Milan, 7 February (LaPresse) – A fantastic Francesca Lollobrigida wins Italy's first gold medal at the Milan-Cortina Games, the third overall. On her birthday, the 35-year-old champion from Rome dominated the women's 3,000 metres with a time of 3'54"28, setting a new Olympic record. This is the first gold medal in the history of the Winter Olympics for Italian women's speed skating. The silver medal went to the favourite, Norway's Ragne Wiklund, who finished +2'26‘ behind, and the bronze to Canada's Valerie Maltais, +2'65’ behind. All the Dutch skaters finished off the podium.