Olympics, Italia wins bronze with Michela Moioli in snowboarding

'I didn't get much sleep, certainly with yesterday's adrenalin it was very difficult'. So said Federica Brignone, speaking on the sidelines of an event outside the shop of one of her sponsors, before meeting the numerous fans who had come to meet her. For the skier, still sore in the knee as always these days, those after the races were hours of celebration. Yesterday evening, the Italian skier was at Casa Austria to celebrate together with Cornelia Huetter, who came third in the Super-G won by the Val d'Aosta star. From tomorrow onwards, however, it's serious business to test her condition in view of Sunday's giant slalom.

Azzurri competing tomorrow, 14 February, at the Olympic Games in Milan Cortina:

- Curling, women's group stage: Italia v China (Stefania CONSTANTINI, Marta LO DESERTO, Rebecca MARIANI, Elena Antonia MATHIS, Giulia ZARDINI LACEDELLI). 09:05 - 12:05

The USA scored, 1-0 in the second half, but the Italians did not give up.

The first day of the women's single ended with Janine Flock in front: after setting the best time in the first run, the Austrian maintained the lead in the second run on the Eugenio Monti slope at the Cortina Sliding Centre. The Tyrolean led the classification at the halfway point with 1'54"48 and a margin of just 4 hundredths of a second over Germany's Susanne Kreher, who led an all-Teutonic trio completed by Jaquelin Pfeifer, third at 0"13, and 2022 Olympic champion Hannah Neise, fourth at 0"37. The second run brought a widening of the gaps between the pursuers: Britain's Tabitha Stoecker slipped to fifth at 0"53, followed by compatriot Freya Tarbit at 0"68 and China's Dan Zhao at 0"69. Alessandra Fumagalli and Valentina Margaglio confirm what they did in the first run: the Bergamasque is 14th paying 1"47 from Flock, while the Piedmontese is 16th at 1"79. The challenge will be completed tomorrow with the last two runs, scheduled at 18.00 and 19.44.

Filt-Cgil, Fit-Cisl, Uilt, Ugl air transport, Anpac and Anp 'in compliance with today's order of the Ministry of Transport have postponed the 24-hour strikes of all personnel scheduled for 16 February to 26 February 2026, also for the duration of 24 hours'. This is what is reported in a unified note of unions and professional associations in the air transport sector.

Starting with a quadruple toe-loop that only succeeds in a double, Italy's Matteo Rizzo in the men's figure skating free programme: he is excited and manages to excite.

After the third run Amedeo Bagnis confirmed fifth place and was twenty hundredths behind third place. In the lead was still Britain's Matt Weston, followed at 39 hundredths by Germany's Axel Jungk and at 75 hundredths by Germany's Christopher Grotheer. At 21.05 the fourth and decisive run for the awarding of medals.

After two wins out of two games for Italia in the men's curling tournament at the Milan Cortina Games, the Azzurri are back on the ice at the Cortina Curling Olympic Stadium. After the success in the opener against Sweden, the Azzurri beat Great Britain 9-7 today.

The men's singles of the free figure skating programme will soon be on track. Two Italians are competing, Daniel Grassl and Matteo Rizzo.Among the big names vying for the podium are the American Ilia Malinin, Japan's Yuma Kagiyama and France's Adam Siao Him Fa.

"After having dominated for practically four years over this distance, Davide Ghiotto deserved to complete the four-year period with the Olympic title'. This is how technical director Maurizio Marchetto commented on the 10,000 race of Davide Ghiotto, who remained off the podium. 'It happened that the race was not run as the athlete especially expected,' Marchetto stressed. "The Olympic Games sometimes play these tricks," he says. "It's a shame because after the 5000m he was very satisfied because he said: 'I have never been on these occasions so close to the others and I feel good'," the coach concludes.

'Make-up works miracles'. This is the line with which Michela Moioli describes her face, still swollen after the fall in training, arriving at Casa Italia in Livigno for the 'Medal Moment'. "It makes everything even more epic - continued the snowboard cross bronze medallist - two days ago at this time I was still in hospital but yesterday afternoon I clicked. Friday the 13th was good for once, it's a medal I've been dreaming of for years, there was a lot of pressure, I sweated it out and made you guys sweat it out too. My team believed in it even when I didn't, I have to thank them. I am really happy.

The TAS has dismissed Ukrainian skeletonist Vladyslav Heraskevych's appeal against disqualification over the helmet case, confirming the athlete's exclusion from the men's skeleton at the 2026 Milan Cortina Games. The disqualification had been decided by the IOC because of the athlete's intention to compete with a helmet depicting Ukrainian athletes who died in the war, which was deemed in violation of the Olympic Charter and the guidelines on athletes' expression. The TAS, while declaring itself 'fully sympathetic' to the commemoration, deemed the rule restrictions 'reasonable and proportionate' and rejected the application.

Davide Ghiotto and Riccardo Lorello finished - respectively - sixth and eighth.

No medal for Italia speed skating in the men's 10,000 metres at the Winter Games in Milan Cortina. Davide Ghiotto and Riccardo Lorello are in fact already off the podium when there are still two heats left. Ghiotto is currently fourth with a time of 12'46"72 and Lorello fifth with 12'56"22. In the lead is Poland's Vladimir Semirunniy with 12'39"08.

The precepts for the air transport strikes on 16 February and 7 March have been issued. Minister Matteo Salvini - reports a note - having taken note of the indications of the Strike Guarantee Commission and the determination of the trade unions with respect to the aviation sector agitations proclaimed during the Olympics and Paralympics, has decided to precept.

While understanding the workers' claims, Salvini 'shares the need to guarantee the right to mobility also on 16 February and 7 March, especially since Milan-Cortina 2026 is an extraordinary event of global significance'. The minister's hope, the note concludes, is that the negotiations between companies and workers will not be interrupted, hoping for a satisfactory agreement between the parties.

"I failed, I think this was the best race for me and I failed. I am very disappointed. This was said in the mixed zone by Tommaso Giacomel, visibly distraught and with glazed eyes, after his 22nd place finish in the men's biathlon sprint at the Milan Cortina Games. "To arrive here as favourite or in any case among the favourites and then perform so badly is something that makes me very angry," added the Italian. "I honestly have no idea what I did wrong on the ground. However, Sunday's race (the pursuit, ed.) is already compromised with today's result'.

Dario Ricci's video.

Despite the defeat, the men's Italhockey team showed great character in the second match in Milan Cortina, yielding only 3-2 to the strong Slovakian national team. The goals of Bradley and Gazley were not enough to overturn the result, but the Italian team showed an intense and hard-fought performance until the last minute. Diego Kostner, speaking to AdnKronos, commented: "It was another hard-fought match, played with great intensity on our part. It's a pity we were still missing that little bit to be able to draw or even win this match. We have to continue on this path. Did you believe in the last minutes? "Well, we certainly believed in it. The next challenge for the Azzurri will be tomorrow against Finland, another tough match in Group B. Kostner is not unbalanced but remains confident: "We should be ready again, put on ice everything we did in these first two games. Then we will see."

"I am really proud of myself, very proud. But not only for the medal because I have had an incredible journey, supported of course always by exceptional people and an exceptional team. My family always by my side. And today I wanted to be there with my whole self and do my thing, do what my body has been able to do since I was a child on a snowboard. It went well. So in the mixed zone Michela Moioli, bronze in the snowboardcross at the Games in Milan Cortina. "Today I didn't feel the pressure, it was the other days that were really demanding with sleepless nights. It was really tough, but I always listened to that little voice inside me telling me. Go ahead. Go ahead and don't give up. Hang in there. And I still don't believe it,' added the Italian, who fell two days ago and suffered a facial injury in training.

'I find it a little difficult to speak, but Michela always - always - manages to amaze us'. This is how, in tears of emotion, coach Cesare Pisoni commented on Moioli's bronze medal to the RAI microphones. We spent two hours in the emergency room of the Sondalo hospital and her face looks like a gruyère, but today she was in the right mood,' the technical director continued.

'I don't know anything about Nutella, I can't give you any information'. This is how the technical director of the Italian biathlon team, Klaus Hoellrigl, comments on the Letrozole positivity of Rebecca Passler, who was readmitted to the Olympics by the Nadab, which today upheld her appeal against suspension. 'It's not up to me to explain how that very, very low value in the blood got there,' Hoellrigl emphasises, regarding the indiscretion that the contamination occurred through a teaspoon used by all the family members - with whom she lives - to eat Nutella. The Italian athlete, adds the Italian coach, 'will train with the team on Monday and Tuesday, after which we will decide on the relay. We will evaluate, we will try to understand how she is physically and mentally and we will make the best decisions. Wada appeal? I don't know what could happen in the future. I'm just saying that we will take the best decisions step by step.

Two days ago she had been taken away by helicopter after an accident on the piste. Now Michela Moioli, after a super comeback in the semifinals, gained access to the snowboardcross final. Also competing with her were Lisa Francesia Boirai and Sofia Groblechner.

There have been 1,100 sportsmen killed in Palestine since October 2023. Many of these were young athletes between the ages of 6 and 20. Some 150 infrastructures between Gaza and the West Bank were destroyed: stadiums, football pitches, gyms and clubhouses. Launching the alarm on the impact of Israel's aggression, in the days of the Winter Olympics in Italia, is the Palestinian Olympic Committee in the report presented today at the Chamber, during a press conference organised by the MP and national sports manager of the PD Mauro Berruto.

The most affected federation is the Palestinian Football Federation, which, as of last August, counted 367 dead among referees, coaches, players, club presidents and managers. The report highlights a profound generational impact: 178 victims were between 6 and 20 years old; 143 were between 20 and 30 years old, at the height of their competitive activity; 111 were over 50 years old, including historic managers and key figures in sports governance. A loss that 'compromises not only the present but the future continuity of Palestinian sport'.

Confcommercio, '1.2 million tickets sold, sports culture'

Tickets sold in the first days of the Olympics numbered 1.2 million, 150 thousand in the first three days alone. According to Confcommercio, the great success recorded 'confirms that Milan and Lombardy represent one of the European territories with the strongest sports culture and attention to physical well-being'. According to the official data of the Sport Plan 2024 of the Lombardy Region, more than 43% of the residents practice sports, with more than 3 million continuous practitioners and a network of more than 13,000 sports facilities distributed throughout the region. An ecosystem in which thousands of SMEs, including gyms, fitness centres, movement operators and amateur sports associations, true presidia of health and sociality in local communities, play a leading role. About 25,000 fitness businesses operate in Lombardy, making it the Italian region with the highest concentration of gyms and wellness centres, over a third of the national total. Simonpaolo Buongiardino, vice-president of Confcommercio Sport&Wellness, highlighted how the Olympic legacy must be translated into structural policies to support sports and amateur businesses, enhancing the role of territorial realities. "We are certain," Buongiardino said, "that these Games will represent for the Milanese and Lombardy sports system what Expo 2015 represented for Milan. The Olympic and Paralympic Games "represent an extraordinary international showcase," underlined Confcommercio Sport & Wellness Lombardia, "but the real engine of the regional sport economy is the fitness and wellness SMEs that, every day, intercept millions of citizens and contribute to local economic development, employment and quality of life.

Michela Moioli advances to the snowboardcross quarter-finals at the Milan Cortina Games. In Livigno, the Olympic champion, who two days ago was the victim of a fall in training from which she suffered a facial trauma, won her heat ahead of Australia's Mia Clift. Sofia Groblechner, second in her heat, also qualified. The third of the Italians, Lisa Francesia Boirai, was eliminated.

Johannes Klaebo also won the 10-kilometre individual cross-country race in free technique, a race that was still missing from his immense palmares, and placed his third gold medal at Milano Cortina 2026, but the Italian cross-country team applauded the excellent seventh place of Martino Carollo, who completed the race at 39″8 from the Norwegian phenomenon, achieving a prestigious result that, at 22 years of age, propels him into the future. Klaebo thus continued his monologue in Val di Fiemme after triumphing in the skiathlon and in the sprint in classic technique, rising in the second half of the race to take the eighth Olympic gold medal of his career: 20'36″2 was the time with which he got the better of Frenchman Mathis Deslonges, second at 4″9 and no longer a surprise of the day after also being on the podium in the opening race. The podium was completed by the other Norwegian Einar Hedegart, in front of everyone until one kilometre from the end but in crisis in the final breakaway to finish 14″0 behind his compatriot, ahead of Amundsen (+24″0) and Nyenget (+27″3). Scotsman Musgrawe (+30″1) also finished ahead of Carollo: the Italian from Borgo San Dalmazzo, born in Cuneo in 20003, was the protagonist of a linear race, where he knew how to distribute the effort in the best possible way in order to achieve an important placing in a season that in December had already seen him place ninth in the World Cup in the similar challenge in Trondheim. "I was not able to start as I wanted and I immediately took a gap at the beginning," said Simone Daprà, "then the pace picked up, I tried to recover in the last lap, but on such a short distance it is difficult to recover, especially in an interval race where I am less comfortable than on the man.

"We certainly are looking forward to the relay. After my performance today, I have the knowledge that I can repeat myself on Sunday and hand over the baton to Federico Pellegrino to hopefully bring us a medal. We believe in this as a team and we will aim all four of us to give our best. This was said Martino Carollo in the mixed zone at the end of the 10 kilometre free technique race that saw him place seventh. "I am really very happy," added Carollo, "I did a very good performance again, like I did at the beginning of the season. Unfortunately, I got sick before Christmas and struggled a bit with several ups and downs. I am very satisfied with my performance, a very good top ten in front of the home crowd, which gave me incredible support and made me push even harder

Fisi has announced that the women's cross-country skiing team scheduled for Saturday 14 February for the Milan-Cortina Games will consist of Iris De Martin, Caterina Ganz, Martina Di Centa and Federica Cassol.

Triplete by Norwegian Johannes Hoesflot Klaebo on the 10-kilometre cross-country skiing event in the Olympic circuit at Lake Tesero. Klaebo thus enters history with a total of eight Olympic medals. Silver for the Frenchman Mathis Desloges and bronze for the other Norwegian Einar Hedegart. An excellent race for the Italian Martino Carollo who, thanks to a perfect choice of materials and a decidedly strong performance, finished in seventh position. This bodes well for Sunday's relay where Italia has podium chances, also thanks to the experience of Federico Pellegrino at his last Olympics.

"I will receive eight 'Backstage Heroes' medals to reward those who helped me achieve these results. The people who supported me are so many. I have to think about it a bit, I don't want to upset anyone". This is how Francesca Lollobrigida, double Olympic gold medallist in speed skating at the 2026 Milan Cortina Games, answered questions from the presenter of the Rai 2 programme, "Notti Olimpiche". Backstage Heroes is an initiative that envisages four special medals for each Olympic or Paralympic medal won by an Italian athlete, to be dedicated and handed over, during an event to be held next spring, to those who, working behind the scenes, contributed to that specific victory.

Men's curling team Italia defeated Great Britain, Olympic silver medallists in 2022, 9-7 and maintained their unbeaten record after beating Olympic champions Sweden. Protagonists of a dream start (4-0 in the first hand), the Azzurri then suffered a comeback by the British but rebounded in the final. Meanwhile, Canada defeated the United States 6-3 in the North American 'derby'.

Michela Moioli took to the track despite a fall in training and qualified for the round of 16 with the sixth time. "The important thing is to be here in one piece, I have been put back together. I have a few scratches but the important thing is to be here, have fun and give my best. I don't like qualifying but I'm happy after the bump. I'm not 100 per cent, I am what I am and that's OK,' the Bergamasque's words. The other Italians also passed the round: Sofia Groblechner was eighteenth, Lisa Francesia Boirai finished twentieth, the last place available to avoid the second heat. The finals start at 13.30.

"I was very moved and I am also glad to have had the opportunity to speak with Vladyslav. At no time did we want to prevent the athlete from spreading his message. We only wanted him to do so during the moments when this is allowed, not during the competition, and unfortunately, although we wanted to give him the opportunity to compete, he did not comply with the rules'. This was said by the President of the IOC, Kirsty Coventry, during the daily press point in Milan on the progress of the Games, talking about yesterday morning's meeting in Cortina with Ukrainian skeletonist Vladylsav Heraskevych who was disqualified for refusing to adhere to IOC guidelines.

"The rules must be very clear. There are also spaces where athletes can express themselves freely and share a message with the world and this also happened. During my meeting with Vladyslav and his father we talked about all this in a very respectful way. It was a moment for us to talk to each other as athletes and it was very important for both me and him,' he concluded.

"These are magic Games". IOC President Kirsty Coventry does not use half-measures when commenting at the Main Media Centre in Milan on the first competition days at the Winter Games in Milan Cortina. "The Games spread have several critical issues but the feedback so far has been positive from all participants in the Games. The volunteers are doing an extraordinary job with people being able to communicate with each other and there are no complaints,' he added. "The athletes are really enjoying the iconic venues, the playing fields are excellent. The organising committee has made sure that the experiences for the athletes are the same everywhere. All athletes have the same opportunity to participate in all parts of the Games, as you saw in the opening ceremony,' said Coventry, who recounted being in Cortina yesterday. "I went there by car with my staff, not the most comfortable but it went well. The spectators then are very happy, I saw many families in Cortina yesterday and you can touch and appreciate the spirit of the Games. There was a positive energy emanating from them,' he concluded.

"These were very difficult days. I have always believed in my good faith". This is the first comment of Rebecca Passler on the news of the acceptance of her appeal against her disqualification for doping. "I thank all those who helped me," the biathlete continued, "from the lawyers who followed my situation, to the Italian Winter Sports Federation, to my family and friends. Now I can finally focus 100% on biathlon again'. President Flavio Roda comments: "The Federation welcomes the outcome of the appeal, which allows Rebecca to be available to the team again.

The National Court of Appeal of Nado Italia (Nadab) upheld Rebecca Passler's appeal against her provisional suspension for Letrozole positivity found during a test on 26 January. The court recognised the apparent merits of unintentional intake or unknowing contamination of the substance in question. This was reported by the Winter Sports Federation (Fisi). The biathlete will thus be able to participate in the 2026 Milan Cortina Olympics. Rebecca Passler will join her teammates from Monday, 16 February, when she will be available to the technical staff for the subsequent competitions of the five-ring programme.

12:10 Ice Hockey - Men's preliminary round, Italia - Slovakia

10:00 Snowboard – Cross donne, manche 1 (Lisa Francesia Boirai, Sofia Groblechner, Michela Moioli)

11:45 Sci di fondo – 10km tecnica libera uomini (Martino Carollo, Simone Daprà, Davide Graz, Simone Mocellini)