Fourth medal for Italy
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Maranello (Modena), 18 February - The fourth Italian success at the Olympic Games Vancouver was gained last night by Arianna Fontana in the 500 metres short track competition when she came in third behind the Chinese athlete Meng Wang and the Canadian Marianne St.Gelai. While the 19-year-olf athlete from Sondrio was racing at the Pacific Coliseum for her second bronze medal after the one she won in the relay in Turin in 2006, in the Whistler Sliding Centre the Ferrari on ice missed a medal in the two-man bobsled competition. Christian Oberstolz and Patrick Gruber came in fourth, 72 thousandths of a second behind the Germans Patric Leitner and Alexander Resch, while the race was won by the Austrians Andreas and Wolfgang Linger, and the Silver medal went to the Lithuanians Andris and Juris Sics. The disappointment will certainly be a stimulus to improve and will fuel future development at Ferrari in favour of Olympic sports: the two-man bobsled, planned and built in collaboration with the technicians from Maranello, will be followed by studies of the blades’ imprint on the ice and the bob’s dynamic on the track.
The next even for the Italian athletes in Vancouver will be held on Friday 19 February at 8:30 with the SuperG, followed by the 15km cross-country (7.5 km freestyle, 7.5 km. classic) at 10pm.