At the 2024 Paris Olympics, Stephen Curry went viral with his now-famous “night night” celebration. Fast forward to 2026 in Milan-Cortina, and it is the Italian speed skaters following suit.
On Tuesday, the trio of Davide Ghiotto, Michele Malfatti, and Andrea Giovannini pulled off an upset win over Americans Casey Dawson, Emery Lehman, and Ethan Cepura, per NBC Sports. They won the men's team pursuit in 3 minutes, 39.20 seconds. It was 4.5 seconds better than the Americans.
After crossing the finish line, they engaged in the “night night” celebration to troll the American team.
Italy did the Steph Curry 'night night' celebration after upsetting Team USA for the gold medal in men's team pursuit in speed skating at the Winter Olympics 🥇😴
(via @NBCSports)pic.twitter.com/fi0wY9jxVl
— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) February 17, 2026
The Italian trio not only won the gold, but did so in front of a hometown crowd. Furthermore, they beat an American team that previously held the world record time.
The origins of the “night night” celebration date back to 2022. At the time, Curry and the Warriors were playing against the Denver Nuggets in the NBA Playoffs. In Game 3 of the First Round, the Warriors put up a fourth-quarter run thanks to Curry coming off the bench following an injury.
After scoring a layup on Nikola Jokic, Curry did the “night night” celebration.
From there, it took on a life of its own, particularly after the Paris Olympics. Warriors coach Steve Kerr said that moment was one of the greatest in basketball history. Furthermore, Kerr concluded his speech at the 2024 Democratic National Convention in Chicago with the “night night” gesture.
Also, Buffalo Bills running back James Cook celebrated in the same vein in the first half of the Bills' game against the Cleveland Browns on Dec. 21.
