MILAN, Feb 7 (Reuters) – Francesca Lollobrigida claimed victory in the women’s 3,000 meters speed skating on Saturday, giving Italy its first gold medal at the Milano Cortina Games and ending Dutch dominance marked by three consecutive Olympic distance titles.
Norway’s Ragne Wiklund and Canada’s Valerie Maltais joined her on stage as the skating program kicked off at the Milano Speed Skating Stadium.
Lollobrigida raced around the oval to break the Olympic record, stopping the clock at three minutes and 54.28 seconds – 2.26 seconds ahead of Wiklund – to secure Italy’s first ever Olympic women’s speed skating title.
It was the 35-year-old’s first Olympic gold, joining the 3,000 meters silver and mass start bronze she won in Beijing in 2022.
By competing in her fourth Olympic Games – on her birthday in front of a delirious home crowd – Lollobrigida turned the weight of expectation into fuel.
“This medal means a lot, but also a demonstration: the fact that you don’t give up, start a family, become a mother and go back to racing,” she said.
Emotional Lollobrigida celebrates with son
She was pulled alongside Maltais in the eighth pair and started in the outer lane. She went toe-to-toe with the Canadian before pulling decisively forward.
Realizing her triumph, an emotional Lollobrigida wrapped herself in the Italian flag and sprinted to celebrate with her two-year-old son.
The Italian – grandniece of the late film icon Gina Lollobrigida and cousin of Italy’s Agriculture Minister Francesco Lollobrigida – was caught up in the moment as the stadium erupted around her.
Image parade/archive photos/Getty images
“Being in Italy and knowing that my son, my husband, my mother, my father, my sister and all my friends were here… I was really happy,” she said.
“I did it for myself, but also for everyone who has always believed in me.”
The Italian’s victory put an end to a formidable Dutch legacy in the 3,000 meters. The Netherlands famously topped the podium at PyeongChang 2018, while Irene Schouten won gold at Beijing 2022 before retiring.
In Milan, Joy Beune and Marijke Groenewoud were again seen as leading Dutch contenders to extend that dominance, as was Wiklund, but Lollobrigida had other ideas.
Beune finished fourth and Groenewoud eighth, while Canada’s Isabelle Weidemann – a three-time medalist in Beijing – finished fifth.
The Netherlands remains the powerhouse of the sport, with a record 48 Olympic gold medals – well ahead of the US (30) and Norway (28). Lollobrigida’s victory was Italy’s third Olympic gold in speed skating.
(Reporting by Pearl Josephine Nazare in Milan; Editing by Ed Osmond and Ken Ferris)
