U.S. speed skater Casey Dawson withdraws from 10,000m

Speed skater Casey Dawson, who holds the U.S. records in all three of the longer distances, has withdrawn from Friday's 10,000m race, US Speedskating announced Friday morning.

He was the only American to qualify for the event.

Dawson, who made his Olympic debut in Beijing, elected to skip the race in order to focus on the team pursuit and the 1500m. 

"This decision regarding the 10,000m does not come as a surprise, and always was a part of the options coming to the Olympic 2026 Games,” Gabriel Girard, US Speedskating's long distance coach, said in a statement.

The 25 year old is one-third of a U.S. men's team pursuit trio which has skated to three world records, five-straight World Cup season titles, Olympic bronze, and world championship gold over the last five seasons. They entered the Milan Cortina Games riding a six-race win streak. 

Over the last year, Dawson has emerged as a serious medal contender in his individual races as well. Since January 27, 2025, he has broken three national records in the 5000m, as well as one apiece in the 3000m and 10,000m. In the 10,000m, he shaved almost 10 seconds off the 20-year-old mark held by Chad Hedrick — the last U.S. man to earn an Olympic medal in the 5000m (gold) or the 10,000m (bronze). At the second World Cup this season, Dawson skated to his first individual World Cup podium finish, taking gold in the 5000m by just 0.02 seconds.

The men's 10,000m is slated to begin at 10 a.m. E.T. in Milan.

Dawson will next take the ice with team pursuit teammates Emery Lehman and Ethan Cepuran for the qualifying round Sunday, Feb. 15th. The men's 1500m will take place Thursday, Feb. 19.