Latvia’s Roberts Krūzbergs reached the A final at the Winter Olympics, finishing fifth in the short track speed skating competition on Thursday, February 13, 2026. This marks the first time a Latvian skater has reached the A final at the Winter Games.
Krūzbergs completed the race in 1 minute and 24.681 seconds, a mere 0.144 seconds behind the gold medalist. The historic performance comes as Latvia is represented by two athletes in short track speed skating at the Milan Cortina Olympic Games: Krūzbergs and Reinis Bērziņš.
Bērziņš finished 14th in the competition. While this was Bērziņš’s only Olympic start, Krūzbergs is scheduled to compete in the 1500 metres on Saturday, February 14, 2026 and the 500-metre heats on Monday.
The Men’s 1500 metres competition in short-track speed skating at the 2026 Winter Olympics will be held at the Forum di Milano in Milan. [1] Thirty-six competitors from 19 nations are vying for a medal in the event. [1]
Defending champion Hwang Dae-heon and silver medalist Steven Dubois both qualified for the Olympics. Semion Elistratov, the bronze medalist from the previous Games, is not competing internationally following the start of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. [1] William Dandjinou led the 2025–26 ISU Short Track World Tour 1500 m standings and was also the 2025 World champion in the 1000 m event. [1]
Prior to the competition, the world record stood at 2:07.943, set by Sjinkie Knegt of the Netherlands in Salt Lake City in 2016. The Olympic record was 2:09… held by Shaolin Sándor Liu of Hungary. [1]
