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Italy won its first gold medal Games Milano Cortina on Saturday, and it came from a tumultuous situation in speed skating that saw the dominant Dutch woman knocked off the podium in the women’s 3,000 meters for the first time since 2010.
Francesca Lollobrigida set a new Olympic record — on her 35th birthday — of 3 minutes, 54.28 seconds, more than two and a half seconds below the mark set by Dutch legend Irene Schouten four years earlier in Beijing. She was also two seconds ahead of second-placed Norwegian Ragna Wiklund. Canadian Valerie Maltais finished third.
Joris Verwijst / agency BSR / Getty Images 
Dutch skater Joy Beune, current world champion at 3000 m, finished on the podium in 4th place. It was the first time since the 2010 Vancouver Games that the Netherlands did not win a medal at this distance.
Lollobrigida is from Frascati, a hill town not far from Rome, famous for its white wine, and her great aunt was the late Gina Lollobrigida, an acting star in the 1950s and 60s.
For Francesco Lollobrigida, this was the fourth Olympic Games and the first gold. Four years ago in Beijing, she won two medals: silver in the 3000 and bronze in the mass start.
A last minute addition to Saturday’s race was that of American figure skater Greta Myerswhich was added to the team after the retirement of Czech figure skater Martina Sablikova. The 21-year-old American did not initially qualify for the competition, but secured the first reserve spot in the quota following her performances on the 2025-26 World Cup circuit. She finished in 20th place.
