Italy enjoys a record-breaking day at the Winter Olympics by claiming six medals

MILAN (AP) — This could turn out to be Italy’s best Winter Olympics ever after a record-breaking day on home snow and ice.

The host nation picked up six medals on Sunday, the most Italy has ever won in a single day at the Winter Olympics. The breakdown: one silver and five bronze.

Ski star Sofia Goggia kicked it off with a bronze medal in the women’s downhill and Lucia Dalmasso was also third in snowboarding’s parallel giant slalom.

The Italy team won silver in the mixed relay biathlon race and Riccardo Lorello claimed bronze in the men’s speedskating 5,000 meters.

The official X account for the Milan Cortina Games proclaimed it to be Italy’s best day in Winter Olympics history. And that was before Dominik Fischnaller won bronze in men’s singles luge, and before Italy took bronze in the figure skating team event in the evening.

“Competing at home is definitely something unique. The fans did their part,” Lorello said. “I’m very happy to have put the cherry on top tonight. And I’m proud of all of my Italian teammates in the other sports.”

Italy has nine medals after just two days of medal events, with the host nation winning gold, silver and bronze on Saturday.

The Azzurri are almost halfway to their best ever tally at a Winter Games, that was 20 at Lillehammer in 1994.

Italy won 11 medals the last time it hosted the Games, in Turin in 2006. It claimed 17 in Beijing four years ago.

At a ceremony in October to mark 100 days to go until the start of the Milan Cortina Games, Italian Olympic Committee president Luciano Buonfiglio said Italy was aiming for a minimum target of 19 medals.

AP Winter Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/milan-cortina-2026-winter-olympics

Italy's Lisa Vittozzi, Dorothea Wierer, Lukas Hofer and Tommaso Giacomel pose with the silver medal for the 4X6-kilometer mixed relay biathlon race at the 2026 Winter Olympics in Anterselva, Italy, Sunday, Feb. 8, 2026. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)

Italy's Lucia Dalmasso celebrates winning the bronze medal against Italy's Elisa Caffont during the women's snowboarding parallel giant slalom finals at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Livigno, Italy, Sunday, Feb. 8, 2026. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull)

Riccardo Lorello of Italy celebrates after competing in the men's 5,000 meters speedskating race at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Milan, Italy, Sunday, Feb. 8, 2026. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis)

Italy's Dominik Fischnaller, right, celebrates winning the bronze medal as he arrives at the finish during a men's single luge run at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy, Sunday, Feb. 8, 2026. (AP Photo/Aijaz Rahi)

Italy's Sofia Goggia shows her bronze medal for an alpine ski women's downhill race, at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy, Sunday, Feb. 8, 2026. (AP Photo/Andy Wong)

LISBON, Portugal (AP) — Center-left Socialist candidate António José Seguro recorded a thumping victory over hard-right populist André Ventura in Portugal’s runoff presidential election Sunday, according to official results with 99% of votes counted.

Seguro won a five-year term in Lisbon’s riverside “pink palace” with 66.7% of votes, compared with 33.3% for Ventura.

The ballot was an opportunity to test the depth of support for Ventura’s brash style, which has struck a chord with voters and helped make his Chega (Enough) party the second-biggest in the Portuguese parliament, as well as gauge the public appetite for Europe’s increasing shift to the right in recent years.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen congratulated Seguro and said on social media that “Portugal’s voice for our shared European values remains strong.”

Seguro, a longstanding Socialist politician, positioned himself as a moderate candidate who will cooperate with Portugal’s center-right minority government, repudiating Ventura’s anti-establishment and anti-immigrant tirades.

He won the backing of other mainstream politicians on the left and right who want to halt the rising populist tide.

In Portugal, the president is largely a figurehead with no executive power. Traditionally, the head of state stands above the political fray, mediating disputes and defusing tensions.

However, the president is an influential voice and possesses some powerful tools, being able to veto legislation from parliament, although the veto can be overturned. The head of state also possesses what in Portuguese political jargon is called an “atomic bomb,” the power to dissolve parliament and call early elections.

In May, Portugal held its third general election in three years in the country's worst bout of political instability for decades, and steadying the ship is a key challenge for the next president.

Ventura, an eloquent and theatrical politician, rejected political accommodation in favor of a more combative stance.

Ventura said he will keep working to bring about a political “transformation” in Portugal.

“I tried to show there’s a different way … that we needed a different kind of president,” he told reporters.

Making it through to the runoff was already a milestone for Ventura and his party, which have recalibrated Portuguese politics.

One of Ventura's main targets has been what he calls excessive immigration, as foreign workers have become more conspicuous in Portugal in recent years.

“Portugal is ours,” he said.

During the campaign, Ventura put up billboards across the country saying, “This isn’t Bangladesh” and “Immigrants shouldn’t be allowed to live on welfare.”

Although he founded his party less than seven years ago, its surge in public support made it the second-largest party in Portugal’s parliament in the May 18 general election.

Seguro will next month replace center-right President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, who has served the constitutional limit of two five-year terms.

Supporters of the center-left Socialist Party react to the first vote count results during Portugal's presidential election in Lisbon, Sunday, Feb. 8, 2026. (AP Photo/Ana Brigida)

Ballot papers at a polling station during the Portugal's presidential election in Lisbon, Sunday, Feb. 8, 2026. (AP Photo/Ana Brigida)

Presidential candidate Andre Ventura, of the populist Chega party, casts his ballot in Portugal's presidential election in Lisbon, Sunday, Feb. 8, 2026. (AP Photo/Ana Brigida)

Presidential candidate Andre Ventura, of the populist Chega party, arrives at a polling station before voting in Portugal's presidential election in Lisbon, Sunday, Feb. 8, 2026. (AP Photo/Ana Brigida)

Presidential candidates Antonio Jose Seguro, of the center-left Socialist Party, right, and Andre Ventura, of the populist Chega party, shake hands before a television debate ahead of the Feb. 8 presidential election, in Lisbon, Tuesday, Jan. 27, 2026. (AP Photo/Armando Franca)

Presidential candidate Andre Ventura, of the populist Chega party, arrives for a television debate with opponent Antonio Jose Seguro, of the center-left Socialist Party, ahead of the Feb. 8 presidential election, in Lisbon, Tuesday, Jan. 27, 2026. (AP Photo/Armando Franca)

Presidential candidate Antonio Jose Seguro, of the center-left Socialist Party, waves to the crowd during a campaign rally ahead of the Feb. 8 presidential election in Lisbon, Thursday, Feb. 5, 2026. (AP Photo/Ana Brigida)