollobrigida, the reigning world champion in the distance, enters the competition riding the high of her surprise victory in the 3000m Feb. 7. She finished the 2025-26 World Cup season as the 9th-best long distance skater in the world.
The 5000m is the weakest event for the Dutch, who have long dominated the sport as a whole. Beune did not qualify for the event at the Dutch Olympic Trials, and Beijing gold medalist and Olympic record holder Irene Schouten retired in 2024. The country has an outside chance in Merel Conijn, who took bronze at the 2025 World Championships. The 24-year-old finished 5th the World Cup race held in December.
Czechia's Martina Sablikova, who pulled out of the women's 3000m just hours before the race due to illness, won 10 world titles in the distance between 2007 and 2019. She skated to Olympic gold at the 2010 and 2014 Games, finishing third in Beijing. She is expected to compete in the 5000m Thursday.
Sablikova has earned at least one medal in four of her five Olympic appearances. If she finds her way to the podium in Milan, she'll become the oldest speed skater to claim an Olympic medal (38), beating the record held by Finland's Julius Skutnabb since 1928.
Each of the four events contested in Milan so far have been won in Olympic record time.