MILAN (AP) — Dutch short track speedskating star Jens van ’t Wout already has two gold medals at the Milan Cortina Olympics, but Wednesday’s bronze medal felt like winning the lottery.
That’s because he ended up on the podium with his older brother, Melle van ’t Wout.
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From left to right, silver medalist Melle van 't Wout of the Netherlands, gold medalist Steven Dubois of Canada and bronze medalist Jens van 't Wout of the Netherlands receive their medals after the short track speed skating men's 500m at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Milan, Italy, Wednesday, Feb. 18, 2026. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis)
Silver medalist Melle van 't Wout of the Netherlands jumps to the podium to receive his medal after the short track speed skating men's 500m at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Milan, Italy, Wednesday, Feb. 18, 2026. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis)
Melle van 't Wout of the Netherlands wins silver, right, and Jens van 't Wout of the Netherlands wins bronze during the short track speed skating men's 500m at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Milan, Italy, Wednesday, Feb. 18, 2026. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough)
Silver medalist Melle van 't Wout of the Netherlands and bronze medalist Jens van 't Wout of the Netherlands greet supporters in the stands after the short track speed skating men's 500m final at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Milan, Italy, Wednesday, Feb. 18, 2026. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis)
Melle van 't Wout of the Netherlands wins silver, right, and Jens van 't Wout of the Netherlands wins bronze during the short track speed skating men's 500m at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Milan, Italy, Wednesday, Feb. 18, 2026. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough)
“We always used to say, ‘Imagine if,’ like in the context of if I win the lottery,” Jens van ’t Wout said. “If it ever happens, it’s a fairy-tale story, that is how we thought about it.”
The brothers finished behind Canadian Steven Dubois in the 500 meters on Wednesday, with Melle van ’t Wout beating out his sibling for silver.
They gave each other a huge hug after crossing the line before doing a celebratory lap, carrying the Netherlands flag and then embracing their parents, who leaned over from the stands.
Jens van ’t Wout won gold in the 1,500 meters and the 1,000 in Milan, but it was a first Olympic medal for Melle van ’t Wout, who returned this season from a serious knee injury that required surgery and kept him out for nearly two years.
“After his injury, we were kind of like, OK, this season is basically done for him, just train as hard as you can, get fit, see if you can get back for the post-Olympic season,” Jens van ’t Wout said. “And then all of a sudden, he made the world tour team for the Netherlands.
“And then we kind talked about it like ‘OK, we weren’t expecting this. Like, this is amazing … Now you just have fun.’ And then this dude just gets an Olympic medal.”
Melle van ’t Wout interjected with a broad smile: “I’ve been having a lot of fun.”
The van ’t Wouts aren’t the first short track siblings to share a podium. They said they were inspired by Shaoang Liu and his older brother Shaolin Sándor Liu, who represented Hungary and now China.
The Liu brothers shared a number of podiums in the world and European championships but were only on the Olympic podium together as part of a relay team.
“It’s unbelievable. We’ve had this goal since we were boys,” Melle van ’t Wout said. “We saw Shaolin and Shaoang do it for years. That even made our goal even bigger. And the fact that we did it is unbelievable.”
The double podium came on Melle van ’t Wout’s 26th birthday.
“The best part is that we did it together, on my birthday. I mean, it’s a dream come true,” Melle van ’t Wout said.
His 24-year-old brother was spared a shopping trip.
“I didn’t have a present yet, so ... yeah, that’s his present,” Jens said as the brothers burst into laughter.
AP Winter Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/milan-cortina-2026-winter-olympics
From left to right, silver medalist Melle van 't Wout of the Netherlands, gold medalist Steven Dubois of Canada and bronze medalist Jens van 't Wout of the Netherlands receive their medals after the short track speed skating men's 500m at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Milan, Italy, Wednesday, Feb. 18, 2026. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis)
Silver medalist Melle van 't Wout of the Netherlands jumps to the podium to receive his medal after the short track speed skating men's 500m at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Milan, Italy, Wednesday, Feb. 18, 2026. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis)
Melle van 't Wout of the Netherlands wins silver, right, and Jens van 't Wout of the Netherlands wins bronze during the short track speed skating men's 500m at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Milan, Italy, Wednesday, Feb. 18, 2026. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough)
Silver medalist Melle van 't Wout of the Netherlands and bronze medalist Jens van 't Wout of the Netherlands greet supporters in the stands after the short track speed skating men's 500m final at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Milan, Italy, Wednesday, Feb. 18, 2026. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis)
Melle van 't Wout of the Netherlands wins silver, right, and Jens van 't Wout of the Netherlands wins bronze during the short track speed skating men's 500m at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Milan, Italy, Wednesday, Feb. 18, 2026. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough)
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Iran stopped communicating with mediators about extending a ceasefire in the war with the U.S. and Israel, two semiofficial Iranian news agencies reported Tuesday, as tensions flared in Israel's separate but related fight against the Iranian-backed militia Hezbollah in Lebanon.
The halt in communication was likely meant to increase pressure on U.S. President Donald Trump over negotiations on the Iran war ceasefire and loosening the Islamic Republic's chokehold on the Strait of Hormuz and the oil, gas and other commodities that normally pass through it. Trump then could potentially push Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to halt or slow the advance of his forces, which have moved deeper into Lebanon than at any time in over a quarter of a century.
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio did not address the reported cutoff in communications as he testified at a congressional hearing in Washington. Instead, he sounded an optimistic note about the nuclear dimension of the negotiations, while cautioning that there's no guarantee of reaching "a deal that’s acceptable.”
The reports by the Fars and Tasnim news agencies, both believed to be close to Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard, come as the conflicts in Iran and Lebanon have increasingly become conjoined. Iran insists that any potential truce in the war there must also quell the fighting in Lebanon, where Hezbollah remains one of Iran's chief allies in its self-described “axis of resistance” against Israel.
A regional official involved in the mediation, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss the talks, told The Associated Press that Iran had not communicated at all on Tuesday after saying that a ceasefire needed to be enforced in Lebanon for negotiations to continue.
Israel and the U.S. maintain the fighting in Lebanon is separate from the Iran war talks.
Meanwhile, year-on-year inflation in Iran reached a level in May unseen since World War II, underlining the economic pain average Iranians are facing. While the U.S. is eager to ease the Islamic Republic's grip on the strait — through which a fifth of all traded oil and natural gas passed in peacetime — Iran faces economic challenges as its oil-backed economy remains under a U.S. naval blockade.
Economic pressure touched off nationwide protests in Iran in 2017 into 2018, when rising food prices sparked demonstrations that killed over 20 people and saw hundreds arrested. The next year, an increase in government-subsidized gasoline prices caused protests that saw over 300 people reportedly killed.
Then came the protests over the collapsing value of Iran's currency, the rial, at the start of this year. They were the most intense demonstrations to shake the Islamic Republic since its 1979 revolution and the chaotic years that followed. Iran's theocracy met January's protests with a crackdown on demonstrators in January that killed over 7,000 people, according to activists' estimates.
Now, even as hard-liners hold gun-handling workshops and organize marriages under the shadow of a ballistic missile to bolster spirits, experts note there could be new demonstrations if people find themselves priced out of feeding their families.
“I have no doubt that if Trump leaves (Iran without a formal peace deal) ... most probably, we will see something like January by the end of summer because of the economic and social situations," analyst Mohsen Jalilvand said in a video published by Iran's Fararu news website.
Iran's Central Bank said the consumer price index, which measures a basket of goods and services, reached 77.2% in May compared with the year before. The rate is 8.5% higher than in April, the bank added. Inflation in daily and general needs — like medicine, taxi fares, tobacco and communication fees — rose 113.8% from the year before.
A private economic think tank in Iran, the Bamdad Institute of Economic Studies, described the current figures as “an unprecedented rate since World War II.” Iran’s Central Bank did not acknowledge the significance of the figures.
The previous record came in 1942. During the war, the British and Soviets invaded Iran and took over its railway, disrupting food supplies. The lack of food, worsened by a poor harvest, sparked hyperinflation and a famine. Hunger and a typhus outbreak killed many.
Airstrikes this year have greatly damaged Iran's businesses and its oil industry, Meanwhile, the U.S. blockade has been targeting Iranian crude oil shipments trying to reach the international market, a key source of hard revenue. Tax revenues have been depressed by businesses struggling even after the fighting paused.
The rial, which traded at 32,000 to $1 in 2015, now trades at over 1.7 million to $1.
“We will definitely have higher prices," Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian warned in May. "We are fighting, and we must accept this hardship.”
Tehran-based economist Saeed Leilaz, speaking to the AP, warned that annual inflation in Iran could reach 80%.
"Iran’s society cannot tolerate above 25%” annual inflation, he said.
Karimi reported from Tehran, Iran. Magdy reported from Cairo. Associated Press writer Jennifer Peltz contributed from New York.
People walk at Tehran's historic Grand Bazaar, Iran, Monday, June 1, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)
Pedestrians and vehicles cross an intersection around Tehran's historic Grand Bazaar, Iran, Monday, June 1, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)
Men sit at the gate of a mosque at Tehran's historic Grand Bazaar, Iran, Monday, June 1, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)
A woman walks at Tehran's historic Grand Bazaar, Iran, Monday, June 1, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)
People carry packages at Tehran's historic Grand Bazaar, Iran, Monday, June 1, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)
