|
| 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.

PosCompetitorNOCSemi-Final PointsSemi-Final TimeSFFinal
1Jorrit BergsmaNED3 (7 h1)68 (1)Gold
2Viktor Hald ThorupDEN3 (8 h1)47 (2)Silver
3Andrea GiovanniniITA13 (4 h2)21 (3)Bronze
4Jordan StolzUSA11 (4 h1)10 (4)
5Jeong Jae-WonKOR21 (3 h1)6 (5)
6Antoine Gélinas-BeaulieuCAN60 (1 h1)3 (6)
7Mathieu BelloirFRA10 (5 h1)1 (7)
8Indra MédardBEL3 (6 h1)1 (8)
9Bart SwingsBEL7 (5 h2)– (9)
10Shomu SasakiJPN40 (2 h1)– (10)
11Timothy LoubineaudFRA61 (1 h2)– (11)
12Gabriel OdorAUT3 (7 h2)– (12)
13Motonaga AritoJPN2 (8 h2)– (13)
14Metoděj JílekCZE6 (6 h2)– (14)
15Wu YuCHN40 (2 h2)– (15)
16Stijn van de BuntNED24 (3 h2)– (16)
17Daniele Di StefanoITA33 (9 h1)
18Li WenhaoCHN22 (10 h1)
19Vladimir SemirunniyPOL11 (11 h1)
20Ethan CepuranUSA11 (9 h2)
21Sigurd Holbø DyrsetNOR7:44.18– (12 h1)
22Felix MalyGER7:46.65– (13 h1)
23Livio WengerSUI7:52.74– (10 h2)
24Daniel HallCAN7:53.68– (11 h2)
25Min-Seok KimHUN7:53.86– (12 h2)
26Alexander FarthoferAUT7:55.59– (14 h1)
27Jo Seung-MinKOR7:56.44– (13 h2)
28Fridtjof PetzoldGER8:00.76– (14 h2)
29Didrik 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
PosCompetitorNOCPointsLapsTime
1Antoine Gélinas-BeaulieuCAN6016Q
2Shomu SasakiJPN4016Q
3Jeong Jae-WonKOR2116Q
4Jordan StolzUSA11167:43.81Q
5Mathieu BelloirFRA10167:43.78Q
6Indra MédardBEL3167:44.03Q
7Jorrit BergsmaNED3167:47.81Q
8Viktor Hald ThorupDEN3168:01.77Q
9Daniele Di StefanoITA3168:05.12
10Li WenhaoCHN216
11Vladimir SemirunniyPOL116
12Sigurd Holbø DyrsetNOR167:44.18
13Felix MalyGER167:46.65
14Alexander FarthoferAUT167:55.59

Heat #2

PosCompetitorNOCPointsLapsTime
1Timothy LoubineaudFRA6116Q
2Wu YuCHN4016Q
3Stijn van de BuntNED2416Q
4Andrea GiovanniniITA1316Q
5Bart SwingsBEL716Q
6Metoděj JílekCZE616Q
7Gabriel OdorAUT316Q
8Motonaga AritoJPN216Q
9Ethan CepuranUSA116
10Livio WengerSUI167:52.74
11Daniel HallCAN167:53.68
12Min-Seok KimHUN167:53.86
13Jo Seung-MinKOR167:56.44
14Fridtjof PetzoldGER168:00.76
15Didrik Eng StrandNOR168:42.18

Final Round

Date21 February 2026 — 16:40
PosCompetitorNOCPointsLapsTime
1Jorrit BergsmaNED6816
2Viktor Hald ThorupDEN4716
3Andrea GiovanniniITA2116
4Jordan StolzUSA1016
5Jeong Jae-WonKOR616
6Antoine Gélinas-BeaulieuCAN316
7Mathieu BelloirFRA1168:12.96
8Indra MédardBEL1168:26.25
9Bart SwingsBEL168:05.37
10Shomu SasakiJPN168:05.56
11Timothy LoubineaudFRA168:06.93
12Gabriel OdorAUT168:07.08
13Motonaga AritoJPN168:09.46
14Metoděj JílekCZE168:10.90
15Wu YuCHN168:12.04
16Stijn van de BuntNED168:18.60