There are less than two months left until the Milan Cortina 2026 Olympicswhich will officially begin on Friday 6 February with the Opening Ceremony scheduled at the San Siro Stadium and in the square of the Dolomite resort. In the meantime they get to know each other Italy’s first squad for the five-circle event that will be held in our latitudes: the names come from short track, with ten selected athletes (five men and five women) dall’high performance director Kenan Gouadecsupported by the head coach Mengyao Qi, by technicians Derrick Campbell and Nicola Rodigari.
It clearly stands out presence of Arianna Fontanathe Italian with the most medals ever at the Winter Olympics and who will have the honor of being the flag bearer for the second consecutive time. The Olympic Champion of the 500 meters will be the beacon of the women’s sector, but attention should also be paid to the excellent qualities of international athletes such as Elisa Confortola, Martina ValcepinaArianna Sighel and Chiara Betti. The ambitions in the relay are decidedly concrete, but it won’t be from the Gloria match Ioriattiwho will only play the reserve role.
On the men’s front, however, the spotlight is on Pietro Sighel, flagship of the entire movement and eager to break the bank in front of his audience. They will take to the ice too Andrea Cassinelli, Thomas Nadalini, Lorenzo Previtali and Luca Spechenhauserready to have their say even in an ambitious relay. The reserves will be Mattia Antonioli and Alessandro Loreggia. We remind you that Italy will be able to field the maximum contingent of three athletes in each individual race (500, 1000 and 1500 metres) and will be present with the three relays.
High Performance Director Kenan Gouadec took stock of the situation through federal channels: “We look forward to these Olympics with great confidence because we are convinced that we have a strong, united and motivated team at our disposal, which can count on the right mix of youth and experience. As demonstrated by the results obtained in the World Tour, the level of the group is decidedly high. We therefore had to make very painful choices. Over the last week, together with the entire technical staff, we have thoroughly analyzed all the data and videos available, reviewing all the results of this season as well as last, in order to select what in our opinion is the best team. Now all we have to do is work with our eyes fixed on our great goal“.
CALLED UP TO ITALY SHORT TRACK OLYMPICS MILAN CORTINA 2026
MEN: Andrea Cassinelli, Thomas Nadalini, Lorenzo Previtali, Pietro Sighel, Luca Spechenhauser. Reserves: Mattia Antonioli, Alessandro Loreggia.
DONNE: Chiara Betti, Elisa Confortola, Arianna Fontana, Arianna Sighel, Martina Valcepina. Reserve: Gloria Ioriatti.
