Antoinette Rijpma-de Jong of the Netherlands celebrates after the speed skating women's 1500m event at the Milan-Cortina 2026 Olympic Winter Games in Milan, Italy, Feb. 20, 2026. (Xinhua/Li Jing)
MILAN, Feb. 20 (Xinhua) -- Antoinette Rijpma-de Jong of the Netherlands finally landed her first Olympic gold medal in her fourth Winter Games as she claimed the title of the women's 1,500 meters speed skating here on Friday.
Having reaped three bronzes and one silver in PyeongChang and Beijing, the 30-year-old Dutch skater clocked one minute and 54.09 seconds for the victory, edging Ragne Wiklund of Norway by 0.06 seconds.
"It feels so incredible, it's so nice to be standing here. This medal means everything to me," said Rijpma-de Jong. "I already had (Olympic) silver and bronze medals, but Olympic gold was the one still missing. I'm so proud I did it. It can't get any better. It's insane."
"Doing it in the 1,500m, not even my best distance, is crazy. It's surreal," she added.
Wiklund, who had collected a silver in the 3,000m and a bronze in the 5,000m, took her third medal at these Games, with the bronze going to Valerie Maltais of Canada in 1:54.40.
Wiklund was content with her results in Milan.
"I am super proud, and very satisfied. I was dreaming of one medal and leaving with three is really cool," she said.
Japanese Miho Takagi, the silver medalist in this event at the Beijing Winter Games four years ago, missed out on her 11th Olympic medal after finishing sixth with a time of 1:54.865.
"There are parts where I have no regrets. When I look at it calmly, I can think, 'I worked really hard, '" said Takagi. "There were many moments when it would have been easy to give up, but I did not. In that sense, I feel I did well to get this far." ■
Antoinette Rijpma-de Jong (C, front) of the Netherlands celebrates after winning the speed skating women's 1500m event at the Milan-Cortina 2026 Olympic Winter Games in Milan, Italy, Feb. 20, 2026. (Xinhua/Wu Wei)
Antoinette Rijpma-de Jong (1st R) of the Netherlands celebrates after winning the speed skating women's 1500m event at the Milan-Cortina 2026 Olympic Winter Games in Milan, Italy, Feb. 20, 2026. (Xinhua/Wu Wei)
Gold medalist Antoinette Rijpma-de Jong (C) of the Netherlands, silver medalist Ragne Wiklund (L) of Norway, and bronze medalist Valerie Maltais of Canada attend the awarding ceremony of the speed skating women's 1500m event at the Milan-Cortina 2026 Olympic Winter Games in Milan, Italy, Feb. 20, 2026. (Xinhua/Wu Wei)
Gold medalist Antoinette Rijpma-de Jong (L) of the Netherlands hugs silver medalist Ragne Wiklund of Norway after the speed skating women's 1500m event at the Milan-Cortina 2026 Olympic Winter Games in Milan, Italy, Feb. 20, 2026. (Xinhua/Du Xiaoyi)
Arina Ilyachshenko of Kazakhstan competes during the speed skating women's 1500m event at the Milan-Cortina 2026 Olympic Winter Games in Milan, Italy, Feb. 20, 2026. (Xinhua/Li Jing)
Silver medalist Ragne Wiklund (L) of Norway and bronze medalist Valerie Maltais (R) of Canada kiss gold medalist Antoinette Rijpma-de Jong of the Netherlands during the awarding ceremony of the speed skating women's 1500m event at the Milan-Cortina 2026 Olympic Winter Games in Milan, Italy, Feb. 20, 2026. (Xinhua/Wu Wei)
Takagi Miho of Japan competes during the speed skating women's 1500m event at the Milan-Cortina 2026 Olympic Winter Games in Milan, Italy, Feb. 20, 2026. (Xinhua/Li Jing)
Yin Qi of China competes during the speed skating women's 1500m event at the Milan-Cortina 2026 Olympic Winter Games in Milan, Italy, Feb. 20, 2026. (Xinhua/Li Jing)
Antoinette Rijpma-de Jong (2nd R) of the Netherlands reacts after winning the speed skating women's 1500m event at the Milan-Cortina 2026 Olympic Winter Games in Milan, Italy, Feb. 20, 2026. (Xinhua/Wu Wei)
Antoinette Rijpma-de Jong of the Netherlands celebrates after the speed skating women's 1500m event at the Milan-Cortina 2026 Olympic Winter Games in Milan, Italy, Feb. 20, 2026. (Xinhua/Du Xiaoyi)
Gold medalist Antoinette Rijpma-de Jong of the Netherlands celebrates after the speed skating women's 1500m event at the Milan-Cortina 2026 Olympic Winter Games in Milan, Italy, Feb. 20, 2026. (Xinhua/Wu Wei)
Takagi Miho of Japan competes during the speed skating women's 1500m event at the Milan-Cortina 2026 Olympic Winter Games in Milan, Italy, Feb. 20, 2026. (Xinhua/Wu Wei)
Valerie Maltais of Canada competes during the speed skating women's 1500m event at the Milan-Cortina 2026 Olympic Winter Games in Milan, Italy, Feb. 20, 2026. (Xinhua/Wu Wei)
Gold medalist Antoinette Rijpma-de Jong of the Netherlands celebrates after the speed skating women's 1500m event at the Milan-Cortina 2026 Olympic Winter Games in Milan, Italy, Feb. 20, 2026. (Xinhua/Wu Wei)
Antoinette Rijpma-de Jong of the Netherlands celebrates after the speed skating women's 1500m event at the Milan-Cortina 2026 Olympic Winter Games in Milan, Italy, Feb. 20, 2026. (Xinhua/Li Jing)
Li Jiaxuan of China competes during the speed skating women's 1500m event at the Milan-Cortina 2026 Olympic Winter Games in Milan, Italy, Feb. 20, 2026. (Xinhua/Li Jing)
Valerie Maltais of Canada competes during the speed skating women's 1500m event at the Milan-Cortina 2026 Olympic Winter Games in Milan, Italy, Feb. 20, 2026. (Xinhua/Li Jing)
Gold medalist Antoinette Rijpma-de Jong (C) of the Netherlands, silver medalist Ragne Wiklund (L) of Norway, and bronze medalist Valerie Maltais of Canada celebrate during the awarding ceremony of the speed skating women's 1500m event at the Milan-Cortina 2026 Olympic Winter Games in Milan, Italy, Feb. 20, 2026. (Xinhua/Du Xiaoyi)
Gold medalist Antoinette Rijpma-de Jong (C) of the Netherlands, silver medalist Ragne Wiklund (L) of Norway, and bronze medalist Valerie Maltais of Canada pose for photos during the awarding ceremony of the speed skating women's 1500m event at the Milan-Cortina 2026 Olympic Winter Games in Milan, Italy, Feb. 20, 2026. (Xinhua/Du Xiaoyi)
Antoinette Rijpma-de Jong of the Netherlands competes during the speed skating women's 1500m event at the Milan-Cortina 2026 Olympic Winter Games in Milan, Italy, Feb. 20, 2026. (Xinhua/Li Jing)
Lea Sophie Scholz of Germany reacts after the speed skating women's 1500m event at the Milan-Cortina 2026 Olympic Winter Games in Milan, Italy, Feb. 20, 2026. (Xinhua/Li Jing)
Ragne Wiklund of Norway competes during the speed skating women's 1500m event at the Milan-Cortina 2026 Olympic Winter Games in Milan, Italy, Feb. 20, 2026. (Xinhua/Wu Wei)
Gong Li (C) and Yang Jingru (2nd R) of China compete during the short track speed skating women's 1500m quarterfinal at the Milan-Cortina 2026 Olympic Winter Games in Milan, Italy, Feb. 20, 2026. (Xinhua/Cheng Min)
Li Jiaxuan of China competes during the speed skating women's 1500m event at the Milan-Cortina 2026 Olympic Winter Games in Milan, Italy, Feb. 20, 2026. (Xinhua/Du Xiaoyi)
