Stoddard becomes first U.S woman to make Olympic short track podium since 2010 with 1500m bronze

A chaotic end fit for the most chaotic of sports.

After a day — and a tournament — full of uncharacteristic blips and field-altering collisions, short track at the 2026 Milan Cortina Olympics concluded in historic fashion: Corinne Stoddard became the first American woman to make an Olympic short track podium since 2010, skating to bronze in the 1500m, and the Dutch men won the 5000m relay for the first time.

Stoddard, who entered the Olympics as the world No. 2 overall, faced a string of bad luck in Milan. On her first day of competition alone, she slipped thrice. 

"I think after the 1000m, I basically spent the whole day crying in bed," Stoddard said. "I basically came from the depths of hell to get here, and I couldn't have done it without my team and my staff and my coaches, everyone, just lifting me up and [giving] me the confidence that I could skate the way I know how to after so many terrible races."

After a few days of rest between events, Stoddard looked back to peak form Friday, skating confidently through her quarterfinal and semifinal heats. In the final, she spent much of the race defending an early lead — her signature tactic — before she was overtaken by South Korean skaters Kim Gil-Li and Choi Min-Jeong, who won gold and silver, respectively. 

Stoddard held on to 3rd through the remainder of the race, earning her first career Olympic medal. It also marked the first time an American woman has made a 1500m podium on the Olympic level and the first time any American skater has claimed an Olympic short track medal since 2018.

"Today was just to prove to myself that I can skate under the Olympic pressure and to prove to myself that I'm still me, and I did that, and I feel like that's a great way to end such a terrible Olympics."

The 24-year-old skater entered her second Olympics riding the high of a personal-best World Tour campaign where she collected eight individual medals (3 silver, 5 bronze) and lifted the United States to three relay medals. This year marked the first time she skated to silver twice or more on one World Tour.