The numbers of gender inequality

Sport

Twelve months of Italian victories driven by Italian women

In addition to the medals at the Winter Olympics in Milan-Cortina, team sports have set historic milestones.

by Dario Ricci

8 March 2026

4' min read

Translated by AI

Versione italiana

Key points

Precious metals between ice and snow
Skilling as a team

4' min read

Translated by AI

Versione italiana

Female-driven. This is how one can define the recently concluded Winter Olympics in Milan Cortina 2026 for Italia. Because ours is a record medals table (30 medals, of which 10 gold, 6 silver and 14 bronze) in which women were the masters. It is therefore inevitable to start with them, the ladies of ice and snow, in outlining the champions so far in a year that is still largely to come, but which, at least in the last twelve months, has already indicated the names of many of its potential protagonists.

Precious metals between ice and snow

If the tiger par excellence is Federica Brignone, who bends the Olympia of the Tofane to her will, skiing only for love, without rancour or anger despite the wounds still alive from the dreadful injury last April, the leoness is Sofia Goggia. Yes, because grabbing a bronze medal (third consecutive Olympic medal in downhill, like her never) after hearing the heartrending scream of her friend and colleague Lindsey Vonn ringing in her ears, required courage and will. And let's not forget that Goggia and her friendMichela Moioli (who also placed two other five-circle medals around her neck in Livigno) were decisive in enchanting the IOC members with their performance in July 2019, when they awarded the third Winter Olympic Games in our sporting history to the widespread Italian candidature and not to the Swedish Stockholm.

But making history was Arianna Fontana, flag-bearer at the opening ceremony, who became the most medalled Italian athlete ever at the Olympic Games. The short track skater brought the total number of Olympic medals won in her career to 14, thanks to gold in the mixed relay and two silvers (500 metres and women's relay).

Arianna Fontana "A questi Giochi non avrei potuto chiedere di meglio"

And the double legendary success of Francesca Lollobrigida? And Lisa Vittozzi, who impales physical pains and ghosts of the soul at the polygon to chase - and capture - gold in the biathlon? And the pride of Dorothea Wierer, who exits the scene after a fabulous career and with two fifth places that - with a few less shooting errors - could perhaps have been something different and more. Without, then, forgetting the historic bronze medal of Flora Tabanelli in the big air, the first ever for an Italian woman, a medal won here too with an injured knee ligament.

Bodies that tell of determination, passion, will. And one smiles at the idea of those little girls who followed these champions with their noses glued to the TV or smartphone: someone will one day be in their place and this is perhaps the most beautiful Olympic legacy.

Skill as a team

Twelve banner months also for team sports, from football to basketball, from volleyball to softball. If winning is hard, confirming is even harder. So what can we say to Julio Velasco's Italvolley, who added the world title to the Olympic gold in Paris a year later? 'Here and now' is the watchword that the coach has in fact imposed on the captain Anna Danesi and her teammates, extinguishing anxieties and fears and exalting the conviction and determination of a group that promises not to have finished collecting titles and victories here. So much so that the record streak of 36 matches won remains open to new goals.

But in history - our protagonists know this well - one does not only enter through the arch of triumph. On the contrary, it is the performance that gives the measure of the commitment, of the search for the best of themselves. Tearing up applause then are the Azzurri of football, led by the capitana Cristiana Girelli (who has just left Juventus to fly to play in the United States), athe European Championships in Switzerland and stroked the dream of the final, before surrendering in extra time, in a sold-out stadium with 26,500 spectators, to England, later champions. "I was ready to take the plane to join you and cheer you on in the final!", President of the Republic Sergio Mattarella is reported to have said. Meanwhile, Italia writes in the history of women's football the return to the semifinals since 1997.

Coach Andrea Capobianco's women's Italbasket did not miss its appointment with history, winning backa European medal (a bronze) thirty years after the one in Brno '95, signed Catarina Pollini. This time the dragging force on the court is Cecilia Zandalasini, leader of a team that had to do without the talented Matilde Villa, injured.

The route to the Los Angeles 2028 Olympic Games is set for the Italian softball team, which continues to collect trophies ahead of the important five-circle event in the USA, which will see the return of the sport to its programme. At the 2025 European Championships, captain Giulia Longhi of Italia confirmed her continental gold thanks to a victory over the Netherlands in the final, after a ride that saw her lose only one game out of nine. The haul thus rises to a record 14 European titles.

In no particular order Sara Curtis (swimming), Nadia Battocletti (middle distance), Antonella Palmisano (march), Sofia Raffaeli (artistic gymnastics), Larissa Iapichino (long jump), and Federica Brignone (who, before the Games and her injury, had won her second World Cup and a gold and silver medal at the World Championships): these names, splendid and winning stardust, are enough to remind us of champions who reflect their dreams - and above all their hearts - in the metal of the medals, showing us all the way and the example to follow.

La corsa di Nadia Battocletti