Speed skater Antoinette Rijpma-de Jong won the women's 1500m Friday, winning her first career Olympic gold and becoming the fifth-straight Dutch woman to win the event on the Olympic level. She punched the clock at 1 minute, 54.09 seconds, finishing just six one-hundredths of a second ahead of silver-finisher Ragne Wiklund.

"I gave everything, fought for every single second," Rijpma-de Jong said after the race. "After the finish, you see what it's worth."

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Dutch skater Ireen Wuest, who stands as the most decorated Olympic speed skater in history with 13 total medals, won three 1500m titles in five Olympic appearances (2010, 2018, 2022) before she retired in March 2022. She also set the Olympic record (1:53.28 minutes) in her final Games. There, Rijpma-de Jong finished 3rd. 

With Rijpma-de Jong's win, the Netherlands extends its lead in the medal count to 11 — seven more than host nation Italy, which stands in 2nd place overall and ties the Netherlands with the most golds (3). All 17 Dutch medals earned at the Milan Cortina Games have come from either speed skating or short track.

The Dutch also lead the world in all-time Olympic speed skating podiums, collecting a total 144 medals since the inaugural Winter Games in 1924. 

Wiklund's silver marked her third medal in Milan. The 25-year-old skater became the first Norwegian woman to make an Olympic speed skating podium in 46 years when she earned bronze in the 5000m Feb. 12.

Canada's Valerie Maltais rounded out the podium. Maltais, who skated to team pursuit gold and 3000m bronze in Milan, is one of just four athletes in history to make an Olympic podium in both speed skating and short track.

In her last career Olympic race, American Brittany Bowe finished 4th, landing one spot off the podium for the third time at these Games. Her final time of 1:54.70 minutes was just 0.61 seconds slower than Rijpma-de Jong's and 0.3 seconds behind Maltais'. In Milan, she also skated to 4th the 1000m and the team pursuit.

"I am tired of fourth-place finishes. Finishing [in] fourth place three times this Olympics is heartbreaking," Bowe admitted. "We are all out here trying to get on that podium. To see my pair finish first and to see the gap between myself and not just a podium finish, but the top spot, is tough as a competitor."

Despite her performances in Milan, the 37-year-old skater ends her career as a champion. With 91 World Cup medals, 22 national titles, six world titles (one in the 1500m), four world records (one in the 1500m), and four Olympic appearances, the 37 year old ends her career as one the American speed skating greats. In her final World Cup season, Bowe placed in the top six of all her World Cup races in both the 1000m and 1500m, making the 1500m podium once (bronze).

"Speed skating has shaped me into the person I am, so it is so sad [to retire], but it is also so great that I am able to finish on my own terms, because a lot of athletes do not have that opportunity," Bowe said. 

Bowe has never found her way to the 1500m podium on the Olympic stage, but she skated to 1000m bronze in Beijing for her first individual Olympic medal. Four years earlier, she lifted the United States to bronze in the women's team pursuit. 

As Bowe left the ice Friday, the crowd, consisting mainly of Dutch orange, gave a standing ovation to one of the sport's best.

"It [was] unbelievable. My favorite place to skate in the whole world is the Netherlands. Those fans have a great appreciation for the sport and all of us skaters," Bowe said. "I would say, hands down, my favorite skating memory is my first world championship title and that was in Heerenveen [in the Netherlands], so the sea of orange definitely holds a deep, deep part of my heart." 

Teammate Greta Myers finished 29th.

Speed skating at the 2026 Winter Olympics concludes Saturday, Feb. 21, with the men's and women's mass starts. Skaters are scheduled to take the ice at 9 a.m. E.T.