Arianna Fontana

OMRI Omri ( ; he, , ''‘Omrī''; akk, 𒄷𒌝𒊑𒄿 ''Ḫûmrî'' 'ḫu-um-ri-i'' fl. 9th century BC) was, according to the Hebrew Bible, the sixth king of Israel. He was a successful military campaigner who extended the northern kingdom of ...

(born 14 April 1990) is an Italian

short track speed skater Short-track speed skating is a form of competitive ice speed skating. In competitions, multiple skaters (typically between four and six) skate on an oval ice track with a length of . The rink itself is long by wide, which is the same size as a ...

, who has won eleven Olympic medals among these two gold medals in the 500m short track, one at the

2018 Winter Olympics The 2018 Winter Olympics ( ko, 2018년 동계 올림픽, Icheon sip-pal nyeon Donggye Ollimpik), officially the XXIII Olympic Winter Games (french: Les XXIIIes Jeux olympiques d'hiver; ko, 제23회 동계 올림픽, Jeisipsamhoe Donggye Ollimpi ...

in Pyeongchang and the second one at the 2022 Winter Olympics in

Beijing } Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...

. Her medal haul following the 2022 Games made her the short track skater with the most Olympic medals. It also made her the Italian sportswoman with the highest number of Winter Olympic medals, one more than

Stefania Belmondo Stefania Belmondo (born 13 January 1969) is an Italian former cross-country skier, a two-time Olympic champion and four-time world champion in her career. Biography Debut Belmondo was born in Vinadio, in the province of Cuneo (Piedmont), the d ...

. She specializes in the 500 m event.

Biography

Fontana started skating at the age of four, following in the footsteps of her brother Alessandro, initially on roller skates before switching to ice skating. She first trained in

Lanzada Lanzada is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Sondrio in the Italian region Lombardy, located about northeast of Milan and north of Sondrio, on the border with Switzerland. As of 31 December 2004, it had a population of 1,445 and an ...

until the rink there closed, when she switched her training base to

Bormio Bormio ( lmo, Bormi, rm, italic=yes, , german: Worms im Veltlintal) is a town and ''comune'' with a population of about 4,100 located in the Province of Sondrio, Lombardy region of the Alps in northern Italy. The centre of the upper Valtellina ...

. Fontana made her international championship debut at the 2006

European Short Track Speed Skating Championships The European Short Track Speed Skating Championships are a European short track speed skating event and held once a year in a different country. Medal winners Men's 1 Thibaut Fauconnet of France was originally ranked first overall but was dis ...

Krynica-Zdrój Krynica-Zdrój (until 31 December 2001 Krynica, rue, Крениця, uk, Криниця) is a town in Nowy Sącz County, Lesser Poland Voivodeship, southern Poland. It is inhabited by over eleven thousand people. It is the biggest spa town in ...

, where she took the overall silver medal. At the

2006 Winter Olympics The 2006 Winter Olympics, officially the XX Olympic Winter Games ( it, XX Giochi olimpici invernali) and also known as Torino 2006, were a winter multi-sport event held from 10 to 26 February 2006 in Turin, Italy. This marked the second ...

Turin Turin ( , Piedmontese: ; it, Torino ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in Northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital from 1861 to 1865. The ...

, she won bronze in the 3000 m relay. She placed 11th in the 500m and 6th in the 1000 m. The relay medal was the first for Italy in short track speed skating: at 15 years of age, Fontana became the youngest Italian to win a Winter Olympic medal. Following the 2006 Games, Fontana and her relay team-mates were appointed Knights of the

Order of Merit of the Italian Republic The Order of Merit of the Italian Republic ( it, Ordine al Merito della Repubblica Italiana) is the senior Italian order of merit. It was established in 1951 by the second President of the Italian Republic, Luigi Einaudi. The highest-ranking ...

. At the

2010 Winter Olympics )'' , nations = 82 , athletes = 2,626 , events = 86 in 7 sports (15 disciplines) , opening = February 12, 2010 , closing = February 28, 2010 , opened_by = Governor General Michaëlle Jean , cauldron = Catriona Le May DoanNancy GreeneWayne Gret ...

Vancouver Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the ...

, she won a bronze medal in the 500-metre event, was eliminated in the semi-finals of the 1500 metre event, and was eliminated in the quarterfinals of the 1000 metre event. Her 500m bronze made her the first Italian to take an individual Olympic medal in short track. Fontana began dating Italian-American skater Anthony Lobello Jr. in 2012: the couple were engaged the following year and married in May 2014 in

Colico Colico ( Comasque: or ; la, Colicum) is a city in the province of Lecco, Lombardy, Italy. It is situated on the northern arm of Lake Como, where the river Adda enters the lake. Colico is the most important city in the northern part of Lake ...

. The couple split their time between homes in

Valtellina Valtellina or the Valtelline (occasionally spelled as two words in English: Val Telline; rm, Vuclina (); lmo, Valtelina or ; german: Veltlin; it, Valtellina) is a valley in the Lombardy region of northern Italy, bordering Switzerland. Toda ...

Courmayeur Courmayeur (; Valdôtain: ) is a town and ''comune'' in northern Italy, in the autonomous region of Aosta Valley. History The toponym ''Courmayeur'' has been mentioned as ''Curia majori'' (1233–1381), ''Corte Maggiore'' (1620), ''Cormoyeu'' (16 ...

and

Tallahassee, Florida Tallahassee ( ) is the capital city of the U.S. state of Florida. It is the county seat and only incorporated municipality in Leon County. Tallahassee became the capital of Florida, then the Florida Territory, in 1824. In 2020, the populatio ...

. At the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, she was upgraded from a bronze to a silver medal in the 500 m event after colliding with British skater

Elise Christie Elise Christie (born 13 August 1990) is a British former short track speed skater. She was coached by Nicky Gooch and she specialised in the 1000m event. She is ten times a European gold medallist, including two overall European titles in 2015 ...

. Christie was disqualified after causing a crash in the final. She won a bronze medal in the 1500 m event and the Team-event and was disqualified in the 1000 m event. Following the Games, Lobello began coaching Fontana following his retirement from competition. The following year Fontana took her first title at the

World Short Track Speed Skating Championships The World Short Track Speed Skating Championships are a senior international short track speed skating competition held once a year to determine the World Champion in individual distances, relays and Overall Classification. It is sanctioned by th ...

, winning the gold in the 1500m and taking the overall silver. In October 2017, Fontana was named as

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

flag bearer A standard-bearer, also known as a flag-bearer is a person (soldier or civilian) who bears an emblem known as a standard or military colours, i.e. either a type of flag or an inflexible but mobile image, which is used (and often honoured) as a f ...

for the opening ceremony of the

in Pyeongchang, South Korea. She was the first short track skater to be selected as flag bearer for the Italian Olympic team and the second flag bearer from the

Italian Ice Sports Federation The Italian Ice Sports Federation ( it, Federazione Italiana Sport del Ghiaccio; FISG), is the governing body for ice sports in Italy. It was founded in September 1926 to promote the practice of winter sports on ice and to coordinate events. The F ...

, after

Carolina Kostner Carolina Kostner (born 8 February 1987) is an Italian figure skater. She is the 2014 Olympic bronze medalist, the 2012 World champion, a five-time European champion (2007–2008, 2010, 2012–2013), and the 2011 Grand Prix Final champion. She ...

. She won her first Olympic gold medal there, in the 500 m event. She was the first European to win a 500 m Olympic gold. She also won silver in the team event and bronze in the 1000 m event, becoming the woman with the most medals in the sport. It also meant that she had won Olympic medals at every contested distance. At the 2022 Winter Olympics, she won three more medals: a silver in the 2000 m mixed relay event, a silver in the 1500 m event, and a gold in the 500 m event, bringing her total medal count to 11 Olympic medals. This made her the Italian sportswoman with the highest number of Winter Olympic medals and elevated her to the rank of second-most decorated Italian athlete in Olympic history, behind

Edoardo Mangiarotti Edoardo Mangiarotti (; 7 April 1919 – 25 May 2012) was an Italian fencer. He won a total of 39 Olympic titles and World championships, more than any other fencer in the history of the sport. His Olympic medals include one individual go ...

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Fontana, Arianna 1990 births Living people Italian female short track speed skaters Olympic short track speed skaters of Italy Olympic gold medalists for Italy Olympic silver medalists for Italy Olympic bronze medalists for Italy Olympic medalists in short track speed skating Short track speed skaters at the 2006 Winter Olympics Short track speed skaters at the 2010 Winter Olympics Short track speed skaters at the 2014 Winter Olympics Short track speed skaters at the 2018 Winter Olympics Short track speed skaters at the 2022 Winter Olympics Medalists at the 2006 Winter Olympics Medalists at the 2010 Winter Olympics Medalists at the 2014 Winter Olympics Medalists at the 2018 Winter Olympics Medalists at the 2022 Winter Olympics Italian female speed skaters People from Sondrio Knights of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic World Short Track Speed Skating Championships medalists Sportspeople from the Province of Sondrio

Biography

See also

References

External links