FIGURE SKATING
A bronze medal in the figure skating team event that feels like a triumph. Charlène Guignard and Marco Fabbri (ice dance), Sara Conti and Niccolò Macii (pairs), Lara Naki Gutmann (women’s singles), and Daniel Grassl and Matteo Rizzo (men’s singles short and free programmes respectively) delivered Italy’s first Olympic medal in the team competition in Milan. It is the nation’s third figure skating podium at the Games, following the bronzes won by Barbara Fusar Poli and Maurizio Margaglio in ice dance at Salt Lake City 2002 and by Carolina Kostner in women’s singles at Sochi 2014.
At the Ice Skating Arena, Italy finished third overall with 60 points, behind only the United States (69, gold) and Japan (68, silver). A flawless performance by Matteo Rizzo in the final segment — the men’s free skate — sealed Italy’s ninth medal of Milano Cortina 2026 (one gold, two silvers and six bronzes). The final had begun on Saturday evening, 7 February, with nine points earned by Guignard and Fabbri in the free dance.
Italy entered the pairs free skate in provisional third place, a position successfully defended by Conti and Macii with eight points, before Lara Naki Gutmann again impressed in the women’s free skate (seven points). In the closing segment it was Matteo Rizzo (photo Claudio Scaccini/CONI) who took over from Daniel Grassl, skating a superb free programme that earned a further eight points and allowed Italy to repel late challenges from Georgia (fourth with 56 points) and Canada (fifth with 54).
