By Pearl Josephine Nazare
MILAN, Feb 22 (Reuters) - Jordan Stolz may have entered the Milano Cortina Games as the headline act in speed skating, but it was Italy's Francesca Lollobrigida who transformed the home oval into a theatre of triumph and national emotion.
The great-niece of late film icon Gina Lollobrigida set Italy on a winning path with a spectacular victory in the women's 3,000 metres on her 35th birthday - the host nation's first gold of these Winter Olympics.
She returned the following
week to claim the 5,000m, a result made even more resonant by her rapid comeback after giving birth to her son Tommaso in May 2023.
Italy's momentum carried into the men's team pursuit, where the hosts delivered one of the programme's most spectacular results by defeating the heavily favoured United States.
Andrea Giovannini's celebratory "night-night" gesture - borrowed from NBA superstar Stephen Curry - went viral, capturing the buoyant mood in the Italian camp.
The competition offered heartbreak alongside the heroics. Joep Wennemars, the 2025 world champion in the 1,000m, saw his medal hopes vanish after a collision with China's Lian Ziwen.
China later found redemption when Ning Zhongyan, long haunted by narrow misses, produced a breakthrough skate to beat Stolz and two-times defending champion Kjeld Nuis for the men's 1,500m gold.
The Netherlands maintained their customary authority on the oval. Jutta Leerdam delivered their first title of these Games in the women's 1,000m before Femke Kok added victory in the 500m and Antoinette Rijpma-de Jong claimed the 1,500m.
On the final day, 40-year-old Jorrit Bergsma and Marijke Groenewoud swept the mass start races, underscoring the Dutch depth across distances.
Stolz still produced one of the standout individual campaigns in Milan, winning the men's 500m and 1,000m and adding silver in the 1,500m.
Elsewhere, Norway's Sander Eitrem underlined his status as the men's 5,000m world record holder by taking gold, while Czech teenager Matej Jilek reinforced his "golden boy" reputation with victory in the 10,000m.
Canada added another highlight by successfully defending their women's team pursuit crown.
All of it unfolded on a temporary oval ingeniously constructed inside a Milan trade fair centre - a blisteringly fast venue that yielded seven Olympic records before its dismantling.
(Reporting by Pearl Josephine Nazare in Milan; Editing by Andrew Cawthorne)
