After five days of competition filled with spills, collisions, upsets, and photo finishes, short track at the 2026 Winter Olympics will come to a close Friday, Feb. 20, with the women's 1500m and the men's 5000m relay.
Skaters are scheduled to take the ice at 2:15 p.m. E.T.
All short track events are available to watch available to watch on mobile, tablet and connected TV devices via the Peacock, NBC and NBC Sports apps.
| Date/Time | Event | Stream |
|---|---|---|
| Fri, 2/20 2:15-4:40p |
W 1500m & M 5000m Relay Finals 🏅 | Peacock, NBCOlympics.com |
Women's 1500m
The day begins with the women's 1500m quarterfinals and semifinals.
The quarterfinal round features six heats of six skaters each. The top three athletes in each quarterfinal and the three fastest 4th-placed athletes advance to the semifinals.
South Korea, a country with a long history of short track success, has won four of the six 1500m races contested on the Olympic level. Two-time reigning Olympic champion Choi Min-Jeong is back to defend her title in Milan.
The 27-year-old skater has won four world championship golds in the distance, claiming her most recent one in 2025. She also owns the world (2:14.354 minutes) and Olympic (2:16.831 minutes) records, held since 2016 and 2022, respectively. She skated to a medal of every color on the 2025 World Tour.
Choi's biggest challenge could come from her own teammate, Kim Gil-Li. Kim, 21, ended the season with two 1500m wins. She entered the Olympics as the world No. 1 in the distance.
The two combined for women's relay gold Feb. 18, marking the first time South Korea had topped a short track podium in Milan.
Canada's Courtney Sarault, who won her first Crystal Globe trophy this season, made the podium in three of the four 1500m races on this year's World Tour. With two silver and two bronze medals so far in Milan, Sarault will look to claim her first career Olympic gold Friday.
If Italian short track legend Arianna Fontana finds her way to the 1500m podium, she will tie Norwegian cross-country skier Marit Bjorgen as the most decorated Winter Olympian of all time.
Kristen Santos-Griswold, Corinne Stoddard, and Kamryn Lute could earn the United States' first Olympic medal in women's short track since 2010 and its first ever in the 1500m. Santos-Griswold and Stoddard took 1500m silver and bronze, respectively, at the 2024 World Championships. They ranked 4th (Stoddard) and 6th (Santos-Griswold) globally in the event this season.
Men's 5000m relay
Canada, South Korea, and Italy, the countries that made up the men's relay podium in Beijing, will battle it out for the Olympic title once again in Milan. The Netherlands owns the fourth spot in the A Final.
In nine events contested on the Olympic level, Canada has won four and placed 2nd or 3rd in the other three. Powered by Beijing gold medalist Steven Dubois and two-time reigning Crystal Globe champion William Dandjinou, the country swept all five men's events at the 2025 World Championships. They beat China for the men's relay title by half a second.
Italy has only won the event once on the Olympic level, in 1994. The host country finished 3rd in each of the four World Tour races this season. South Korea eyes its first win since 2006 — the last Italian Games.
Jens van 't Wout leads the Dutch squad. He found the podium in each of the three individual men's events in Milan, becoming the Netherlands' first skater to earn Olympic gold in men's short track.
The United States missed qualifying for the men's 5000m relay by one spot.