![Italy short track skater Arianna Fontana. [Photo=Reuters·Yonhap]](https://image.ajunews.com/content/image/2026/02/11/20260211014415833709.jpg)
Italy short track skater Arianna Fontana. [Photo=Reuters·Yonhap]
Italian short track star Arianna Fontana added another Olympic gold, reaching the top of the podium at her sixth Games.
Fontana led Italy to victory in the short track mixed 2,000-meter relay final at the 2026 Milan-Cortina d’Ampezzo Winter Olympics on Monday at the Milan Ice Skating Arena.
The gold brought her career Olympic total to 12 medals — three gold, four silver and five bronze — extending the short track record for most Olympic medals.
Fontana made her Olympic debut at the 2006 Turin Games and has competed at every Olympics since: Vancouver in 2010, Sochi in 2014, Pyeongchang in 2018, Beijing in 2022 and now Milan-Cortina, giving her six straight Olympic appearances.
She won a medal at age 15 in Turin to become Italy’s youngest Winter Olympic medalist. Now 35, she again reached the podium and became the first woman to win medals at six consecutive Olympics.
“We went into the race with a clear goal,” Fontana said. “Before we stepped on the ice, we told each other, ‘This is our home, and we came to defend it,’ and we kept that promise.”
Asked about the medals she has collected over the years, Fontana said each one means something different and she could not rank them. “The Games have just started, and there are still many races left,” she said.
Fontana said the medal would be a boost for the rest of her schedule, signaling she is aiming for more.
Fontana led Italy to victory in the short track mixed 2,000-meter relay final at the 2026 Milan-Cortina d’Ampezzo Winter Olympics on Monday at the Milan Ice Skating Arena.
The gold brought her career Olympic total to 12 medals — three gold, four silver and five bronze — extending the short track record for most Olympic medals.
Fontana made her Olympic debut at the 2006 Turin Games and has competed at every Olympics since: Vancouver in 2010, Sochi in 2014, Pyeongchang in 2018, Beijing in 2022 and now Milan-Cortina, giving her six straight Olympic appearances.
She won a medal at age 15 in Turin to become Italy’s youngest Winter Olympic medalist. Now 35, she again reached the podium and became the first woman to win medals at six consecutive Olympics.
“We went into the race with a clear goal,” Fontana said. “Before we stepped on the ice, we told each other, ‘This is our home, and we came to defend it,’ and we kept that promise.”
Asked about the medals she has collected over the years, Fontana said each one means something different and she could not rank them. “The Games have just started, and there are still many races left,” she said.
Fontana said the medal would be a boost for the rest of her schedule, signaling she is aiming for more.
* This article has been translated by AI.
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