MILAN (AP) — Czech speedskater Metodej Jilek won the Olympic 10,000-meter gold at age 19 on Friday, adding to his silver in the 5,000 earlier at the Milan Cortina Games.
Jilek covered the 25 laps around the 400-meter track — the equivalent of 6.2 miles, a comfortable distance for a car ride, less so for a skate — in 12 minutes, 33.43 seconds.
That was more than 5 1/2 seconds faster than silver medalist Vladimir Semirunniy of Poland, who clocked 12:39.08. The bronze went to 40-year-old Jorrit Bergsma of the Netherlands in 12:40.48.
At 40, Bergsma — the gold medalist in the 10,000 at the 2014 Sochi Olympics and silver medalist four years later in Pyeongchang — is the oldest man competing in long track speedskating in Milan.
Semirunniy, wearing a mirrored visor that reflected the ice, held the early lead. But Jilek moved more than a second ahead of that pace with seven laps remaining, his metronomic strides so consistent, and he nearly lapped the other man in his heat, Ted-Jan Bloemen of Canada.
When Jilek crossed the line, he threw both arms overhead.
He won the only World Cup 10,000 contested this season, so was considered a medal contender before he stepped to the start for the next-to-last heat on Friday.
After he was done, Jilek needed to see what would happen in the final pairing, which included the man who beat him last weekend in the Olympic 5,000, Sander Eitrem of Norway. And while he briefly was speedier than Jilek in the early going, Eitrem eventually faded to seventh place, more than 13 seconds slower than the winning time.
Davide Ghiotto, the Italian who set the 10,000 world record of 12:25.69 in January 2025 and claimed a bronze in the event at the 2022 Beijing Games, came in sixth Friday.
Jilek's runner-up finish in the 5K made him the first Czech man to win an Olympic speedskating medal of any color at that distance. And now he's the first to do it in the 10K.
Hours before the start of the 12-entry race, Casey Dawson withdrew from the 10,000, leaving the event without its only American entrant. U.S. Speedskating said Dawson wanted to focus instead on the team pursuit, which holds quarterfinals on Sunday, and the individual 1,500 meters next Thursday. Dawson finished eighth in the 5,000 meters.
The United States hasn't won an Olympic gold in the 10,000 since Eric Heiden did so as part of his five victories at the 1980 Lake Placid Games. The country's last medal at speedskating's longest distance was Chad Hedrick's silver at the 2006 Turin Olympics.
Copyright 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
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