These Winter Olympics are giving Italy medals and records. But they are also telling, once again, how for women sport is never just sport.

Arianna Fontana won her thirteenth Olympic medal, winning silver in the women’s 500 meters short track last night, February 12th. Thus equaling the record of the most medal-winning Italian ever, the fencer Edoardo Mangiarotti, a record that has stood since 1960.

Francesca Lollobrigida – great-granddaughter of the unforgettable Gina Lollobrigida – wrote history by winning gold in the 3000 meters speed skating, complete with an Olympic record, on her birthday. An achievement of enormous weight: it is the first gold medal in speed skating in the history of the Italian Winter Olympics. And yesterday she replicated her dream by winning gold in the women’s 5,000 meters.

Federica Brignone triumphed in the women’s Super-G. A success that is worth double if you consider that only a year ago a serious accident forced her to stop for eight months. And instead she came back, and won. Just to name a few of our medalists.

The weight of the gaze

Yet, for women, the Olympics are not just a race. They are also a showcase. Jutta Leerdam, Dutch gold medalist in the 1,000 meter speed skating, knows this well. People talked about her for her makeup after the race, for her very famous boyfriend Jake Paul, for the private jet with which she would arrive. She has been defined as a “diva”, criticized for a lifestyle deemed unsuitable for an athlete. As if years of sacrifices could be overshadowed by a few touches of mascara or a romantic relationship.

But returning to Italy, the criticism did not spare even Fontana and Lollobrigida.

To Repubblica, Pietro Sighel – who shares the gold in the mixed relay with Fontana – explained that there is no personal relationship between them: “She has been training abroad for eight years, she has chosen this way. Certainly, with her we are not a team, apart from the two and a half minutes on the track”. A choice, that of training outside Italy, also linked to the fact that her coach is her husband, the former Italian-American skater Anthony Lobello, with whom she lives in Florida. Internal disagreements with the Federghiaccio which were never really resolved also contributed to the decision. But that said, even though they aren’t friends – and many in the workplace aren’t friends with their co-workers – they won.

Often mothers, wives or symbols before he championed

What happened to Lollobrigida was different, but equally significant. After the victory, the images of her holding her son Tommaso, who will turn three in May, went viral. “Milano Cortina for me was a way to show people that you can be a mother and come back stronger than before: I won a gold medal after becoming a mother, so it’s possible,” she declared.

Yet, more than gold, that child in her arms caused discussion. “The father literally had only one task: to hold the child for 5 minutes and allow her to live her moment in peace,” reads one of the comments on the video in which Francesca answers Rai Sport’s questions with her son in her arms. The video on X has exceeded 1.2 million views and has almost a thousand comments.

Someone even allowed themselves to judge her as a mother: “Not to dampen the general narrative, but the video of Francesca Lollobrigida’s son who silences his mother in front of the cameras and snatches the microphone from the interviewer, rather than the manifesto of female sporting success, would seem to describe the failure of her mother’s.”

Perhaps none of those who criticized a mother who wanted to celebrate her success, and yes, even do interviews and photos, with her son in her arms (who else should she celebrate with?) know that Lollobrigida had thought about retiring, but that also thanks to her husband, Matteo Angeletti, she didn’t give up: “I wanted to stop, then my husband, my family and the federation asked me not to give up.”

And then, not least, it was the champion herself who wanted her son. She called him and together with him wanted to speak to the press. Because for her there was no greater joy. At today’s race, February 12th, the child will not be there. He will be celebrating the carnival. “A difficult choice not to have my son in the stands”, wrote Lollobrigida in the Instagram stories accompanying a shot of the child dressed as a fireman, “But as a mother I chose his carnival and his smiles”.

After last night’s victory, Lollobrigida said it: she was disappointed by all the comments about Tommaso. The victory was no less beautiful, but it was certainly less carefree.

For men, at the Olympics, performance counts. At most we talk jokingly about some of their ‘shootings’ as happened to the repentant Sturla Holm Lægreid who, after winning the bronze in the biathlon for Norway, confessed live worldwide to having cheated on his partner. He had sworn that if he got on the podium he would blatantly confess his mistake, even though the two had already broken up for this very reason.

And therefore, in 2026 the real record to beat would be to finally stop measuring athletes for everything that does not concern their performance. Just like it is done for men.

The father literally had one job: to hold the baby for 5 minutes and allow her to have her moment in peace.pic.twitter.com/PpqP6ridx4

— Jay Zi (@Jes912) February 8, 2026