10,000 metres, Men

Since the retirement of Sweden’s Nils van der Poel after his 2022 gold, all three World titles in the event had been won by Davide Ghiotto, giving him the best chance of an Italian speed skating gold medal since the previous Olympics in Italy, when Enrico Fabris had claimed two golds. But prior to the Olympics, Ghiotto did not dominate. At the only international 10,000 m, a World Cup in Heerenveen, he placed second behind the young Czech Metoděj Jílek. 2025 world bronze medallist Vladimir Semirunniy, had clocked an even faster time than Jílek and Ghiotto, racing in the B division, being aided somewhat by racing in quartets. With Jorrit Bergsma (age 40) and Ted-Jan Bloemen (age 39), the 2014 and 2018 champions were also competing, but were considered outsiders for the podium.

The first contender to hit the ice was Poland’s Semirunniy. Born in Russia, he was unable to compete internationally after the Russian suspension over the war in Ukraine. Semirunniy decided to move to Poland, making him unable to return to his family. Receiving his Polish citizenship in August 2025 allowed him to compete in Milano. Given the good times recorded in earlier races, Semirunniy started on a world record pace. But the ice speed wasn’t as great as it had been in the days before, and he had to abandon that schedule, and paid somewhat for his early fast pace, finishing in a still impressive 12:39.08. Top favourite Ghiotto then faced Bergsma in the first pair after the ice preparation. Ghiotto remained in touch with Semirunniy’s splits for the first 4 km, but then had to lower his pace, eventually falling back behind Bergsma, who by contrast closed in on the leading times. The Dutchman didn’t quite make it, but took second place with 12:40.48, while Ghiotto finished after 12:46.72. Jílek, in the fifth pair, started more carefully than Ghiotto and Semirunniy, but was able to keep the pace for much longer. Trailing by 2.5 seconds after 4 km, he had turned that into an advantage before 7 km mark. After that, Jílek gained each lap to finish in 12:33.43 for the gold medal. In the final heat, Timothy Loubineaud was able to hold on to Jílek’s splits for about 4 km, but then dropped off as well. After 8.5 km, he was also behind Bergsma’s splits, and the Frenchman finished in fourth.

Through Jílek and Semirunniy, Czechia and Poland won their first ever medal in the 10,000 m. It was also Czechia’s first ever medal in the event, and first speed skating gold medal outside of Martina Sáblíková. Jílek’s win made him the youngest 10 km winner at the Olympics since Igor Malkov in 1984, both being 19-years-old. By contrast, the 40-year-old Bergsma was the oldest ever winner of an Olympic medal in speed skating. He beat Julius Skutnabb’s record (38) from 1928, although he would improve on that record himself later in the Games.