Italy defeated the United States to claim the gold medal in the men’s speed skating team pursuit at the 2026 Winter Olympics in Milan.
USA TODAY, published in the United States, reported on the event.
In the final held at the Milano Speed Skating Stadium, Italy finished with a time of 3:39.20, beating Team USA by 4.51 seconds. The American team members were Casey Dawson, Ethan Cepuran, and Emery Lehman. This loss followed an earlier victory for the United States in the semifinals, where they beat China by 7.93 seconds.
This marks Italy’s ninth gold medal at the 2026 Winter Olympics. During the medal ceremony, an Italian team member performed a celebration inspired by NBA player Steph Curry’s iconic “night night” gesture, directed at the American team.
The defeat was a second loss to Italy for the Americans during the Games. Previously, Team USA lost to Italy by 0.97 seconds in the quarterfinals but still advanced with the second-best time of that round. Despite the loss, Team USA’s silver medal represents an improvement from their bronze medal finish in the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics.
With this result, the United States has earned a total of 20 medals at the Milano Cortina Games, including nine silver medals, the highest for any country. The medal count places the USA third on the overall leaderboard, behind Norway and Italy in first and second place, respectively.
