SNOWBOARD
Gold, silver and now bronze. Michela Moioli collects the final medal missing from her magnificent Olympic haul. After her individual triumph at PyeongChang 2018 and the runners-up finish in the mixed team event at Beijing 2022 alongside Omar Visintin, the Lombardy star climbed onto the third step of the podium in the women’s snowboard cross at Milano Cortina 2026 on the Livigno Snow Park course, delivering the 18th medal of these Games for the Italia Team, one more than four years ago in China (the second most prolific edition in the nation’s history) and two fewer than the record-breaking campaign at Lillehammer 1994.
After finishing sixth in the seeding round, Moioli (photo Luca Pagliaricci/CONI) dominated her heat in the round of 16 and repeated the feat in the quarter-finals, before producing a remarkable comeback in the second semi-final, crossing the line in first place after a subdued start. Another fightback was required in the Big Final: Moioli overtook Switzerland’s Noemie Wiedmer but was unable to find a way past Australia’s Josie Baff (gold) and the Czech Republic’s Eva Adamczykova (silver). It marks the seventh Olympic medal in the history of Italian snowboarding and the fourth in snowboard cross. The other two Italian riders failed to reach the semi-finals: Sofia Groblechner exited in the quarter-finals, while Lisa Francesia Boirai went no further than the round of 16.
