MILAN, Feb 16 (Reuters) - At the most gender‑balanced Winter Olympics in history, hosts Italy are enjoying their best‑ever medal haul, powered by women in a sign that long‑running efforts to level the playing field are delivering results.
At the Milano Cortina Games, women account for 47% of all athletes, up from 44.7% at Beijing 2022.
For Italy, that push toward parity has translated into women dominating the medal tally.
With few days left to the Games' close on February 22, six of Italy's eight gold medals have been won by women, with another coming in a mixed short‑track relay.
Of Italy's 22 medals – above its previous record at Lillehammer in 1994 – 10 have been won by women, seven by men and five by mixed teams.
"Olympic medals do not have a sex. Gold medals belong to Italy," Luigi Busa, Italy's Tokyo 2020 karate champion, told a conference in Milan. "But I always say that men have power and women have superpowers."
The victories span Italy’s flagship winter sports.
Alpine skier Federica Brignone delivered one of the most emotional moments of the Games with a two‑gold comeback less than 10 months after a heavy crash.
Speed skater Francesca Lollobrigida won the 3,000 metres before entering the mixed zone carrying her two‑year‑old son, prompting international media to crown her “Italy’s Super Mom.” She repeated her success five days later with gold in the 5,000m.
Biathlete Lisa Vittozzi became the first Italian to win Olympic gold in her discipline, while short‑track veteran Arianna Fontana matched the all‑time Italian Olympic medal total of Edoardo Mangiarotti, extending her status as one of the country’s most decorated winter athletes.
Italy also secured its first women’s double luge title through Andrea Voetter and Marion Oberhofer.
The contrast is stark with Italy’s previous home Games in Turin in 2006, when it won five gold medals, none by women. Italy’s seven‑gold haul in Lillehammer included four women’s titles.
DECADE‑LONG STRATEGY
Diana Bianchedi, vice president of the Italian Olympic Committee (CONI), said the 2026 results reflected a deliberate, long‑term strategy to keep girls and women in elite sport.
"It wasn't by chance," she told Reuters. "Obviously, it comes from a long process, because changing things takes time."
A turning point came with a study CONI commissioned after the Sydney 2000 Olympics, tracking 55 athletes who became mothers and later returned to world‑class competition. The research showed that motherhood was not an endpoint but a phase that, with proper support, could be integrated into a sporting career.
The findings led to new training protocols for early pregnancy, postpartum recovery and reintegration into elite competition. Some federations adopted additional policies, including freezing rankings during maternity leave so athletes could return without losing their competitive standing.
Scholarships were also introduced to cover childcare or travel for a family member to allow new mothers to continue training and competing.
A BROADER SHIFT
Italy has also invested in keeping teenage girls in sport through its “dual career” system, which allows student‑athletes to balance competition with school and university requirements.
A government decree now permits schools to adjust exam schedules, coursework and attendance rules for athletes, addressing a stage when many girls traditionally dropped out.
“Unfortunately, at the age of 14 in our country, more girls abandon sport to focus on their studies,” said Bianchedi, an Italian former fencer and gold medallist in the 1992 and 2000 Summer Olympics.
Bianchedi had been forced to quit sport at 16 because of school demands. She later became an Olympic champion and qualified as a doctor.
"Our kids should never face that choice again," she said.
The medal surge aligns with a broader rise in women’s leadership across the Italian Games. Women make up half of the Milano‑Cortina organising committee and of the volunteer force.
"The Games will end,” said Bianchedi, "but this journey must not."
(Reporting by Giselda Vagnoni and Elvira Pollina, editing by Valentina Za and Andrew Cawthorne)
