This season has brought us much drama, and your dads have been much more active in their coverage of it. But now it’s time: at the end of the season, Mom is here.
You may be wondering, what could Mom possibly have to say that hasn’t been said already? Well, I’ve had lots of time to think while in search of my cigarettes, and there is a lot. But I will keep it to talking about something near and dear to my heart: moms. We hear so much about dads - we have Dad, Stepdad, our Biological Father - there are many dads on the World Cup circuit, when they skate good, they are dubbed as having “dad powers”. We’ve all seen it- Larry, Jorrit, Ted, Wesly Dijs, Ghiotto and countless others. But now it’s time we talk about moms. The moms on the World Cup circuit deserve their time in the spotlight, so here we go.
Francesca Lollobrigida
Last year, Lollo showed us that parent powers weren’t limited to dads. With a season no one saw coming, Lollo really said “I’m back, and I’m here to win”. She dominated the 1500, 3k, and mass start distances in the 2024-2025 season, finishing 5th, 2nd, and 5th in the overall rankings in those distances respectively. This led some managers to draft her first overall this season, ahead of Femke (what were they thinking!?!?!?), in the hopes that this Italian superstar would not only continue her dominance from the previous season but also be bolstered by the prospect of a home Olympics.
Unfortunately, Lollo’s World Cup season this year was abysmal. After a good showing in SLC, she could barely crack two minutes in the 1500m. She was so far off the leaders in the long distances and the mass starts that it was a miracle to see her in A Group every weekend. Despite her racing in Inzell at the final World Cup stop, she had dropped so far down the overall rankings that her managers were scraping the bottom of the barrel, desperate for any points from her whatsoever. By the end of the World Cup season, final rankings and all, Lollo had accumulated a whopping 101 points for her teams. Femke had done that before leaving North America. This left managers distraught by their choices and in the toilet of the league rankings.
All this to say Mom never doubted even for a second that Lollo would pull through at the games, never for a second did mom think that those managers with Lollo on their teams should consider benching her. Those who know Mom’s identity will also know that this is a blatant lie, Mom fully considered considering Lollo for the bench. Thankfully, the disrespect was brief. Not only did Lollo manage to salvage her otherwise disappointing season for all of the managers who had drafted her, she far exceeded anyone’s hopes and dreams (although a little medal in the mass start would have been a cherry on top and surely no one would disagree with me when I say that we would have preferred Lollo getting a mass start bronze instead of Mia Manganello—except maybe Paul). Two gold medals in the long distance races in the most gritty way imaginable had Lollo’s manager rejoicing and singing her praises. There is no one else who would be able to look so in pain and proceed to pull out her mass start madness and neg split the last lap in the 3k and 5k (except maybe Joel) to pull herself from being outside of medal contention to winning.
Lollo provided us the most amazing mom moment on that first day of competition, and it is something that this Mom, at least, will never forget. Not only did Lollo’s mom powers come through in her race, we also had the most adorable moment in the aftermath. Never have I seen a child so bounced around as he was while being run to the infield, never has a pack of Lollobrigidas been so obvious. Lollo had the absolute best day of her life: gold medalist at home, on your birthday, and your kid is there, I mean come on. Poor Tomasso had not a clue what was happening but in Lollo’s own words, she hopes that one day, when he’s older, he’ll look back on that race and understand. Lollo has showed the world that being a mom and being at the top of your sport is so possible, and this mom, for one, respects the hell out of that.
Final note on Lollo, I would like to point out that in Mom’s first column, I was taking many shots at many people. One of which was saying that Lollo was pregnant. Just for the record, she announced her pregnancy but a month or two later, I called it.
Kaja Ziomek-Nogal
Kaja really decided this year that she was going to be good again. A few seasons ago, we weren’t sure if she would be making a comeback to the World Cup circuit. For the dads out there, it really doesn’t affect them at all when they have a kid. Sure, they might have some sleepless nights while at home and they have their parental duties. But there’s always a solution: be travelling for World Cups or simply stay in a hotel on World Cup weekends, even if they’re in your own city. There’s no planning involved. Although this too may have been the case for Kaja. She won Polish trials in the fall of 2022 and then a few weeks later announced that she was, you guessed it, having a baby. Was the motherhood planned? We’ll never know, but I have my doubts.
Regardless, Kaja has come back in the last few years with her mom powers on full display. She podiumed in the final four World Cup races of the season and despite having some unfortunate races at the beginning of the year in which she was 18th, then DQ’ed, then in B Group, she still managed to finish second overall in the year-end rankings. She may only be a real threat in one distance, but she can win it on any given day. To say that Kaja probably didn’t have the Olympics she was hoping for is crazy considering she finished 6th. But no 6th place performance was going to stop her. She turned right around and showed us that she is simply one of the best and not only skated to bronze twice at World Sprints, she also put together two 1000s in a row to land herself 4th overall.
Miho “Mommy” Takagi
Miho may not be a mom with a living child that she grew inside of her, but Miho is our mommy. Miho is one of the best skaters to ever race on the World Cup circuit. There is not enough space in this column to list all of the accolades and medals and records that Miho has broken, but note that they were honest and they were also much. Miho has weaseled her way into all of our hearts and Mom may have definitely cried both when she announced that she was retiring after Allrounds and when she skated her last race ever. Miho had a way of being the best skater on the ice time and time again with enough grace and humility that she was loveable. She was the skater to watch when the circuit came through town, her technique just so much better than everyone else. Miho has given us so much and it will leave a gaping hole in the World Cup circuit without her.
Brittany Bowe
Bowe has been an alleged mom so many times over, she and her hockey-playing fiancée Hillary Knight could have their own hockey team - or at least one line - by now with the amount of kids Bowe has had in the last decade. It’s crazy to think that Bowe has been pregnant every year for the past seven years. Even more impressive that she’s been able to skate through every single pregnancy and every single newborn child and be as dominant as she has been. Coming into this season, there were thoughts that she was a bit washed. Brittany Bowe’s mom powers, though, manifest themselves in a special way: she can be good at any time. Bowe showed us that she’s still got it and has had a decidedly comeback season for the Olympics. When we got to her pair near the end of the mid-distance races, you could never count her out.
If you can get past the grating Florida accent, you’ll see Bowe for what she really is: a freaking good skater. Not always pretty to watch, she had grit and determination, and a top-end speed that went unmatched for so many years. It’ll be weird to not see the Miho-Bowe rivalry every weekend but at least Bowe can go into retirement and be the subject of unfounded pregnancy rumours. Hillary Knight can have her gold medal (it still hurts) and Bowe can have her baby and together, they can be an actual sporting power couple and if they do decide to have kids, watch out, because those kids are going to be god-tier at ice sports.
Martina Sablikova
I have so many words to say about this absolute legend. I was sad at the end of last season when she started saying goodbye to the crowds in different venues because it would be the last time she raced in them; I was sad in November watching her race for the final time in Calgary; I was sad at the Olympics when she finished her 5k; and I was distraught watching her race her final race of her career: the 3k at Allrounds in Herenveen. Martina may not be “mom” or “mommy” but she is “mother”. She has been on the world stage for so long and has been an idol and a hero to so many kids growing up in this sport, that it is truly a sad day when we’ve seen her final race. Her track record is insane. Martina won an individual medal at every single World Championships and Olympics from 2007-2025, and I have decided to believe that had she been healthy at these past Olympics, she would have found a way to continue that streak.
This mom remembers coming to Calgary for the first time for a competition as a teenager and it was just before a World Cup, and she remembers sitting on the bikes and being near Martina Sablikova and dying inside with awe and delight. Martina encapsulates everything good about speed skating. She is clearly loved by her competitors on the World Cup circuit and is respected by all. I will continue to be sad about Martina retiring forever. If she had decided to skate until she was 50 like ̶C̶l̶a̶u̶d̶i̶a̶ ̶P̶e̶c̶h̶s̶t̶e̶i̶n̶ some other unnamed skater out there, then I wouldn’t be mad about it; I would enjoy watching every lap.
There you have it everyone, moms are awesome and don’t forget it. Stay tuned for more from Dad as he’ll surely be compiling the Emin Awards at some point in the near future.
Until next season,
Mom