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 28.8 seconds behind, and Suvi Minkkinen of Finland won the bronze medal 34.3 seconds behind.
Afterward, Vittozzi celebrated Italy's first-ever gold medal in biathlon as well as her comeback from a season away from competition.
“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-medal win in the women’s 7.5km sprint, Kirkeeide started the pursuit in the first position. She led off the race, but went back and forth with Kirkeeide for the lead.
The race consists of five 2km laps and four visits to the shooting range, with each miss resulting in a 150-meter penalty loop. Kirkeeide entered the final range with the lead but had two misses in the shooting round, while Vittozzi and Minkkinen hit all five of their targets.
Although Minkkinen's calm and precise approach at the range allowed her to shoot perfectly, Kirkeeide overtook her in the final leg. Minkkinen finished 3rd to earn Finland's first women's biathlon medal.
"I think Maren is the toughest one to fight in that kind of situation," Minkkinen said. "So maybe the fight for the silver wasn't on my side when she caught me."
“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 many athletes to keep up their energy. Lou Jeanmonnot of France, who won bronze on Saturday, finished 4th on Sunday after she started great on her skis but missed twice at the shooting range.
Deedra Irwin, the only American to qualify for the race, finished in 35th place.
Reuters contributed to this report.