Olympics-Short track-Italy clinches second gold as Fontana leads mixed relay victory

By Francesca Landini and Gianluca Semeraro

MILAN, Feb 10 (Reuters) - Arianna Fontana, Italy's most decorated Winter Olympian, led her 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 metres speed skating on Saturday.

The four Italian skaters - Fontana, Elisa Confortola, Thomas Nadalini and Pietro Sighel - clocked two minutes 39.019 seconds over 2,000 metres in the final to beat Canada and Belgium, second and third respectively, at Milan's ice skating arena.

Italy, silver medallists in 2022 with a team featuring Fontana, seized control around halfway and stayed in front to the finish.

"I was launching myself to overtake and change the pace, and at that moment the Chinese skater slightly lost her rhythm, which made things a bit easier. We took the opportunity to pick up speed, and then we managed it from there," Fontana told reporters.

WINNING GOLD IS 'MAGICAL'

"Being on the Olympic podium is always emotional. And with the home crowd, seeing my family, our families there getting emotional, maybe even more than we were, it was magical," Fontana said.

With 12 Olympic medals in six Games, Fontana needs only one more to match fencing champion Edoardo Mangiarotti's record for the most Olympic medals by any Italian.

Earlier in the morning Fontana qualified for the women's 500 metres quarterfinals on Thursday.

Her teammate Sighel, who took part in the final leg, celebrated the gold by turning toward his oncoming rivals and skating backwards just after crossing the finish line.

"I did it for the home crowd; it wasn't a disrespectful gesture toward my opponents," he said.

Canada's William Dandjinou, who flaps his arms like an eagle for his victory routines, said he loved Sighel's celebration. "That's what we need in our sport. I'm super happy for the Italian team. Winning at home must be so special for them, it's really deserved," the silver medallist said.

NETHERLANDS SET NEW OLYMPIC RECORD

Despite not making it to the final, the Dutch team set a new Olympic record at two minutes 35.537 in the B Final raced earlier between the four non-qualifying teams.

South Korea, one of the pre-race favourites, also failed to reach the medals 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.