Merel Conijn narrowly misses gold in 5,000m speed skating as Francesca Lollobrigida claims second Olympic title

Merel Conijn finished just 0.1 seconds behind Francesca Lollobrigida to take silver in the women’s 5,000 meters speed skating event at the Milan-Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics.

Eurosport Netherlands reports on the close competition and key moments of the race.

The 5,000 meters event began with an unfortunate development for the Dutch team when Bente Kerkhoff had to withdraw due to a back injury and was replaced by Marijke Groenewoud. Groenewoud’s lack of preparation showed in her finish time of 6:58.33, far from contention. The main competition started after a brief pause, with Merel Conijn taking the ice early and engaging in a close battle with Belgian skater Sandrine Tas. Although Tas appeared set for victory during much of the race, Conijn produced a strong finish with two fast laps in 31 seconds, ultimately finishing ahead of Tas with a provisional time of 6:46.27.

Following Conijn’s performance, Norwegian Ragne Wiklund surpassed her time by more than three seconds midway but slowed on the final laps. Conijn remained seven hundredths of a second faster overall. Canadian skater Isabelle Weidemann was unable to challenge for the top spot, setting the stage for the final pairing.

Olympic 3,000 meters champion Francesca Lollobrigida from Italy faced veteran Martina Sablikova in the last race. Early on, Lollobrigida gained time on Conijn and appeared set for gold, but her pace dropped in the closing laps, allowing Conijn to reduce the gap significantly. In the final lap, Lollobrigida unleashed a powerful sprint, drawing on her mass start experience to narrowly beat Conijn by 0.1 seconds. This victory secured Lollobrigida her second gold medal of the Games.

The competition was broadcast live by Eurosport and HBO Max, including expert commentary and analysis throughout the Winter Olympics in Milan-Cortina 2026.