MILAN (AP) — The U.S. trio of Casey Dawson, Emery Lehman and Ethan Seplan eased into the finals on Tuesday by defeating China in the semifinals of the men’s team pursuit speed skating event at the Cortina Olympics in Milan.
The U.S. team, which set a world record in the event in November and won bronze at the 2022 Beijing Olympics, will face Italy for gold later Tuesday. It was a rematch of Italy’s quarter-final win on Sunday.
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The fastest team four times in the quarter-finals advances to the semi-finals. The two winners of the semi-finals advance to the final.
The American trio built a huge lead against the Chinese team and gradually eased into the race, eventually winning by nearly eight seconds in a time of 3 minutes, 44.29 seconds.
Italy’s Davide Giotto, Andrea Giovannini and Michele Malfatti beat the Dutch team in the first semifinal with a time of 3:38.88, more than 1 1/2 seconds faster than the Dutch team. Italy’s only men’s team pursuit medal was gold at the 2006 Turin Olympics.
The Chinese team will compete with the Netherlands for the men’s bronze medal.
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Two-time defending champion Norway was eliminated in the quarter-finals.
Two women’s semifinals later Tuesday pit the United States against 2022 gold medalist Canada and the Netherlands against Japan.
The team pursuit was included in the Olympics in 2006, with three skaters from each country competing together, with two teams starting from opposite sides of the track in each heat, competing against the clock.
The women’s race ran six laps, totaling 2,400 meters; the men’s race ran eight laps, totaling 3,200 metres.
The United States has never won a gold medal in the women’s or men’s team pursuit. In 2018, the women’s team won bronze.
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AP Winter Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/milan-cortina-2026-winter-olympics