Italian speedskater Francesca Lollobrigida had just achieved a monumental feat: a gold medal and an Olympic record, all on her 35th birthday. However, it was her spirited toddler son, Tommaso, who truly captured the spotlight.
As Ms. Lollobrigida fielded questions from eager reporters, her two-year-old son, adorned with her newly won gold medal, playfully disrupted the press conference. Bleating “Mamma,” Tommaso tugged at her nose, batted away a broadcaster’s microphone, and even managed to pull off her Team Italy headband. Through it all, Ms. Lollobrigida maintained her composure, gently reassuring him, “Wait one second, love.”
This memorable moment inadvertently shed light on the complex reality for Italian women striving to balance their professional ambitions with family life.
While similar celebrations involving medal-winning Italian fathers and their children often go unnoticed, Ms. Lollobrigida’s multitasking went viral. Numerous Italian newspapers featured front-page photos of her holding Tommaso, with headlines cleverly playing on the word “Mamma.” Even Giorgia Meloni, Italy’s first female prime minister and herself a mother, praised Ms. Lollobrigida’s “Italian pride, talent, and determination,” joining a wave of largely supportive voices.
Yet, amidst the praise, criticism also surfaced. Some scoffed at Tommaso’s behavior, implicitly questioning Ms. Lollobrigida’s parenting skills. Others jabbed at her husband for not intervening and removing their son. Even positive reactions often carried an underlying tone of surprise that a female champion could also be a successful parent.
“In Italy, we still carry the belief that men should work, and women should stay home,” Ms. Lollobrigida reflected in an interview.
Her balancing act resonated with working mothers everywhere. However, for Italy’s sportswomen, this public display underscored persistent societal challenges. Despite their growing success and recognition at these Olympics, they frequently grapple with a prevailing chauvinism.
For instance, after Italian skier Federica Brignone secured her first of two gold medals earlier in the month, her father openly expressed hopes that she would retire to “stay home and give me two beautiful grandchildren.” Similarly, a leading Italian business newspaper, Il Sole 24 Ore, described the successful female athletes of Italy’s Olympic delegation, many in their mid-30s, as “irresistible girls” who won despite their “biological clock ticking faster than they do.”
Francesca Vitali, an assistant professor in sports sciences at the University of Verona, noted that most Italian female athletes typically retire before having children. “The perception is, if you are an athlete, probably you are not so good of a mother,” she explained.
Italy faces a significant challenge with one of Europe’s lowest birthrates, partly due to the insufficient support available for working mothers. A smaller proportion of women work in Italy compared to most other European countries, and those who do earn significantly less than men, on average.
Letizia Mencarini, a demographer at Bocconi University in Milan, suggested that the public reaction to Ms. Lollobrigida’s son might also reflect a decreasing tolerance for children in public spaces. As birth rates have declined, “we are not used to seeing children anymore,” she observed.
Ms. Lollobrigida, for her part, is determined to challenge these societal norms. “I want to show that it’s possible” to achieve professional excellence while embracing motherhood, she stated after a practice session in Milan, just days after clinching her second gold medal.
Her journey into sport began early. Growing up outside Rome, the eldest of two daughters, she was influenced by her father, Maurizio, a former rollerskating champion and swim coach, and her mother, Sondra Bergamini, a physical education teacher. Ms. Lollobrigida was on roller skates by 14 months old, and inline skates by age three. As a teenager, she swiftly rose through the ranks, winning national and then international championships.
“I’ve known many boys and girls who were even better, maybe, than Francesca, but didn’t have the patience and the perseverance to keep at it,” recalled her 64-year-old father. She dedicated herself to training, often sacrificing school trips and social events, and driving hours to reach an ice rink in northern Italy. Despite classmates teasing her about her strong, powerful legs, she persevered.
Inspired by the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin, Ms. Lollobrigida set her sights on Olympic glory. She approached Maurizio Marchetto, Italy’s national speed skating coach, seeking his guidance to transition from wheels to ice blades. She frequently trained alongside men, yet always embraced her femininity, sporting pink stripes on her skates and vibrant manicures (her first two gold medals in Milan were won with bold green nails).
Her Olympic debut in Sochi in 2014 saw her place 23rd in the 3,000 meters. Eight years later, at the Beijing Games, her perseverance paid off with a bronze and a silver medal.
After Beijing, Ms. Lollobrigida shared her desire to start a family with her coach, along with her husband, Matteo Angeletti, whom she met through inline skating. She meticulously planned to give birth within a year, allowing enough time to retrain for the upcoming Winter Olympics in her home country. “She was good at choosing her timing,” her coach, Mr. Marchetto, observed.
Upon announcing her pregnancy, her father immediately delved into research on elite female athletes returning to sports post-childbirth. Ms. Lollobrigida adjusted her workout routines throughout her pregnancy.
Just four months after Tommaso’s birth, Ms. Lollobrigida resumed full-time training. To continue breastfeeding, Italy’s ice sports federation arranged for her mother and sister to join her, providing childcare while she was away from her Rome home. Since Italy lacks a permanent indoor skating oval, athletes often travel up to 250 days a year for training and competitions abroad.
“We sports people have to be an example,” stated Andrea Gios, president of the federation, expressing his hope that athletes like Ms. Lollobrigida would foster a different, more supportive culture for working parents across the nation.
Once Tommaso started walking, he was enrolled in nursery school near Rome. His father, Mr. Angeletti, a 38-year-old electrical engineer, now shares childcare duties, including drop-offs and pickups, with his mother-in-law.
Mr. Angeletti remains unfazed by the demands. “I knew what I was getting myself into,” he remarked during an online interview, with Tommaso playing with a toy helicopter in the background.
The couple had even introduced Tommaso to skates before his first birthday. More recently, however, “he says ‘no’ because he associates the skates with when I’m away,” Ms. Lollobrigida shared.
With the Winter Games now concluded, Ms. Lollobrigida has announced her retirement from Olympic competition. She and Mr. Angeletti plan to expand their family with a second child. However, she intends to remain actively involved in the sport in some capacity.
Mothers, she emphasized, “need some space for themselves.” She believes that working can provide the necessary recharge, enabling them to “give 100 percent to being a mom.”