diff --git a/CHANGES b/CHANGES
index a08c2fb5..dd6cd65e 100644
--- a/CHANGES
+++ b/CHANGES
@@ -18,6 +18,17 @@ $ uv add gp-sphinx --prerelease allow
 
 <!-- To maintainers and contributors: Please add notes for the forthcoming version below -->
 
+### What's new
+
+#### `gp-sphinx`: Default font-preload list now covers heading, italic, and bold-code FOUT
+
+`DEFAULT_SPHINX_FONT_PRELOAD` adds IBM Plex Sans 500 / 600 normal
+(`h1`–`h6` and `blockquote.epigraph`), Sans 400 italic (`<em>` body
+text and announcement bars), and Mono 700 normal (bold inline code).
+Downstream consumers that render those surfaces no longer need a
+local `sphinx_font_preload` override to avoid first-paint FOUT.
+(#34)
+
 ### Bug fixes
 
 #### `gp-sphinx`: MystLexer highlights `:::{directive}` colon-fences
diff --git a/docs/configuration.md b/docs/configuration.md
index 3c204c5b..697b901c 100644
--- a/docs/configuration.md
+++ b/docs/configuration.md
@@ -130,7 +130,7 @@ These are injected even though they are not exposed as `DEFAULT_*` constants:
 | Constant | Value |
 | --- | --- |
 | `DEFAULT_SPHINX_FONTS` | IBM Plex Sans (400/500/600/700, normal+italic) and IBM Plex Mono (400, normal+italic) Fontsource definitions |
-| `DEFAULT_SPHINX_FONT_PRELOAD` | `("IBM Plex Sans", 400, "normal")`, `("IBM Plex Sans", 700, "normal")`, `("IBM Plex Mono", 400, "normal")` |
+| `DEFAULT_SPHINX_FONT_PRELOAD` | IBM Plex Sans 400 / 500 / 600 / 700 normal + 400 italic, IBM Plex Mono 400 / 700 normal |
 | `DEFAULT_SPHINX_FONT_FALLBACKS` | Metric-adjusted Arial and Courier fallback declarations |
 | `DEFAULT_SPHINX_FONT_CSS_VARIABLES` | `--font-stack`, `--font-stack--monospace`, `--font-stack--headings` |
 
diff --git a/packages/gp-sphinx/src/gp_sphinx/defaults.py b/packages/gp-sphinx/src/gp_sphinx/defaults.py
index 39310b1f..b6375b1c 100644
--- a/packages/gp-sphinx/src/gp_sphinx/defaults.py
+++ b/packages/gp-sphinx/src/gp_sphinx/defaults.py
@@ -232,15 +232,32 @@ class FontConfig(_FontConfigRequired, total=False):
 
 DEFAULT_SPHINX_FONT_PRELOAD: list[tuple[str, int, str]] = [
     ("IBM Plex Sans", 400, "normal"),
+    ("IBM Plex Sans", 500, "normal"),
+    ("IBM Plex Sans", 600, "normal"),
     ("IBM Plex Sans", 700, "normal"),
+    ("IBM Plex Sans", 400, "italic"),
     ("IBM Plex Mono", 400, "normal"),
+    ("IBM Plex Mono", 700, "normal"),
 ]
 """Font preload hints for critical rendering path.
 
+Each entry is ``(family, weight, style)``. Faces in this list are
+emitted as ``<link rel="preload" as="font">`` tags so the browser
+fetches them in parallel with the critical CSS/HTML, before
+``font-display: block`` would otherwise hide text waiting on a
+lazy ``@font-face`` request.
+
+The list covers every face Furo / ``furo-tw.css`` is observed to
+demand above the fold: body (Sans 400), headings + sidebar labels
+(Sans 500), epigraph blockquotes (Sans 600), strong / current
+sidebar (Sans 700), inline ``<em>`` and announcement-bar emphasis
+(Sans 400 italic), code blocks (Mono 400), and bold inline code
+``<strong><code>`` (Mono 700).
+
 Examples
 --------
 >>> len(DEFAULT_SPHINX_FONT_PRELOAD)
-3
+7
 """
 
 DEFAULT_SPHINX_FONT_FALLBACKS: list[dict[str, str]] = [
diff --git a/tests/test_config.py b/tests/test_config.py
index c4301d35..ac89dd1a 100644
--- a/tests/test_config.py
+++ b/tests/test_config.py
@@ -218,7 +218,7 @@ def test_merge_sphinx_config_default_fonts() -> None:
     )
     assert len(result["sphinx_fonts"]) == 2
     assert result["sphinx_fonts"][0]["family"] == "IBM Plex Sans"
-    assert len(result["sphinx_font_preload"]) == 3
+    assert len(result["sphinx_font_preload"]) == 7
     assert len(result["sphinx_font_fallbacks"]) == 2
     assert "--font-stack" in result["sphinx_font_css_variables"]