The road to Milano Cortina 2026has officially begun for Italian athletes with the launch of Olympic test sessions—a key phase in the preparation for the Winter Games. This week, Italy’s short track speed skating team was the first to undergo rigorous physical and psychological evaluations at the Institute of Sports Medicine and Science of the Italian National Olympic Committee (CONI), based at the Giulio Onesti Olympic Preparation Centre in Rome.
Among the first athletes evaluated were Mattia Antonioli, Chiara Betti, Katia Filippi, Gloria Ioriatti, Arianna Sighel, and Martina Valcepina. These comprehensive assessments are part of a long-standing and meticulously refined protocol aimed at ensuring the physical readiness and safety of athletes aiming to compete on the world’s biggest stage.
“The Institute is once again ready to attend to all athletes,” said Dr Maria Rosaria Squeo, health manager of CONI’s Olympic area. “Our country has always placed great importance on sports medical evaluation.”
Dr Squeo stressed the significance of such evaluations, revealing that during preparations for Paris 2024, four athletes were deemed unfit to compete due to hidden health risks.
The process includes not just standard medical checks, but a wide array of specialised tests—cardiopulmonary, orthopaedic, ophthalmological, nutritional, psychological, and even dental and ventilatory analyses. This broad scope reflects the Institute’s belief that every physiological and mental aspect can impact both safety and performance at the highest level.
“We remain convinced that health protection is above any other motivation or value linked to the sporting event,” she said.
The current protocols are also enhanced by data from past competitions, including the European Games Krakow 2023, which helped refine the understanding of ventilatory efficiency—a key factor in endurance and high-performance sports.
“Through cardiopulmonary testing, we evaluate ventilatory efficiency. We’ve found that athletes with higher efficiency often demonstrate superior performance capacity,” explained Squeo.
This approach is dual-focused: protecting athlete health while simultaneously enabling personalised training plans tailored to each individual’s physiological profile. The collaborative work between medical experts and coaches ensures that training is optimised and sustainable.
Among those embracing this process is veteran short track skater Martina Valcepina, who is recovering from a serious tibia and fibula fracture sustained in late 2023. Now eyeing her fifth Olympic Games, Valcepina remains determined.
“I followed my teammates through a demanding season. I’m now in recovery and hope to return in the coming months. These medical visits are essential to starting our work on the right foot,” she said. She added that on-ice training will resume in Bormio in mid-May, alongside a summer filled with cycling to rebuild endurance.
As the nation prepares for the next Winter Olympics on home soil, Italy continues to set an example in athlete care. The Institute’s multidisciplinary and preventive model reinforces that elite performance must start with health and wellbeing—the true foundation of Olympic excellence.
