Fontana extends medal record as Italy wins Olympic short track mixed team relay

MILAN — Six Olympics, 12 medals. Arianna Fontana still wants more at the Milan Cortina Games.

Fontana won her third gold and extended her record as the most decorated short track speedskater of all time Tuesday.

Fontana and the Italy team dominated the mixed team relay final to the delight of the vocal home crowd in the first short track final of the Winter Games. Canada was second and Belgium third.

The celebrations were exuberant, Pietro Sighel spun around backward as he crossed the line before cupping a hand to his ear as the crowd roared its approval. Fontana held up her gold medal and a cardboard cutout of her own head, sticking out her tongue to match the cutout.

Italy on a mission

''This is our home. We're here to protect it,'' was Italy's motto for the race, Fontana said.

''We tried to show it to the home crowd, ‘We're here, we're on a mission,' and that's what we delivered.''

Fontana already began the final as the most decorated Italian Winter Olympian ever, in an Olympic career which began with a relay bronze at the age of 15 the last time Italy hosted the Games in 2006.

If her 15-year-old self could see her now, ''she won't believe that I'm still here,'' Fontana said. ''She will be like, ‘Why are you still skating?' But I'm sure she will be proud.''

US falls and soft ice

It was a bruising day for Corinne Stoddard and the United States as falls ended her and her team's chances in the mixed relay and women's 500 meters.

Stoddard fell in the relay quarterfinals but the U.S. was reprieved by a penalty for Japan. In the semifinals, she was fighting for the lead when she went down again and was then hit by a South Korean skater approaching fast from behind.

Several skaters voiced concern about soft ice at the Milano Ice Skating Arena, which is hosting men's figure skating later Tuesday.

''The ice is really tricky right now,'' said Dutch skater Jens van ‘t Wout, pointing to ''weird falls'' and skaters ''slipping around.''

Individual heats

Fontana has a shot at another medal in the women's 500, which she won in 2018 and 2022, after qualifying from the heats earlier Tuesday.

World champion Xandra Velzeboer of the Netherlands was fastest in the heats of the women's 500 ahead of quarterfinals and medal rounds Thursday. Stoddard also fell in that event but Kristen Santos-Griswold and Julie Letai qualified for the U.S.