Francesca Lollobrigida is currently trending due to her outstanding performance at the Milan Cortina Olympics, where she won the first gold medal for the host country, Italy, in speedskating. This victory not only marks a significant achievement for Lollobrigida personally but also contributes to Italy’s success as the host of the Olympic Games, generating excitement among sports fans and the general public.
The news of her record-setting win has led to heightened search interest, with over 20,000 searches recorded. Such a substantial volume indicates that many people are eager to learn more about Lollobrigida’s accomplishment, her performance, and the impact of her victory on the Italian team’s prospects in the Olympics.
Coverage from various sources, including KSBY News and ABC News, highlights the medal collection efforts of Italian athletes on the first day of the Games, further amplifying the emphasis on Lollobrigida’s achievement. Her historic win has thus become a focal point of media attention, driving many to seek additional information about her and the ongoing events at the Olympics.
Watch the Moment
Internet Reacts
C
And olympic record too!
P
And on her birthday!
M
and in italy in fornt of he young child. and she was smiling while skating the race, like she knew the whole time she was on a really good run and going to win gold.
V
Really lovely. Getting to hug her son afterwards 🥲
A
And my ax… Ops, sorry, got carried away.
J
It’s my birthday too! (And Ashton Kutcher, Chris Rock, Emo Phillips, Eddie Izzard, Lewis Carol and Garth Brooks, among others lol) 
P
Happy Birthday! 🎂
I
That’s double fantastic!!!
F
She won that race with heart and incredible pain tolerance. Incredible race.
K
Pain tolerance? What happened? Or do you mean generally the spin of competing at a high level in an intense sport?
M
Her last two laps, wow.
B
The top 3 beat the old OR. Crazy race
M
Yeeee!!!
M
Speed skating for 3km is mind boggling.
P
Then be a bit more boggled, thats the shorter of the long-track distances. Women also have a 5km event, while men do a 5km and 10km.
J
I had to look it up, and the highest amount of skating an NHL player has skated lately is Connor McDavid (on Dec 15, 2022) is 8.7km in just under 30 minutes of ice time. But that’s over a 60 minute game, 30-90 seconds at a time, with two 20 minute breaks lol. I know it’s comparing apples to oranges in almost every respect, but it’s crazy how fast these speedskaters are going 🤯
C
One day into these games and we already have a contender for my favorite moment from these games. From her deciding to come back just to compete in (likely) her last Olympics because they were taking place at home, to **being the mom of a 3 year old**, to her singing with the crowd before the race, to watching her slowly realize where she stood, to the reaction from her team and son, to winning her first gold **on her 35th birthday** I fucking LOVE the Olympics
L
She broke the Olympic record too – so it wasn’t because of a bad year. That was genuinely just a sporting history moment. I think it’s better than the surprise gold in 100m for the Italians specifically as well. Crazy.
G
No, nothing will be better than that gold. First, because the 100m is the most iconic event. Second, because Lollobrigida, while not showing any form for the whole season, still was already an Olympic medalist. Jacobs came out of nowhere: in a couple of months he broke 10, then the Italian record in quarters, the European record in the semifinal and then improved again and won gold in the final.
S
And it kind of included the moment Tamberi and Barshim shared their Gold medals which was peak peak Olympics, globally and for Italy
C
His gold is literally the only time a favourite hasn’t won the mens gold in that event since probably Alan Wells in 1980 too. It just doesn’t happen very much at all.
S
All the top 3 broke the Olympic Record! So it was the most competitive possible race. Yet she won comfortably! Idk about the gold bit. That moment where he got the 100m gold is still so hard to believe. It felt like a fever dream
S
It was a fever dream also because Tamberi had also won the gold right before that moment
C
Shoot I missed her singing with the crowd! And let’s add on her birthday and that she thought of stopping a few weeks ago and writing it on IG
M
Absolute all timer of an Olympic moment already. I completely agree and I’m so happy for her. I didn’t realize she held off on retiring for this. It’s such a wonderful thing that she got rewarded with the Gold. Fucking incredible.
R
I always love watching her skate. Always a ray of sunshine and positivity and to see her finally get the gold in her last Olympics and at home as well? Just Chef’s kiss. Caught myself getting somewhat emotional and not even caring much our girls didn’t make it to the podium.
M
AND she was behind with 3 laps to go and just put on the afterburners. All clutch and guts. So great!!!
L
She had plenty of pace in her pocket towards the end where the others all started strong and petered out.
C
Well deserved gold… She poured it on out there!
G
And Canada with the Bronze! Congrats, neighbor!
C
That was a surprise, too! Maltais looked gassed at the end. I didn’t think she was going to hold on to a podium place.
K
I didn’t either. That last pairing had to be stressful. It was stressful enough for me.
W
She had been on the podium in the 3000m in several world cups this season, and publicly asserted she was going for an individual medal. She changed the way she was training too this season (she did a lot of cycling). It was nerve wracking and I was afraid to be disappointed, but she delivered on her promises.
B
Those were some stressful races! Thank you neighbour ❤️
G
You’re welcome! I used to live in Detroit so I always cheer for Canada, too! And sing along with your national anthem when you win gold! (I heard it often enough that I learned it by osmosis lol)
K
If there’s any non-Dutch athlete who I wanted to win, it was Lollobrigida. Winning silver in 2022, becoming a mom, and then getting back on a competitive level by following your own schedule towards an Olympic gold medal in your home nation on the day you turn 35 is so inspiring.
E
HOLY FUCKING AAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH 💙🎉🇮🇹🇮🇹🇮🇹 MAMMA MIA CHE RUN RCA PUTTANA BUON COMPLEANNO LOLLOOOOOO
B
Lollobrigida really went for it at the end there. Incredibly impressive. Also happy for Maltais. She has medals from relays/pursuits, but finally got her first individual medal at her fifth Olympics.
E
Her switch from Short track to long track was a good one !
S
Would be interested to know from knowledgeable speed skating people whether Lollobridgida/Maltais gained time over the latter 2 pairings because they were close the whole race and could have benefited from the others aero draft – seem to recall they both led at different moments. They certainly seemed to push each other to the limit, very impressive!
O
They did extensively……but that is speedskating! Good eye! On top of it they benefited from the (air) movement of other speed skaters in the inside lane warming up. The latter is only a tiny advantage and rarely outways the advantage knowing what time you have to skate if you are in the final pairings. Sometimes like in this case the “knowing the time”-advantage can turn into a disadvantage. Groenewoud seemed shell-shocked. She had a plan (she is a racer) but the execution was poor and she “lost” the race already in the first 2 rounds. She knew she had to stay close to Wiklund and try to beat her in the final 2 rounds but she lost contact almost immediately. Beune had a different problem with Weidemann starting out slow and making her move in the last 2 rounds (like Groenewoud). Beune realizing that gold was out of reach and that she had no help from her pairing kind of fizzled out in the end.
M
First day in the games and we’re treated already to an all-timer of a performance and gold medal winning moment. She holds off on retirement because she became a mom because the games are going to be on her home ice, and for her trouble she sets an Olympic record, wins the Gold medal in front of her country and son, and does it oh her 35th birthday??? You can’t make this stuff up. Congratulations to Francesca Lollobrigida and congratulations to Italian fans everywhere. Time to celebrate this woman.
P
on her birthday. and at home! fantastic!
S
Wasn’t even close in the end either. Absolutely battered them
M
Congrats to her! Such an amazing performance by an amazing woman! And of course to all the other women! But at the same time, where the fuck were we (the Netherlands)??
S
Thanks to the controversial OKT I guess. It worked in the past, but I think they peaked too early.
R
The OKT is fine if only the competition weren’t so fierce. Now the athletes *need* to peak at the OKT instead of being allowed to peak at the Olympics, which is the world upside down. And if the OKT is riddled with drama and tension, like it was this year, yeah that’s a massive own goal by the Dutch skating org.
B
What happened? I only know Jut crashed. What was the drama and controversies?
R
Kjeld Nuis gave his thoughts on the event *during* the event, which caused pundits – almost all of whom are former pro skaters – to respond. This led to the coverage of the event being overtly focused on drama and negativity. Then Nuis got a ticket for the 1500m Olympic event assigned to him at the cost of his teammate. The teammate had been putting down better times (if I recall correctly) at the event and over the last 12 months, and was rightfully furious. I mean, Nuis, who is getting the ticket, is actively shit-talking the event and the skating org, but is willing to take the ticket anyway? Another source of annoyance for said teammate is that the skating org *has* channels for feedback *and* annual meetings, so athletes can give their thoughts and whatnot. Guess who *never* attends those? Nuis. And Nuis’ partner is Joy Beune, who failed to make the top 3 today at the 3000m event. So yeah, the entire event was basically one negative vibe from start to finish.
N
Olympic record too! So happy for her 🇮🇹
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