Teammates but not friends: Vittozzi–Wierer and other winning pairs who don't have to like each other

Odiatevi, amatevi, fate come vi pare. E non ditecelo, non serve. Certe cose si capiscono lo stesso. Lisa Vittozzi and Dorothea Wierer are teammates on Italy’s biathlon team but not really close friends. Vittozzi said years ago: “You don’t have to get along with everyone.” The pair nevertheless combined for a silver medal in the mixed biathlon 4×6 km relay at Milano‑Cortina 2026 in Antholz/Anterselva — proof that personal affection isn’t a prerequisite for sporting success.

Sport is not a fairy tale; it’s a complex system and at times a cruel one. Athletes can care for one another yet also harbour resentment. They train, suffer and fight — and sometimes sing “We are the champions” with a knife in their pocket. Medals can act as diplomatic pauses: the podium becomes a place where rivals put on a cooperative face for a moment.

Vittozzi has been frank: “She and I have opposite personalities and opposite temperaments don’t always get along. But we respect each other and we are rivals.” Wierer, for her part, trains sometimes with the men because she finds it stimulating. The point is to be a team in the competitive sense; as the coach Julio Velasco put it, “You don’t have to be friends to win. You must be a team.”

The phenomenon is not limited to biathlon. The article recalls other famous examples: fiencers Elisa Di Francisca and Arianna Errigo — once room‑mates and teammates, later estranged — who nonetheless won together for Italy. The French biathlon squad that preceded Italy at Milano‑Cortina featured Julia Simon, who carried her team to gold despite reportedly difficult relationships within the group; Simon later became embroiled in legal troubles over the misuse of a teammate’s credit card, showing that tensions can go far beyond petty jealousies.

The author also looks to team stories in other sports: the 1974 Lazio football side (legendary for internal clashes but still title‑winning), the turbulent partnership of sprinters Marcell Jacobs and Filippo Tortu (a relationship that included rivalry and even later episodes involving private investigators), and the curling duo Amos Mosaner and Stefania Constantini at Milano‑Cortina 2026, who have said they are not friends but maintain a strictly professional relationship and have achieved top results (Olympic and world titles) together.

The piece’s thesis: harmony is nice, but not essential. Mutual respect, professional focus and the ability to work toward a common sporting goal can be enough to win. The article uses Vittozzi and Wierer’s silver as the prompt to recount a string of examples where elite athletes partnered effectively without personal friendship — a reminder that elite sport is often drama behind a polished public image.

(Photos: Wierer and Vittozzi celebrating the Milano‑Cortina 2026 mixed biathlon relay silver in Anterselva; other images referenced.)