Norway wins its 17th gold medal, breaking record for most golds won in a single Winter Olympics

ANTERSELVA, Italy (AP) — Johannes Dale-Skjevdal of Norway was the only biathlete to hit all 20 of his targets in the 15-kilometer mass start race Friday and skied his way to gold — Norway's 17th gold medal of the Milan Cortina Winter Olympics — breaking the record for the most gold medals won by a nation at a single Winter Olympics.

Norway had set the record at the 2022 Beijing Olympics with 16 gold medals.

“It’s quite a good ending to my first Olympics, and it is also my first time shooting 20 out of 20," Dale-Skjevdal said. "What a day to do it on. It’s real, and I can’t find the words, but it’s just amazing, of course.”

Dale-Skjevdal had taken the lead after the first standing bout with clean shooting and completed the five laps on newly packed snow and gusty winds in 39 minutes, 17.1 seconds. His teammate Sturla Holm Laegreid only missed one target and finished 10.5 seconds back for silver. It was his fifth medal of these Olympic Games: three silver and two bronze.

“After the third shooting, I was really hoping for something special, because then I got quite a solid gap, and then I knew that on my last shooting I would be alone on the range," Dale-Skjevdal said. “It was a situation that you dream of: coming alone on to the range, shooting in Antholz, in the Olympics, in my favorite discipline in mass start. I’m so happy.”

Laegreid, who turned 29 on Friday, said it was a special day.

“It was a tough race," he said. "The snow is very slow. The conditions on the range are windy, so it was like a race I had to fight for. Today I was in fighter mode, so it suited me well.”

Philipp Horn of Germany only missed one target on his last shooting bout and left the range in third place, but Quentin Fillon Maillet of France, who missed four on the day, chased Horn and passed him on a big hill, and took the bronze, 25.6 seconds behind Dale-Skjevdal.

Fillon Maillet said he felt strong on the skiing and was excited to win his ninth Olympic medal.

“I didn’t feel pain in my legs, so I could push hard," he said. "I wasn’t so good on the shooting range, but you know, never mind. It’s still a medal, and with these Olympics it makes it nine in total right now. That’s incredible.”

Horn said it was a huge disappointment.

“I was great on the shooting range,” he said. "I kept calm and relaxed, and did my job, but on the last loop I was just not strong enough. It was a fourth place, which is worth nothing at the Olympics.”

Fillon Maillet, who was on the gold medal winning team in the mixed relay and men's relay, also won gold in the sprint.

Campbell Wright, America's last hope for its first Olympic medal in biathlon, struggled on the shooting range. He missed seven out of 20 and finished in last place.

Italy's Tommaso Giacomel, who sits second in overall World Cup standings, cleaned all 10 of his prone shots, and was leading the race, but dropped out of the race on the third lap. A message sent out by the Italian biathlon federation said he retired due to a “sudden pain in his side which affected his breathing.”

Only the top 30 biathletes compete in the mass start race — based on World Cup rankings and Olympic performance. They ski five, 3-kilometer loops, shooting twice in the prone position and twice standing.

The women's 12.5-kilometer mass start is scheduled for Saturday — the final day of the Olympic biathlon competition.

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

Johannes Dale-Skjevdal, of Norway, reacts in the finish area of the men's 15-kilometer mass start biathlon race after winning gold at the 2026 Winter Olympics in Anterselva, Italy, Friday, Feb. 20, 2026. (AP Photo/Mosa'ab Elshamy)

Gold medalist Johannes Dale-Skjevdal, of Norway, left, and silver medalist Sturla Holm Laegreid, of Norway, pose for photos after the men's 15-kilometer mass start biathlon race at the 2026 Winter Olympics in Anterselva, Italy, Friday, Feb. 20, 2026. (AP Photo/Mosa'ab Elshamy)

Johannes Dale-Skjevdal, of Norway, poses for photos after winning gold in the men's 15-kilometer mass start biathlon race at the 2026 Winter Olympics in Anterselva, Italy, Friday, Feb. 20, 2026. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)

Campbell Wright, of the United States, competes in the men's 15-kilometer mass start biathlon race at the 2026 Winter Olympics in Anterselva, Italy, Friday, Feb. 20, 2026. (AP Photo/Mosa'ab Elshamy)

Sturla Holm Laegreid, of Norway, front, competes in the men's 15-kilometer mass start biathlon race at the 2026 Winter Olympics in Anterselva, Italy, Friday, Feb. 20, 2026. (AP Photo/Mosa'ab Elshamy)

Quentin Fillon Maillet, of France, competes in the men's 15-kilometer mass start biathlon race at the 2026 Winter Olympics in Anterselva, Italy, Friday, Feb. 20, 2026. (AP Photo/Mosa'ab Elshamy)

Norway's Sturla Holm Laegreid prepares to shoot during the men's biathlon 15-kilometers mass start race at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Anterselva, Italy, Friday, Feb. 20, 2026. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip)

Johannes Dale-Skjevdal, of Norway, crosses the finish line to win gold in the men's 15-kilometer mass start biathlon race at the 2026 Winter Olympics in Anterselva, Italy, Friday, Feb. 20, 2026. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip)

Norway's Johannes Dale-Skjevdal shoots during the men's biathlon 15-kilometers mass start race at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Anterselva, Italy, Friday, Feb. 20, 2026. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip)

Johannes Dale-Skjevdal, of Norway, competes in the men's 15-kilometer mass start biathlon race at the 2026 Winter Olympics in Anterselva, Italy, Friday, Feb. 20, 2026. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)

CORTINA D'AMPEZZO, Italy (AP) — It takes an immense amount of energy to power venues and make snow for the Winter Olympics and, for the 2026 Milan Cortina Games, organizers pledged that virtually all of the electricity would be clean.

The organizing committee said that energy use is where they can make the most meaningful impact, since it has been one of the main drivers of planet-warming emissions at major events. And Italy’s largest electricity company, Enel, guaranteed the supply of entirely certified renewable electricity for event venues.

Here's a look at what that means:

The organizing committee said in its sustainability report from September that its Games-time electrical energy would be 100% green, fed by certified renewable sources. In rare cases where temporary power generation is required, hydrotreated vegetable oil would be substituted for traditional diesel fuels, it said.

“This is also an opportunity to contribute to a broader shift — showing athletes, spectators and future host cities that cleaner energy solutions are increasingly viable for events of this scale,” the committee said Friday in a statement to The Associated Press. “We hope the steps taken for these Games can support ongoing progress across major events.”

Enel said it is supplying 85 gigawatt-hours of power for the Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games. It bought “guarantee of origin” (GO) certificates on the market from renewable energy plants to cover the entire Games’ energy demand.

GO certificates are a European mechanism created in 2001. Each certificate corresponds to 1 megawatt hour of electricity produced using a certified renewable source.

These certificates are traded on the power market, in negotiations between companies or through brokers.

Once used, they are canceled to prevent the same megawatt hour from being claimed twice. This system is meant to support the development of renewable sources, by helping companies meet their green energy targets.

Enel told the AP in a statement that its commitment to cleanly lighting up the events “translates the values of sustainability and inclusion inherent in the Games into concrete terms, combining technological innovation and environmental protection.”

While many say GOs are vital to promote Earth's decarbonization, the system has its detractors. Matteo Villa, who leads the data lab at the Italian Institute for International Political Studies, said it is a “great way to promote your event,” but it's not making Italy cleaner or more renewable.

The Games can only be as clean, or as sustainable, as the whole of Italy, Villa added.

Nearly three-quarters of the electricity Enel produced in Italy in 2025 was carbon-free, according to its preliminary full-year operational data. About 50% came from hydropower, followed by 17% geothermal and less than 10% from wind, solar and other renewables. The remainder was mostly from gas-fired power plants.

Many power plants that use water to produce electricity are in northern Italy, where mountains and rivers make for highly productive facilities. But Italy's national grid is still largely reliant on fossil fuels, according country-specific data from the International Energy Agency.

Enel built new primary substations in Livigno and Arabba, so electricity could be distributed throughout the territory. It also built and upgraded distribution infrastructure in the Livigno, Bormio and Cortina areas, which will benefit residents after the Games end.

Enel has a spot in the fan village in Cortina, where events are livestreamed.

Sustainability has been a major focus for the Games, as both the organizers and the International Olympic Committee seek to model how to cut carbon pollution while running a major event. Researchers say the list of locales that could reliably host a Winter Games will shrink substantially in the coming years.

“Every Games we strive to push innovation in sustainability, reduce the overall impact and the carbon footprint,” Julie Duffus, the IOC’s head of sustainability, told the AP Friday. She highlighted the use of clean power, upgrades to the energy system and the way these Games were designed so that most venues would be existing or temporary.

Matteo Di Castelnuovo, a professor of energy economics at the SDA Bocconi School of Management in Milan, said he expects the Olympics will stay committed to clean energy, and that “the challenge lies somewhere else to make them greener.” The thornier issue for Olympic organizers, and for any business, is figuring out how to reduce the emissions they do not have direct control over, notably those stemming from transportation, he added.

The amount of greenhouse gases estimated to be released into the atmosphere as a result of the Games is similar to the emissions of 4 million average-sized, gasoline-fueled cars driving from Paris to Rome, the organizing committee said in its greenhouse gas management strategy. The largest share of the carbon footprint are activities indirectly related to the Games, such as accommodations and spectator travel. Air travel is a significant contributor because burning jet fuel releases carbon dioxide.

Karl Stoss, who chairs the Games’ Future Host Commission, has said they may need to eventually reduce the number of sports, athletes and spectators who attend.

Many skiers, including Team USA members Lindsey Vonn and Mikaela Shiffrin, expressed concern during the Games about climate change accelerating melt of the world’s glaciers.

Associated Press writer Colleen Barry and video journalist Brittany Peterson in Milan contributed to this report.

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

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