Three medals to close a show-stopping short track European championship. The Italian team celebrates and Arianna Fontana becomes a star. The Italian was the star performer of the event: today she set the ball rolling, winning the overall title and brought the Palavela in Turin to its feet. The Olympic multi-medallist, already gold medal winner in the 1500 yesterday, left Russians Prosvirnova and Konstantinova trailing with a flawless test winning her sixth overall European, where just 15 years ago she started her magnificent Olympic journey, winning bronze in 2006. Fifth place went to Lucia Peretti, sixth place to Martina Valcepina.
The public applauded the champion’s umpteenth endeavour, erasing the disappointment for the fallen (subsequently disqualified) in the 1,000, with one and a half laps from the finish line. Fontana then wanted to cap off the event with an ovation, bringing the women’s relay (as one of the stars, as well as the overall finalists, and Cecilia Maffei) to gold. The men's team, comprising Nicola Rodigari, Yuri Confortola, Tommaso Dotti and Andrea Casinelli took bronze in their relay event (behind the Netherlands and Russia).