Fontana extends medal record as Italy wins Olympic short track mixed team relay
Advertisement
Read this article for free:
or
Already have an account? Log in here »
We need your support!
Local journalism needs your support!
As we navigate through unprecedented times, our journalists are working harder than ever to bring you the latest local updates to keep you safe and informed.
Now, more than ever, we need your support.
Starting at $15.99 plus taxes every four weeks you can access your Brandon Sun online and full access to all content as it appears on our website.
Subscribe Nowor call circulation directly at (204) 727-0527.
Your pledge helps to ensure we provide the news that matters most to your community!
To continue reading, please subscribe:
Add Brandon Sun access to your Free Press subscription for only an additional
$1 for the first 4 weeks*
*Your next subscription payment will increase by $1.00 and you will be charged $20.00 plus GST for four weeks. After four weeks, your payment will increase to $24.00 plus GST every four weeks.
Read unlimited articles for free today:
or
Already have an account? Log in here »
MILAN (AP) — Six Olympics, 12 medals. Arianna Fontana still wants more at the Milan Cortina Games.
Fontana won her third gold and extended her record as the most decorated short track speedskater of all time Tuesday.
Fontana and the Italy team dominated the mixed team relay final to the delight of the vocal home crowd in the first short track final of the Winter Games. Canada was second and Belgium third.
The celebrations were exuberant, Pietro Sighel spun around backward as he crossed the line before cupping a hand to his ear as the crowd roared its approval. Fontana held up her gold medal and a cardboard cutout of her own head, sticking out her tongue to match the cutout.
Italy on a mission
“This is our home. We’re here to protect it,” was Italy’s motto for the race, Fontana said.
“We tried to show it to the home crowd, ‘We’re here, we’re on a mission,’ and that’s what we delivered.”
Fontana started off the relay and put Italy into the lead on her second stint before Sighal finished things off.
Fontana already began the final as the most decorated Italian Winter Olympian ever, in an Olympic career which began with a relay bronze at the age of 15 the last time Italy hosted the Games in 2006.
If her 15-year-old self could see her now, “she won’t believe that I’m still here,” Fontana said. “She will be like, ‘Why are you still skating?’ But I’m sure she will be proud.”
US falls and soft ice
It was a bruising day for Corinne Stoddard and the United States as falls ended her and her team’s chances in the mixed relay and women’s 500 meters.
Stoddard fell in the relay quarterfinals but the U.S. was reprieved by a penalty for Japan. In the semifinals, she was fighting for the lead when she went down again and was then hit by a South Korean skater approaching fast from behind.
Stoddard has a swollen ankle but “it’ll be good to go in a couple of days,” she said in a team statement.
Several skaters voiced concern about soft ice at the Milano Ice Skating Arena, which is hosting men’s figure skating later Tuesday.
“The ice is really tricky right now,” said Dutch skater Jens van ‘t Wout, pointing to “weird falls” and skaters “slipping around.”
Individual heats
Fontana has a shot at another medal in the women’s 500, which she won in 2018 and 2022, after qualifying from the heats earlier Tuesday.
World champion Xandra Velzeboer of the Netherlands was fastest in the heats of the women’s 500 ahead of quarterfinals and medal rounds Thursday. Stoddard also fell in that event but Kristen Santos-Griswold and Julie Letai qualified for the U.S.
Felix Roussel of Canada was the fastest qualifier in the men’s 1,000, which also continues with quarterfinals Thursday. ___
AP Winter Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/milan-cortina-2026-winter-olympics