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Arianna Fontana wins Italy its first gold medal of the Winter Olympics

Italy has its first gold medal of the 2018 Winter Olympics, thanks to short track speed skater Arianna Fontana.

Published: 13 February 2018 15:47 CET
Arianna Fontana wins Italy its first gold medal of the Winter Olympics
Arianna Fontana celebrates her win in Pyeongchang. Photo: Mladen Antonov/AFP

Fontana took first place in the women's 500 metres event in Pyeongchang on Tuesday, with Choi Min-jeong of South Korea so close behind it was a photo finish.

Choi was disqualified, leaving Yara Van Kerkhof of the Netherlands and Canada's Kim Boutin with silver and bronze respectively. 


Fontana, Choi and Boutin. Photo: Roberto Schmidt/AFP

“I was a long journey, more beautiful than I had imagined,” said Fontana, who has four Olympic bronzes and one silver from previous games. “It's a dream come true. I've been chasing this gold for years. It feels wonderful to have crossed the finish line ahead of [Choi] on her home turf.”

The effort earned Fontana, who carried the Italian flag in the Pyeongchang opening ceremony, the congratulations of Prime Minister Paolo Gentiloni. 

Italy also got its first silver of the games on Tuesday: it went to skier Federico Pellegrino in the men's cross country sprint. 

“I wanted a medal at all costs,” said Pellegrino, who narrowly overtook Alexander Bolshunov of Russia for second place, behind Norway's Høsflot Klæbo in first.

Italy currently has one medal of each colour, thanks to a bronze for Dominik Windisch in the men's biathlon 10 km sprint. 

Team Italia is hoping to pick up some more in the women's alpine skiing events, while 22-year-old Michela Moioli is one of the favourites to win the snowboard cross.

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SKIING

Snow report: What’s the latest outlook for French ski resorts this winter?

Good news for skiers in France, as a mild December has given way to a cold blast in early January that's bringing some much-needed snow.

Published: 5 January 2024 14:50 CET
Snow report: What's the latest outlook for French ski resorts this winter?

After a mostly dry and mild December, snow returned to the the Pyrenees on Friday.

Meanwhile most resorts in the Alps have been able to stay open after a promising early start to the ski season, thanks to fresh snowfalls, with more on the way this weekend.

Pyrenees

Snow has returned in the Pyrenees. Some 5cm fell overnight into Friday, January 5th in eastern parts of the mountain range, with forecasts predicting a further 15cm to 20cm to be on the ground 24 hours later. The region had not seen any snow since December 2nd.

In Angles, 20cm of snow had fallen at higher altitudes by mid-morning on Friday.

Further west, numerous resorts in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques département remained closed this week after early December snow had melted in mild conditions that have dominated France in recent weeks, but significant snowfall is expected over the weekend into Monday, and resorts are hoping that they will see enough to open.

One resort, Artouste, has been unable to offer skiing since the start of the season on December 23rd due to a lack of snow. A scenic rail service – usually reserved for warmer months – has kept the resort going. It is set to stop running on Friday, amid expectations of enough snow to finally open the slopes.

READ ALSO Climate crisis: ’90 percent’ of Europe’s ski resorts face critical snow shortages

Alps 

Many ski resorts opened on time, or even a little earlier than scheduled last month, after significant early snow fall, and have enjoyed deposits in the first days of 2024. But, even here, resort managers welcomed the promise of more significant snow this weekend.

Some resorts weren’t so fortunate. Ski areas in Gérardmer, in the Vosges, were still closed in the week leading up to Christmas because of poor snow conditions, but they are hoping for enough snow to finally get started this weekend, while La Bresse-Honeck was using ‘stocked snow’ made by using snow that fell earlier in the winter months to stay open as recently as December 30th.

In the Northern Alps, resorts such as Alpe d’Huez benefited from fresh snowfall on December 22nd, while Val d’Isère had new snow on December 29th. In the Southern Alps, Les Orres’ last pre-New Year snow was on December 8th.

And the French Alps have enjoyed more snow since the start of the year. There’s at least 50cm of fresh snow on the higher slopes of Les Gets and Morzine, for example, a significant improvement on the same time last year, when the resorts were among several that had very little snow to speak of.

In Chamonix, meanwhile, snow has fallen on eight of the last 14 days, with more expected every day between Friday and Monday.

Massif Central

As the post on X / Twitter shows, the Massif Central has not had the best of winters for snow so far. But between 30cm and 50cm is expected in Le Lioran by Monday. 

READ ALSO ‘So many barriers since Brexit’: The French ski businesses no longer willing to hire Brits

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