A record-breaking Italia at the Winter Games with six medals in one day

On the second day of competition silver in the biathlon, bronze for Sofia Goggia (alpine skiing), Riccardo Lorello (speed skating), Lucia Dalmasso (snowboarding), Dominik Fischnaller (luge) and the figure skating team

by Marco Bellinazzo

9 February 2026

Francesca Lollobrigida - la squadra azzurra nel team event di pattinaggio di figura (Charlene Guignard, Marco Fabbri, Daniel Grassl, Matteo Rizzo, Sara Conti, Niccolò Macii, Lara Naki Gutmann) - Dominik Fischnaller. Seconda fila da sinistra: Giovanni Franzoni - Dominik Paris - Tommaso Giacomel, Lukas Hofer, Dorothea Wierer e Lisa Vittozzi. Terza fila da sinistra: Sofia Goggia - Riccardo Lorello - Lucia Dalmasso.

4' min read

Translated by AI

Versione italiana

4' min read

Translated by AI

Versione italiana

On the first weekend of the Winter Olympics, Italia Team thrilled, with victories and high-level performances in a plurality of disciplines that enriched the medal table beyond the most optimistic expectations. After Francesca Lollobrigida's gold medal in speed skating (3000 metres), and Giovanni Franzoni's silver and Dominik Paris' bronze in the men's downhill race held on Saturday, the races on Sunday 8 February gave another six medals.

This is a record, since previously the Italia Team at the Winter Olympics had at most achieved three podiums on the same day. A haul achieved in three Olympic editions: Albertville 1992, Lillehammer 1994 and Salt Lake 2002.

Goggia bronze in downhill

Sofia Goggia finished third in the women's downhill on the Olympia delle Tofane in Cortina, about 6 tenths of a second behind the American Johnson Breezy who won the gold medal. The reigning world champion (but absurdly without any World Cup victories) was just 4 hundredths ahead of Germany's Emma Aicher at the finish line, in a race disrupted by the disastrous fall of American Lindsey Vonn, who tumbled after a few seconds, slightly missing a jump, getting stuck in the poles and losing her balance.

"After the initial mistake, underneath I tried to ski as hard as I could,' Goggia said, 'but clearly after all that waiting for Vonn to crash, the piste was completely dark from the big turn onwards, so I think the way things were going I was able to do a very good race, with heart, with courage, from Goggia. So I probably would have signed? Yes. At the start I was wearing number 15 and it was already hot when Vonn crashed, we were more than twenty minutes and it was a long wait and I could feel my helmet black and very hot, you could make eggs on it because it was really boiling.

Silver Biathlon

In the mixed biathlon sprint, Tommaso Giacomel, Lukas Hofer, Dorothea Wierer and Lisa Vittozzi finished second behind France's Perrot, Fillon Maillet, Jeanmommot and Simon in 1h04'15"5, with the Italians 25 seconds behind. Bronze medal to Germany of Strelow, Nawrath, Voigt and Preuss. The Italian quartet made up of Tommaso Giacomel, Lukas Hofer, Dorothea Wierer and Lisa Vittozzi held off France, which stretched its lead especially in the third stage, with Lou Jeanmonnot, the World Cup leader, uncatchable on skis and very precise in the shot, who was able to dig a gap of about twenty seconds. This advantage was defended by the last fractionist Julia Simon, who was also very solid on the range.

The Azzurri got off to a good start with Giacomel and Hoffer, staying in the leading group along with France and Germany - which eventually took the third step of the podium ahead of Norway - but they were not precise in their shooting. Perfection would have been needed and instead the two men missed twice each in the ground and standing shooting sessions, having to use two reloads. Wierer only made one mistake, while Vittozzi shot without any mistakes in the final fraction.

Bronze in speed skating

At his Olympic debut, Riccardo Lorello, a 23-year-old from Rho, Milan, at the Milano Speed Skating Stadium, practically a few metres from home, came third in the 5,000-metre speed skating event, leaving Davide Ghiotto just off the podium. Gold medal for the Norwegian Sander Eitrem, who with a time of 6.03.95 on the Rho Fieramilano track broke the Olympic record. Second was the Czech Metodej Jilek. "I tried to make my debut as best as I could. During the competition I was not thinking about anything. The only thing I remember is that in the last two laps I reasoned that I could break the Olympic record and I was quite gassed. It turned out the way it did and I am really happy," Lorello said.

Bronze in the women's snowboard derby

Lucia Dalmasso gave Italia Team the bronze medal in Livigno, beating Elisa Caffont by only 11 hundredths in the all-Italian final of the parallel giant slalom. The race was won by Czech Zuzana Maderova, who took the gold by beating Austrian Helge Payer, who won the silver medal.

Male snowboarding disappointment

The only negative performance was that of the men's PGS. At the Snow Park in Livigno the Italians, after having monopolised the last World Cup and World Championships, remained off the podium. And to think that Roland Fischnaller and Aaron March were first and second in the qualifiers. The Italian snowboard legend, however, went out in the quarters with Korea's Kim Sangkyum, while Tim Mastnak beat the other South Tyrolean. Unexpected defeats also for Maurizio Bormolini, out by only three hundredths in the eighth round against Benjamin Karl (later gold winner) and Mirko Felicetti, who was also eliminated in the quarters.

"The Olympics are a beast stronger than me," Fischnaller said. "I am very grateful to be here, to participate. I tried but it is difficult. I have shown so much other times, but in the Olympics I just don't have it."

Sledding: Fischnaller's encore

Four years after Beijing 2022, Dominik Fischnaller is again a bronze medallist in the single luge. The Italian, already third yesterday after the first two runs, confirmed his place on the podium by placing behind Austria's Jonas Mueller, silver, and Germany's Max Langenhan, gold. With Fischnaller's bronze - already third four years ago in Beijing 2022 - Italia won its 19th medal ever in luge at the Olympic Games.

Figure Skating: finally a medal

After the performances of the dance pairs (Charlene Guignard-Marco Fabbri), artistic (Sara Conti-Niccolò Macci) and women's single (Lara Gutmann) and men's single (Matteo Rizzo) the team finished in third place behind Ilia Malinin's USA and Japan. The Milano Ice Skating Arena exploded especially after Matteo Rizzo's performance in the men's single, which virtually secured third place bronze in the team event. To the shouts first of 'Italia, Italia' and then 'Matteo, Matteo', everyone present celebrated the historic medal for the Azzurri, with Rizzo also setting his personal season record in the free programme to the notes of the Interstellar soundtrack. And at the end of the performance, the 27-year-old, who was born in Rome but grew up in Sesto San Giovanni, a few kilometres from Assago, after the ovation of the entire audience, let himself go in a jubilation complete with a slide on the ice, which ended with a tearful embrace of the Italian team.