VIDEO SHOWS: PRESS CONFERENCE WITH ITALIAN SHORT TRACK MIXED TEAM RELAY SKATERS WHO WON THE GOLD MEDAL AT THE WINTER OLYMPICS AND COMMENTS BY ARIANNA FONTANA STORY: Arianna Fontana, Italy's most decorated winter Olympian, led the team to gold in the mixed short track relay at the Milano Cortina Games on Tuesday. It was the second gold for hosts Italy after Francesca Lollobrigida in 3,000 meters speed skating on Saturday. The four Italian skaters - Fontana, Elisa Confortola, Thomas Nadalini and Pietro Sighel - clocked two minutes 39.019 seconds over 2000 meters in the final to beat Canada and Belgium, second and third respectively, at Milan's ice skating arena. Italy seized control around halfway and stayed in front to the finish. With 12 Olympic medals, if Fontana wins another, she would tie Italian fencing champion Edoardo Mangiarotti for the most Olympic medals by any Italian. Despite not making it to the final, the Dutch team set a new Olympic record at two minutes 35.537 in the Final B between the four non-qualifying teams. South Korea, one of the pre-race favorites, failed to reach the final after one of the team had a collision with an American skater in the semi-finals. The short track mixed team relay became an official Olympic event at the 2022 Beijing Games, where China won gold. (The article has been published through a syndicated feed. Except for the headline, the content has been published verbatim. Liability lies with original publisher.)
