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| Event type

Mass Start, Men

Date21 February 2026
StatusOlympic
LocationMilano Speed Skating Stadium, Fiera Milano Rho, Rho, Milano, ITA
Participants29 from 17 countries
FormatPoints for sprints, 5-3-1 for three intermediate sprints, and 60-40-20-10-6-3 for final sprint, with places determined by points.
RefereeBerri de JongeNED
StarterDeng XuefengCHN

Bart Swings had become the first Belgian Olympic speed skating champion, following up the success with World titles in 2023 and 2024 (and bronze in 2025). The top of the 2025/2026 World Cup rankings also showed other familiar faces: Jorrit Bergsma, 2020 World Champion, Andrea Giovannini, the 2025 title holder, and Jeong Jae-Won, Olympic silver medallist in 2022. A less familiar face in the mass start was that of Jordan Stolz. Known for his dominance in the 500, 1,000 and 1,500, in 2025 he successfully added the mass start to his oeuvre, and even won a World Cup in Hamar in December 2025.

The heats saw the elimination of Livio Wenger, 2024 World Championship medallist, as he fell in the final lap while ahead of the pack. Also notable was that Ethan Cepuran and Daniele Di Stefano didn’t make it, leaving Stolz and Giovannini without teammates in the final. Very early in that race, Bergsma and Viktor Hald Thorup of Denmark escaped the pack. They quickly gained about half a lap. None of the other favourites wished to spend their efforts catching them, fearing they’d lose out to Stolz in the sprint. Other attempts to catch them were thwarted by Stijn van de Bunt, Bergsma’s teammate. About two laps before the end, Bergsma skated away from his fellow escapee. With a comfortable margin, Bergsma was able to celebrate his second Olympic victory, after the 2014 10,000 m, already in the final curve. Thorup also kept outside the reach of the pack, and finished second for his best ever result. In the pack sprint, Giovannini delighted the home crowd by narrowly holding off Stolz for the bronze.

Bergsma improved on his record of oldest medal winner in speed skating that he had set earlier in the Games. Viktor Hald Thorup brought Denmark its first ever speed skating medal, and only second Winter Olympic medal since curling silver in 1998.

PosNumberCompetitorNOCSemi-Final PointsSemi-Final TimeSFFinal
113Jorrit BergsmaNED3 (7 h1)68 (1)Gold
215Viktor Hald ThorupDEN3 (8 h1)47 (2)Silver
38Andrea GiovanniniITA13 (4 h2)21 (3)Bronze
47Jordan StolzUSA11 (4 h1)10 (4)
55Jeong Jae-WonKOR21 (3 h1)6 (5)
61Antoine Gélinas-BeaulieuCAN60 (1 h1)3 (6)
79Mathieu BelloirFRA10 (5 h1)1 (7)
811Indra MédardBEL3 (6 h1)1 (8)
910Bart SwingsBEL7 (5 h2)– (9)
103Shomu SasakiJPN40 (2 h1)– (10)
112Timothy LoubineaudFRA61 (1 h2)– (11)
1214Gabriel OdorAUT3 (7 h2)– (12)
1316Motonaga AritoJPN2 (8 h2)– (13)
1412Metoděj JílekCZE6 (6 h2)– (14)
154Wu YuCHN40 (2 h2)– (15)
168Stijn van de BuntNED24 (3 h2)– (16)
1711Daniele Di StefanoITA33 (9 h1)
1813Li WenhaoCHN22 (10 h1)
1914Vladimir SemirunniyPOL11 (11 h1)
208Ethan CepuranUSA11 (9 h2)
2110Sigurd Holbø DyrsetNOR7:44.18– (12 h1)
224Felix MalyGER7:46.65– (13 h1)
233Livio WengerSUI7:52.74– (10 h2)
2412Daniel HallCAN7:53.68– (11 h2)
2511Min-Seok KimHUN7:53.86– (12 h2)
2612Alexander FarthoferAUT7:55.59– (14 h1)
279Jo Seung-MinKOR7:56.44– (13 h2)
287Fridtjof PetzoldGER8:00.76– (14 h2)
2910Didrik Eng StrandNOR8:42.18– (15 h2)

Semi-Finals

Date21 February 2026 — 15:00
FormatTop 8 ranked skaters in each heat advance to final round. Points for sprints, 5-3-1 for three intermediate sprints, and 60-40-20-10-6-3 for final sprint, with places determined by points.

Heat #1

Time15:00
PosNumberCompetitorNOCPointsLapsTime
15Antoine Gélinas-BeaulieuCAN6016Q
28Shomu SasakiJPN4016Q
32Jeong Jae-WonKOR2116Q
43Jordan StolzUSA11167:43.81Q
59Mathieu BelloirFRA10167:43.78Q
67Indra MédardBEL3167:44.03Q
71Jorrit BergsmaNED3167:47.81Q
86Viktor Hald ThorupDEN3168:01.77Q
911Daniele Di StefanoITA3168:05.12
1013Li WenhaoCHN216
1114Vladimir SemirunniyPOL116
1210Sigurd Holbø DyrsetNOR167:44.18
134Felix MalyGER167:46.65
1412Alexander FarthoferAUT167:55.59

Heat #2

PosNumberCompetitorNOCPointsLapsTime
16Timothy LoubineaudFRA6116Q
215Wu YuCHN4016Q
314Stijn van de BuntNED2416Q
41Andrea GiovanniniITA1316Q
52Bart SwingsBEL716Q
64Metoděj JílekCZE616Q
75Gabriel OdorAUT316Q
813Motonaga AritoJPN216Q
98Ethan CepuranUSA116
103Livio WengerSUI167:52.74
1112Daniel HallCAN167:53.68
1211Min-Seok KimHUN167:53.86
139Jo Seung-MinKOR167:56.44
147Fridtjof PetzoldGER168:00.76
1510Didrik Eng StrandNOR168:42.18

Final Round

Date21 February 2026 — 16:40
PosNumberCompetitorNOCPointsLapsTime
113Jorrit BergsmaNED6816
215Viktor Hald ThorupDEN4716
38Andrea GiovanniniITA2116
47Jordan StolzUSA1016
55Jeong Jae-WonKOR616
61Antoine Gélinas-BeaulieuCAN316
79Mathieu BelloirFRA1168:12.96
811Indra MédardBEL1168:26.25
910Bart SwingsBEL168:05.37
103Shomu SasakiJPN168:05.56
112Timothy LoubineaudFRA168:06.93
1214Gabriel OdorAUT168:07.08
1316Motonaga AritoJPN168:09.46
1412Metoděj JílekCZE168:10.90
154Wu YuCHN168:12.04
168Stijn van de BuntNED168:18.60