Lisa Vittozzi's flawless performance and large lead secured biathlon gold for the host country in the women’s 10km pursuit on Sunday at Milan Cortina 2026.
Maren Kirkeeide of Norway scored silver at 28.8 seconds behind, and Suvi Minkkinen of Finland won the bronze medal at 34.3 seconds behind. Vittozzi celebrated Italy's first-ever gold medal in biathlon and her comeback from missing a season as she crossed the finish line.
“It's a day that I will never forget.," Vittozzi said. "After the last shooting, I only saw that I shot clean and all the fans were cheering for me. I was smiling after the shooting."
Coming off a gold win in the women’s 7.5km sprint, Kirkeeide started the pursuit in the first position. She led off the race, but Kirkeeide and Vittozzi went back and forth as leaders.
The Italian made her first five shots, second, and third as Kirkeeide came into the third range visit in the lead. At the last visit to the range, Vittozzi hit all five of her targets while Kirkeeide had two misses in the later shooting round that she recovered from by skiing.
Minkkinen's calm and precision approach at the range allowed her to shoot perfectly, but Kirkeeide overtook her in the final leg. She earned Finland's first women's biathlon medal.
"I think Maren is the toughest one to fight in that kind of situation. So maybe the fight for the silver wasn't on my side when she caught me," Minkkinen said.
“I was just trying to push with everything to get ahead again, and to keep fighting for the silver medal," Kirkeeide said.
The women’s 10km pursuit was a day after the women’s 7.5km sprint, making it difficult for so many athletes to keep up their energy. Lou Jeanmonnot of France, who won bronze on Saturday, finished fourth on Sunday after she started great on her skis but missed twice at the shooting range.
The snow from the Italian Alps on Saturday gave away to sunshine on Sunday and perfect conditions for biathlon. Athletes in the race complete five 2km laps and four visits to the shooting range, with each miss resulting in a 150-metre penalty loop.
Deedra Irwin, the only American to qualify for the race, finished in 35th place.
Reuters contributed to this report.