Ecstasy in Milan: Grassl also has an Olympic medal

The medal haul for South Tyrol continues: After Dorothea Wierer and Lukas Hofer as well as Dominik Fischnaller, Daniel Grassl also grabbed a medal on Sunday – and in a special way, because the Merano native did not even participate in the free skate of the team event.

February 08, 2026

From: leo

When Matteo Rizzo finished his free skate on Sunday evening in the packed Forum Assago, the noise level soared. There were cheers, tears flowed – because it was official: Italy had secured a place in the top three and thus won its first bronze medal in this discipline in the twelve-year history of the team event. Ironically, Matteo Rizzo, Daniel Grassl's replacement, became the celebrated hero.

But let's start from the beginning: The skater from Merano had delivered a solid performance in Saturday's short program, keeping Italy on track for a medal. Nevertheless, the coaching team opted to send Matteo Rizzo out for the free skate. While the 27-year-old from Rome doesn't possess the same peak performance as the South Tyrolean, he is known for his greater mental fortitude. Rizzo impressively demonstrated this in front of tennis star Novak Djokovic.

Rizzo shows no weaknesses

The Italian skater delivered a flawless performance to the film Interstellar, landing the only quadruple toe loop and impressing the judges with his execution. Knowing he had just secured a medal for Italy, Rizzo slid to his knees after the free skate, heading towards the Italian team to celebrate. Grassl also joined in the enthusiastic applause from the sidelines. It was the 23-year-old's first Olympic medal.

The fact that Rizzo's score of 179,62 was "only" enough for third place in the free skate was of little concern to the Italians. What mattered was that they finished ahead of Canada's Stephen Gogolev (171,93) and Georgia's Nika Egadze (154.79). Ultimately, Italy finished with 60 points, well ahead of Georgia (56) and Canada (54).

USA wins gold

Up front, a nerve-wracking duel raged between the United States and Japan. The self-proclaimed "Four-Time God" Ilia Malinin astonished the crowd with his spectacular jumps, which earned him over 200 points. This put immense pressure on Japan's Shun Sato, who, despite delivering an equally excellent routine, managed to secure second place. However, the Americans edged out the Japanese team by a single point. While tears flowed from Sato's eyes, Malinin and his teammates – and the Italians as well – erupted in unbridled jubilation. Carolina Kostner celebrated with her compatriots on the Italian bench.