After 16 years atop the speed skating world, four-time Olympian Brittany Bowe's career is approaching its end.

She'll take Olympic ice for the final time in the women's 1500m Friday, Feb. 10.

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Originally a highly-decorated inline skater, the 37-year-old has carved her name among the American speed skating greats as well, collecting 91 World Cup medals, 22 national titles, six world titles (one in the 1500m), and four world records (one in the 1500m). So far in Milan, she's skated to 4th in both the 1000m and the team pursuit.

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.

In her final World Cup season, Bowe placed in the top 6 of all her World Cup races in both the 1000m and 1500m, making the 1500m podium once (bronze). At World Cup No. 5 in Inzell, Germany — her final event before the Olympics — she finished 5th in the 1500m. 

Throughout much of her career, Bowe's greatest rival has been Japan's Miho Takagi. The 1500m in Milan will be no different.

Takagi, 31, has owned the world record in the distance since 2019. With three 1500m podiums in five races on this year's World Cup circuit, she claimed her fifth-straight season title. She won the event just once, at World Cup No. 4, which reigning world champion Joy Beune elected to skip in order to prepare for the Dutch Olympic Trials later that month. 

So far, Takagi has claimed bronze thrice in Milan: in the 500m, in the 1000m, and in the team pursuit.

Despite going undefeated in the 1500m on the 2025-26 World Cup, Beune came up short at Trials and did not qualify for the distance in Milan, opening the door for Takagi to claim her first Olympic 1500m crown. She skated to silver at the last two Games.

Teammates Femke Kok, a sprint specialist who owns the 500m world record, Beijing bronze medalist Antoinette Rijpma-de Jong, and Marijke Groenewoud will represent the Dutch in her place. 

Kok, who took 500m gold and 1000m silver in Milan, set a 1500m track record at her home rink in Heerenveen, Netherlands, in October and finished 2nd at Dutch Trials. She has never competed in the event on the senior World Cup level. Rijpma-de Jong won the 1500m world title in 2023.

With three World Cup bronzes this season, Norway's Ragne Wiklund could also contend for a medal. Wiklund, a longer distance schedule, earned 3000m silver and 5000m bronze in Milan.