Italy won its first gold medal of the 2018 Winter Olympics, thanks to short track speed skater Arianna Fontana. Fontana took first place in the women’s 500 metres event in Pyeongchang.
“It was a long journey, more beautiful than I had imagined,” said Fontana, who has four Olympic bronzes and one silver from previous games. “It’s a dream come true. I’ve been chasing this gold for years. It feels wonderful to have crossed the finish line ahead of [Choi] on her home turf.”
Arianna Fontana is an Italian short track speed skater, who won bronze in the 3000m relay at the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin. She placed 11th in the 500m and 6th in the 1000m. Arianna specializes in the 500m event.
At the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, she was upgraded from a bronze to a silver medal in the 500m event after colliding with British skater Elise Christie. Christie was disqualified after causing a crash in the final. She won a bronze medal in the 1500m event and in the Team-event.
Check out her complete interview with our President, Ms. Namita Nayyar, on Women Fitness.
Ms. Namita Nayyar:
You reached the pinnacle of success by winning the bronze medal in the 3000m relay at the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin and since then there has been no looking back. Walk us through this spectacular journey and tell us how it all began?
Ms. Arianna Fontana:
It’s been an incredible journey in sport so far and I’m very excited about the upcoming competitive season. I am also excited about some projects that are focused on elementary aged kids who might not have enough exposure to niche sports and the benefit all sports have in the fight against obesity.
As for me, lets start at the beginning; everything started when I was 4 years old. My brother Alessandro was already a skater and I wanted to be fast like him, I’ve always loved speed and figuring out how to win, skating came naturally. My first coach told me that I was not going to be a good skater. The people who know me best, know that I love to prove people wrong! So I set really high goals for myself, participate at the Olympic Games and win a medal. I was 15 in Turin and after that first medal I wanted more so I began to evolve.
Since Torino, I have changed coaches 3 times. The good news is for all coaches and athletes, it is evolutionary. Some coaches are meant to take you to a certain point and then hand you off to another coach to take you to another level. It is very rare to find a coach that you can take with you on your entire journey. Reinventing myself has been the key to my success. If I wasn’t able to adapt I would never have been successful in the first place.
Ms. Namita Nayyar:
Introduce us to a day in your life, preparing for the Olympics.
Ms. Arianna Fontana:
My life as an athlete is really simple, sleep, train, eat & repeat. I train twice a day on ice plus some extra workout off ice, like run, specific training for skating and weight sessions. I don’t have lot of free time, recovery is as important as training so I can’t really do extra activities, but when I can, I do something fun and I love to try new things, recently I went for my first ride on a helicopter, it was awesome!
I will say that I am fortunate to be well supported by sponsors and, in general, by the media, so I fill some of the time in-between practices with interviews and events. I try to stay focused and give the time I have to give. My training comes first and I make that a known priority.
Full Interview on Next Page!
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Ms. Namita Nayyar:
What exercises comprise your fitness regime or workout routine that you may like to share?
Ms. Arianna Fontana:
As a warm up I usually run, it’s good to wake up my body and to start to burn some calories!
Skating is such a foreign-feeling sport that in order to prepare our bodies for the lateral motion that comprises speed skating we have to be all around fitness machines.
I am on the bike constantly to increase my Vo2 and wind gate. I am in the gym for strength and power. I’ve become a much more efficient runner than I was just 2 years ago. I do more burpees over a summer then most people do in their lifetimes. There are specific workouts that I do for skating that focus on glutes and stabilization and without those, my top speed would be without a steering wheel.
As far as specific workouts go, I love combining circuits of all kinds. Intervals are the way to go to really increase your fitness. I build around 2-3 min and usually make it 3 sets of 6 of whatever I am doing; typically 45” of abs, 30” sprint, and 45” of burpees or mountain climbers, as an example. The only way to beat your competition is to do what they think is impossible.
Ms. Namita Nayyar:
Do you take some special diet or have a strict menu that you follow to remain healthy and physically fit?
Ms. Arianna Fontana:
I don’t really have a strict diet, depends on which period of training I am in. I change the amount of carbs and protein, and I use Herbalife products to help me to recover during and after practice. But, you know, as a good Italian I love to eat and sometimes it’s hard for me so I give myself some little treats when I have a good training or race! It is important to give yourself rewards or you will never want to work for the grand prize at the end of the road.
Don’t let me downplay how important diet is for most every athlete. I am cautious about when I can eat the polenta I love from Valtellina or when I should watch the quantity of food I consume. There is a time and place for everything so my recommendation is moderation. Everything in moderation.
Ms. Namita Nayyar:
How are you able to balance your personal life and competing for speed skating?
Ms. Arianna Fontana:
I’m actually really lucky. I found the love of my life thanks to skating. My husband Anthony Lobello, was a skater who competed for the United States, and thanks to his Italian origin moved to Italy to chase me down, and I never let him go. It is important in life to find balance and when you perform at the highest level of anything it pays to have someone who knows exactly what you are going through.
For Anthony and I, we face problems that none of my competition face because we are married and he is also my coach. No other athlete I race has a husband coach and the difficulties that go along with those two relationships commingling are challenging but the challenges we face together make our marriage stronger and at the end of the day I wouldn’t have come back for the Olympics in Korea without him coaching me. He is a master of technique and he’s experienced things that even I haven’t in training. He is training me to beat the men. He always says, “I would hate to race you”. It makes me happy when he says that, it means I crushed the workout for that day.
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Ms. Namita Nayyar:
Advice and motivational words to the inspiring and budding speed skaters who all are your fans, they shall like to know from you, what they should do for their climb to ladder of success in this field?
Ms. Arianna Fontana:
You will become the best cyclist you know. You will become the strongest in the gym. You will become the best runner you know. After you do those things you have to learn how to skate. Skating is difficult. If you love it, chase after the most absurd goal you can force yourself to say out loud. You are the only one who can turn your dreams into your reality. I suggest you find someone who has been where you want to go or who has guided someone like you. If you don’t have ice close to you, jump on some inline skates and enjoy the road somewhere. They are great cross trainers because of the increased friction. It is where I began my journey. Good luck!
Ms. Namita Nayyar:
How did you feel before and after winning a silver medal in the 500m event at the 2014 Winter Olympics?
Ms. Arianna Fontana:
Before that race, I was ready, that was The Race. I wanted to win, I knew I could win, I was ready to fight for the gold medal. Unfortunately after half a lap Elise Christie made a bad pass and made me fall with her and another skater. It was her first final, ever, and she was in the blue water with the sharks. She freaked. At the end of it, I was so upset and sad because I didn’t even get a chance to try, I saw that gold medal vanishing in front of me. But then I looked up on and I saw Anthony and my family, they were happy, and that changed my mood, I got excited for my silver medal and I waved the Italian flag and the smile of my face was full of joy.
Ms. Namita Nayyar:
Who has been your greatest influence and motivator in your success in the field of your career?
Ms. Arianna Fontana:
Major influence, hmmm… I can’t say that I ever had someone to show me the way because I was attempting many of the things for Italian Short Track team for the first time in history. I will say that I learned a lot from Evgenija Radanova, the Bulgarian Short Track Olympic Champion and Olympic track cyclist. I still reach out to her when I need advice and count her as a major influence of my life and career. That being said, when I was young and made the National Team for the first time, I had some great women helping me learn the ropes and help me how to win in a male dominated sporting world. Mara Zini e Marta Capurso are amazing women and I will always count them as mentors and great friends.
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Ms. Namita Nayyar:
Tell us about your preparations for the future Games and Championships.
Ms. Arianna Fontana:
The Olympic season is a particularly difficult season to prepare for because you have to be strong for Olympic qualifying events in the early part of the season as well as be at your peak in February for the Olympic games. We started training in April to get me back in the right mindset and work on flexibility, range of motion, and overall conditioning. It has been a long summer with lots of work in the gym and lots of time on my bike and skates. Throughout the summer gym as been a major influence. I am lifting more than I ever have and its important to get the work in now because building deep rooted strength isn’t something that you can easily do during the season. Now we’re getting close to the fun part. Training is still hard, going fast get more and more important the closer we get to the end of September, when the first Olympic qualifier is.
I will say the training that I have gone through has been a lot different than in years past and is much different than my teammates. We have structured my program specifically for the Olympic games while my teammates are focused on qualifying for the Olympics; we built my program around winning. There are of course some things that I would talk about in an interview after the Olympics so check back after and maybe we can have another chat. It’s like Area 51. No one knows for sure and everyone is trying to find out.
Ms. Namita Nayyar:
While playing professional sports, athletes often face injuries and other difficulties, would you like to tell the audience about how to cope with and make a comeback after an injury?
Ms. Arianna Fontana:
For all athletes, it’s always hard to stop training after an injury, we all want to go back to training right away. But most of the time it’s better to take some days off, recover from the injury and come back stronger. A few years ago I hurt my knee two weeks before the World Championships, I didn’t skate or train for almost a week, I was so worried that I was not going to perform, but then I got to Moscow for the Worlds and I won the first race, finishing second overall. You gotta believe in the work that you already put in and trust yourself, if you’re ready, you know it!
For major injuries, it is even more important to take time to recover but rehabbing as quickly as the doctor advises is critical. NEVER let that scare tissue build up. Work as much as you can within reason and your recovery will move along nicely.
Ms. Namita Nayyar:
With a massive following who look upto you and follow you, how does it feel that you are able to influence and inspire the healthy lifestyle of so many individuals?
Ms. Arianna Fontana:
When I began skating I never thought about how I might effect others around me. I was just interesting in going fast and winning. It wasn’t until a few years ago that I realized I could help athletes, parents, and fans understand more about sport, fitness, and health through my experiences. It has become one of the things I love about what I do. Being able to inspire kids and adults to be active and healthy inspires me. I love seeing other people set goals and go after them. I love seeing people happy and excited to chase after their passion while staying healthy.
Ms. Namita Nayyar:
What do you wish to say about the website Womenfitness.net and message for our visitors on our 18th Anniversary?
Ms. Arianna Fontana:
Congrats Womenfitness.net on 18 years of supporting women and their passion for fitness.
It isn’t easy to find ice to skate on and after all it is still summer, I propose celebrating 18 years by going outside and roller skating. It is perfect total body exercise and tones your legs and butt. It is cardio you can do with friends. But, remember to always be safe. Find a path where there are no cars and wear protection for your knees, elbows, and a helmet for your head. Do it with friends and you’ll love the results and easy inspiration you get from the people around you.
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All content on this site is copyright of Women Fitness and no part of any article found on this site may be reproduced without an express permission and highlighted, do follow link crediting http://www.womenfitness.net/ or preferably the original page as the source. This interview is exclusive and taken by Namita Nayyar President womenfitness.net and should not be reproduced, copied or hosted in part or full anywhere without an express permission.
All Written Content Copyright © 2017 Women Fitness