Longer careers open doors for athletes to combine sport and motherhood: Italy’s Francesca Lollobrigida

MILAN – Longer competitive careers in winter sports are giving women more opportunities to become mothers without having to hang up their skates, Italian double Olympic champion Francesca Lollobrigida told Reuters on Feb 15.

The 35-year-old Rome-born athlete, who returned to top-level racing after the birth of her son Tommaso in 2023, has become one of the standout figures of the Milano-Cortina Winter Games with her two golds in speed skating.

A video showing her cradling her two-year-old moments after her victory in the 3,000 metres went viral, challenging assumptions about whether top female athletes can return to peak performance after pregnancy.

Five days later, she claimed her second gold in the 5,000m.

Speaking on the sidelines of the Milano-Cortina Games, Lollobrigida said improved training methods, better medical care and diets were allowing athletes to compete at the highest level for far longer than in previous generations.

This trend should push sports federations to offer the logistical and financial support female athletes need to balance elite competition with motherhood.

“I show that if women want to keep going skating, and they want to have a family, they can choose the right moment for them... then with the big help of family and the federation, they can try to keep going,” she said in English.

“I chose the right moment, and after being a mum, I got a world title, and two Olympic gold medals.”

She credited the Italian Ice Sports Federation (FISG) with giving her the flexibility and backing that made her comeback possible, from adapted training schedules to logistical assistance during long stretches away from home.

She breastfed Tommaso until he was 18 months old, a routine she described as extremely difficult to maintain during months of training in facilities far from home that lack nurseries or designated childcare spaces.

The federation stepped in to help organise travel and accommodation and allowed her to bring family members to training camps.

“Tommaso was always with me,” she said, in a rare off-track moment, sporting bright green nails – a colour associated with hope in Italy.

“I had to have a lot of plans for him to follow me, with my mama and my sister helping me because we were living a life outside the house.”

She estimates that she spends about 250 days a year away from home.

Her family history is steeped in skating: both her father and grandfather were roller skaters, and she began on wheels before moving to the ice to pursue her Olympic ambitions.

“I think that the dream of all the athletes is the Olympics,” she recalled. After watching the 2006 Torino Games, her father suggested she try transitioning from inline skating to ice. But the shift was not easy. Italy had only two open tracks, both more than 600km from Rome – and Lollobrigida was still in school.

“So every weekend my father and my mama were waiting with my sister at the finish line, and we were driving like six hours,” she said. “On the weekend, like Friday night or sometimes just Saturday and Sunday, and then Sunday we’d come back.”

Despite her early promise, she resisted pressure to relocate to northern Italy. “I really love living in Rome. I’m a city girl – I like the traffic and the noise, very Italian style.”

That determination, she said, shaped her early career and her family’s sacrifices.

“I got married on July 3, 2021 and on the 5th of July I was immediately in training camp in the run-up of the Winter Games of 2022. I did the honeymoon after the Olympics,” she said.

In Beijing she won silver in the 3,000m and bronze in the mass start.

Despite climbing to the top of the world rankings, she decided in 2022 to step away temporarily to start a family.

“I wanted to find peace in my life – to be a wife, and I wanted to be a mum,” she said. “I did it for myself but I also wanted to show that it’s possible to combine being a mum and an elite professional athlete.”

Her return has also resonated widely, with messages from mothers pouring in after her victories, many saying they felt represented by her achievements.

Lollobrigida hopes her success will spur change, encouraging more sportswomen to become parents without stepping away entirely.

Asked about her next sporting goal, she did not hesitate.

“I’m at peace. I got whatever I want. My next goal is just to have another baby,” she said with a smile.

“I spoke with my federation president and they said ‘Well, get another baby and then come back’.” REUTERS