Czech speedskater Metodej Jilek wins the Olympic 10,000 gold at age 19 after a silver in the 5,000

MILAN (AP) — Czech speedskater Metodej Jilek spoke with a straight face and not a hint of irony as he explained how he managed to win an Olympic gold medal in the men's 10,000 meters at age 19 on Friday, adding to his silver in the 5,000 earlier at the Milan Cortina Games.

“I sacrificed a lot of things for this,” Jilek said, “basically throughout my whole life.”

Whole life, eh? Not a lot of calendar pages have turned for him so far, yet Jilek entrenched himself as the new, fresh face of the long distances in his sport. On Friday, bothered by a stuffy nose and a scratchy throat, he covered the 25 laps around the 400-meter track — the equivalent of 6.2 miles, a comfortable distance for a car ride, less so for a skate — in 12 minutes, 33.43 seconds to win the first Olympic long track title for a man from his country.

And when it was done, after he beat silver medalist Vladimir Semirunniy of Poland by more than 5 1/2 seconds, Jilek offered something that might not have been intended as a warning to the other competitors but sure sounded like one.

“I know that I can still improve," Jilek said. "I know that I can still up my training volume. I still have room for growth.”

At the other end of the age scale was the bronze medalist, 40-year-old Jorrit Bergsma of the Netherlands. The gold medalist in the 10,000 way back at the 2014 Sochi Olympics and the silver medalist four years later in Pyeongchang, he is the oldest man competing in speedskating in Milan.

“I’m super happy for him,” Jilek said. “He’s such a legend, such a legendary skater. Really happy I can share my first gold podium with him. It's an honor for me.”

Semirunniy, wearing a mirrored visor that reflected the ice, held the early lead. But Jilek moved more than a second ahead of that pace with seven laps remaining, his metronomic strides so consistent, and he nearly lapped the other man in his heat, 2018 Olympic champion Ted-Jan Bloemen of Canada.

When Jilek crossed the line, he threw both arms overhead. This result did not come as a surprise to him — nor the others on the ice Friday.

“Last season, we saw him coming, right? ... And this year, it has gone to another level,” said Bloemen, a 39-year-old father of two who said this was the final race of his athletic career. “It’s incredible how fast that has gone. ... To get there at such a young age is nothing but respect. He’s an amazing kid. He’s humble. He approaches it the right way.”

Jilek won the only World Cup 10,000 contested this season. After grabbing the lead in the next-to-last heat on Friday, he needed to see what would happen in the last pairing, which included the man who beat him last weekend in the Olympic 5,000, Sander Eitrem of Norway.

And while he briefly was speedier than Jilek in the early going, Eitrem eventually faded to seventh place, more than 13 seconds slower than the winning time. Davide Ghiotto, the Italian who set the 10,000 world record of 12:25.69 in January 2025 and claimed a bronze in the event at the 2022 Beijing Games, came in sixth Friday.

Hours before the start of the 12-entry race, Casey Dawson withdrew from the 10,000, leaving the event without its only American entrant. U.S. Speedskating said Dawson wanted to focus instead on the team pursuit, which holds quarterfinals on Sunday, and the individual 1,500 meters next Thursday. Dawson finished eighth in the 5,000 meters.

AP Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/milan-cortina-2026-winter-olympics

Metodej Jilek of Czechia catches his breath after competing in the men's 10,000 meters speedskating race at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Milan, Italy, Friday, Feb. 13, 2026. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)

Gold medallist Metodej Jilek of Czechia, center, celebrates on the podium with Vladimir Semirunniy of Poland, left and silver medal, and Jorrit Bergsma of the Netherlands, right and bronze medal, after the men's 10,000 meters speedskating race at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Milan, Italy, Friday, Feb. 13, 2026. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis)

Netherlands' Jorrit Bergsma celebrates after winning bronze in the men's 10,000-meters speedskating final at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Milan, Italy, Friday, Feb. 13, 2026. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip)

Jorrit Bergsma of the Netherlands celebrates winning the bronze medal in the men's 10,000 meters speedskating race at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Milan, Italy, Friday, Feb. 13, 2026. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis)

Vladimir Semirunniy of Poland catches his breath after the men's 10,000 meters speedskating race at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Milan, Italy, Friday, Feb. 13, 2026. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)

Czechia's Metodej Jilek lies on the pads after competing in the men's 10,000-meters speedskating final at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Milan, Italy, Friday, Feb. 13, 2026. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip)

Metodej Jilek of Czechia celebrates winning the gold medal in the men's 10,000 meters speedskating race at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Milan, Italy, Friday, Feb. 13, 2026. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)

ROME (AP) — Pope Leo XIV carried a wooden cross for all of the 14 stations of the Way of the Cross at the Colosseum on his first Good Friday as pontiff, marking the first time in decades that a pope carried the cross to every station.

“I think it will be an important sign because of what the pope represents, a spiritual leader in the world today, and for this voice, that everyone wants to hear, that says Christ still suffers,” Leo told reporters this week outside of the papal retreat at Castel Gandolfo. “I carry all of this suffering in my prayer.”

Inside the Colosseum, Leo lifted the cross and began the rite flanked by two torchbearers, who accompanied him throughout the hour-long procession from inside the Colosseum, through the crowd outside and up steep stairs to the Palatine Hill where he gave the final blessing.

At the first station, marking the moment Jesus was condemned to death, the meditation prepared especially for Leo's first Good Friday underlined that those with authority will have to answer to God for how they exercise their power.

"The power to judge; the power to start or end a war; the power to instill violence or peace; the power to fuel the desire for revenge, or for reconciliation,'' read the meditation written by Rev. Francesco Patton, who was custodian of the Holy Land 2016-25, charged, among other things, with looking after sacred sites.

Some 30,000 faithful gathered outside the pagan monument, following the stations as they were recited over loud speakers.

They included Sister Pelenatita Kieoma Finau from Samoa and a member of the Missionary Sisters of the Society of Mary.

"We have been part of our parish stations of the cross, but this is so exciting. It is very meaningful to have the experience of being with the people of Rome on this special occasion,'' she said.

John Paul II carried the cross for the entire procession from his first Good Friday as pontiff in 1979 until his hip surgery in 1995, when he carried it just part of the way, according to AP reports at the time.

For the first two years of his papacy, Benedict XVI carried the cross for the first station inside the Colosseum, then followed other bearers in the procession that ends on a platform on the Palatine Hill.

Pope Francis never carried the cross, but participated in the procession until his health worsened. He died after a long illness last year on Easter Monday, which fell on April 21.

Pope John Paul II was just 58 when he became pope, and was known as a hiker and outdoorsman. His two successors were in their late 70s when they began their papacies, and Francis was missing part of a lung due to a pulmonary infection as a young man.

The Way of the Cross commemorates the final hours of Jesus’ life, from his death sentence to taking up the cross to his crucifixion, death and burial. The procession ends outside the Colosseum atop the Palatine Hill.

“The Way of the Cross is not intended for those who lead a pristinely pious or abstractly recollected life,” Patton wrote in his introduction. “Instead, it is the exercise of one who knows that faith, hope and charity must be incarnated in the real world.”

At 70, Leo is physically fit and an avid tennis player and swimmer. Before becoming pope, Leo would work out regularly at a gym near the Vatican, with a plan befitting a man in his early 50s, according to his former trainer.

On Holy Saturday, the pontiff will preside over a late night Easter vigil, during which he will baptize new Catholics, and lead Roman Catholics into Christianity’s most joyous celebration marking Christ’s resurrection.

On Easter Sunday, the pope will celebrate an open-air Mass in St. Peter’s Square before delivering his Easter message and offer the traditional “Urbi et Orbi” blessing to the city of Rome and the world.

——

Barry reported from Milan.

Pope Leo XIV carries a lightweight, 1.5-meter (5-foot) wooden cross during the Via Crucis, the torchlit Good Friday Stations of the Cross procession at the Colosseum in Rome, Friday, April 3, 2026, which symbolically retraces Jesus Christ's steps to his crucifixion on Calvary in Jerusalem. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)

Pope Leo XIV carries a lightweight, 1.5-meter (5-foot) wooden cross during the Via Crucis, the torchlit Good Friday Stations of the Cross procession at the Colosseum in Rome, Friday, April 3, 2026, which symbolically retraces Jesus Christ's steps to his crucifixion on Calvary in Jerusalem. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)

Pope Leo XIV carries a lightweight, 1.5-meter (5-foot) wooden cross during the Via Crucis, the torchlit Good Friday Stations of the Cross procession at the Colosseum in Rome, Friday, April 3, 2026, which symbolically retraces Jesus Christ's steps to his crucifixion on Calvary in Jerusalem. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)

Faithful attend the Via Crucis, the torchlit Good Friday Stations of the Cross procession led by Pope Leo XIV at the Colosseum in Rome, Friday, April 3, 2026, which symbolically retraces Jesus Christ's steps to his crucifixion on Calvary in Jerusalem. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)

Pope Leo XIV carries a lightweight, 1.5-meter (5-foot) wooden cross during the Via Crucis, the torchlit Good Friday Stations of the Cross procession at the Colosseum in Rome, Friday, April 3, 2026, which symbolically retraces Jesus Christ's steps to his crucifixion on Calvary in Jerusalem. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)

Pope Leo XIV carries a lightweight, 1.5-meter (5-foot) wooden cross during the Via Crucis, the torchlit Good Friday Stations of the Cross procession at the Colosseum in Rome, Friday, April 3, 2026, which symbolically retraces Jesus Christ's steps to his crucifixion on Calvary in Jerusalem. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)

Pope Leo XIV carries a lightweight, 1.5-meter (5-foot) wooden cross during the Via Crucis, the torchlit Good Friday Stations of the Cross procession at the Colosseum in Rome, Friday, April 3, 2026, which symbolically retraces Jesus Christ's steps to his crucifixion on Calvary in Jerusalem. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)

Pope Leo XIV attends the Celebration of the Passion of the Lord in St. Peter's Basilica at the Vatican on Catholic Good Friday, Friday, April 3, 2026 (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)

Pope Leo XIV attends the Celebration of the Passion of the Lord in St. Peter's Basilica at the Vatican on Catholic Good Friday, Friday, April 3, 2026 (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)