Speed skating at the Milan Cortina Winter Olympics kicks off Saturday, Feb. 7, with the first of two women's long distance events, the 3000m. 

All speed skating events are available to watch on mobile, tablet and connected TV devices via the Peacock, NBC and NBC Sports apps.

Dutch skaters have won the women's 3000m in four of the last five Olympics. In 2018, they swept the podium. Joy Beune and Marijke Groenewoud could continue that trend.

The reigning world champion in the distance, Beune will make her Olympic debut in Italy after skating to a medal in each of her three 3000m races during the 2025-26 season (2 gold, 1 silver). The 26-year-old ended the season with two silver finishes: one behind Groenewoud at the Netherlands' Olympic Trials in late December, and one behind 2023 world champion Ragne Wiklund at the final World Cup in Inzell, Germany. 

Groenewoud, who heads to the Olympic stage for the second time, collected 3000m gold at World Cup No. 4, which Beune skipped to prepare for Dutch Trials.

Gold or no, the two will look to continue the legacy built by recently-retired Dutch speed skating greats Ireen Wust and Irene Schouten. 

Wust, the most decorated Olympic speed skater of all time, won the event at her Olympic debut in 2006, a feat she repeated in 2014. She finished 2nd four years later. Schouten set Olympic records in the 3000m and 5000m at the 2022 Beijing Games en route to winning gold in both events.

"I do not want to put too much pressure on myself, thinking I have to win gold. I have a plan in mind for my race and want to show the best version of myself," Buene told the media after training at Milano Speed Skating Stadium Thursday. "If I end up with a different colored medal or no medal at all, then I cannot really blame myself."

Norway's Wiklund enters Olympic competition on a high. Two weeks before her win in Inzell, she took gold in both the 1500m and 3000m at the 2026 European Championships. With five podium finishes in five long distance races this World Cup season, Wiklund is the world's top ranked long distance skater.

Canada boasts a deep long distance field led by 2022 Olympic bronze medalist Isabelle Weidemann and Valerie Maltais, who finished on the 3000m podium in three of her four World Cup races this season. Teammate Ivanie Blondin rounds out the World Cup top 10, though her best event is the mass start (she took silver in Beijing). 

In 2022, the Canadian trio skated to an Olympic record in the women's team pursuit. 

The last non-Dutch skater to win the 3000m on the Olympic level was Czechia's Martina Sablikova, who grabbed 3000m gold at the 2010 Vancouver Games. The six-time world champion in the distance has owned the world record since 2019. She took silver behind Beune at the 2025 World Championships and finished 4th at the 2026 European Championships but did not crack the top five on the World Cup this season.

Sablikova has earned at least one medal in four of her five Olympic appearances. If she finds her way to the podium in Beijing, she'll become the oldest speed skater to claim an Olympic medal (38), beating the record held by Finland's Julius Skutnabb since 1928. 

Italy's Francesca Lollobrigida, who finished with a silver medal in 2022, found her highest placement of the season (4th) at November's World Cup opener in Salt Lake City. 

The women's 3000m is one of only two Olympic events in which the United States has no competitors. The other is the women's 5000m.