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MILAN — Italian long track speedskater Francesca Lollobrigida took it all in: the fans, the green, white and red flag wrapped around her back, and her 2-year-old son, Tommaso, perched on her hip.

“I think it’s the perfect day,” said Lollobrigida, who celebrated her 35th birthday by winning the host nation’s first gold medal at these Games on Saturday in a thrilling women’s 3,000-meter race. “It’s incredible, the dream of my dreams.”

A night removed from the official start of the Olympics, Lollobrigida stole the show on Day 1, turning in an Olympic record time of 3 minutes, 54.28 seconds, more than two seconds ahead of silver medalist Ragne Wiklund of Norway (3:56.54) to win her first career gold medal. Canadian Valérie Maltais took bronze (3:56.93).

“It’s not that easy to combine being a skater and a mom,” said Lollobrigida, who estimated she’s away from home roughly 250 days a year. “This (medal) is for myself, the people who believed in me, and the people who said, ‘Maybe she can’t do it, you know?’ They gave me the power to prove myself.”

Lollobrigida skated in the third-to-last pairing while the largely Italian crowd stood on its feet and roared for its local star as she stayed ahead of Olympic record pace before crossing the finish line. After she won and clinched the record, she ran through the tunnel to grab Tommaso in a scene that immediately went viral. The flag was still draped around her shoulders. Not Superman. Super mom.

As Lollobrigida hugged her husband and coach, the drama was just starting on the ice.

Lollobrigida and the home crowd had to nervously watch four more skaters attempt to knock her off the top spot, including two from the Netherlands, the traditional long track speedskating powerhouse. Wiklund and the Dutch five-time world champion Marijke Groenewoud were next, and when neither passed Lollobrigida, she had clinched a medal.

The final pair was Canada’s Isabelle Weidemann and Dutch great Joy Beune, a five-time world champion. They, too, came up short. The gold was Lollobrigida’s, who struggled to watch as she paced the warm-up area and called out to her family. TV cameras showed Tommaso appearing to impersonate a speedskater’s form shortly before the final pair started.

When Beune, who finished fourth, hit the finish line short of Lollobrigida’s time, it set off a raucous celebration for the Italians, who also took home the first gold medal handed out in Milan.

“The message I want to show is I didn’t choose between a family, being a mom (and being a speed skater),” Lollobrigida said. “I stopped (competed) right after my medals (a silver and a bronze) in Beijing. I was really on top of the world, you know? I was brave, so I’m really proud of myself.”

Lollobrigida was also quick to point out that she doesn’t accomplish anything alone. She said Saturday’s gold medal was the product of teamwork and thanked her husband for always believing in her, and telling her what she needed to hear, even when it wasn’t easy. As for Tommaso, his mom said she hopes one day he can watch Saturday’s race and understand what she accomplished.

It’s hardly the only impressive thing Lollobrigida has done. Tommaso was born in May 2023, and Lollobrigida returned to competition just six months after his birth. She won the bronze in the European Championships in the mass start event in January 2024. Tommaso was in the crowd for that one, too.

Lollobrigida is also the reigning world champion in the 5,000m, an event she will also compete in later in these games. In her fourth Olympics, at an age once deemed “too old” to compete, Lollobrigida is still getting better and is ready to hold Tommaso and the Italian flag in celebration again.

Her training was far from perfect, Lollobrigida said she was sick leading into these Games, but the outcome absolutely was. She will celebrate Saturday and then get back on the ice and ready for her next race.