Francesca Lollobrigida returns to Milan Cortina 2026 undertakings and makes an'admission
Reduced from her two spectacular golds, in the 3,000 and 5,000 in speed skating, at Milan Cortina 2026, Francesca Lollobrigida spoke about her experience during the “Il Foglio a San Siro” event held Thursday at the iconic “Giuseppe Meazza” stadium. The Italian champion emphasized not only the excitement for the historic results but also the difficulties in achieving them, which also passed through the recovery following her pregnancy.
“I feel like the Francesca of always, who, however, has obtained results that have enriched me and give me even more awareness,” she said. “On the other hand, when you win an Olympic gold medal, you feel at peace: that’s how I feel now. It is nice to be able to tell everything, even the difficulties, because they are part of the game. The important thing is how you get back up, always stronger.”
“Did I really accomplish what I did? I don’t know. Maybe not completely,” he later admitted.
“When I see the footage or photos again, I get excited as if I’m going back to that exact moment. And then I tell myself, without false modesty, that I have written a piece of history in my sport. The races? In the 3,000 meters I had entered a bubble. When I crossed the finish line, I realized the time was good, but I didn’t realize I had set an Olympic record. They told me that in the interviews. When I heard about it, I didn’t believe it.”
“In the 5,000 I asked my father and sister to stand at the height of the final straight so I could see them,” she added further. “In that distance you have more time to reason, everything goes through your head, and seeing them there gave me strength. Skating is an individual sport, but teamwork matters so much. I would say 100 percent, if not more. I wear the medals, but it’s as if all the people who have been part of the journey win them: my family, my husband, the Federation, the Sports Group, every single person I’ve met.”
Then the frank admission about the moment when she had thought about not even participating in Milan Cortina 2026: “I had serious doubts, I didn’t even want to show up at the start: I knew the importance of an Olympics in Italy and I didn’t want to make a bad impression. Everyone close to me believed in me. I suffered in every training session, I felt I was in another body. My sport is physical, of strength: if you’re not well, you can tell right away. But my strength was to continue, to persevere, even when the times or the sensations were not good.”
“It all worked because around me there are figures who become an extended family,” Lollobrigida finally explained: they give support, encouragement, serenity, they allow me to devote myself to my work to the fullest. At the international level, in my sport, the season is short: from one week to the next you change cities, sometimes continents. It’s normal for opponents to wonder how you manage everything being a mom-athlete. But that’s where family, federation, planning come in. With good organization, you can do it all.”
