Olympics: short track, Italia bronze in the men's relay. No podium for Arianna Fontana

Crowded authorities tribune for the last short track competitions at the Olympic Games in Milan-Cortina. In the stands of the Assago forum is a large delegation from Belgium, including the royal family, with King Philip Leopold Louis and his wife Mathilde, carrying a large national flag. For Italia, there are the vice-premier Matteo Salvini wearing the Milan-Cortina jacket and the Minister for Sport and Youth, Andrea Abodi, who is wearing the Azzurri uniform instead. Also in the stands is the president of the Milan-Cortina Foundation, Giovanni Malagò.

Donald Trump may arrive in Milan to attend the Olympic ice hockey final. Yesterday, a US delegation reportedly attended a meeting at the Questura to discuss the president's route and the security measures to be taken. Canada has already qualified for the final to be played on Sunday. The USA tonight at 9.10 p.m. as favourites face Slovakia. After that, the tycoon will head straight to the Arena in Verona to attend the closing ceremony of the Winter Olympics and witness the handover of the baton for the 2030 Games to be held in the French Alps.

The short track competitions at the Olympic Games in Milan-Cortina come to a close this evening. The last medals to be awarded are those of the men's relay and the women's 1,500 metres.

And Italia is there in both competitions. It starts at 8.15 p.m. at the Milano Ice Skating Arena with the quarter-finals of the 1,500: thirty-six athletes are at the starting blocks, divided into six batteries. Three Italian athletes will try to snatch a pass for the semifinals, scheduled from 9 pm: Arianna Sighel, Elisa Confortola, and Arianna Fontana.

Skater Francesca Lollobrigida competed in the 1,500 metres but will not finish on the podium. Her time is already higher than that of half a dozen athletes. The race is not over yet. They compete two at a time.

Norway's Johannes Dale-Skjevdal won the gold medal in the Mass start 15 km biathlon at the Milan-Cortina Games, crossing the finish line with a time of 39'17"1 thanks to a super 20/20 on the shot put. Silver went to fellow Norwegian Sturla Holm Laegreid (+10"5), and bronze to Frenchman Quentin Fillon Maillet (+25"6). A pity for the Italian Tommaso Giacomel who retired due to a hip problem when he was in the lead after the first two polygons. The Italian decided to retire halfway through the race due to a sudden pain in his hip that prevented him from breathing properly. As for the other Italians, Hofer finished in 25th place at 4'52", Romanin was 28th at 5'56".

"The decision by the Commissioner" for intergenerational equity, youth, culture and sport Glenn Micallef "not to participate in the opening ceremony of the Paralympics is a symbolic move to show concern about the decision taken" to have Russian and Belarusian athletes participate under the flag of their country. "This is not a boycott, as we have also seen interpreted. So it is not a boycott. It is not an invitation to boycott the Paralympic Games'. This was stated by European Commission spokeswoman Anna-Kaisa Itkonen in the daily press briefing.

"We, as the Commission, have already expressed our firm position on the committee's decision in September, together with our international partners who share the same ideals, and we maintain our firm belief in the united spirit of sport and the Olympic and Paralympic movements, and we stand by the Paralympic athletes," he continued. "We look at this development with serious concern. Russian aggression against Ukraine continues, as we all know, we enter the fourth year on Sunday, and Russian-Belarusian violations of the Olympic Charter also persist, so we disagree with the decision to admit Russian and Belarusian participants to the event. We reiterate our firm solidarity with Ukraine and remain in contact with all our partners, including Ukraine,' the spokeswoman concluded.

On Sunday 22 February, at 8pm, Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni will attend the Closing Ceremony of the 2026 Winter Olympics in Milan Cortina, at the Arena in Verona. This was announced on the Palazzo Chigi website in the section dedicated to the premier's agenda.

The men's Biathlon mass start started. Italian Tommaso Giacomel did well, leading after the first two polygons. Then he loses ground on the skis. It is not clear whether he had an illness.

A fall in the final for Jole Galli, who finished eighth in her home Olympics, improving her placing from Beijing 2022.

Five hundred cameras will film and transmit live images from the city centre of the closing ceremony of the Milan-Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics scheduled for Sunday in the Arena of Verona. Five hundred electronic eyes will extend the view to the Interforce Operations Room of the Questura Scaligera, the coordination point between the police forces, administrations and bodies called upon to participate in the management of the event. Through the Soi, all the information destined for the evaluation of the Questore, the provincial public safety technical authority in charge of managing public order and safety, will be collected, integrated and managed in a unified manner. There are several cameras operating all year round in the Verona area, and for the special occasion of the international event, there has been a significant increase in video surveillance. In the Soi, the operators watch live everything that happens in many places and from different angles. From the inside and outside parts of the Roman Amphitheatre to all the streets in the centre; from Juliet's House to the inside and outside areas of the Gran Guardia building. The Soi will be operational without interruption until 23 February and then, from the opening of the Paralympics, working in a room mirroring that of the Questura's fixed operations room. The Soi, as the director of the Volanti team of the Questura di Verona, Andrea Cappellari, recalled, was created for major events and has now been upgraded with further advanced technology and the Tetra system, state-of-the-art telecommunications, which puts all police forces in contact simultaneously. Also operational is the Lte police, a cutting-edge system that flies over the sites, transmitting images of the area directly into the Soi.

Excited because she plays at home, but never distracted. Jole Galli advances to the semi-finals of ski cross. The Italian finished second in the fourth and final heat preceded by Sweden's Sandra Naeslund. At 12.54pm the semi-finals.

Green bib on the blue suit, she chooses the innermost position to start Jole Galli. She spared no energy and finished first in her heat. She easily advances to the semi-finals, scheduled shortly before 13:00 in her native Livigno.

The Trentino acrobatic skier stopped in the eighth round. It is a good result for her, at her first Olympic participation.

At the end of the women's ski cross seeding, Italy's Jole Galli recorded the tenth best time. At the 'Snow park' in Livigno the best was Germany's Daniela Maier followed by Sweden's Sandra Naeslund. At 12 noon the round of 16 starts.

"The National Paralympic Committee of Ukraine declares that the Ukrainian Paralympic Team and the National Paralympic Committee of Ukraine will boycott the opening ceremony of the XIV Paralympic Winter Games and demand that the Ukrainian flag not be used at the opening ceremony of the 2026 Paralympics." This was stated in a press release announcing the Ukrainian protest over the decision to allow Russian and Belarusian athletes to participate in the Paralympic Games in Milan Cortina under their own flags. "It is necessary to realise that Russia, which today occupies Ukrainian territories, massively kills civilians - women, children, the elderly, people with disabilities - and immediately hoists its flag, soaked in the blood of the Ukrainian civilian population, over the territories it has conquered," the note reads. "It is precisely this flag of a murderous country that the IPC leadership allows to be hoisted on the territory of the Milan-Cortina Winter Paralympics, granting the maximum number of places for participation to representatives of Russia," the statement continues.

These are the medals that will be awarded today, Friday 20 February, at the Olympics in Milan Cortina:

13:15 - Livigno Snow Park FREESTYLE SKI CROSS WOMEN

Questi gli azzurri in gara oggi, 20 febbraio, alle Olimpiadi di Milano Cortina:

10:00 - 11:00 - Livigno Snow Park Freestyle - Ski Cross D - Qualificazioni Andrea Chesi, Jole Galli

Further reading

Olympics: Lara Naki Gutmann closes the games with a smile. USA gold in women's hockey

19 February 2026