Arianna Fontana

Arianna Fontana OMRI (born April 14, 1990) is an Italian short track speed skater, who has won eight Olympic medals, among these a gold in the 500m short track at the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang. Her medal haul following the 2018 Games made her the female short track skater with the most Olympic medals, and tied her with male skaters Apolo Ohno and Viktor An.[1] It also made her the Italian sportswoman with the second highest number of Winter Olympic medals, behind Stefania Belmondo.[2] She specialises in the 500 m event. She is nicknamed La Freccia Bionda (The Blonde Arrow).[3]

Arianna Fontana
Fontana in 2006
Personal information
Born (1990-04-14) April 14, 1990
Sondrio, Italy
Height1.61 m (5 ft 3 in)
Weight55 kg (121 lb)
Sport
Country Italy
SportShort track speed skating
Achievements and titles
Personal best(s)500 m: 42.569
1000 m: 1:29.156
1500 m: 2:15.753
3000 m: 5:01.187
Medal record
Women's short track speed skating
Representing  Italy
Senior level
Event 1st 2nd 3rd
Olympic Games 1 2 5
World Championships 1 6 7
World Team Championships 0 0 1
European Championships 28 15 8
Total 30 23 21

Biography

Fontana started skating at the age of four, following in the footsteps of her brother Alessandro,[4] initially on roller skates before switching to ice skating.[5] She first trained in Lanzada until the rink there closed, when she switched her training base to Bormio.[6]

Fontana made her international championship debut at the 2006 European Short Track Speed Skating Championships in Krynica-Zdrój, where she took the overall silver medal.[4] At the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin, she won bronze in the 3000 m relay. She placed 11th in the 500m and 6th in the 1000 m. The relay medal was the first for Italy in short track speed skating: at 15 years of age, Fontana became the youngest Italian to win a Winter Olympic medal.[3] Following the 2006 Games, Fontana and her relay team-mates were appointed Knights of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic.[7]

At the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, she won a bronze medal in the 500 metre event, was eliminated in the semifinals of the 1500 metre event, and was eliminated in the quarterfinals of the 1000 metre event. Her 500m bronze made her the first Italian to take an individual Olympic medal in short track.[3]

Fontano began dating Italian-American skater Anthony Lobello Jr. in 2012: the couple were engaged the following year[8] and married in May 2014 in Colico.[9] The couple split their time between homes in Valtellina, Courmayeur and Tallahassee, Florida.[10]

At the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, she was upgraded from a bronze to a silver medal in the 500 m event after colliding with British skater Elise Christie. Christie was disqualified after causing a crash in the final. She won a bronze medal in the 1500 m event and in the Team-event, and was disqualified in the 1000 m event. Following the Games, Lobello began coaching Fontana following his retirement from competition.[11] The following year Fontana took her first title at the World Short Track Speed Skating Championships, winning the gold in the 1500m and taking the overall silver.[3]

In October 2017, Fontana was named as Italy's flag bearer for the opening ceremony of the 2018 Winter Olympics in PyeongChang, South Korea.[12] She was the first short track skater to be selected as flag bearer for the Italian Olympic team and the second flag bearer from the Italian Ice Sports Federation, after Carolina Kostner.[4] She won her first Olympic gold medal there, in the 500 m event.[13] She was the first European to win a 500 m Olympic gold.[2] She also won silver in the team event and bronze in the 1000 m event, becoming the woman with most medals in the sport. It also meant that she had won Olympic medals at every contested distance.[2]

Achievements
MedalYear/VenueEvent
Olympic Games
2018 Pyeongchang500 m
2014 Sochi500 m
2018 Pyeongchang3000 m relay
2006 Turin 3000 m relay
2010 Vancouver500 m
2014 Sochi1500 m
2014 Sochi3000 m relay
2018 Pyeongchang1000 m
World Championships
2015 Moscow 1500 m
2007 Milan 500 m
2011 Sheffield 500 m
2011 Sheffield 1000 m
2012 Shanghai 500 m
2012 Shanghai 3000 m
2015 Moscow Overall
2006 Minneapolis 3000 m relay
2011 Sheffield Overall
2012 Shanghai Overall
2014 Montreal 3000 m relay
2015 Moscow 500 m
2015 Moscow 1000 m
2015 Moscow 3000 m relay
European Championships
2006 Krynica-Zdrój 3000 m relay
2008 Ventspils 1500 m
2008 Ventspils 3000 m
2008 Ventspils Overall
2009 Turin 500 m
2009 Turin 1000 m
2009 Turin Overall
2010 Dresden 500 m
2010 Dresden 1500 m
2011 Heerenveen 1000 m
2011 Heerenveen 1500 m
2011 Heerenveen 3000 m
2011 Heerenveen Overall
2012 Mlada Boleslav 500 m
2012 Mlada Boleslav 1500 m
2012 Mlada Boleslav 3000 m
2012 Mlada Boleslav Overall
2013 Malmö 500 m
2013 Malmö 3000 m
2013 Malmö Overall
2014 Dresden 500 m
2017 Turin1500 m
2017 Turin3000 m
2017 TurinOverall
2017 Turin3000 m relay
2018 Dresden1000 m
2018 DresdenOverall
2020 Debrecen 3000 m SF
2006 Krynica-Zdrój 1000 m
2006 Krynica-Zdrój 3000 m SF
2006 Krynica-Zdrój Overall
2007 Sheffield 3000 m relay
2008 Ventspils 1000 m
2010 Dresden Overall
2012 Mlada Boleslav 3000 m relay
2013 Malmö 1000 m
2013 Malmö 1500 m
2015 Dordrecht1000 m
2018 Dresden500 m
2018 Dresden3000 m SF
2020 Debrecen 1500 m
2020 Debrecen Overall1
2020 Debrecen 3000 m relay
2006 Krynica-Zdrój 1500 m
2007 Sheffield 1500 m
2009 Turin 1500 m
2010 Dresden 3000 m SF
2011 Heerenveen 3000 m relay
2014 Dresden 3000 m SF
2014 Dresden Overall
2020 Debrecen 1000 m
World Junior Championships
2009 Sherbrooke 3000 m relay
2008 Bolzano 2000 m relay
2009 Sherbrooke 500 m
2008 Bolzano 1500 m

World Cup results
Competition 1st 2nd 3rd
World Cup114

See also

References
  1. "How Arianna Fontana quietly skated into short track history". NBC Sports. 24 February 2018. Retrieved 1 March 2019.
  2. Dolfin, Alberto (24 February 2018). "Arianna Fontana, la buonanotte con le medaglie e i dubbi sul futuro" [Arianna Fontana, goodnight with medals and doubts about the future 2019]. lastampa.it (in Italian). Retrieved 3 March 2019.
  3. "Arianna Fontana". Olympics on NBC. Retrieved 1 March 2019.
  4. "Arianna Fontana will be the flag bearer for Italy at PyeongChang 2018". Italian National Olympic Committee. 24 October 2017. Retrieved 1 March 2019.
  5. "Arianna Fontana, una vita da vincente. I complimenti di Malagò" [Arianna Fontana, a winning life. The compliments of Malagò]. ansa.it (in Italian). 14 February 2018. Retrieved 1 March 2019.
  6. "Olimpiadi invernali, oro per Arianna Fontana. Anthony, i pattini e i tatuaggi: tutti i segreti di Arianna" [Winter Olympics, gold for Arianna Fontana. Anthony, skates and tattoos: all the secrets of Arianna]. sky.it (in Italian). 13 February 2018. Retrieved 1 March 2019.
  7. Vanier, Selina (10 January 2017). "Featured interview: Arianna Fontana (ITA)". International Skating Union. Retrieved 1 March 2019.
  8. Zaccardi, Nick (2 February 2014). "Anthony Lobello's country switch a Winter Olympic first". Olympics on NBC. Retrieved 1 March 2019.
  9. Landrini, Fabio (1 June 2014). "Colico, matrimonio all'americana per Arianna Fontana" [Colico - American wedding for Arianna Fontana]. ilgiorno.it (in Italian). Retrieved 1 March 2019.
  10. Pizzimenti, Chiara (19 November 2017). "Arianna Fontana: pattini, Florida e tricolore" [Arianna Fontana: skates, Florida and the Italian flag]. vanityfair.it (in Italian). Retrieved 2 March 2019.
  11. "For Italy's Arianna Fontana, road to Olympic speed skating gold runs through Tallahassee". tallahassee.com. 13 February 2018. Retrieved 1 March 2019.
  12. "Olympics: Fontana to be flag carrier". www.ansa.it/. Agenzia Nazionale Stampa Associata (ANSA). 20 October 2017. Retrieved 22 October 2017.
  13. "Final results". Retrieved 20 February 2018.
Olympic Games
Preceded by
Armin Zöggeler		 Flagbearer for  Italy
Pyeongchang 2018		 Succeeded by
Incumbent
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