BEIJING, Feb. 20 (Xinhua) --Ning Zhongyan, who had collected two bronzes in the 1,000m and team pursuit, clocked one minute 41.98 seconds to secure China's first-ever Olympic gold in the men's 1,500m speed skating at the Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics on Thursday.
Ning Zhongyan of China celebrates after winning the speed skating men's 1500m event at the Milan-Cortina 2026 Olympic Winter Games in Milan, Italy, Feb. 19, 2026. (Xinhua/Wu Wei)
Ning Zhongyan of China celebrates after winning the speed skating men's 1500m event at the Milan-Cortina 2026 Olympic Winter Games in Milan, Italy, Feb. 19, 2026. (Xinhua/Du Xiaoyi)
Ning Zhongyan of China competes during the speed skating men's 1500m event at the Milan-Cortina 2026 Olympic Winter Games in Milan, Italy, Feb. 19, 2026. (Xinhua/Wu Wei)
Oriol Cardona Coll of Spain and Switzerland's Marianne Fatton captured the first-ever Olympic ski mountaineering gold medals in the respective men's and women's sprint events.
Oriol Cardona Coll (front) of Spain competes during the ski mountaineering men's sprint event at the Milan-Cortina 2026 Olympic Winter Games in Bormio, Italy, Feb. 19, 2026. (Xinhua/Hu Huhu)
Gold medalist Marianne Fatton of Switzerland shows her medal during the awarding ceremony of the ski mountaineering women's sprint event at the Milan-Cortina 2026 Olympic Winter Games in Bormio, Italy, Feb. 19, 2026. (Xinhua/Hu Huhu)
In Nordic combined, Norway's Jens Luraas Oftebro and Andreas Skoglund clinched gold in the men's team sprint, holding off Finland by just half a second in a dramatic cross-country battle amid swirling snow. Oftebro secured his third gold of the Games, while Skoglund earned his first Olympic medal. Austria took bronze.
Gold medalists Jens Luraas Oftebro and Andreas Skoglund of Norway pose for photos during the awarding ceremony of the nordic combined team sprint at the 2026 Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics in Tesero, Italy, Feb. 19, 2026. (Xinhua/He Canling)
Also on Thursday, the United States edged Canada 2-1 in overtime to claim the women's ice hockey gold, while American figure skater Alysa Liu triumphed in the women's event with a total score of 226.79 points.
Players of the United States celebrate victory after the ice hockey women's gold medal game between the United States and Canada at the Milan-Cortina 2026 Olympic Winter Games in Milan, Italy, Feb. 19, 2026. (Xinhua/Wang Kaiyan)
Players of the United States celebrate with the gold medals after the awarding ceremony for the ice hockey women's gold medal game between the United States and Canada at the Milan-Cortina 2026 Olympic Winter Games in Milan, Italy, Feb. 19, 2026. (Xinhua/Zhang Haofu)
Gold medalists players of the United States pose during the awarding ceremony after the ice hockey women's gold medal game between the United States and Canada at the Milan-Cortina 2026 Olympic Winter Games in Milan, Italy, Feb. 19, 2026. (Xinhua/Wang Kaiyan)
Gold medalist Alysa Liu of the United States bites her medal during the awarding ceremony of the figure skating women single skating event at the Milan-Cortina 2026 Olympic Winter Games in Milan, Italy, Feb. 19, 2026. (Xinhua/Li Ming)
Defending champion Gu Ailing overcame an early scare to advance to the women's freeski halfpipe final. Competing first, the Chinese star fell on her opening run but regrouped to score 86.50 on her second attempt, finishing fifth in the qualification. Three other Chinese skiers, Li Fanghui, Zhang Kexin and Liu Yishan, also progressed.
Gu Ailing of China competes during the qualification of freestyle skiing women's freeski halfpipe at the Milan-Cortina 2026 Olympic Winter Games in Livigno, Italy, Feb. 19, 2026. (Xinhua/Wang Peng)