MILAN, Feb 7 (Reuters) - Francesca Lollobrigida said her great aunt, the late film star Gina Lollobrigida, would be proud to see the family name shining across a different stage after the Italian speed skater claimed 3,000 metres gold at the Milano Cortina Winter Olympics on Saturday.
Competing on home ice on her 35th birthday, Lollobrigida delivered Italy's first gold medal of the Games, ending the Netherlands' stranglehold on the event they had won at the last three Olympics.
"I think she (Gina) would be really proud of me to show Lollobrigida's name in the sport," she said.
"I also know that I cannot be compared to her in the world. She was just a diva. But I'm trying in my little world to be a diva in the sport.
It was Lollobrigida's first Olympic gold medal, adding to the 3,000m silver and mass start bronze she won at Beijing 2022.
"Behind every athlete there is a story ... What I wanted to show in Italy is how much I love skating. That's why I choose to be a mum and compete. Milano Cortina was the best theatre to show that," she said.
Lollobrigida's breakthrough moment at the Milano Speed Skating Stadium also carried extra meaning for the Italian, who returned to the top of her sport after becoming a mother.
After having her son Tommaso in May 2023, Lollobrigida resumed competing four months later.
"Milano-Cortina for me was to show people you can be a mum and come back stronger," Lollobrigida said. "I won a world title, I won a gold medal after being a mum.
"This gold is for myself, first of all. I wanted to show being a mum and top athlete is possible."
The moment of victory was emotional as, draped in an Italian flag, Lollobrigida sprinted to celebrate with her two-year-old son as the crowd rose to their feet.
"Starting from my husband, my family, my federation. It's teamwork that works perfectly," Lollobrigida said.
(Reporting by Pearl Josephine Nazare in Milan; Editing by Ken Ferris and Ed Osmond)
