Italy wins maiden gold in Biathlon

ANTHOLZ-ANTERSELVA, ITALY - FEBRUARY 15: Gold medalist Lisa Vittozzi of Team Italy celebrates with her team after the medal ceremony for the Women's Biathlon 10km Pursuit on day nine of the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympic games at Anterselva Biathlon Arena on February 15, 2026 in Antholz-Anterselva, Italy. (Photo by Alexander Hassenstein/Getty Images)

Lisa Vittozzi made history for her country at the Milan Cortina Winter Olympics on Sunday. The Italian brought home their first gold medal in the sport, winning the women’s 10km pursuit event at the Anterselva Biathlon Arena. Norway’s Maren Kirkeeide missed three shots and still won the silver medal. Finland’s Suvi Minkkinen brought home her country’s first medal in the sport with bronze.  

The medalists of Saturday’s sprint got 40 seconds to work with against the rest of the field in the 10km race. The five-lap race consisted of four stops at the range and a short 1.6km course to ski around. While plenty of snow fell the other day, it was another sunny day for the athletes to work with, and a slight wind provided a challenge. French star Julia Simon withdrew from the event due to her disastrous finish in the sprint.

Kirkeeide and Michelon stayed close together, with Jeanmannot shortly behind them, and the rest of the group moved along. The range would determine who would lead out on the second lap. The leaders got into the prone position, with Kirkeeide going perfect and Michelon missing twice. With the laps in her future, the silver medalist from the sprint was out of it. Jeanmannot was nine seconds back of the Norwegian, while Vittozzi took over the third spot, going perfect.

The two leaders returned for the second prone shooting, with Vittozzi going five-for-five while they had to run a penalty lap for missing once. While she only had four seconds on the Norwegian, it was a great halfway mark to make a move. In the third visit to the range, she stayed perfect with Kirkeeide, but followed the Norwegian. Jeanmannot missed another shot, moving her 35 seconds back, and the gap was getting tighter behind the Frenchwoman.

In the fourth shooting range, Kirkeeide and Vittozzi came in alone, and the unthinkable happened. While the Italian kept it together and went perfectly, the Norwegian missed twice. With the shocking change and a 40-second lead, the gold medal was in the Italian’s reach. Kirkeeide somehow stayed in reach for a medal her but Minkkinen was in front of her, and not by much. The hill section of the course was Kirkeeide’s moment to take over the silver position, keeping Minkkinen behind her.