The Italia Team completed a medal treble at the Milano Cortina 2026 Olympic Games. After the morning’s double podium by Giovanni Franzoni and Dominik Paris in the men’s alpine downhill at Bormio, gold—along with an Olympic record—arrived on the ice of the Milano Ice Park thanks to a sensational Francesca Lollobrigida over 3,000 metres in speed skating. It is Italy’s first gold of these Games and the nation’s first women’s Olympic triumph since the successes of Enrico Fabris (1,500 m) and the men’s team pursuit at the last home Olympics, Turin 2006.

The veteran from the Castelli Romani (photo Ferdinando Mezzelani/CONI), competing on her 35th birthday and under the watchful eye of Luciano Buonfiglio—who witnessed his first Olympic gold as CONI President—produced a magnificent performance on Milan’s long track. Skating in the third-last pairing alongside Canada’s Valérie Maltais, the Italian champion stopped the clock at 3:54.28, smashing the previous Olympic record. Norway’s Ragne Wiklund (+2.26) and Maltais (+2.65) were left with silver and bronze respectively.

“This is the Olympics of first times; it’s hugely emotional and it makes me want to cry. I don’t know if we fully realise what’s happening. FISI and FISG are two federations with two presidents, technical, logistical, medical and Olympic-preparation staffs who have left nothing to chance and deserve this success and the applause of Italy and the entire Italian sporting world. The protocol of the Institute of Sports Medicine and Science on athletes in maternity is an invitation to all athletes to have many children, and an invitation to the Italian Government to provide the right support so our girls can continue their careers and be protagonists of success,” Buonfiglio said.

For the 1991-born skater from Frascati, this is her third career medal at the Winter Games, following the two won four years ago at Beijing 2022 (silver in the 3,000 m and bronze in the mass start). It is her first Olympic podium as a mother-athlete, nearly three years after the birth of her son Tommaso—joy she shared with fellow athletes while playing a leading role as ambassador for the ‘Athletes in Maternity’ project promoted by CONI and the National Athletes’ Commission. (agc)