The skater had a rough quarter- and semi-final in the 500m event Thursday. Was her performance in Monday’s 1000m enough to achieve her gold medal dreams?
MILAN, Metropolitan City of Milan — The fastest short-track speedskaters in the world hit the ice during the women’s 1000m event at the 2026 Winter Olympics on Monday.
The Dutch completed their gold medal speedskating collection in the final, with Jutta Leerdam taking the top place on the podium.
She was followed by fellow Dutch skater Femke Kok, who took silver, and Japanese skater Miho Takagi took bronze.
Team USA athletes Kristen Santos-Griswold of Connecticut had her aim set on the podium and the chance to medal. The fight to win is extremely personal for Santos-Griswold, after her dreams of medaling disappeared in an instant at the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing.
“She appeared to be in medal position with a lap to go before being bumped by another skater, sending both to the ice,” Team USA writer Paul Bowker wrote. “A bona fide medal contender going into the Games, Santos finished fourth, the closest she would get to a medal in her five events.”
But the comeback was not to be. In her quarterfinals heat, Santos-Griswold dueled for the lead position in the first half of the race, but appeared to lose steam in the second half, drifting to third without being able to pass her way back into the lead.
And with an advancement from another skater, Santos-Griswold was pushed out at the quarterfinals, and didn’t make it to the semifinals.
Santos-Griswold had some setbacks during her 2025 season, according to NBC. She caught stomach flu during the World Short Track Speed Skating Championships and was sidelined by a back injury during the national championships. But that didn’t stop her from winning two bronze medals at the World Tour, including one in the 500m.
She made her first U.S. national team in 2019 and has since competed at four world championships for Team USA, including winning a silver medal on the women’s relay team at the 2024 world championships.