Italian
At the 2026 World Short Track Championships, Italy confirms its excellent form and brings home six medals, a record in the last 30 years
MONTREAL (CANADA) – The Milan – Cortina effect has not faded. Even thousands of kilometers away, the Azzurri continue to be among the best in the world. At the 2026 World Championships in short-track held at the Maurice Richard Arena in Montreal (Canada), Italy has won a remarkable total of six medals.
Three Saturdays and three Sundays. One gold, two silvers, and three bronzes that make the tricolor expedition the best since the seven won in The Hague in 1996, exactly thirty years ago. Thirteen overall placements in the top ten, with the Italians in the top ten in every race contested. All this without the record woman Arianna Fontana. A result that once again demonstrates the constant growth of the movement in the Bel Paese.
The medals
Confirmed the Olympic gold in the mixed relay. The quartet composed of Chiara Betti, Thomas Nadalini, Elisa Confortola, and Pietro Sighel speeds ahead of everyone in a tough five-way race. Canada takes second place, Belgium third, overtaken by Sighel on the last lap. Also awarded are Arianna Sighel and Luca Spechenhauser, who competed in the earlier heats.
The two silvers arrived instead on Saturday from Thomas Nadalini in the 1500 and from the women’s relay. The twenty-three-year-old from Trentino was preceded at the finish line of the 1,500 meters by the Korean Rim Jong-un and the Australian Brendan Corey, with the latter subsequently disqualified for an infraction.
Chiara Betti, Gloria Ioriatti, Arianna Sighel, and Elisa Confortola achieve the best result at a World Championship since 1999. The blue team excels by finishing second behind the Netherlands.
The second medal of the weekend is the bronze of Elisa Confortola in the women’s 1000 meters ahead of her teammate Chiara Betti, who finished fourth. In front of them were two champions, the Korean Kim Gilli, gold, and the Dutch Xandra Velzeboer, silver, winners of all individual Olympic titles at the Milan Cortina Olympic Games.
Chiara Betti then won the bronze in the women’s 500 meters, behind the Dutch Xandra Velzeboer and Selma Poutsma. For the twenty-four-year-old from Trento, who turned twenty-four on Thursday, this is also her first individual world championship medal, achieved with a new personal best in the shortest distance.
The latest bronze came from the men’s relay. Luca Spechenhauser, Thomas Nadalini, Pietro Sighel, and Lorenzo Previtali finished fourth due to a fall during the heated battle for victory against Canada, but the subsequent disqualification of South Korea promoted the Italians to third place.
Here are the complete results of the 2026 Short Track World Championships
Photo Credits: Honest-Media
