Milan, 19 February 2026 (dpa/MIA) - South Korea returned to the top of the podium as they claimed women's short track speed skating gold in the 3,000-metre relay at the Milan/Cortina Olympics on Wednesday.

The South Koreans won the event in 2014 and at their home Games in 2018, but had to settle for silver four years ago in Beijing.

They were behind hosts Italy with two laps to go before powering ahead.

"For the women's relay, there are expectations and a sense of responsibility that we have as Koreans. Because of that, we wanted to keep up (the good work) this time as well," Choi Min Jeong said after her sixth Olympic medal.

"Thanks to the team members improving a lot, we were able to continue achieving those kinds of results."

Italy took silver as Arianna Fontana made history by becoming the nation's most decorated Olympian, summer or winter, with 14 medals in her career.

She's now just one medal behind the all-time Winter Olympic record of 15 medals held by Norwegian cross country skier Marit Bjørgen.

"Even though it's my 14th, winning it like this today is really incredible. The crowd was fantastic. This was a team effort. Every single one of us. No one left out," Fontana said.

"Even with my injury, I always managed to give everything and to be here ready and determined. We went on to the ice knowing we weren't in the best starting position, going off fourth, but we stayed calm and composed, took advantage of the opportunities."

Fontanna sealed 500m silver and mixed relay gold earlier in these Games.

Canada, who led for a long spell, had to settle for bronze, while the Netherlands were out of the medal picture after crashing out midway through the race.

Canadian Florence Brunelle said: "It's really special. We all know that short track is a very intense sport. So coming to the finals, I think we knew we had a really strong team, and we were going to give it (our) all."

"And finishing with bronze, at first we were like, looking at each other, 'OK, are we happy? And then we're like, 'Man, we're happy.'"

Dubois beats van 't Wouts for men's 500m gold

There was more joy for Canada as Steven Dubois ruined Jens van 't Wout's party as he claimed gold in the men's 500m.

Dutchman Van 't Wout was aiming to become the first skater to win three individual short track golds at the same Olympics, following his 1,000m and 1,500m victories.

But Dubois, who didn't have a quick start, built his lead with a strong performance to cross the finish line in 40.835 seconds.

"It was the one I was missing. I can't say it's never been on my mind, but I never wanted to really give myself hope, or make it an objective, because it's so hard," Dubois said of his first Olympic gold.

Melle van 't Wout took silver ahead of his younger brother Jens.

Reigning champion Liu Shaoang of China was eliminated in the semi-finals.

Dutch Xandra Velzeboer will now have the chance to become the first speed skater to win three individual short track golds at the same Olympics if she competes in the women's 1,500m on Saturday.

The men's 5,000m relay completes the short track competitions on the same day.

Photo: EPA