Long track speedskating — sometimes referred to simply as “long track” or just “speedskating” — was a part of the original Winter Olympics back in 1924, when only men participated, and is quite different from short track. Here's what to know about the competition at the Milan Cortina Winter Olympics:
In most long track events, two skaters compete against each other on a 400-meter oval, racing counterclockwise in an attempt to record the fastest time. There are two lanes, and the athletes alternate which portion of the course they are in during each lap.
The biggest name in speedskating right now is Jordan Stolz, a 21-year-old from Wisconsin who could line up in five events in Milan and will be favored to win multiple gold medals. He is the best in the world over 500, 1,000 and 1,500 meters at the moment, dominating the World Cup season. The Dutch have a strong tradition in this sport, and Jenning de Boo should be Stolz's biggest challenger in the sprints. Erin Jackson will seek to defend her gold medal at 500 meters from the 2022 Beijing Games, where the American became the first Black woman to win an individual title at a Winter Olympics. She'll need to fend off Femke Kok of the Netherlands. The U.S. men hold the world record, and swept the World Cup races, in the team pursuit.
Speedskating will be held Feb. 7-21 at the Milano Speed Skating Stadium, part of the Milano Ice Park in Rho, just outside the city. The competition begins with the women's 3,000 meters on Feb. 7 and ends with the women's and men's mass start on Feb. 21.
Eric Heiden of the U.S. went 5-for-5 at the 1980 Lake Placid Olympics, winning gold medals in every individual race: 500, 1,000, 1,500, 5,000 and 10,000 meters. Another American, Bonnie Blair, was the first woman to repeat as Winter Games champion in the 500 meters, and she wound up taking home the gold three times in a row — in 1988, 1992 and 1994 — part of a career haul of six Olympic medals, five golds. Dan Jansen's gold and world record in the 1,000 meters at the 1994 Lillehammer Games stands out as one of the most memorable moments in any sport or at any Olympics. Six years earlier, in Calgary, Jansen fell twice in races held shortly after his sister died of leukemia.
Speedskating is one of just a half-dozen sports that have been a part of every Winter Olympics — although women were not included in its races until the 1960 Squaw Valley Games. The Netherlands has been by far the most successful nation, collecting 48 golds and 133 total medals. The U.S. has 30 golds, 71 medals.
AP Winter Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/milan-cortina-2026-winter-olympics
FILE - Erin Jackson, of the United States, skates during the women's 500 meters at the World Cup speedskating event, Sunday, Nov. 16, 2025, in Salt Lake City. (AP Photo/Tyler Tate, File)
FILE - Femke Kok of the Netherlands in action during a 500 meter race of the World Cup Speedskating at the Thialf ice arena in Heerenveen, northern Netherlands, Friday, Feb. 28, 2025. (AP Photo/Peter Dejong, File)
FILE - Jordan Stolz, center of the United States, competes in the men's 1,500-meters race at the World Cup speedskating event, Friday, Dec. 12, 2025 in Hamar, Norway. (Geir Olsen/NTB Scanpix via AP, File)
MOGADISHU, Somalia (AP) — Somalia's government on Thursday denied an allegation by the U.S. government that authorities in Mogadishu destroyed an American-funded warehouse belonging to the World Food Program and seized food aid earmarked for impoverished civilians.
The U.S. State Department said Wednesday that it has suspended all assistance from Washington to Somalia’s federal government over the allegations, saying the Trump administration has "a zero-tolerance policy for waste, theft and diversion of life-saving assistance.”
A senior U.S. State Department official said authorities at the Mogadishu port demolished the warehouse of the World Food Program, a Rome-based U.N. agency, at the direction of President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud “with no prior notification or coordination with international donor countries, including the United States.” The official spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss private reporting from American diplomats in the region.
Somalia’s foreign ministry said that the food in question wasn't destroyed and that “the commodities referenced in recent reports remain under the custody and control of the World Food Program, including assistance provided by the United States.”
The foreign ministry said expansion and repurposing works at the Mogadishu port are underway as part of broader developments, but ongoing activities there have not affected the custody and distribution of humanitarian assistance.
Somalia “remains fully committed to humanitarian principles, transparency, and accountability, and values its partnership with the United States and all international donors,” it said. It gave no other details.
The WFP told The Associated Press in a statement that its warehouse in Mogadishu port had been demolished by port authorities. The organization said the warehouse contained 75 metric tones of specialized foods intended for the treatment of malnourished pregnant and breastfeeding women and girls and young children.
In a later update, the WFP said it had “retrieved 75 metric tons of nutritional commodities” without explaining further details on how the material was retried.
“The warehouse is crucial for WFP’s emergency operations at a moment when almost a quarter of the population (4.4 million people) are facing crisis levels of hunger or worse in Somalia,” the statement said.
Located in the Horn of Africa, Somalia is one of the world’s poorest nations and has been beset by chronic strife and insecurity exacerbated by multiple natural disasters, including severe droughts, for decades.
The U.S. provided $770 million in assistance for projects in Somalia during the last year of Democratic President Joe Biden’s administration, but only a fraction of that went directly to the government.
The U.S. suspension comes as the Trump administration has ratcheted up criticism of Somali refugees and migrants in the United States, including over fraud allegations involving child care centers in Minnesota. It has slapped significant restrictions on Somalis wanting to come to the U.S. and made it difficult for those already in the United States to stay.
It wasn't immediately clear how much assistance would be affected by the suspension because the Trump administration has slashed foreign aid expenditures, dismantled the U.S. Agency for International Development and not released new country-by-country data.
South Sudan, another African country facing conflict and food shortage, is also heavily affected by U.S. aid restrictions. On Thursday, the U.S. suspended foreign assistance to a county in South Sudan's Jonglei state, and similar assistance to Western Bahr el-Ghazal state was under review, the U.S. Embassy in South Sudan said in a statement.
That statement charged that South Sudanese officials “take advantage of the United States instead of working in partnership with us to help the South Sudanese people.”
The U.S. measures “follow continued abuse, exploitation, and theft directed against U.S. foreign assistance by South Sudanese officials at national, state, and county levels,” it said.
There was no immediate comment from South Sudan's government.
Matthew Lee contributed reporting from Washington and Vanessa Gera from Warsaw, Poland. Machol reported from Juba, South Sudan.
FILE - Workers distribute food aid from the World Food Program at a refugee camp in Dolo, Somalia on July 18. 2012. (AP Photo/Jason Straziuso, file)
FILE - In this May 18, 2019 file photo, newly-arrived women who fled drought line up to receive food distributed by local volunteers at a camp for displaced persons in the Daynile neighborhood on the outskirts of the Somalian capital Mogadishu. (AP Photo/Farah Abdi Warsameh, file)
