Mia Manganello races to bronze with final push in mass start
Mia Manganello won bronze in the women’s mass start at the Winter Olympics 2026 in Milan, taking the final Olympic race of her career and claiming her first individual Olympic medal at age 36.
Mia Manganello seals bronze in mass start
In a 16-lap women’s mass start that began slowly and exploded on the bell lap, Marijke Groenewoud of the Netherlands won gold in 8: 34. 70, Canada’s Ivanie Blondin took silver in 8: 35. 09 and Manganello finished third in 8: 35. 39. Blondin beat Manganello to the line by. 30. After crossing the finish, Manganello raised her arms in triumph.
Bell lap turned it into a three-woman sprint
For most of the 16-lap race, with 16 racers on the ice at the same time, the pack remained intact — unlike in the men’s race moments earlier. It wasn’t until the bell lap that the race really began. Groenewoud and Manganello were first to sprint out, followed closely by Blondin, and the three skaters separated from the field in the final stretch.
A comeback from inline skating to cycling and back
Manganello is one of a handful of U. S. speedskaters who started in inline skating before switching to the ice. After coming up short of qualifying for the 2010 Olympics, she hung up her skates, hopped on a bike and became a professional cyclist. She returned to skating in 2016 and qualified for the 2018 Games in Pyeongchang, where she won bronze in the team pursuit. Four years ago in Beijing she took fourth in the mass start, missing the podium by a little more than a second.
The emotion at the finish
Manganello described the medal as the culmination of a long journey. She said it “means everything, ” pointing to sacrifices by her parents, loved ones, coaches and teammates and calling an Olympic medal “the ultimate goal. ” After the race she recalled screaming and starting to bawl, feeling disbelief. She said she and others had discussed impostor syndrome before the race, and that while she was in second on the back stretch she kept telling herself, "Hold it together, hold it together. "
What comes next
Saturday’s mass start was the final race of Manganello’s Olympic career; she leaves with a second Olympic bronze 16 years after her first attempt at the Games ended before she ever got there. What comes next for Manganello is unclear in the provided context.
