Francesca Lollobrigida Breaks Olympic Record On Birthday Enroute To Hosts First Gold Of The Games

Francesca Lollobrigida became the first-ever Italian woman to medal in gold in speed skating with her win in women’s 3000m.

Francesca Lollobrigida Breaks Olympic Record On Birthday Enroute To Hosts First Gold Of The Games

Francesca Lollobrigida posing for a photo after medal ceremony with her son Tomasso (Image via the New York Times)

Hailing from the scientific city of Frascati, Francesca Lollobrigida cruised with amazing technique and agile movements through the Milano Speed Skating Rink to fetch Italy’s first gold medal at the Winter Olympics 2026. Lollobrigida, skating in front of her family and fellow citizens, had a birthday of the ages with the medal and the new Olympic record she set.

The 35-year-old skated as the eighth pair of the night, along with Valerie Maltais of Canada. Maltais, the eventual bronze medalist, had the initial dominance in the race before Lollobrigida caught up with her and shot into the lead as her son Tommaso watched from the sidelines. She finished with a time of 3:54.28, replacing the Olympic record set by Dutch skater Irene Schouten four years ago in Beijing.

Afterward, she admitted that it was the perfect day for her with her family on the sidelines, watching her win the country’s first gold of the Games as well as the first-ever gold for Italy in women’s speed skating. However, she hadn’t expected the color of her medal to be gold. She told reporters that she was aiming for a bronze with multiple medal hopefuls in the fray for the event.

This was also the third Olympic medal for Francesca Lollobrigida. She had won silver four years ago in the same event behind Schouten. She also medalled bronze in women’s mass start in 2022, behind Schouten and Ivanie Blondin of Canada.

Heading into the event, Norway’s Ragne Wiklund was the favorite to win as the long-distance leader in the 2025-26 FIS Skating World Cup. Wiklund, who raced behind Lollobrigida as the ninth pair, finished the race in 3:56.54, almost two seconds behind the Italian. Meanwhile, 2025 3000m World Champion Joy Beune of the Netherlands finished fourth. It was a dismal evening for the Dutch fans, who turned in large numbers, hopeful of a medal performance.

Outside of the Milano Skating Rink, Italian President Sergio Mattarella also followed the race. Mattarella told the president of the Italian Olympic Committee (CONI) to send his congratulations to Lollobrigida, the team, and the other Italian medalists of the day. Earlier, in men’s downhill, Giovanni Franzini and Dominik Paris shocked the crowd with silver and bronze finishes for the hosts.

Italy is on top of the medal table after Day One of the Milan Cortina Games

After a long Day One of the Milan Cortina Games, with five medal events, the hosts Italy are in first place with one medal of each color. Apart from Italy, Norway and Japan also have one of each.

Franjo von Allmen
Switzerland’s Franjo von Allmen cruised to his first gold medal at his debut Olympics with a time of 1:51.61 in the men’s downhill (Image via @Olympics on X)

The Norwegians’ first medal of the event came with Heidi Weng in the women’s 10km + 10km skiathlon, where she finished in third place. Ragne Wiklund added a silver while Anna Odine Stroem won the gold in the women’s ski jumping normal hill event. Stroem quickly took a comfortable lead in the first round with a 101m jump, gaining 136.9 points. In her final jump, she posted 130.4 points, combining for 267.3 points.

Japan’s two medals came in snowboading where Kira Kimura and Ryoma Kimata finished first and second in men’s big air. 2022 Beijing gold medalist Su Yiming of China completed the podium, making the event the first time an Asian trio completed a podium in snowboarding. Japan’s third medal, a bronze, was claimed by Nozomi Maruyama in the women’s ski jumping event.

In the other two events, Franjo von Allmen won gold in the men’s downhill for Switzerland, and Frida Karlsson won gold in the women’s 10km + 10km skiathlon for Sweden. Slovenia also made the medal table with a silver medal in women’s normal hill ski jumping.

The Day One Medal Table is as follows:

OrderNOCGoldSilverBronzeOverall
1Italy1113
1Japan1113
1Norway1113
4Sweden1102
5Switzerland1001
6Slovenia0101
7Canada0011
7PR China0011

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