MILAN (AP) — Jorrit Bergsma spread his arms wide down the backstretch of speedskating's mass start event at the Milan Cortina Games. He blew kisses to the loud Dutch fans shouting in their orange outfits and wearing their mullet wigs to match his hairstyle. He even applauded right back at them.
Bergsma was so far ahead of everyone else Saturday that he was able to really enjoy and celebrate becoming, at 40, by far the oldest long track speedskating gold medalist in Olympic history.
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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/Luca Bruno)
Gold medallist Jorrit Bergsma of the Netherlands celebrates winning the men's mass start final speedskating race at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Milan, Italy, Saturday, Feb. 21, 2026. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis)
Dutch coach Jillert Anema wears a mullet honouring the bronze medal of Jorrit Bergsma of the Netherlands 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)
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/Luca Bruno)
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)
“Unbelievable. Unbelievable,” Bergsma said later, his medal hanging from his neck. “I’m a 40-year-old guy. ... It is crazy. This one was really unexpected.”
The oldest previous Olympic champion in long track was Ireen Wust, who was 35 when she won the 1,500 meters for Netherlands at the 2022 Beijing Games. The record for oldest man had stood for nearly a century: It belonged to Clas Thunberg, who was 34 when he won the 1,500 for Finland at the 1928 St. Moritz Olympics.
“It's super incredible,” said Jordan Stolz, the 21-year-old American who is about half of Bergsma's age and finished fourth Saturday after collecting two golds and a silver earlier in Milan. "He’s super nice, super relaxed."
Stolz's coach, Bob Corby, called Bergsma's performance “pretty phenomenal.”
Stolz was surprised none of the other racers back in the main pack during the 16-lap race wanted to try to chase down Bergsma, who took a big early lead with eventual silver medalist Viktor Hald Thorup of Denmark.
Bergsma was pretty stunned, too.
After that duo had pulled away, Bergsma easily skated away from Thorup.
“I knew ... this final is going to be a tough one. It’s going to be a tough cookie. Nobody wanted to do the first move, so I did it,” said Bergsma, this season's World Cup champion in the mass start. “I didn’t expect it. Nobody responded. Nobody wanted to close the gap for each other. I’m still mind blown that I won the gold medal here today.”
This title comes a dozen years after he won the gold in the 10,000 meters and a bronze in the 5,000 at the 2014 Sochi Olympics. His career haul also includes a silver in the 10,000 in 2018, and a bronze at that distance this time.
Other racers were impressed to see him get this medal at this age.
Mia Manganello, the 36-year-old American who took bronze in the women's mass start behind Marijke Goenewoud of the Netherlands, joked after what she had said would be the final race of her career that she didn't want anyone to mention to her coach that Bergsma just showed what can be done at 40.
“So well-deserved. He's a great racer, a great competitor,” Manganello said. “It shows this sport has a lot of maturity and the longevity of it.”
AP Sports Writer Daniella Matar contributed to this report.
AP Winter Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/milan-cortina-2026-winter-olympics
Gold medallist Jorrit Bergsma of the Netherlands celebrates winning the men's mass start final speedskating race at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Milan, Italy, Saturday, Feb. 21, 2026. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis)
Dutch coach Jillert Anema wears a mullet honouring the bronze medal of Jorrit Bergsma of the Netherlands 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)
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/Luca Bruno)
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)
After an emotionally draining and physically punishing Daytona 500 finish, Chase Elliott is back in his happy place — for the most part — this weekend at Echo Park Speedway.
NASCAR’s eight-time most popular driver lives about 80 miles from the track south of Atlanta, so the Dawsonville native can sleep in his own bed if he pleases.
That’s if he chooses to deal with the traffic.
“I say it all the time, but I enjoy coming down here,” Elliott said a day ahead of Sunday’s 400-miler in suburban Hampton, the second race of the 2026 Cup Series season. “It’s nice to have the option to go home. I’ve still got to deal with Atlanta traffic, but that’s OK and worth it.”
The Hendrick Motorsports star will welcome the respite after a last-lap heartbreak in the Feb. 15 season opener, the latest of his 11 failed attempts at The Great American Race. Elliott led with the white flag in sight at Daytona International Speedway before his No. 9 Chevrolet was turned hard into the outside wall.
He’s fine physically, but the pain lingered from another miss at winning NASCAR’s biggest race (which his Hall of Fame father, Bill, won in 1985 and ’87).
“Just a huge bummer for sure,” Elliott said. “Crashing like that, it’s never fun, but it’s more just processing how close you were to winning. That can be a challenging thing. Fortunately and unfortunately, I have experienced other losses like that. You look back and run through things that you could have done differently, and that I wish I had. Just hope that we get another chance.”
The venue formerly called Atlanta Motor Speedway will offer a similar test of split-second skills. The 1.54-mile oval was transformed four years ago into a high-banked “drafting track” (similar in style to Daytona and Talladega Superspeedway).
In eight races since the reconfiguration, Elliott has two wins and a series-best average finish of 9.14 at Atlanta. He has led the fourth-most laps (166) with lead-lap finishes in all of his starts there since 2022.
He will begin fourth of 38 cars Sunday after qualifying was rained out. Daytona 500 winner Tyler Reddick will be on the pole, but Elliott will be a favorite. According to Racing Insights analytics, he ranks first in passing and second on restarts at drafting tracks.
Last year, Elliott was eighth with 10 laps left but charged to the front with drafting help from teammate Alex Bowman, nipping Brad Keselowski on the last lap for the win.
“Everything happens a little quicker,” Elliott said of racing at Atlanta. “The straightaways being as short as they are, things happen fast, like in double time.”
That often makes for perilous situations. Four of the past eight races at Atlanta ended under caution, and a record 36 of 40 cars were involved in 10 yellow flags last June.
Wreck avoidance is a strength for Elliott, who is among NASCAR’s steadiest drivers. Consistent results will earn a greater reward in the Chase, the 10-race championship run that has been reintroduced this year in place of the elimination playoffs from the past 12 seasons.
Elliott would have won his 2020 championship under the old and new title systems. NASCAR analyst Steve Letarte, a former winning crew chief for Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Jeff Gordon, believes Elliott will benefit the most from the return of the Chase.
“Chase Elliott races a little like his personality,” Letarte said. “He’s very respectful. He’s levelheaded. He makes a lot of good decisions. He operates at 99% and just chugs along. He’d be the one I’d have circled that the format suits the best.”
Having grown up watching the Chase, the 30-year-old Elliott likes the “very genuine, very original” format and his chances at excelling in the title structure, though he believes he can win any week, too.
“My confidence in our whole group maintains at a high level,” he said. “Whether we’re coming off a bad or good week, I know we can get ourselves in the right position to succeed.”
NASCAR is searching for a fan who interrupted a postrace interview with Daniel Suarez. The Spire Motorsports driver was on camera and speaking in Spanish to Fox Deportes when a man clad in wraparound sunglasses leaned into the microphone from behind, said “47, 47, baby” and then tapped Suarez twice on the shoulder before walking away.
On this week’s “Hauler Talk” podcast, managing director of communications Mike Forde said the incident was being taken “seriously” by NASCAR’s operations and security teams. “If we do find out who this person is, it’s certainly not going to end well for this particular person,” Forde said.
Suarez finished 13th in his debut last week for Spire Motorsports’ No. 7 Chevrolet. In the past four seasons with Trackhouse Racing, Atlanta was among his best tracks with two runner-up finishes and a victory in 2024.
“When they changed the track, I’d say 80% of drivers were negative,” Suarez said. “I was part of the 20% I like new challenges, and something new is the sign of an opportunity.”
The former competition director of Joe Gibbs Racing has responded to a lawsuit from the team that he allegedly embarked on “a brazen scheme to steal JGR’s most sensitive information."
Chris Gabehart, who has joined Spire Motorsports in a managerial position, posted on social media that the claims were “frivolous and retaliatory” and said a third-party expert had examined his laptop, cell phone and Google Drive and “found no evidence to support the baseless allegations in JGR’s lawsuit. We even offered JGR the opportunity to do a similar review of Spire’s systems. JGR refused that offer and filed this spiteful lawsuit instead.”
As crew chief for Denny Hamlin from 2019-24, Gabehart oversaw two Daytona 500 victories and three appearances in the championship round.
Ryan Blaney (+850) is favored by BetMGM Sportsbook. ... Tyler Reddick’s Daytona 500 win marked the seventh consecutive race on a drafting track that ended with a last-lap pass, the longest streak in Cup Series history.
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AP auto racing: https://apnews.com/hub/auto-racing
Chase Elliott signs autographs during practice at the NASCAR Daytona 500 auto races at Daytona International Speedway, Friday, Feb. 13, 2026, in Daytona Beach, Fla. (AP Photo/Mike Stewart)
Chase Elliott celebrates winning the second of two NASCAR Daytona 500 qualifying auto races at Daytona International Speedway, Thursday, Feb. 12, 2026, in Daytona Beach, Fla. (AP Photo/Mike Stewart)
