Did Team USA win gold in speedskating team pursuit?

MILAN, Metropolitan City of Milan — Team USA put on a powerful stride in the men’s and women’s speedskating team pursuit semifinals, but was it enough to secure a medal for the Americans?

The men’s event semifinals began on Tuesday morning, with the U.S. facing China. Team USA was represented by American athletes Ethan Cepuran, Casey Dawson, Emery Lehman and Conor McDermott-Mostowy. The team was favored to win gold ahead of the event.

The U.S. set the world record for men’s team pursuit in November and took home a bronze from the 2022 Beijing Games. During the quarterfinals, Team USA came in second, just 0.07 seconds behind Italy.  

In the semifinals, the U.S. faced off against China, and quickly took a dominant lead. The favorites for gold beat the Chinese team with a more-than-7-second margin to advance to the finals against Italy.

China took bronze over the Netherlands with a 0.09 second lead. 

In the final bout against the home nation’s team, the U.S. skaters went neck and neck in the first half of the race. By mid-race, it became apparent why the U.S. was so favored to win, as they advanced their lead to about half a second. 

But with a major burst of speed, Italy was able to push to a three-second lead in the final lap and take gold. 

Team USA’s men’s team finished with silver.

The women’s team pursuit was also underway on Tuesday, with the U.S. facing Canada in the semifinals for a spot in the final event. The Netherlands also faced off against Japan for a spot in the final.

Team USA was comprised of Brittany Bowe, Giorgia Birkeland, Greta Myers and Mia Manganello.

Team USA was off to a quick start in the semifinal match against Canada. But with three laps to go, Canada raced back to take the lead by just under half  a second. That lead quickly extended to more than two seconds by the last lap, as the women’s team resigned itself to competing in the final for bronze instead of gold or silver. 

The gold medal final came down to Canada and the Netherlands. In a back-and-forth race, Canada allowed the Dutch racers to tire themselves out in the first half before taking the lead in the back half and finishing with a comfortable lead of nearly a second. Canada took gold, with the Netherlands claiming a silver medal. 

The U.S. women’s team took forth after a strong performance by the Japanese team kept them from getting the bronze medal. 

In the team pursuit, three skaters from each country participate together, starting at opposite sides of the track. Each team competes in elimination races to the final.

The winning team from each semifinal heat advanced to Final A, while the two losing teams headed to Final B. Those in Final A race for silver or gold, while Final B determines which country earns bronze.