Italy’s Francesca Lollobrigida won the women’s 3,000 metres speed skating on Saturday, giving her country its first gold medal of the Milano Cortina Winter Games.
The 35-year-old finished in 3 minutes 54.28 seconds, beating Norway’s Ragne Wiklund by 2.26 seconds. Canada’s Valerie Maltais took bronze.
Lollobrigida, skating in her fourth Olympics, also won silver in the 3,000m and bronze in the mass start at Beijing in 2022. She celebrated her victory on her 35th birthday, and handled the pressure of competing at home.
Her win also ended the Netherlands’ run of three straight Olympic titles in the 3,000m. The Dutch team had dominated the event in recent Games, including a clean sweep of the podium in 2018 and a gold in 2022.
The Netherlands remains the most successful nation in speed skating with 48 Olympic golds, well ahead of the US (30) and Norway (28). Lollobrigida’s gold is Italy’s third Olympic title in the sport.
