Latvia’s Krūzbergs wins bronze in Olympic short track competition

Latvian athlete Roberts Krūzbergs on Saturday won a bronze medal in the 1500-meter short track event at the Milan Olympic Games.
This marks Latvia’s first-ever medal in Olympic short track competition.
At the 2026 Winter Olympics in Milan and Cortina, this is Latvia’s second medal overall. Earlier, Elīna Ieva Bota won silver in the women’s singles luge event.
Krūzbergs is competing with a torn leg muscle and started the race despite his injury. In the quarterfinals, he finished second, while in the semifinal he advanced after judges ruled that a competitor had illegally impeded him.
In the final, Krūzbergs positioned himself at the front of the group in the early laps and remained in contention for places two through five. In a tense battle for medals in the final lap, he surged into the top three and at the finish line trailed only Dutch skater Jens van ‘t Wout and South Korea’s Hwang Dae-heon.
Krūzbergs finished in 2 minutes and 12.376 seconds, losing 0.157 seconds and 0.072 seconds to the silver and gold medalists, respectively.
For winning the bronze medal, Krūzbergs is eligible for a cash award of €51,224 after taxes.
In the 1000-meter event, Krūzbergs placed fifth — previously Latvia’s best-ever result in Olympic short track competition.
Krūzbergs will also compete in the 500-meter event at the Games. Reinis Bērziņš competed only in the 1000 meters and did not advance beyond the quarterfinals.
The Milan and Cortina Olympic Games will continue until February 22.