30 January 2026

Milano Cortina 2026: Team Italy

As the Milano Cortina 2026 Olympic Winter Games comes into sharp focus, we are taking a look at all of the National Olympic Committees (NOCs) set to compete for their spots on the podium. Finally it’s time for the host nation: Team Italy.

Team Italy will be represented by three curling teams: Team Constantini (women’s), Team Retornaz (men’s) and Team Constantini/Mosaner (mixed doubles).

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Stefania Constantini has long been familiar with Cortina d’Ampezzo, and now the Olympic Games will roll into her hometown.

The Italian women’s skip is one of the medal hopes for the host nation at Milano Cortina 2026, having wowed the curling community at Beijing 2022 in the mixed doubles competition. There, she and teammate Amos Mosaner won 11 matches from 11 to win the gold medal.

And after winning the World Mixed Doubles title in 2025, they enter this Games as favourites. She now faces the challenge of competing in both this competition, as well as the women’s tournament.

Significance of a home Games

“It’s a really important moment,” said Constantini, full of enthusiasm.

“It will be a special event because for the first time we will play our curling at the Olympics at home, so we will have people that will cheer for us for once and usually we really are not so used to playing this kind of level in Italy.

“It will be really important also for our sport to be able to bring a good level close to Italians, so they can really live our sport with us and for sure live the Olympics from really, really close.”

For the 26-year-old, she can already imagine the stadium being full of passionate, cheering home fans, in the town that is covered in sporting history.

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Meet the teams

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Cortina’s Olympic legacy

Cortina d’Ampezzo was supposed to host the 1944 Olympic Winter Games before the outbreak of World War II, but it would go on to hold the 1956 Olympics instead.

There, Italy’s sole gold medal came in the two-man bobsleigh, recording a one-two finish in the event. The silver medal team included then-local resident Eugenio Monti, whose name now adorns the bobsleigh track thanks to his famous sportsmanship at the 1964 Olympics in Innsbruck, where he helped opponents fix their equipment, despite then losing out to them.

Monti’s name remains etched in Italian sporting history in one of the country’s most sacred towns. Seventy years on from his silvers in Cortina, Constantini could be the next local star remembered for generations.

An unstoppable run in Beijing

The reason this hype is so fervent is down to their mixed doubles brilliance in Beijing. After making it to the qualification games at the 2021 World Mixed Doubles Curling Championship, there was a quiet confidence in their camp.

“Amos and I had a meeting before the Olympics with our staff where we discussed our goal for the tournament and we were aware that we were ready to play our best curling and we were ready to reach the semi-finals,” said Constantini.

“So do our best to reach that moment and then see what happens.”

They started with victories over United States and then Switzerland in an extra end. The test came in game three, where they defeated one of the favourites — Kristin Skaslien and Magnus Nedregotten of Norway. From there, the confidence built.

Convincing wins came against Czechia and Australia, before beating another of the favourites for the podium, Great Britain’s Jen Dodds and Bruce Mouat.

At this point, they were 6-0. A victory against the hosts China ensured they would finish in the top four before two major games. Scores of five and four in the sixth and eighth ends saw them defeat Sweden’s Almida de Val and Oscar Eriksson 12-8. An extra end steal eliminated Canada’s Rachel Homan and John Morris and meant they headed into the semi-finals undefeated.

Staying present in the biggest moments

“I think the key was really to keep focussing on the present, so not think too far away, but really do our job as best as we could and together as a team,” said Constantini.

“We understood that we could really do something great and go for more than just a medal.

“We reached the first goal, so reached the semi-finals, but now we had more games to really play the semi-finals.

“We said we have to keep the focus as we were playing and I think we did a great job doing this. When the moment of the semi-finals arrived, we were ready and we had a really good performance.”

That was definitely an understatement. They defeated Sweden 8-1, securing a medal and celebrated via video call with their families before refocusing for a rematch with Norway. Steals for one and three gave them a great advantage, holding on for an 8-5 win.

“We were in the present thinking just of our shots, doing what we did every day — and then we won the Olympics together. It’s something special,” she added.

Their success can be attributed to their shared goals and having “trust in ourselves even when things are not going great”.

These qualities delivered a 2025 world title too, in a similar fashion — 11 wins from 11. They were pushed to an extra end against Estonia’s Marie Kaldvee and Harri Lill, but won 7-6. Facing Dodds and Mouat in the final, a score of four in the penultimate end effectively sealed the 9-4 win.

“But to me, the important thing to remember that even if there are a lot of people watching or even if there are no one, what I have to do on the ice is really the same.”

Stefania Constantini, Team Italy

A constantly growing challenge

But Constantini admits that the competition grows tougher every year. Eleven wins may be difficult to replicate — and so could a medal. Perhaps most difficult of all is the schedule for Constantini, who could play a maximum of 22 games across mixed doubles and women’s curling.

Despite this, she is focussing on the present.

“I think living this moment is really an experience that you can use in the future,” she added.

“The key will be leaving the Olympics as if it is two weeks of national camp, because we are really working hard during these months.

“We are practising a lot and we are playing on the ice for hours and working a lot in the gym.

“So I think physically and also mentally, I will be ready to play two competitions, but for sure there will be a lot of emotion also to deal with.

“The key again, will be to live day-to-day and really give everything I can give because then after, I can rest.”

Ready to inspire the next generation

Curling improved in Italy thanks to the Turin 2006 Olympics. These Games helped to produce athletes like Constantini, who is part of a women’s team aged between 22 and 28 — the generation who picked up the sport following further investments post-Games.

Now, the sport can create more world champions if Italians are inspired by the excellence of their national teams.

“To me, it’s good for our sport that people are watching because that means that they have a chance to know more of our discipline, because our sport in Italy is still a little… little.

“But to me, the important thing to remember that even if there are a lot of people watching or even if there are no one, what I have to do on the ice is really the same.

“For sure, live in the moment because also playing with a lot of people, Italian people, watching is something special and unique.

“It will be something weird for me for sure, because we will enter the stadium where we practise a lot, but under another light, breathing another atmosphere and I am really ready and open to see how I will feel.”

Walking onto the ice where they have thrown hundreds of rocks in preparation for this moment will feel surreal, but with the support of the crowd behind her, you may see the name Stefania Constantini in sporting lore for generations to come.

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Team Italy Stats

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