Milan, Italy, February 17, 2026: The pursuit of medals for Japan and China at the Milano Cortina 2026 Olympic Winter Games produced speed skating bronze in the women’s and men’s team pursuit events on Tuesday.
Japan finished third in the women’s team pursuit, behind Canada and the Netherlands, and China claimed a breakthrough bronze in the men’s event behind Italy and the United States.
"We are, first and foremost, a united team, with a shared goal: to bring honour to our country. So we gave everything we had to achieve it," Li Wenhao, a member of the four-skater squad alongside Ning Zhongyan, Liu Hanbin and Wu Yu, told Xinhua News.
Italy won gold in 3 minutes 39.20 seconds, 4.51 seconds faster than the United States (3:43.71). China beat the Netherlands in the B final to clinch bronze in 3:41.38. The Dutch trio clocked 3:41.47, just 0.09 seconds behind.
The bronze medal was China’s best finish since the event was introduced to the Winter Games in 2006 – and gave the nation a special gift on the first day of the Lunar New Year.
Ning stressed the importance of coordination. "We have to skate like a single line, every step in sync, so that air resistance is minimized and the lead skater can generate more power.
"When we beat our opponents, I knew that all our hard work had paid off: the team's coordination and each individual's performance. It was truly flawless," said Ning, who skated with Wu and Liu in the semifinal but did not feature in the final.
Canada won the women’s team pursuit in 2:55.81, 0.96 seconds ahead of the Netherlands, who took silver in 2:56.77.
Japan, represented by Momoka Horikawa, Hana Noake, Ayano Sato and Miho Takagi, clocked 2:58.50 to win the B final from the United States (3:02.00).
Takagi, 31, earned her third bronze medal of the Winter Olympics and 10th medal overall in her Olympic career.