Italy ignited the Milan Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics with one of the most iconic moments of the entire event: the gold medal in the mixed short track relay. The Italian quartet of Elisa Confortola, Arianna Fontana, Thomas Nadalini, and Pietro Sighel dominated the final in Milan, finishing in 2:39.019, ahead of Canada (silver in 2:39.258) and Belgium (bronze in 2:39.353). Arianna Fontana, the legendary leader of Italian short track and one of the most enduring and successful figures in the global Olympic scene, was once again at the center of this accomplishment. Fontana, 35, has earned her twelfth Olympic medal, distributed among six distinct editions of the Winter Games: a span of twenty years, from Turin 2006 to Milan Cortina 2026. It is incredibly difficult to stay competitive for two decades in a sport with a fairly short average lifetime. Fontana not only succeeded, but she continued to win, making history as the most awarded Italian athlete in the Winter Olympics. With this gold, she is now one medal away from breaking the all-time Italian sporting record, which is currently held by Edoardo Mangiarotti, the legendary fencer of the 1940s and 1950s. Following the competition, Fontana addressed Rai, Italy's primary public broadcaster, and expressed her enthusiasm for her victory: "It was an exciting contest. We handled all of the tests calmly. It's great to get started like this, and there couldn't have been a finer way. It will give us a tremendous boost".