Who is Francesca Lollobrigida? Details explored as Italian Speed Skater wins Olympic Gold on her 35th birthday

Francesca Lollobrigida celebrated her 35th birthday in the best way an Olympian can, by winning the Gold medal in speed skating.

She described it as "the dream of the dream," adding, "I really worked hard but not just myself, it's like teamwork."

Francesca Lollobrigida had a stellar performance in the women’s 3000 metres speed skating at the Olympic Winter Games Milano Cortina 2026. She finished it in the record time of 3:54.28. The win was that much more special for her, as she won the gold on her birthday, turning 35.

Before the Milano Cortina games, she had won silver (3000m) and bronze (mass start) at Beijing 2022, making her 3000m win the first for an Italian speed skater in history. However, due to suffering from a viral infection earlier this year, she stated she was about to quit. But her perseverance paid off.

"I was really hoping to be able to get a medal in this distance. It means a lot to me, I feel like I have been doing really well the last four years since the last Olympics, and I really felt like I deserved the medal, so I'm super happy."

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She further added, "Being my fifth Olympics, I went into that quadrennial [knowing] that I wanted to achieve an individual medal. Saying it was bold and training to be Olympic champion, and today I delivered a race that I needed to and I think other girls, too, delivered today."

Following Francesca Lollobrigida, Norway’s Ragne Wiklund came second with a time of 3:56.54, earning her a silver medal, while Canada's Valérie Maltais claimed the bronze medal in 3:56.93.

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