(Photo credit: Katie Stratman-Imagn Images)

MILAN, Italy -- Francesca Lollobrigida powered to victory in the women's 3,000 meters speed skating on Saturday, bringing Italy its first gold medal of the Milano Cortina Games and ending Dutch dominance marked by three straight Olympic titles at the distance.

Norway's Ragne Wiklund and Canada's Valerie Maltais joined her on the podium as the speed skating program got under way at the Milano Speed Skating Stadium.

Lollobrigida tore around the oval to smash the Olympic record, stopping the clock at three minutes and 54.28 seconds - 2.26 seconds clear of Wiklund - to secure Italy's first-ever women's speed skating Olympic title.

It was the 35-year-old's first Olympic gold, adding to the 3,000m silver and mass start bronze she won in Beijing in 2022.

Competing in her fourth Olympics - and doing so on her birthday in front of a roaring home crowd - Lollobrigida turned the weight of expectation into fuel.

'This medal means a lot, but also a demonstration - the fact of not giving up, to start a family, to become a mother and to come back to race,' she said.

EMOTIONAL LOLLOBRIGIDA CELEBRATES WITH SON

Drawn in the eighth pair alongside Maltais and starting in the outer lane, she went toe-to-toe with the Canadian before pulling decisively ahead.

Upon realizing her triumph, an emotional Lollobrigida wrapped herself in the Italian flag and sprinted to celebrate with her two-year-old son.

The Italian - great-niece of the late film icon Gina Lollobrigida and cousin of Italy's Agriculture Minister Francesco Lollobrigida - soaked in the moment as the stadium erupted around her.

'Being in Italy, knowing my son, my husband, my mom, my dad, my sister, all my friends were here ... I was really happy,' she said.

'I did it for myself, but also for all those who have always believed in me.'

The Italian's victory ended a formidable Dutch legacy in the 3,000m. The Netherlands famously swept the podium at PyeongChang 2018, while Irene Schouten won gold at Beijing 2022 before retiring.

In Milan, Joy Beune and Marijke Groenewoud were again seen as leading Dutch contenders to extend that dominance, as was Wiklund, but Lollobrigida had other ideas.

Beune finished fourth and Groenewoud eighth, while Canada's Isabelle Weidemann - a triple medalist in Beijing - was fifth.

Greta Myers was the only U.S. entrant, a late addition due to an injury withdrawal, and finished 20th.

The Netherlands remains the sport's powerhouse, with a record 48 Olympic gold medals - well clear of the U.S. (30) and Norway (28). Lollobrigida's victory was Italy's third Olympic gold in speed skating.

--Reuters, special to Field Level Media