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

MILAN (AP) — 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.

“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 started off the relay and put Italy into the lead on her second stint before Sighal finished things off.

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.”

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.

Stoddard has a swollen ankle but “it'll be good to go in a couple of days,” she said in a team statement.

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.”

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.

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

Corinne Stoddard, below, of the United States crashes into Kim Gilli of South Korea while competing in the team mixed relay short track speed skating at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Milan, Italy, Tuesday, Feb. 10, 2026. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough)

Corinne Stoddard of the United States wipes out as Xinran Wang of the People's Republic of China moves past to win while competing in the women's 500 meter short track speed skating at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Milan, Italy, Tuesday, Feb. 10, 2026. (AP Photo/Francisco Seco)

Team Italy celebrate as they take the gold in the team mixed relay short track speed skating at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Milan, Italy, Tuesday, Feb. 10, 2026. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough)

Arianna Fontana of Italy celebrates after Team Italy takes the gold medal in the team mixed relay short track speed skating at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Milan, Italy, Tuesday, Feb. 10, 2026. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough)

Portland, which is welcoming a WNBA team back to the city after 24 years, selected veteran forward Bridget Carleton with the first pick in Friday's expansion draft.

Guard Julie Allemand, who played last season for the Los Angeles Sparks, was selected by the Toronto Tempo with its first pick.

The Tempo won a coin flip and opted to take the sixth pick in the college draft on April 13 over the top pick in the expansion draft. So Portland went first on Friday and will have the seventh pick in the college draft.

Carleton, who has played for the last seven seasons for the Minnesota Lynx and averaged 6.5 points and 3.6 rebounds a game last season off the bench, was an unrestricted free agent.

“Once we finalized our process, and zoomed in on Bridget, and knew we had our first expansion pick, it was obvious we did not want to have Toronto hold our destiny in their hands," Portland general manger Vanja Cernivec said.

Allemand averaged 5.4 points, 3.7 rebounds and 5 assists in 34 games last season.

“This group gives us the ability to compete from day one while continuing to build, and embraces the opportunity to help shape something new in a new country as Canada’s first WNBA team,” Toronto general manager Monica Wright Rogers said.

The league's teams protected five players apiece ahead of the expansion draft but those lists were not made public, leading to speculation about which players were available.

On Wednesday, the Chicago Sky announced trades with the Tempo and the Fire, which prevented the expansion teams from selecting Sky players. In exchange, the Fire got the No. 17 pick in the college draft and the No. 26 pick went to the Tempo.

The expansion draft had two rounds, with up to six picks for each team in each round. The teams alternated picks, with the Tempo picking first in the second round after the Fire got the first overall selection.

Teams could only lose two players to the expansion draft. If a player was taken in the first round, a second player from that same franchise couldn't be taken until the second round.

Following Allemand, the Tempo selected center Nyara Sabally from the Liberty, guard Marina Mabrey from the Sun, forward Aaliya Nye from the Aces, guard Lexi Held from the Mercury, and forward Maria Conde from the Valkyries.

In the second round the Tempo selected forward Maria Kliundikova from the Lynx, center Adja Kane from the Liberty, center Nikolina Milic from the Sun, guard Kitija Laksa from the Mercury, and guard Kristy Wallace from the Fever.

After Carleton, the Portland Fire selected guard Carla Leite from the Valkyries, center Luisa Geiselsoder from the Stars, forward Emily Engstler from the Mystics, guard Maya Caldwell from the Dream and forward Chloe Bibby from the Fever.

In the second round Portland took guard Haley Jones from the Wings, forward Nyadiew Puoch from the Dream, guard Sara Ashlee Barker from the Sparks, guard Sug Sutton from the Mystics and guard Nika Muhl from the Storm.

Mabry was also an unrestricted free agent. Each team was allowed to pick only one unrestricted free agent.

The teams still do not know when free agency will open. More than 80% of the players are free agents this year, as many players have expiring contracts or opted out of the previous collective bargaining agreement.

The college draft is set for April 13 and training camps open on April 19. The season will start on May 8.

The Tempo and Fire join the WNBA as the league's 14th and 15th teams. Portland previously had a WNBA team, also called the Fire, that played from 2000 to 2002.

AP WNBA: https://apnews.com/hub/wnba-basketball

Toronto Tempo general manager Monica Wright Rogers, right, and assistant general manager Eli Horowitz pose for a photo after speaking to media following the WNBA Expansion Draft in Toronto, Friday, April 3, 2026. (Sammy Kogan/The Canadian Press via AP)

FILE - Minnesota Lynx forward Bridget Carleton (6) dribbles the ball up court against the Phoenix Mercury during the second half of Game 2 of a WNBA basketball playoff semifinals series Tuesday, Sept. 23, 2025, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Matt Krohn, File)