MILAN — Short-track speed skating is taking off at the 2026 Winter Olympics, and it was a mixed start for Team USA.
The first day of competition in the thrilling event began on Tuesday, Feb. 10 with the women’s 500m, and with three skaters in the heats, the U.S. only advanced two.
Milano Cortina is all about capturing what just slipped away for Santos-Griswold. She was positioned to win her first Olympic medal in 2022, but a crash on the final lap spoiled her hopes with a finish off the podium. Now Santos-Griswold returns with hardware in her sights.
Corrine Stoddard was another contender for the U.S., but her run ended in disaster. It was a close battle in heat alongside Xinran Wang (China), Rika Kanai (Japan) and Aurelie Leveque (France), but on the third lap, Stoddard fell and caused several skaters to also hit the ground. She had a chance to recover, but she stumbled again to essentially take herself out of the race. Wang and Kanai advanced out of the heat while Stoddard finished in last with a time of 1:11.651.
Despite a third-place finish in her heat, Team USA’s Julie Letai advanced to the next round of races.