Host Italy announces 196-member team for Milan Cortina Olympics, including Fontana and Brignone
ROME (AP) — Host Italy named its biggest ever Winter Olympics team with 196 athletes set to compete at the Milan Cortina Games starting next week.
There are 103 men and 93 women in the team announced Monday. That breaks the country’s record of 184 named for the 2006 Games in Turin — the previous time that Italy hosted.
The team is led by short track speedskating standout Arianna Fontana, Alpine skiers Federica Brignone, Sofia Goggia and Giovanni Franzoni; Dorothea Wierer in biathlon and defending curling mixed doubles champions Stefania Constantini and Amos Mosaner.
The youngest member of the team is 16-year-old Alpine skier Giada D’Antonio — who is from the Naples area and is the son of an Italian father and a Colombian-Ecuadorean mother.
The oldest member of the team is 45-year-old snowboarder Roland Fischnaller, who will be competing in his seventh consecutive Olympics to set a Winter Games record for Italy. He won his second world title in parallel racing last year.
The 35-year-old Fontana will be competing in her sixth games after making her debut in Turin as a 15-year-old. She has amassed 11 medals — 2 gold, four silver and five bronze — at five Olympics, making her the Italian athlete with the most medals from the Winter Games.
On the Alpine skiing team, 41-year-old Christof Innerhofer, 36-year-old Dominik Paris and the 35-year-old Brignone will each be competing in their fifth Olympics.
Brignone, the defending overall World Cup champion, recently returned to racing after a severe crash and injuries in April.
The opening ceremony is scheduled for Feb. 6.
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AP Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/milan-cortina-2026-winter-olympics